Chapter 2: Interloper

The walk from Carlos' newly rented apartment in the middle of town to the science district on the very edge of town was about a mile and half, giving him plenty of time to take in the surroundings after dropping off his bag. The science district had been established during the 1950s and had served as a compromise between two waring generations; the young, who wanted to 'learn' and 'understand things,' and the old, who wanted to keep all that new fangled knowledge business in the corner where it belonged. Sadly, it had gotten very little use over the years. People had flocked to it in the early days, but only a handful came with real, tangible questions to ask and even fewer knew where to begin looking for answers. Sixty years later, the only people how visited the district were the towns university students and a rare outsider scientist.

If Carlos had been a vain man, he would say the stares he received as he walked down the street were a result of his stunning good looks. If he was a paranoid man, he'd say they were because everyone wanted to kill him, which was probably closer to the truth. But Carlos the neither vain nor paranoid, he was observant. He observed that in a town so small and so isolated a man like him was bound to stand out like a sore thumb.

"Interloper." A man hissed as he passed. Carlos added hostility to his list of observations. Perhaps the faster he tried to integrate into Night Vale's society the smoother the year would go, so he stopped by the Ralph's. Buying a few snacks would probably sweeten the interaction between his new co-workers as well, so really he was killing two birds with one stone.

"Hey you, young man." An old woman called as he entered the carpark. Carlos turned around, expecting to add times two next to hostility on his mental observation list.

"Yes?" he shouted back.

"You here about the lightbulb?" she asked, holding up a lightbulb in one hand clear for him to see.

"Um…no."

"Shame, I thought more people would be interested." She said, putting the lightbulb back in her handbag. "Maybe I'll get Cecil to mention it again. He seems to have taken quite an interest it you, you know?"

"I'm sorry, who ha-"

"Stop shouting and come over here so I can hear you." The woman scowled. Carlos glanced at the store, then back at the woman, and shrugged. He wanted to start integrating, now he was integrating. Everything was working out. He hurried over. "I'm talking about Cecil Palmer." She continued in more calm, hushed tone. "Cecil's the radio host here. Strange man, interesting tattoos."

"Right." Carlos nodded.

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to meet him. Everyone does in the end. I'm Josie Ortiz by the way. And you are." She asked, stretching out her arm for handshake.

"Carlos Cienca." He smiled, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. Maybe the residents of Night Vale were going to be okay after all.

"Fancy name you've got there, Mr Cienca."

"Thank you. It means-"

"Some kind of scientist, are you?" She asked, prodding at his lab coat.

"Absolutely." He beamed. "Science has been my passion since I was a little boy."

"Yes, well, everyone had strange passions as a kid. Most of them don't led to a place like this though." Carlos face dropped.

"What do you mean a place like this?"

"Oh, nothing dear. Just the ramblings of an old woman. I'm sure you'll be just fine, providing you stay out of the dog park and try not to antagonise too many people."

"I'll try my best." Carlos gulped.

"I'm sure you will." Josie nodded. "I'll let you get on with it then. A suspect a scientist such as you is in quite a hurry. You take care of yourself, Carlos."

"You too, Mrs Ortiz." He waved as he headed into the store.

The store itself was perfectly normal in layout. In fact, if he tried not to pay too close attention, Carlos could almost convince himself he was back home. Of course, it was the products that gave it all away. Tinned snake stew, fried fairy, imaginary cornflakes. Carlos wondered which part was imaginary, the corn or the flake. More annoyingly, there were no prices, just phrases ranging from the ordinary such as 'surprisingly affordable' to slightly threatening like 'more than you could ever dream'. Eventually, he picked up a sharing bag of relatively normal looking chewable sweets and a cold drink, both marked with the rather uncharitable phrase 'cheaper than your mum', and made his way to the checkout.

The man at the checkout was a disgruntled looking teenager with greasy brown hair which flowed in untamed curls to just passed his chin. He maintained an intimidating amount of eye contact as he scanned the items, which took a painfully long time considering there was only two of them, and stuck out his hand for the money, still not giving any indication of price. Not wanting to short-change him, Carlos handed over a ten dollar note. He expected change but none seemed to be on the way.

