₴₮Ɽ₳₦₲ɆⱤ ₮Ⱨ₳₦ ₣ł₵₮łØ₦ | 3 | The Reporter

For too long, ₲Ɽ₳₵łɆ ₲Ø₮Ⱨ has been content to sit on the sidelines while her wife Ana's acting career has blossomed. Now that Ana's made a name for herself in Del Sol Valley, they've secured enough financial security to live comfortably in Oasis Springs with their two dogs, Artemis and Apollo. But the comfortable life is no longer enough for Gracie. She's been quietly plugging away at her career in journalism for years but still feels stuck on the bottom rung. She's desperate to prove she's front-page material. The problem is someone else always seems to scoop all the interesting stories before she can.

When she receives a call from Ana's half-sister Gaby, she's surprised. She's always liked Gaby, but they've never talked much outside of family events. According to Ana, she's developed some very strange interests lately: government conspiracy theories, aliens, paranormal activity, and all sorts of crazy occult stuff. Gracie remembers all this when Gaby claims to have a story and is immediately skeptical. At first, it sounds like the ravings of a lunatic: strange glowing flowers, once upstanding citizens now staggering around like possessed zombies, a possible military cover-up. But the details come together to make a strange sort of sense the longer she goes on. Gracie is intrigued. This could be the one, but it still sounds like a long shot, and she's not sure the risk of getting involved will pay off. She tells Gaby she'll think about it.

When Gracie runs the conversation past Ana, she immediately dismisses her little sister's claims as nonsense. They're either the result of an adolescent imagination run wild or unfounded Internet rumors, and that's that.

"But, honey, it's worth checking out at least, isn't it?" Gracie persists. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. If even a sliver of it is true, this could be my big break."

Still, Ana is unconvinced. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Suddenly, Gracie explodes. "I've given up everything for you! Everything in our lives revolves around your filming schedules and your magazine shoots and your charity dinners. I'm tired of feeling like your plus-one, your walking Simstagram accessory! I'm tired of waking up every morning to paparazzi flashes going off outside our bedroom window!"

"I... never realized you felt that way," Ana murmurs, her shoulders sagging. "I thought we've always been happy together."

Gracie embraces her reassuringly. "We have been happy. But lately I think we've both been settling. We've forgotten what it means to be truly fulfilled. This could be my chance to find out. I'm only agreeing to one meeting right now. There's still plenty of time to get out if I need to."

Her decision is made, then: she'll meet up with Gaby in Strangerville, poke around town, and see if there's anything going on worth staking her journalistic reputation on before committing. They convene at 8 Bells, which Gaby says is always swimming with military personnel. She doesn't think they'll take her seriously, but maybe they'll be more receptive to someone with real credentials. Plus, she's sure Gracie knows a thing or two about getting stubborn subjects to talk. Gracie has no idea what she's about to walk into and only the vaguest sense of the sort of information she's looking for, but she swings open the bar doors with well-rehearsed confidence.

Gaby was right: there are military men all over the place. When Gracie approaches, they seem friendly and polite, but their answers to her questions, no matter how delicately posed, are obviously canned. They all have the same clipped, business-like cadence.

"So, just to reiterate," she says slowly, "you're claiming there's no validity to any of the rumors going around town?"

"It's just those crackpot conspiracy theorists spouting nonsense!" one of them insists.

The other smiles blandly. "They're walking around claiming there's some big cover-up at the old lab in the crater, but they haven't got a clue."

She tries her luck with a lower-ranking serviceman, who seems on the verge of giving her something she can use. "I don't know why people are so worried about what's going on at the lab," he says.

"So there is something going on?"

His eyes widen, and his voice grows panicky. "It's no concern of yours, miss. We have top people working on it."

From out of nowhere, his higher-up arrives to smooth things over. "That lab is off-limits to civilians. Under no circumstances should you or anyone else go poking around there."

A white-coated scientist speed-walking down the sidewalk catches her eye, and she jogs to catch up to him.

"Sorry, ma'am. I actually don't know much about Strangerville. Up until recently, I've been pretty cooped up in that lab."

"The one in the crater?"

"Well, yes..."

