Summary: Carlos suffers from heat exhaustion after being out in the Sand Wastes too long, the team aid in the rescue of the children from the library and Jeffries considers volunteering for a local cause.
"Carlos," Jeffries sighed down the phone. "You've been out in the Sand Wastes fer hours. It's absolutely boilin'. It's not safe."
"I won't be too long." Carlos balanced the phone between his shoulder and his ear. "It's just this incredible fixture of land. The gravimeter is off the charts! Five times the normal amount of gravity usually present in such an area..."
Jeffries rolled his eyes and waited for Carlos' science rant to finish. He had to admire Carlos' optimism recently. Since he'd been on his first date with Cecil, Carlos had been on a constant high. He was first up and ready to go at the crack of dawn. Unfortunately, he'd been neglecting sleep on occasion again, but it wasn't showing too much.
"I know, Carlos." Jeffries said. "Just be careful, 'kay?"
"I'll be fine. Scientists are always fine."
Jeffries chose that point to hang up the phone before Carlos started talking about his experiment again. He'd have to drive out there or Carlos probably wouldn't come back for a week.
~
"The Summer Reading Program for children and teens has begun at the Night Vale Public Library. This comes as an alarming surprise, given that the program was abolished by the City Council thirty years ago. Though parents and teenagers have asked on several occasions to reinstate the program, the City Council has maintained its position, citing lack of taxpayer funds, the extreme danger posed by books, the peril of exposing children to librarians, and of course, the incident that precipitated the ban, which the town's older residents will refer to only as 'The Time Of Knives'."
"Are they crazy?!" Ellie fumed. "Putting children in the presence of librarians?!"
"The City Council always do things for a reason." Natalia hastily clarified. Ellie had an issue with remembering that everything was bugged. It was only a matter of time before the enthusiastic biochemist ended up being arrested, Natalia sighed.
Dr Green's blonde curls seemed to bounce for emphasis as she started speaking again.
"Yeah, but they're just kids!"
"We can't do anything, Ellie."
They were interrupted by the door opening and a groaning sound coming from it.
"Through 'ere. That's it, easy does it." Jeffries said gruffly, hauling up Carlos. "Dr Johnson, can ya grab him some water an' a bucket."
"Sure. Why a bucket?"
Carlos answered by retching into the nearest plant pot. Jeffries stood next to him grimly.
"Good point. On it." She sped off down the corridor. Ellie stepped forward and felt his forehead.
"He was out in the sun?"
Jeffries nodded. "A good few hours. No shade."
"Bloody hell, Carlos." Ellie muttered. "He's burning up. My guess is heat exhaustion. We need to lower his core body temperature."
"Some summer tips to beat the heat. First off, have you tried to reason with the heat? Humans, temperatures, angels, and chairs are all equally real and sentient, which is to say that we're all not-real, nor are any of us actually sentient, but give reason a shot. It has never, not once in history worked, but it might just work this time. If the heat won't listen to reason, try denying that it's hot."
Ellie scowled. "Remind me to talk to Cecil about the medical advice featured on his show."
Natalia's returned with a cold wet sponge and she placed it over Carlos' forehead.
"Do we text Cecil?"
"No...not until the show's over. Besides, he'll be okay. He just nee-"
Carlos threw up again noisily. "...he needs a few hours to recover."
"You don't say." Jeffries said, wrinkling his nose.
"M'sorry." Carlos murmured into the bucket.
"You should be, you idiot." Ellie scolded. "What were you thinking, being outside in this heat?"
Carlos pulled his satchel around to his front and lifted the flap, retrieving several pages of notes and the gravimeter. She supposed this was his insane way of saying it was worth it.
"Dr Green..." Natalia said uncomfortably as Ellie flicked through the notes. "Can I go to the library?"
Ellie gaped. "Inside?!"
"No, no." Natalia clarified, shaking her head; her feather earrings swished as she did so. "Just to help if the children come out."
"In that case, I guess so. But take Brent with you. And...ah, try to find some shade. Unlike SOMEONE." She said pointedly.
"Ellie..." Carlos whined in protest.
"No talking. Right, I'll get you a fresh bucket of ice. I am not going to have you die in the middle of the lab. Or at all for that matter. Imagine having to deal with Cecil."
