[IC] A Friendly Desert Community 1x1

[LMM]

OOC HERE

@ZanepL Lodes

"The future is here. And it is about 100' above the Arby's.

Carlos, and his scientists, at the monitoring station near Route 800..." The radio finally caught Carlyle's attention. For the last few dozen miles, it had only offered a mostly quiet hiss of dead air, with the occasional pop of static to remind him it was still on. This sudden outburst of sonorous speech, while jarring enough in it's own right, really grabbed his attention with it's name-drop of his defacto boss.

"Not even in town for 24 hours and Carlos is on the radio... Man could lead a cult if he wasn't so focused on Science." Carlyle offered to the radio, not expecting to receive an actual conversation.

"I don't know about you folks, but the ground has been as still as the crust of a tiny globe rocketing through the endless void could be" the radio offered back, not expecting to fit into his new listener's uninvited attempt at conversation.

"'s'all right, there, buddy. You could be a cult leader too, with a voice like that." Carlyle realized he was drifting off into the shoulder. Then he realized it was the opposite shoulder. Then he realized this was bad. Jerking harder at the wheel than he intended, he caused his car to fishtail off the pavement onto the cracked earthen surface of the desert plain surrounding him. A few expletives and some shaky breathes later, and he was back on the pavement, trying to focus on the road that seemed intent on being unobserved.

The radio was giving a traffic update, one that caused more than a few short circuits somewhere in the back of his mind, but was ultimately unable to impress its uniqueness on him through the adrenaline just now starting to drain from his system. Something about not following the lights, but also following other lights?

"And now, the Weather:" he heard, as unrefined lyrics started pouring through his speakers. The words were a bit... off. Not in an unpleasant way, just not what you'd expect on a small town radio station. And somehow, these words resonated deeply with him, almost seeming to command the hazy mirage on the horizon into a swaying, hypnotic dance on the horizon. The fading light seemed to play up the unnatural effect before him, as colors he was sure he'd not ever seen before coalesced into a haunting, drab, shape at the far end of his vision. "Must be the town up ahead," he assured himself, and by unwilling association, the radio.

Almost as if summoned, a badly faded sign appeared to his right: Night Vale 20. "Well, guess I'm all but 'home', now..."

---

The radio broadcast had taken some odd turns, but Carlyle had mostly tuned it out as the town became more defined. He'd driven down the dead center of town, catching sight of almost corny caricatures of small town 50's shops and buildings. There were a bunch of figures on the street, some bundled up to an odd degree for such a hot summer night. He dismissed it as some form of social event, probably school spirit related, and looked for the store Carlos had described to him.
Big Rico's, seemingly Night Vale's favorite food joint (based solely off the fact that he'd not seen another yet, and there were actual customers inside), was just a bit a ways from the Lab. The Lab which was apparently already abandoned for the night. "That's what you get for being late, 'Lyle. Guess there's no rush..." he mused, deciding with complete conviction to not enter his workspace alone. He saw people leaving the pizza joint, and his stomach clenched a bit at the thought of greasy meat, cheese, and grease. Pulling back onto the main street, he started looking for something open this late.

Jeeze, it's already 10. I'm going to starve, I bet. Again, almost in response to his musings, he caught sight of a huge, purple and white sign over a tacky diner. The Moonlite All Night Diner, it proclaimed, easing his stomach's apprehension. Pulling in and getting out, he couldn't help but notice the hot dry air was dead. Not a hint of wind. Which coincided with the odd phenomenon of a scrap of paper slapping against his leg, as if riding on a breeze that should be there. ALERT CITIZEN CARD was emblazoned on the top, and had 3 holes punched into it. "Not all that alert after all, it seems" he muttered, absently holding it between two fingers and tapping it on his other hand's wrist. Lyle then entered the Diner, and seeing it just about empty, took a booth in a back corner, back to the wall, and pulled out a moist towelette. His first piece of Night Vale culture lay forgotten on the edge of the table as he methodically wiped his hands and began looking for a waiter, menu, or something other than his own thoughts.

As the evening began to set in Red made her way to the Moonlit All-Nite Diner for her shift. She wasn’t actually on the schedule – not that there was one of course? She clicked her tongue once and movement behind her signaled she had a follower. Suddenly, beside her stood a 5 or 6 foot creature of green and purple. His mouth turned into what could only be assumed was a smile and sticky purple saliva dripped from his lips. “Good baby Speck,” cooed the now small looking human beside him.