"And you're sure you can't tell me anything about why the town's mayor has been wandering the streets in an apparently catatonic state?"

He wipes his brow nervously. "I really must be going. I'm busy studying some fascinating plants!"

"Plants?" Gracie hollers after him. "What kind of plants?"

Finally, she crosses paths with the first female soldier she's seen. She's young, probably a fresh recruit, but maybe that will make her more willing to talk. On the other hand, she's not as protected by gender and status, so she may be even more cagey. That is, if she even knows anything worth hiding.

"You must be investigating those rumors about an explosion at the military lab," she offers before Gracie can even speak.

"I'm sorry, an explo-"

"But they're totally false! There's nothing interesting going on there at all, believe me. You're better off forgetting it!"

In her haste to throw Gracie off the military's scent, the woman has actually given her a new lead: no one else she's spoken to has mentioned an explosion. Does Gaby know about this?

Speaking of Gaby, Gracie wonders what she's been up to since they separated. She checks her phone, and, sure enough, there are several new texts: Am trying to get in with the conspiracy crew. Hard work, tough crowd. Compare notes at the trailer? There's an address listed in the next text, followed in parentheses by another note: (DELETE!!!). Gracie rolls her eyes but commits the address to memory and does as she's told.

While she waits for Gracie to squeeze some information out of the military guys, Gaby decides she should probably attempt some reconnaissance of her own with the conspiracy theorists who have recently been pouring into town. Unsurprisingly, they're far too suspicious of her motives to even speak to her at first.

Finally, she runs into one guy who isn't immediately scared off. His name is Erwin, and he runs a tiny curio shack on the outskirts of town. Apparently, operating a business has made him more willing to engage with outsiders, despite his paranoid distrust in everyone and everything. Gaby takes a chance and asks him if he knows anything about the strange purple flowers.

He recoils. "You'd best keep your distance from those. The scientists have been running all sorts of crazy tests on them."

"What have they found out?"

"No clue. They won't say." He narrows his eyes and glances up and down the street before leaning closer to continue in a lowered voice, "But even if they did, it wouldn't be the truth. Those guys aren't even real scientists. The military just hired them to save face."

"Why won't any of your friends talk to me?"

"Well, you don't really look the part, do you?" He motions over his shoulder. "Come to my shop, and we'll have you fixed up in no time."

His shop carries the strangest assortment of items, occult knickknacks and mass-produced urban legend posters, mostly, but also rare books, conspiracy garb, and electronic bugs. Gaby selects a custom conspiracy t-shirt and vest combo.

"Come back soon!" Erwin calls as she heads off. "I might let you check out the secret inventory next time!"

Erwin was right. As soon as she blends in, the other conspiracy theorists flock to her like flies to honey. One of them tips her off about the Strangerville Archives at the library. "I haven't had a chance yet to comb through them myself," she says, "but I'd put money on some juicy tidbits being hidden in there." Another chimes in, "There's definitely a cover-up going on. I've been eavesdropping on the military personnel at the bar to see what I can figure out, but no dice."

Suddenly, Gaby remembers the listening devices she saw for sale at Erwin's stand. Those might come in handy later.

Back at the trailer, Gracie has already acquainted herself with Juniper, Ros, and Daphne when Gaby finally returns.

"God, I was afraid you'd been kidnapped by the locals!" Juniper exclaims. "Tell us everything! But first, where on earth did you find that hideous vest?"

"That guy at the curio shop down the road sells them! He and his friends are actually pretty nice once you gain their trust. Have you ever talked to them?"

"Don't waste your time with those imbeciles," Ros insists. "They're a bunch of quacks with way too much time on their hands. They just throw crazy theory after crazy theory at the wall to see what sticks. Trust me, they'll never see reason."

"Ros, come on! You're always ranting and raving about how corrupt the military is. How is what they do any different?"

"Because they haven't seen what I've seen! They're just a bunch of spoiled trust-fund brats who read something online and decided to waste mommy and daddy's money chasing it!"

"What have you seen?" Gracie chimes in. "It was at the lab, right? Was that before or after the explosion?"

"They're always blowing things up over there," Ros says dismissively. It's obvious she doesn't want to talk about whatever she discovered. "You'll have to be more specific."