She put Carlos on the sofabed and kept muttering to herself as she sauntered back into the kitchen.
~
It was sweltering hot by the time Johnson and Jeffries reached the public library. There was a large crowd being kept back by the Sheriff's Secret Police. It mostly consisted of what Jeffries presumed to be the parents of the captured children. As the van had air conditioning, they decided to stay in the seats. Natalia parked close to the crowd so they could see what was happening.
"I hope them kids're okay..." Jeffries murmured.
"The library is dangerous. It's the most dangerous place we've encountered so far in this town...apart from the Dog Park, of course, which is forbidden of course."
"....In light of this development, the City Council has declared a Level Orange fear alert." The radio suddenly perked up again. "They advise that all Night Vale citizens avoid the public library, and provide the Council with any information they may have on the whereabouts of the missing children, on librarians' secret weaknesses, or on good books they've read lately. Any citizens who admit to having read good books, the Council added in an impromptu press conference, televised from a book-proof bunker, will be immediately scheduled for re-education, and subsequent de-education. The Sheriff's Secret Police, meanwhile, have instituted a curfew for the entire town, effective immediately. After 7 p.m., all minors should be at home and under adult supervision..."
Jeffries pursed his lips. For once, the Council we not completely apathetic to the citizens in a life-threatening situation, but it did seem that there was only so much the Council could do in this situation.
"Say, Dr Johnson?" He turned to the young scientist. "Can I as' for some advice?"
All three of Natalia's eyes blinked. "Sure, Brent."
Jeffries fiddled with his thumbs. "Well, I've been thinkin', I wanna start doin' a few hours a week at the local middle school. Their last geography, geology and poison class teacher retired recently and they're lookin' for a part-time replacemen' as a substitute until they get a new one."
"You should go for it, Brent. We'll all support you." Natalia beamed.
Jeffries flushed slightly. "Yeah, well I jus' thought...it might be nic-"
He was cut off by a loud screaming gurgling sound coming from the library. Brent reached for his phone and dialled Cecil's number. It rang through several times before a voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Cecil?" Jeffries asked, confused by the unfamiliar voice at the other end.
"Oh, no, this is intern Gerald. Mr Palmer's doing the show. Can I pass on a message?"
Jeffries cleared his throat. "Yes. I'm Dr Jeffries from Carlos' team. It's about the library. But before I tell you about it, can you tell Mr Palmer that we need him at the lab after the show? Nothing urgent, but if he could stop by....?"
"Sure." The intern replied.
"Okay, so there are noises coming out of the library, There's inhuman shrieking..."
~
"This just in, listeners. We've received reports that the entrances to the Night Vale Public Library have reappeared, and the missing children have begun to emerge from inside the building. The children have been described as wild-eyed, feral, some staggering upright, and some running on all fours like animals, caked in effluvia and far more emaciated than their time of absence would seem to account for, but otherwise, well, healthy, and unharmed...."
The two scientists were pleased with what they had accomplished during the day. All the children had been returned to their homes. Covered in blood and returned to their homes, but returned nonetheless.
When Jeffries and Natalia arrived back at the lab, Cecil had already arrived and was sat next to a still groaning Carlos. His blonde hair looked dishevelled, like he'd run his fingers through it a hundred times too many. Ellie was out of sight, but the distinct smell of cooking chicken was coming from the kitchen.
"How is he?" Natalia's mouthed to Cecil.
"Resting." Cecil replied with a small smile. His purple eyes looked a little sad, however. "He was so brave. But he didn't look happy to see me when I got here." He muttered forlornly.
"That's because he didn't want you seeing him in such a state that he caused." Ellie shouted from the kitchen with a soft laugh.
Carlos groaned. "Dr Green, this is not helping."
"You aren't immune to sunstro'e, Carlos." Jeffries laughed heartily. "You'll be fine. Jus' need a good night's rest."
"I'm sure Cecil can help with that." Ellie commented slyly.
She stuck her head out from the kitchen just in time to see the two men go redder than she'd ever seen someone go in their life, as well as Carlos gesturing at her frantically to stop talking from behind Cecil.