Found [Ongoing Serial]

11. Summary Report

David:

This is an informal summary of the events surrounding Nickelson.

Nickelson is a town in Pennsylvania that does not exist in our history or geography. There is no mention of a town by that name in that location anywhere.

It was discovered by two hunters on May 9, 2019. Local law enforcement alerted us. We have ensured local law enforcement, and the two hunters, will not spread knowledge of the town. By all accounts, all civilians have an aversion to speaking or re-visiting the town. We do not know if this is a side effect of the town itself. It seems to cause emotional and mental discomfort to select individuals. They prefer to forget. Which works well for us.

A perimeter has been established around the town, including a level 2 fence and regular patrols of armed guard in regular uniforms. No private individuals have approached the town since the initial discovery.

Prior to May 9, 2019, the town did not appear on any satellite images, although it does now. Before that, it was just forest.

The town is and has been empty of people since its discovery.

The town is not connected to the state electric grid. However, lights in the town, such as streetlights and interior building lights, turn on at dusk. We can not determine where the power comes from, and we can not use it ourselves.

No appliances or equipment native to the town will turn on. This includes the cars left in parking spaces on the streets. Brand new and seemingly older cars that have been patched up and made drivable. Same as in any town.

Technology, art, and items of culture date from 2001 to 2015.

Besides being empty of people and not being in any records, Nickelson seems to be a typical American town of the era. The businesses and homes you'd expect to be in a town in the early part of this century are present. The signs outside of town report a population of 2,600. There is a highway that leads into and out of town but stops abruptly on each side 2 miles outside of the town limits.

We have been carefully investigating the town. We can not find anything out of the ordinary about the town.
Radiation levels are no better or worse than the surrounding area. All items appear correct - wood is wood, metal is metal, etc. All materials are terrestrial.

Oh, funny thing. The big industry here in the town seems to be a chocolate and candy company. Get this - it's called Potato Chocolate. Some of the chocolate they sell has potatoes in it! One of the men ate one of the bars. It seemed to have some kind of emotional effect on him. No other edible items have been consumed, although all the eggheads say it's just normal food. Some of it expired. But normal just the same.

Artifacts found in the town suggest there were people living here. We have collected diaries, newspapers, books, printouts of conversations online, and other records. Vernacular from these records is, I don't know, all over the place, but readable. These records indicate the town recently suffered from the trauma of a popular high school girl gone missing. This seems to have happened in February 2012; a full seven years before we found the town.

We are still putting together the narrative in hopes it will shed some light on this place.

There is an echo here, David.

Patrols are regularly sent through the town. The patrols are armed. Until August 22, 2023, patrols encountered nothing unusual. Well, nothing more unusual.

On August 22, one of our soldiers, Barnes, disappeared under strange circumstances. We can find no trace of her. She appears on our surveillance cameras until she walks into a blind spot. It was so small that the techs missed it. Then she is gone. Just gone, David. No flash of lights. No wind. Just absence.

Her family has been told she died in an accident.

We've taken steps to correct this, and all blind spots have now been covered.

Are these two disappearances connected? I do not know.

There's more. Volumes. I've included some in this dossier.

But I wanted to give you only a taste. Nickelson can really screw with your head. A little at a time is best. I'll brief you fully when you arrive.

Looking forward to seeing you soon, David. Bring some scotch. We'll need it.

Kyle.