Gracie drops it, for now. "Clearly, the lab is at the center of everything. It's all anyone can talk about: the military, the scientists, the conspiracy theorists, even the infected."

"Join us in the crater," Daphne deadpans.

"Of course!" Gaby exclaims. "Is everyone thinking what I'm thinking? We have to break into that lab, right?"

Gracie is uncomfortable with the ethics of breaking and entering, but she must admit it's the only viable way to move forward. Something is very wrong in this town, and no one wants to admit what they know, so the only way to obtain information is to go out and find it. That's why it's called investigative journalism, she supposes. Ros says she's never willfully stepping foot in that lab again, and Daphne thinks it would make her too anxious, but the others are in. They make plans to sneak inside the following night. "Wear black," Gracie tells them before heading home.

Ana is waiting up for her. "I'm sorry for being so crabby earlier," she begins. "I couldn't figure out why I was in such an awful mood, but then it hit me. So I took a test. I'm pregnant!"

They've been trying for so long. Gracie is happy, but her happiness is all mixed up with worry and confusion: this isn't exactly the best time. "I really think there's something to this story," she says. "I've always wanted to be a mother, but I also want to be a good journalist."

"I promise I'll be safe. Whatever happens, this child is going to have two parents who love him or her unconditionally."

The next night, Gracie, Juniper, and Gaby infiltrate the military lab. They thought it would be more difficult. Sure, there was the explosion, supposedly, which likely put an end to any regular activity, but they're surprised at the lack of guards. A military jeep is crashed out front, leaving a gaping hole in the security fence. It's like everyone was in such a hurry to leave, there was no concern for protecting what might be left behind. They walk right in.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who's feeling very Charlie's Angels right now?" Juniper says as they search out an entrance.

Of course, they don't get very far. They should have known. Somehow, the electronic security system inside has survived the explosion (if there even was one). They can't get past without a key card.

"You're the master hacker, right?" Gracie asks Juniper. "Can't you bypass the system?"

"You commoners have no idea how this stuff works. It's military grade. That's a multi-person, multi-day job, and I'm regrettably not superhuman."

Gracie and Gaby are still arguing about how they might get inside when Juniper starts riffling through a stack of documents on the desk beside them. "Uh, guys?" she says tentatively. "I think there might be something here after all. I'm no expert, but this looks like a partially redacted top secret report."

They realize there are several rooms they can ransack for evidence surrounding the locked door. An awful lot of stuff seems to have been left behind, yet another suggestion that this place was abandoned hastily.

"There's a legal pad full of scribbled notes. I can't make them out, but they seem like scientific equations of some sort."

"I've got a USB drive. I'm sure it's encrypted, but I might be able to recover its contents when we're back home."

There are several computers that seem intact, too.

"Now, these are more my speed," Juniper says, cracking her knuckles. "Show me those sweet, sweet deleted files."

Gaby sighs, rubbing her tired eyes. "This could be a while. Guess we might as well ransack the fridge while we wait. It's weird this thing still works, right?"

"It's weird all this stuff still works," Gracie replies.

"Ladies, I think our work here is done... for now."

When they get back, Gracie immediately collapses onto the air mattress, but Gaby and Juniper are too wired to sleep.

"I feel like we found everything and nothing at the same time," says Gaby. "Photos, notes, secret documents, but we have no idea what any of it means."

"You probably don't want to know," Ros says ominously.

"Are you ever going to tell us what you found?"

"Maybe one day. When you're ready." But it seems like she's the one who's not yet ready.

Juniper has been silently hunched over her laptop for a couple hours now. Finally, she speaks up. "I recovered the contents of the USB. There are thousands of files. I'm uploading them to the forums, since we can't possibly go through them all ourselves. I think I found a guy who can get us a counterfeit key card, too. We should have it in a couple days."

The others raise their eyebrows and exchange glances, impressed but also terrified. The online theorists have thrived on rumors and hearsay for so long. What will happen now that they have a mountain of real evidence to sift through?

Daphne flashes a faux-cheery smile and shrugs. "I guess all that's left to do is wait."

4 | The Groundwork