A Momentary Lapse Of Reason

Pilot

No sooner had she said that, then an entire town just seemed to - there was no other way Carlos could describe it - materialise in front of them.

~

Carlos could see tall buildings and a radio tower off in the distance, presumably where the signal was coming from. And it had all just appeared right out of the blue. The scientists gaped at the vision in front of them as the radio perked up again.

".....*fizz*....city council announces the opening of a new dog park at the corner of Earl and Summerset near the Ralph's. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. It is possible you will see hooded figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park.....*fizz*..."

"What on earth? Dogs are not allowed in the dog park?" Natalia laughed and turned it off. "That's absurd!"

"Let's just get to the lab, shall we?" Carlos started. "Unload the equipment and then get the other half to the monitoring sta- Ellie! Mind that man!"

Ellie swerved to avoid the man who had been standing in the middle of the road before stopping the van immediately. She moved so as if to see if he was alright, but before she could even open the door, he was right at Carlos' window. He was wearing what looked like a SWAT team outfit, black-tinted steampunk goggles and a metal helmet that read 'Sheriff's Secret Police'. Due to the size of the goggles, it was hard to distinguish his features other than the fact that he had a thick moustache. His badge read 'Officer Brody'.

"You the scientists?" The man growled.

"Yes." Carlos said. "We are."

"You're the leader?"

"Uh....." Carlos looked at Ellie slightly fearfully. "Yes..."

"Come with us. Everyone is at City Hall and expecting you. Here are your maps and orange ponchos." He thrust the items at Dr Parker, who looked slightly put out. Carlos began to get out of the van.

"Carlos-"

"Don't worry, Ellie, just go and get everything set up. You're in charge until I get back."

Ellie nodded nervously, before driving off in the direction that the new map had told them go.

"This way, sir."

Officer Brody indicated towards a large looking building that Carlos presumed to be City Hall.

~

After a few minutes of questioning the officer to no avail, Carlos was half-shoved up on a podium in front of a large group of people.

"Hello." Carlos said. He tried to put on his best professional speaking voice.

"I'm Dr Carlos Valdez. I'm here with my colleagues to investigate your town. You are by far the most scientifically interesting community in the whole US. We've already seen some strange occurrences, so we've come to figure out just what is going on around here."

He grinned sheepishly, hoping that that didn't make him sound like he was going to intrude their privacy. He scanned the crowd very quickly. There were mostly journalists, a disproportionate amount for the number of people he assumed would live in a town the size that Night Vale appeared to be. There were some strange men in black suits at the back, but Carlos paid them no heed. He just wanted to get back to the lab.

"Um, yeah. So we'll be around, but we'll try not to bother anyone unless necessary. Thanks." He half-ran off the podium. Oh, Carlos, you idiot. He thought. Way to make a first impression.

~

Officer Brody escorted Carlos back to his lab immediately after, brushing off questions fired at him by a woman that Brody later told him was actually the Mayor, Pamela Winchall.
When he reached the lab, Carlos observed Ellie and Perez loading equipment into the van under a large neon sign reading 'Big Rico's Pizza'.