The creature nuzzled into her cheek a moment and she patted him twice before kissing his nose. “Momma has work tonight okay?” With that she set off, headphones in and phone acquiring the Public Radio station where Cecil was hosting. She wasn’t sure how her phone picked up the wave – she didn’t have an app to pick up FM stations? It had always done that though.

She nodded along as he spoke about the dog park and how no one was allowed in. She had to stop and wonder if that meant Speck too. He wasn’t a dog or a human – though he also wasn’t a hooded figure to her knowledge. Then Cecil said something that really sparked her attention. Scientists? Night Vale rarely got visitors let alone visitors that for some reason thought our small town was anything special…..well nothing good at least.

By now she had made it to work and threw open the door. The other wait staff looked up from their busy schedule of doing nothing to see it was just Red and went back to what they were doing. Red pulled her headphones from her ears as she moved to clock in. She was still able to hear Cecil’s voice as the Moon Lite All-Nite diner played his broadcasts through overhead speakers crudely stuck between the Styrofoam tiles of the ceiling.

She wiped down her booths and tables listening intently about these strange new visitors. What did they want? Even Cecil didn’t know – though he did sound a little love-struck. That was cute and strange for him. As the broadcast came to an end Red allowed her mind to wander to work. It was slow, though that wasn’t unusual. Sometimes she wondered how they were able to pay all the staff – though considering most were some sort of tree people with branches protruding from their chest perhaps they weren’t paid in money.

Her attention was captured when the bell above the door rang. By now most of the day wait staff had left, or disappeared? Leaving her and a few stragglers. The man that walked in was new – she didn’t recognize him at least. Not to say she knew everyone in this town, but hey it’s a small town. Suddenly it hit her; he must be one of those scientists. Her heart actually skipped a beat, science had always fascinated her and now she was meeting someone who actually did it? With a shake of her head she cleared her thoughts.

He looked confused and she realized he had never been here before, obviously. She quickly walked over, “Welcome to the Moon Lite All-Nite Diner,” she says with a kind smile before lifting up the sugar bowl to reveal a single page menu. “You’re not from around here, are you?” She asks handing him the menu and waiting him closely.

The menu was one sided, laminated and in the same mint green color of the rest of the restaurant. The top had the logo on it, and the rest read a few short options:

• Visible or Invisible Strawberry Pie
• Turkey club sandwich served with French fries
• Visible or Invisible Coffee with eggs
• Oatmeal served with blueberries, salt cubes, and cured salmon
• Burgers, presumably
• Denver Omelet
• Greek Salad
• Other

That was it, no prices, no extra description and no pictures. Though how one would go about taking pictures of invisible pie and coffee even Red wasn’t sure. Though a good slice of invisible pie always did make her feel reminiscent of her childhood – just like mom used to make, I think?

[ZanepL Lodes]

Spoiler: OOC 

b-t-dubs, he is physically incapable of talking without a lot of hand gestures, so just imagine them with the awkward dialogue, for full effect

"uh.. huh. Hmmm. " Carlyle didn't splutter, taken aback by the menu for no real reason other than the lack of reason it presented him. "I..."

He glanced up, taking in the sight of his first up-close Night Vale native. This one was not hooded, and thus open to scientific, social, (and just plain) scrutiny. "I'm curious if the coffee can be served without eggs?" He shakily replied, having nothing to fall back on but weak and tired wit. While the menu suggested a level of mirth from the establishment, the server presenting it too him looked less jovial. Almost eager... or thirsty? They were in a desert, and those states of being had many opportunities to overlap in a small, forgotten town baked under the sun.

"Sorry, sorry. Um, no. Not really. I mean, not yet? I've an extended stay planned." he offered. "Business, mostly. Science, according to my boss. Guy. Supervisor-slash-fund-holder guy. With the hair. On the radio. Uh..." he felt like he was being interrogated about a celebrity he had the loosest of associations with, and loudly reminded himself, in the quietest thought he could muster, that this was a diner and he was just ordering food. "Just, you know, research. Anyways, ...Red? How about oatmeal, with none of the things listed next to it? And a... I guess coffee, hold the egg, and a small water?"