"Can I have my receipt plea-" The cashier started barking like a rabid dog before he could finish his sentence. Carlos jumped back, grabbed his items, and ran out of the store. He sped walked through the carpark. Forget integrating, the sooner he got to his lab the better.

"Are you sure you don't want the lightbulb?" Josie called.

"No thank you, Mrs Ortiz." Carlos called back as he disappeared out of sight.

By the time Carlos finally got the lab he was exhausted, and the sweets were sticking together in the bag. He reached for the door, but it was locked, and it suddenly dawned on him that he hadn't been given any keys. He hadn't been given any keys to his apartment either, but that door opened just fine and that only served to worry him more. He knocked as hard as he could.

"Hey, anyone in there?" He asked.

"Who are you? What do you want?" A woman snapped back.

"My name is Carlos Cienca. Mr Markson sent me?" he wasn't sure why he phrased it like a question. He knew for sure Mr Markson had sent him. He just wasn't sure who had sent Mr Markson. He heard the sound of the door unlocking. Before he could fully process what was happening the door swung up and a woman pulled him in by his collar before slamming it shut and locking it again. She practically threw him free of her grasp, causing him to stumble before regaining his balance. There were only three people in the room other than him, two woman and a man. Carlos instantly noticed that the other woman a black eye and a bruise which spread to her forehead. He decided not to bring it up right that second.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick about you. You were supposed to be here over an hour ago. We thought something had happened." The woman yelled.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up in the store. How who are you? How do you already know who I am? And where is everybody?" asked Carlos. He was expecting a team of at least a dozen.

"Mr Markson phoned ahead to say that he dropped you off and to complain about the signal a little bit. I'm Marsha, the other woman is Jess and the guy's name is Robin." She answered.

"Hey." The others both waved in unison.

"We were the only one's still willing to come out. Everyone else has barricaded themselves in their apartments due to the locals." Marsha explained.

"They don't seem that bad." Said Carlos. "Just a little weary of strangers."

"Oh really, well apart from being called interloper more times than we can count over the last week the three of us have been barked at, bitten, nearly tied to a stake."

"I'm sorry, what was that one?"

"You see that bruise Jess has got there." Marsha asked, pointing at Jess.

"When you say a stake-"

"She had a coffee cup thrown at her. A full coffee, Carlos. Luckily for her it was iced coffee."

"A coffee cup caused that?" Carlos asked Jess.

"Yeah." Jess shrugged. "But everyone here uses reusable cups, so it was pretty hard."

"Hmm environmentally friendly assault." Carlos thought aloud before realising it was probably the wrong thing to say. "Look, I'm sure there's an easy way around this. This a close town, everyone knows everyone, and to them we seem like outsiders. Heck, we are outsiders. If we stay boxed up in here until the day we leave they're never going to stop seeing use that way."

"So, what do you suggest?" Asked Jess.

"I suggest…" His voice trailed off. What did he suggest? He didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of any plastic cups to the face, but he was going to have to address the residents of Night Vale directly if they were ever going to trust him. If only there was a way he could see them all face to face at once. That would get the whole thing over and done with quickly. Then it struck him. "I suggest we hold a meeting. We get everyone in city hall, we explain what we're doing as well as we can, and try to answer all their questions."

"You want to be on stage, in a small room, surrounded by them?" Asked Marsha.

"Yes." Carlos nodded.

"Hmph, forget that." Robin laughed. "They'll kill us."

"They won't kill us." Carlos sighed.

"Oh yes they will. But listen, if you want to go out there and get murdered that's your call. I'm going to spend my days in here with the doors locked, drive home at night, and sleep with the windows boarded up. There's no reason for any of us to interact with these crazy people."

"And how exactly are you going to buy food?"

"I'll find a way." Robin snapped.

"Fine, you don't have to come. None of you do. I'll talk to them all on your behalf. I'm used to talking in front of people for a living after all."

"Well okay, if that's what you really want." Huffed Marsha.

"It is." Carlos replied firmly. "Just you watch guys, everything will be just fine."