1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,359 Let's consider some hypotheticals. Let's say you've got yourself a master's degree. Let's 2 00:00:08,359 --> 00:00:12,679 say you've got a job at a small branch of state government. Let's say 3 00:00:12,679 --> 00:00:17,519 you work there for the better part of your early adult life. You built 4 00:00:17,559 --> 00:00:21,839 everything around that job, got an apartment, moved in with your girlfriend, 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:27,320 had an orange cat with seemingly a single brain cell. Life is good, 6 00:00:27,679 --> 00:00:35,320 right, Hypothetically, Then comes along this man says he works in conjunction with 7 00:00:35,359 --> 00:00:40,960 the federal government and the private sector. The guy reeks corporate, got a 8 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,320 suit with a custom cut, no labels on his clothes, tells us that 9 00:00:45,439 --> 00:00:49,280 we're going to be working closely with a small department that has recently got a 10 00:00:49,359 --> 00:00:54,679 boost. Apparently there's a need for expansion, and some people from my branch 11 00:00:54,719 --> 00:00:59,479 will be moving on up. Let's say that one of those people is me. 12 00:01:00,719 --> 00:01:06,239 Hypothetically, all right, I'm going to stop with that. Sorry, 13 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,400 it still gets to me. You can safely presume that I've changed a couple 14 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,280 of details to make myself less recognizable. I got to get through the filters. 15 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:22,760 I had moved from Milwaukee up to Superior. Sarah and I tried to 16 00:01:22,799 --> 00:01:26,840 make it work, but she couldn't leave the city behind. He came down 17 00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:32,719 to a choice between me and the rest of her life. It made sense 18 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,599 for her to stay. Kind of annoyed me. She kept the cat, 19 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:42,879 though, that thing I loved. I started working at the DUC in September 20 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:49,359 of nineteen ninety eight. At first I didn't even know what the acronym stood 21 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,400 for. It wasn't a matter of secrecy, But they had these stupid sayings 22 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:59,879 plastered along the walls that people followed to a t. For example, water 23 00:02:00,159 --> 00:02:06,799 off a duck's back. This was the standard operating procedure. Don't ask too 24 00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:13,520 many questions. Let your questions and worries drift right off like water offer ducks 25 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:19,039 back. They displayed this proudly in the lunch room with a picture of a 26 00:02:19,159 --> 00:02:25,199 duck peacefully sleeping by a pond. We worked in collaboration with other agencies in 27 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:32,639 Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota. Mostly Minnesota. I helped them develop software 28 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:39,120 to codify reports of invasive ecological species. It would break down verbal reports with 29 00:02:39,199 --> 00:02:46,159 the bare bones takes the speech program, which in turn is transcribed and separated 30 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:53,039 into categories. Categories were measured, analyzed, and turned into probability reports. 31 00:02:53,199 --> 00:02:58,960 Once information had been categorized, the most prominent reports will be sent to the 32 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:05,800 department lead. Seemed simple by today's standards, but back then it was cutting 33 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:12,319 edge staff. It was November nineteen ninety nine when we final lies the first 34 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:19,439 version of our system, lovingly named Daisy. Hours before the launch party, 35 00:03:19,879 --> 00:03:23,400 the department lead took me to his office, closed the blinds, and sat 36 00:03:23,479 --> 00:03:30,919 quietly across from me for about two solid minutes. This man, the department 37 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:37,560 lead, was Thomas Rubin, a sixty seven year old extra sergeant with a 38 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:43,599 penchant for the dramatic, kept his head as bold as his lies. Having 39 00:03:43,599 --> 00:03:46,919 worked there for over a year. I thought I had a foot in the 40 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:53,360 door by then. Turns out I was still on the outside until that very 41 00:03:53,439 --> 00:04:01,599 moment. Thomas poured me a shot mint schnaps. To a job well done, 42 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:08,439 he said, raising his glass. I accepted the invitation and down the 43 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:15,240 shot. What the hell right do you have reoccurring nightmares? He asked? 