Chapter Text
Somewhere, out in the vast desert, is a town. That town is called Night Vale. Somewhere, out in the vast desert, is a man. He drives along a dusty road called Maple Street to his rented apartment after a long day of work in the lab.
This town is weird, Carlos thought to himself. Yet, scientifically speaking, very interesting.
Carlos had only been in Night Vale since this morning (Carlos thought it to be seven or so, but clocks don't work right in Night Vale, so he couldn't really be sure). Still, he'd proven to himself many times already that he had certainly picked the right place to study- scientifically speaking, of course. Though this town was anything but scientific, it only made Carlos want to learn even more.
I mean, in just a few hours, he had seen wonders. He was sure that there was something strange about this town, but not in a bad way. There was nothing wrong about Night Vale, but there was everything different about it.
He felt that he hadn't spent enough time studying Night Vale today; however, he had, in fact, spent the entire day in his lab. Then again, he also always felt as if he had not scienced enough- after all, he is a scientist.
When Carlos gets out of his truck, he has to grab the boxes from the back. He struggles, but manages to lift one of the heavy boxes. He brings it up and inside to his apartment.
This was his new home now.
There was dust everywhere, coating the whole place. Not to mention the mouse in the corner that, if not for looks, definitely smelled dead. There was likely mold here, and it was small, so it wasn't worth it. At least he could study the mold, though.
Just as Carlos brought in the last box and had begun to unpack them, he heard a knock at his door.
When he opened it, a woman stood before Carlos.
She looked human enough, at least for some Night Vale citizens that Carlos had seen. She had several large branches growing out of her arms, her chest, her neck. The area where the bark met the skin...it was frighteningly repulsive to any other person outside of Night Vale or Carlos.
He was not frightened, though. Only more intrigued by this strange, desert town.
He greeted her, only to be pointed at in response while she said loudly, "Interloper-!"
Carlos was confused, as one not native to Night Vale and its customs might be. He understood that all day, everybody he came across had done the same thing, but why they did so was beyond him. He was only a scientist, after all.
"...Is there..anything you needed..?" Carlos managed to say.
"Well, being an interloper- new to Night Vale..there can't be much you know. My name is Laura, by the way. I live next door." She said. At least she had tried to stop herself from saying interloper, right?
"Uh, no. No, not really, Miss Laura."
"I thought so. Tell me, mister..."
"Carlos."
"Mr. Carlos, do you happen to own a radio?"
"No, I do not," Carlos replied. "Is that something I should have?"
"Oh, yes," Laura said, looking rather serious. "You couldn't properly live in Night Vale without one."
"Is that so?" Regardless of how the words ended up sounding, this did entertain Carlos. To actually get to speak with a citizen of Night Vale. He could only imagine all of the important questions he would ask about the town and such, but he had to focus right now.
Laura reached into a bag that, under the branches, Carlos hadn't even noticed she had. She produced a small radio. The kind that's pocket-sized and runs on batteries so that you can carry it around.
"I already have one at home so that you can have this one, interloper."
Carlos was still a little offended that she didn't even try to stop it this time, but he was slowly growing used to being an interloper. As long as he was still allowed to live here and do science, it was fine.
"Oh, no, no, no. I couldn't take this." He said.
"I insist," Laura replied, placing the radio in his hands. "Besides, The Voice will be pleased if you may listen to him as well."
"The Voice?"
"Let me guess, you don't know who The Voice is either?"
"Um, no."
She sighed and muttered sarcastically under her breath- "Interlopers.." (which Carlos believed to be rather rude) before she continued. "He's...well, he's the unofficial radio host of our town, but he's so beloved by the town that it's just thought of as official."
"They say that he lives in the giant glowing cloud above town." Carlos let his gaze follow where she was pointing, and there was, in fact, a giant glowing cloud above town. "He never comes down, and nobody can or dares to go up there."
Carlos couldn't tell whether Laura was actually serious, considering that, scientifically, that wouldn't be possible- I mean, living in a cloud? Come on. That, of course, caused tension. Basically, conversation is dead, and it's only 2012. Carlos headed back inside, hoping to forget the awkwardness.
He decided to unpack tomorrow. That is, after debating whether he'd risk his sleep schedule to unpack today so he'd have time to do science tomorrow, he decided to unpack tomorrow. He got himself ready to go to sleep, but when he went to brush his teeth, he looked up at the mirror afterward and found quite a strange thing.
Around him, he found that there were a few floating eyes-
All focused solely on him.
They weren't realistic, to say. The exact dimensions were hard to describe. The eyes were a pretty purple and only floated there even after he saw them. The sclera was a slightly different shade of purple, and the pupils were white, shaped like moons. Carlos wondered how long they'd been there. Occasionally, the eyes would blink, but he quickly looked away after he noticed that he wasn't sure how long he'd been watching them.
To his surprise, when he turned away from the mirror, they were still there. He walked over to his bed to get away from them. Even still, the eyes followed behind him, and hovered above him when he lay down.
Carlos found that they refused to stop watching him; however, when he would look directly at one of them, the color palette of the eye in question would shift to a pinker shade of purple, and the crescent-shaped pupils would shift to a full-moon shape. It would glance at the radio, which would crackle for a moment before the radio went quiet, and the eye would again resume its usual state of being, returning its gaze to Carlos. It almost reminded him of blushing, but an eye couldn't blush, right? And why would it?
Carlos wondered to himself where these eyes had come from. Were they their own weird Night Vale beings, or had someone sent them? Were they here for a good reason, or the alternative? Were they even sentient?