[LMM]

Red watched him closely, she had to lean back as the spoke his arms moving wildly.

"Huh? You don't want eggs?" She asked before glancing at the small window behind the counter that lead to the kitchen. She was trying to see how many tentacles were visible. It did matter. She couldn't tell. As the stranger began to speak again she looked back leaning on her hands which rested gently on the table.

'With the hair?' It took a second before Cecil's lavish voice came to her mind. 'Perfect hair....' She searched her brain a second before making a face. "That Carlos guy? I haven't met him yet..." She mumbles as if to show she wasn't curious about him.

When he addressed her by name she almost pouted, apparently he didn't want to talk. She pulled out a notepad and listened not writing anything. "Want that visible or invisible?" She asked her tone had suddenly switched from interested to bored. She had wanted to find out more than, 'Science and research,' though since the man seemed new perhaps he didn't know yet.

As she waited her eyes shifted to the paper on the edge of the table. "Huh? Where did you get an Alert Citizen Card?" She asks picking it up to examine it. Only 3 stamps? Obviously not alert enough, especially if they lost their card. Or perhaps they were no more? It wouldn't surprise her.

[ZanepL Lodes]

"Mmmm... I think visible, today. I've got to stick to what I know, for the moment." He was getting to wound up, again. With the trip in, the new sights, the looming prospect of discovery, he was being ambushed by internal anxieties and expectations. He wasn't prepared to sort through all of this yet. Breathe, he reminded himself. His hands, almost damp from the towelette, covered his face for a brief moment. The dark and lemon flooded his senses, flipped a few switches, and his mind laid back for a brief rest.

"That? Blew into me, out in the parking lot. I'm thinking it's lonely, as there's no wind out there to blow anything anywhere." He picked up the card and handed it to her, hands still for the first time. "Take it? I'm not sure what to do with it, and I doubt I qualify as a citizen." He flashed a warm smile, and almost instantly dropped it, the card, and his interest in the conversation. "What on Earth is that?" His hand gestured out the windows of the diner, slightly upwards, out across the town, and eventually above the Arby's (whose sign couldn't be seen from this distance), to where lights were playing in a business like manner in the sky. His gesticulation had pulled him half of out the booth, and his body hung ponderously between table and seat, weight supported only by legs stiff and unsteady from a day's length of driving.

[LMM]

Red tilts her head watching him. He seemed...stressed, to say the least. She drew a circle on the paper which seemed to signify his order and went to leave him to his thoughts. Perhaps he needed time, or a good strong coffee. She froze however when he spoke again. She looked at him and a smile grew on her face. "No wind, eh?" She asks. "Sounds like Night Vale may have picked you? You should ke....."

Her voice was cut short at his sudden rise and drastic question. She followed his gaze before laughing softly. "You really are new aren't you?" She asks crossing her arms as she watched him. "That's just the lights above the Arby's. They're...a constant here in town. They're quite pretty. Don't worry once you're here awhile you'll understand their game." Her voice spoke of the lights in an almost idle joy. As if the lights though pretty, held very little importance beyond being a constant. With an ever changing town like Night Vale of course a constant was nice.

"You need coffee, sir," she says with a tilt of her head. "Sit back down; I'll get your order in and your drinks." With that she left his booth, walking behind the counter to put in the order. She clipped the paper, which still just had a crudely drawn circle on it, to a clip in the window and hit a bell. A hiss of strange almost non-human gurgling sounds came from the window, she responded with her own gurgling sounds. A tentacle reached out and snatched the paper. After a second the gurgling sounds returned as if frustrated. She replied and this went on a few times before sounds could be heard in the kitchen.

"That went better than expected," She mumbles before pouring him a cup of coffee and a cup of water and returning to the table. "Here, maybe this will help settle your nerves?"

[ZanepL Lodes]

The lights were a distraction. He recovered from them. The inhuman noises from the kitchen? Those we're a disturbance. And he wasn't sure if recovery was an option.
They reminded him of some B-movie's take on what a mouthless, ancient creature made of nightmares would sound like. The things he'd heard on the radio, the sights he'd ignored since coming into town; they were suddenly at the forefront of his mind. This town was wrong. And it was, indeed, Scientifically interesting.

