Night Vale Unsolved

49

The next day passed uneventfully. Cecil, of course, was on air. Carlos spent most of his day in his lab, though he did take an hour or so to have lunch with Shane and Ryan. The two wandered around town a bit, luckily encountering nothing particularly dangerous. Like Cecil had said, here were some glares shot their way, but they quickly learned to just ignore it.
All too soon, perhaps, the day was ending. Back at the Night Vale Public Radio station, Cecil and Carlos scrambled to finish their project.
"And you're sure this is a good idea?"
Carlos smiled and picked up the thumb drive. "Well, I don't think it's a bad idea."
The two laughed, and headed out to catch Ryan and Shane before they left.

A few minutes later, Shane spotted the car and nudged Ryan. They were standing in the parking lot of the hotel, their car packed and ready to go. Cecil and Carlos pulled up and got out.
"Almost though we'd missed you," Carlos remarked.
"We wouldn't do that."

There's a beat of silence.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Shane asks. "Sounds like visiting..."
"Yeah, that might not work out." Carlos agreed.
"It could happen," Cecil offered, "But..."
"Yeah." Ryan finished.
"Well, before we say goodbye, Cecil and I have...a little something for you."
"Oh, you really didn't have to-"
"I know, I know, but we felt sort of responsible for you losing your footage. This isn't the same, but maybe you'll be able to use it?"
Carlos held out the thumb drive.
"What is it?"
"Well, after what happened yesterday, I went on the radio and asked the citizens of Night Vale to make little videos for you." Cecil explained. 'Most of them should be about experiences and stories from around town, but..."
"We didn't exactly have time to screen them," Carlos finished apologetically. "Hopefully nothing in there will cause any problems."
"No, this...this is amazing!" Ryan held the drive in awe, clutching it as though he were worried it might be stolen right out of his hand. Shane shook his head in amazement.
"You got all that done in a day?"
"Barely," Carlos laughed.
"But everyone hated us just yesterday! Well. Maybe not hate, but-"
"No, not hate." Cecil cut in. "Certainly not. Almost certainly. That was a fairly normal greeting in Night Vale, I'm really surprised it didn't happen sooner."
"But still, you managed to convince nearly an entire town to go from mob to sources in, what, a day?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, not the entire town. Plenty of people, sure - Josie was one of the first to send hers in. I believe Dana sent one, and there might even be one from the Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home." Cecil stared out into space, trying to remember the names he'd seen attached to the files. Computers really weren't his thing. "Oh well," He moved on, "It'll just be a surprise!"

Ryan carefully slipped the thumb drive into his pocket. Now that they had a video, the time had come at last to say goodbye. Leaving the town was alright by him, and Shane shared the sentiment. Too much...stuff went on here, and it was overwhelming if not outright life threatening.
But at the same time...they had made friends. The radio host and the scientist, standing here in front of them for what would likely be the last time.
As if he were reading their thoughts (which, Shane reflected, wouldn't be wildly out of character), Cecil scooped them both up in a hug. Once he let them go, Carlos followed suit, though a little less... aggressively than Cecil.
"Thank you guys, so much."
"Yeah, for...for everything."
"Even the Library," Shane joked.
"I don't know about that," Ryan interceded.
"It was our pleasure." Carlos smiled. "I'd say visit again, but..."
"Yeah."

Slowly, with a mix of reluctance, relief, and regret, Shane and Ryan got into their car and pulled out into the road that would take them out of that strange little town.
A town where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and even when nothing is as you expect, you can always find friends.