Carlos stayed up late that night. Apparently, it was hard for him to sleep when he was being watched.
Though when he finally managed to find sleep, he awoke the next morning to find that the eyes were still there.
He got up, and they followed him. He ate breakfast, and they watched him. At least the eyes were respectful enough to go away when he got dressed.
Curiously, though, they didn't come back after that.
Carlos began opening boxes to unpack, but from behind him, he heard the radio crackle for a moment before it turned on by itself.
He glanced back as the man on the radio began on his own, "A friendly desert community where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Night Vale."
Carlos didn't recall turning on the radio, so he didn't understand why it would do that. He knew that this could be Night Vale being Night Vale, but that wasn't really going to be enough of an answer for much longer.
He wondered if this was The Voice that Laura had mentioned.
He continued to unpack his boxes anyway, figuring the radio was good background noise. Well, it was background noise.
Another eye appeared beside him again, just one this time, as the man on the radio said, "A new man came into town today. Who is he? What does he want from us? Why is his perfect and beautiful haircut? Why his perfect and beautiful coat? He says he is a scientist. Well, we have all been scientists at one point or another in our lives. But why now? Why here? And just what does he plan to do with all those beakers and humming electrical instruments in that lab he’s renting, the one next to Big Rico’s Pizza."
Wait a minute, Carlos thought to himself. How does he know who I am? Carlos was certain he'd never met the Voice coming from the radio. He looked over at the eye. It went pinkish again, like it does when he looks at it directly, but this time the radio did not crackle. The audio stayed perfect. So perfect, in fact, that it sounded more like someone was standing in his home speaking to him directly, rather than from a radio.
Carlos knew that assuming was not very scientific; as a scientist, he was usually very scientific about everything, but this felt like a safe enough assumption: the man on the radio could be The Voice Laura mentioned.
Well, if this were The Voice, he certainly fit his job. He spoke in a way that felt calming to Carlos; his Voice was perfect for it. He even found that he literally could not form the words to describe the Voice he was hearing.
Carlos glanced again at the eye watching him, and when he turned back to the box to grab the last of his things (he didn't have much, except for his science equipment, which was in the lab), there was another one. It went from royal purple to bright pink, then faded back to purple and floated away from, but still close to, Carlos.
"That new scientist," The Voice said from the radio, "We now know he’s named Carlos."
Carlos wondered again to himself how this man he'd never met seemed to know so much about him. Could it be stalking? No, it couldn't. Carlos hadn't even been here that long anyway, and somehow he just knew that this town was weird, but not that freakish. Perhaps The Voice was omniscient or something? That was a thing, right? In Night Vale, anyway.
Carlos turned off the radio. He decided that he'd done enough today. He was pretty much done unpacking anyway. He would go outside and study Night Vale when it was...well, night. It could be fun.
He went to the door, shrugging on his lab coat, but found that the door would not open.
Carlos tried his keys- they didn't work.
He turned around only to be met with three eyes, now. Except, they were different.
The eyes were a darker palette of purples, and the crescent-shaped pupils would dilate to a smaller sliver of moon than normal. If Carlos didn't know any better, he'd think they were angry at him. What he had done, he wasn't sure; but he did have a theory. Carlos always had a theory.
He slowly walked past the cluster of eyes over to the small table where the radio was, never turning his back to the eyes, the way one might back away from a bear.
Carlos turned on the radio.
"-ve instantly. Government agents from a vague yet menacing agency were in the back, watching." Came The Voice.
The eyes once again returned to their normal state and floated closer to Carlos, spreading out to watch him from various angles.
"Fascinating..." Carlos muttered to himself, taking note of this oddity on the notepad that he always keeps on hand. "So they enjoy radio...?"
Or, Carlos thought, did they enjoy the man on the radio?
Perhaps these strange eyes were related to The Voice, somehow. That would sure explain how The Voice knew who he was, at least.
Carlos had apparently zoned out thinking about them without realizing it, because the next thing he knew, the show was practically over.
"Settling in to be another clear and pretty evening here in Night Vale. I hope all of you out there have someone to sleep through it with, or at least good memories of when you did. Good night, listeners. Good night."
Carlos glanced over at the eyes watching him (he had grown quite used to them now, come to think of it). He turned off the radio...and they were fine. Another one even appeared, in fact. Four, now- Carlos was counting.
Assuming (which Carlos didn't usually do) that these eyes were connected to The Voice, what did they mean? Why was The Voice watching him? Why was it him of all people?
And why- why so many eyes? A few should suffice. Certainly, four was a bit overkill, wasn't it?
Carlos wasn't even the most interesting person, anyway. What could The Voice want?
He decided to go to his lab. This was a lot to think about, and things felt easier to deal with when he was surrounded by science. Sure, the sun was almost down, but it was fine.
Carlos grabbed his keys and headed out the door.
Carlos opened the door to his lab and turned on the lights. He was the only one here, and it was pitch-black outside, but he did not feel afraid; he was in a science lab, so he felt safe, of course.
He spent a while just messing around with chemicals and sciencing, as he does, until he decided it was getting really late and he should go home.
Carlos cleaned up what he had been doing and went to turn around, only to be met with a man standing there.
It scared Carlos. He hadn't expected it, obviously.
Who was this guy? How did he get into the lab- what did he want? Carlos' mind was filled with questions he could not answer.
"Oh! You're looking at me-." The man said. His Voice sounded familiar...
Wait.
Voice.
This was The Voice, standing here in front of Carlos.