44 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,680 Seeing something strange at night those last few hours before the sunrise? Do the 45 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:27,839 shadows gain a peculiar tint? No, sir, you're not a very haunted 46 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,800 man, are you? I'm not, sir. I can work With that, 47 00:04:33,879 --> 00:04:39,120 he bored me another drink. I can get you working on the real 48 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:42,959 deal, he said. But you're not going to like it. You're not 49 00:04:42,959 --> 00:04:46,160 going to like it one bit. That sounds like a party to you. 50 00:04:46,639 --> 00:04:53,000 I took the glass and studied it, little sugar crystals swirling around, back 51 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:58,680 lit from a lone computer screen. I downed the second shot, and Thomas 52 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:04,360 smiled. Imagine a lighthouse, he said, and whenever someone thinks about the 53 00:05:04,439 --> 00:05:10,240 lighthouse, it lights up. You're with me so far, yes, sir. 54 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,079 And this lighthouse draws in all kinds of things from far and wide, 55 00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:21,160 traders, smugglers, warships, everything. But you don't want that. The 56 00:05:21,199 --> 00:05:26,800 beach is closed and these ships are bad news. What do you do? 57 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,879 We turn off the lighthouse, sir ah, But it comes right back on 58 00:05:31,959 --> 00:05:39,399 whenever someone thinks about it. Even when you do we demolish the lighthouse, 59 00:05:39,439 --> 00:05:45,160 sir, same thing pops right back once you think about it. Try again. 60 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:53,680 We forget about it, sir. You can't unknow something. Then you'd 61 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,040 have to go after the people that know about it, and you'd have to 62 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,879 be careful not to learn anything about it yourself. And that's what we do, 63 00:06:02,399 --> 00:06:10,040 said Thomas, we turn off the lighthouses. Thomas elaborated over the course 64 00:06:10,079 --> 00:06:15,439 of three more shots. What he was describing was an invasive ecological agent, 65 00:06:16,399 --> 00:06:21,360 something that literally grew from the ground. It's very presence acts as a sort 66 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:28,240 of go ahead for other more dangerous enterities, but thinking about it too much 67 00:06:28,439 --> 00:06:35,040 causes it to appear, not immediately, but slowly over time. The more 68 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:40,360 you knew, and the more intimate your knowledge about it was, the stronger 69 00:06:40,439 --> 00:06:46,160 the connection would be. I was safe, though you had to know the 70 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,920 details to trigger it. Thomas gave me the example of a red lily. 71 00:06:51,199 --> 00:06:56,040 You couldn't just know it was red or a lily. You had to know 72 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,519 both these things to imagine it clearly. Once you did, there's a chance 73 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:06,160 it starts appearing more and more in your everyday life until it takes physical form, 74 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:13,759 and by then you've opened an express highway to something far darker and far 75 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:20,639 worse. The DUC, or the Department of Unknown Crisis, was founded to 76 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:27,839 combat these entities in a way that doesn't endanger the general populace. We were 77 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:34,360 preventative. Mostly. The software we made scrubbed all details and simply stated an 78 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:40,600 address, sometimes a person, and the likelihood of their being at least one 79 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:46,920 physical manifestation of the invasive species present. As the system was automated, there 80 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,360 was no way for us to know the details. Only the computer knew. 81 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:59,160 According to Thomas, there was a time when these things had been completely eradicated, 82 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:01,959 right before the start of the Second World War. There had been a 83 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:09,040 concentrated effort to remove them. The methods they used was later adapted in creation 84 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:16,959 of the DUC. Turns out those things can't ever be truly removed. There 85 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:22,560 was an author who documented these ecological entities to such a degree that it could 86 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,399 be used as a gateway. While he passed away in nineteen twenty six, 87 00:08:28,079 --> 00:08:31,879 possibly as part of the containment, His diaries were discovered in the sixties. 