He was brought back out of his own mind by the sound of cups hitting the table. Her question was didn't register against the thoughts whirling through his head. He impulsively grasped at one of Red's hands as it was returning to it's owner. "You're real, right? Not a facade? A trick? 'Cause if I'm going to be sacrificed or impregnated or converted into something, I'd rather it happen now than later..." His voice wasn't trembling or cracking, which worried him. Was he already accepting his presumed fate?

He released her, breathed, and apologized. "It's just... A lot to take in. And I've seen too many bad horror movies." He slowly and deliberately started to dilute his coffee. "So, yeah, I'm sorry. That was a bit overboard."

[LMM]

Red wasn't prepared for this reaction. Like mentioned, newcomers were rare and far between. "Real? Well...I suppose that is somewhat up to speculation, isn't it? I'm real to me, and the fact you're holding my hand means I'm real to you too right?" She rambles off.

As he let go she watched him, "Is it? I suppose your town isn't like ours?" She asks. She didn't truly understand. Her whole life had been this as normal and real. To suddenly have that question was shocking, but she assumed it was an interloper thing. She watched him diluting his drink, such a strange man -- and here he was asking if she was real? Ridiculous.

She glanced at the kitchen a few bangs, but otherwise still cooking. She glanced around -- no other patrons. Really it was most likely that if anyone else showed up it would be Steve, and he basically served himself anymore. She slid into the booth across from him and cocked her head to the side.

"So Mister Scientist -- are you sure you''re okay?" She asks one eyebrow twitching slightly higher than the other as she awaited a response. "You are acting as if Night Vale is some otherworldly place?"

[ZanepL Lodes]

Carlyle sighed. "I will be. For the most part. I think. And as best as I know, there's no town like this one. But, to be fair, I've not been to every town in the country. Or world. So, imagine for a second, leaving this place. And finding that everything you find normal and... 'homey' is there, but off. Not comforting or familiar." He paused and watched a hooded figure glide by the window. "It would put you on edge, I bet. But, its also something you can get used to. With time, at least. And that's what I've got plenty of, now."

His eyes found the stamp card again. He picked it up, and examined it. A good jumping off point, he reasoned. Let's get to the researching. "Alright, so this was something you seemed familiar with. What does one do with such a card? And who stamps it? 'Cause this?" He flashed the face of the card to her, displaying it almost dramatically. "This is Scientifically interesting, to borrow a ... friend's ... words."

[LMM]

Red listened closely tilting her head. She had never thought about that, "I mean I visited Desert Bluffs once, I wouldn't recommend that....." She mumbles more to herself than to her new acquaintance. Her eyes shifted to the card as he held it out.

She opened her mouth before a bell was rung and the same inhuman gurgling came from the back. She groans looks back yelling in the same tongue. "One second, your food is ready. I'll be back," She stood and went behind the counter having a slight discussion or perhaps an argument with the chef? The gurgling going back and forth until she was on the front side of the counter with the food.

She sat the food down before taking her place across from him again. She picks the card away from him and looks at it. "This is an Alert Citizen Card, though you can read that. It's given to the citizens of Night Vale, by the Sherrif's Secret Police. It's to encourage us to be active citizens and to watch for suspicious things." She sat the card down and reached into her pocket pulling out a wallet and slipping out a card of her own with 4 stamps on it. She holds it out, "Here's mine, basically, if you see something suspicious and report it to the Sherrif's Secret Police then you can get a stamp. At 5 stamps you get a year of stop sign immunity, and with 3 full cards you get the mandatory right to disappear forever."

"What's strange though, is the one you found isn't signed? You're supposed to sign them when you are given them?"

Spoiler: What I am picturing 

[ZanepL Lodes]

"...Stop sign immunity sounds... Rewarding. Wait, so...Secret Police... Are they secretive? Or is it just a title, and everyone knows about them? Or do they police secrets? Sorry, I'm sure this is stuff I 'should' know. But..." His arms were thrown up in a casual 'what can you do' or 'its not my problem' kinda way. "I'm guessing they don't hand out nifty little manuals to outsiders..."

He had been fingering the card, and decided that it was either fairly new, or not kept in a pocket or wallet, as it's edges were crisp. He'd barely caught his companions name when she flashed her own card, and an idea came to him. He pulled out a pen, and filled in his name on the signature line, watching closely to see if anyone jumped out behind a bush or from a ceiling tile. He'd also watched to many bad spy movies....