88 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:39,320 Since then, the invasive species had free reign with no one to stop them. 89 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:43,840 There'd been some loose efforts, mostly from the private sector, but it 90 00:08:43,879 --> 00:08:48,799 took the creation of the DUC to start the work on a larger scale, 91 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:56,039 and there we were. From that point forward, I started to work with 92 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:01,519 more specific field equipment. Since being able to imagine the object is something that 93 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,240 triggers it to manifest, we needed a way for field agents to physically remove 94 00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:11,919 them without putting themselves in danger. We came up with something we called the 95 00:09:11,039 --> 00:09:16,399 blur guard, a full headset that removes all color, dampened sounds, and 96 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:22,399 mildly blurs your vision. Going back to the example of a red lily, 97 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:28,720 the blur guard turned it from a red lily to some kind of flower that's 98 00:09:28,759 --> 00:09:35,399 not enough detail to trigger a manifestation and thus deemed safe. Since our software 99 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,879 knew what to look for, we incorporated a camera and basic image recognition. 100 00:09:41,279 --> 00:09:45,200 There'd be a little green light showing up whenever what we were looking for was 101 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:50,600 in view. From that point, our field agents could play hot or cold 102 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,960 until they found what they were supposed to remove. And when it came to 103 00:09:56,039 --> 00:10:03,200 people, well, we can't kill them have them unlearned something. So instead 104 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,320 there was a targeted effort to herd them into place where we knew this problem 105 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:13,120 was prominent enough to go unnoticed. The DUC had done it for decades. 106 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:22,039 These were personalized, targeted efforts, maybe sending a particularly juicy job offer enticing 107 00:10:22,039 --> 00:10:26,639 a target to move things like that. We focused on two main sites, 108 00:10:28,519 --> 00:10:33,320 a rural town in Minnesota and one in West Virginia. There were talks of 109 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:39,759 one up in New England, but that was a separate department. These places 110 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,039 have been absolutely scrubbed to this day, you can't even find them on the 111 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,320 map. Our colleagues and the private sector brought up pretty much everything there is 112 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:56,720 to own, giving the DUC close to full control. It might seem cruel, 113 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:03,240 but most of these people had no idea they'd been manipulated. They lived 114 00:11:03,279 --> 00:11:07,679 good lives. We did our best to turn off as many lighthouses as we 115 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:13,360 could, but in a town like that, some were bound to pop up 116 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:18,519 eventually. Let's skip ahead a couple of years. In the summer of two 117 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:24,360 thousand and four, I had been on rotation assisting the development of new equipment. 118 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:31,080 I was also regularly updating both Daisy and the Blurguard. We had implemented 119 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,600 generalized search filters looking for the trigger words that Daisy could use, increasing our 120 00:11:35,639 --> 00:11:43,000 information input tenfold. Hell about ninety percent of forum infrastructure could be breached the 121 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:48,720 sense of descriptions of the invasive agents if needed. We had basic bots prowling 122 00:11:48,799 --> 00:11:54,159 most major discussion forums to contain eventual spread. One night, I'd taken my 123 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,440 work home with me to work on a camera light. Some field agents had 124 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,519 mentioned image recognition issues in low light areas where the camera refused the work, 125 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,360 so I figured an extra light source would go a long way. I was 126 00:12:09,399 --> 00:12:13,840 blasting my worktime playlist on my laptop, sipping on my second room and coke. 127 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:18,200 If I was going to do extra work from home, I might as 128 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:24,519 well make an event out of it. Just short of midnight, it was 129 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,679 time to try it out. I turned off the lights, put on the 130 00:12:28,759 --> 00:12:33,279 helmet, and checked to see if the camera light auto activated as instructed. 131 00:12:35,519 --> 00:12:41,639 It did. Strange thing, though I was getting her green marker, the 132 00:12:41,759 --> 00:12:50,159 helmet was recognizing the invasive element right in front of me. I know my 133 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,879 own apartment top to bottom, so I know exactly what I was looking at. 134 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:58,879 Blurred helmet or no. I'm obviously not going to describe it to you, 135 00:13:00,919 --> 00:13:05,399 but it had the appearance of a household plant, quite large. I 136 00:13:05,519 --> 00:13:11,720 had it in my window for years. For the sake of storytelling, let's 137 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:18,720 call it a red lily like in Thomas's example. Suddenly it dawned on me. 138 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,480 Now I knew what the invasive agent was. I couldn't unlearn it. 139 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,240 From that point forward, I was going to be a threat to the department. 140 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:33,279 This was an invitation for red lilies to pop up out of nowhere, 141 00:13:33,799 --> 00:13:39,519 possibly making everyone aware of them. But first and foremost, they'd be a 142 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:46,320 lighthouse for other things to come. I pulled a lily out of the pot, 143 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,480 roots and all, and shoved it down the garbage disposal. I swear 144 00:13:50,639 --> 00:13:58,799 the damned thing screened. The empty pot was left on the window sill moments 145 00:14:00,519 --> 00:14:05,639 my phone rang. Turns out my blurguard was actively connected to the daisy system. 146 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,080 It probably sent out a report to the department lead with my name and 147 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:15,440 address the moments it recognized the species. I held my breath, trying to 148 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,720 calm down. This was going to spark a series of events that'd be a 149 00:14:20,799 --> 00:14:24,440 report, an investigation. I'd most likely lose my job and be forced to 150 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:33,919 relocate. No worse, this was unprecedented. As expected, the call came 151 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:41,240 from Thomas. What's going on, he asked, I'm working on the internal 152 00:14:41,279 --> 00:14:45,919 camera light. I think there's a malfunction. We've got a positive match on 153 00:14:45,919 --> 00:14:48,600 your location. I know, I know. It's not a big deal. 154 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,399 It's nothing. We're going to stick to protocol on this one, said Thomas. 155 00:14:54,919 --> 00:15:01,080 Expect three field agents on site within fifteen minutes. Don't go anywhere I 156 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:05,919 pulled my hair, my hands wouldn't stop shaking. I usually get the shakes 157 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:11,080 when I'm losing control. I figured I better remove all traces of the plant, 158 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:16,480 whatever parts were stuck in the garbage disposal, and whatever remained in the 159 00:15:16,559 --> 00:15:24,159 pot. Except when I looked back up, there was another red lily growing 160 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,240 from the pot, almost exactly the same, like it had never left. 161 00:15:31,159 --> 00:15:37,519 I can't stress this enough. You can't unlearn things. You can't unremember something. 162 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,480 I tried not to think about it, but that just made me think 163 00:15:41,519 --> 00:15:45,559 of it more. I fetched a ruby's cube from my desk to focus on 164 00:15:45,639 --> 00:15:50,639 something else, but as soon as that color showed up, my mind sank 165 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,159 back to thinking of it. I got a garbage bag and through the whole 166 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,480 pot in along with the rest of the garbage. There'd be nothing left. 167 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,120 I went room by room looking for anything remotely resembling it, but there was 168 00:16:04,159 --> 00:16:11,120 nothing. So I left the apartment intent on throwing it all away. But 169 00:16:11,279 --> 00:16:18,600 see, there's this communal garden project outside my apartment building. It was filled 170 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:25,519 with these things. There were dozens of red lilies. My mind blanked and 171 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:30,759 I could feel my pulse rising in my throat. This entire neighborhood could be 172 00:16:30,799 --> 00:16:36,559 compromised, possibly more. I couldn't for the life of me remember if the 173 00:16:36,639 --> 00:16:40,159 lilies had been there earlier that day, or if it was a reaction to 174 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:45,840 my realization these things were insidious. They not only appeared when you think about 175 00:16:45,879 --> 00:16:49,440 them, but they made a conscious effort to pop up when they had least 176 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:56,399 expected or wanted. I called my landlord Jerry, and started pulling up lilies 177 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:02,679 from the community garden with my free hand. Some of them screamed. It 178 00:17:02,799 --> 00:17:07,039 was like a tiny whale from a baby. Some of the lilies clung to 179 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,680 the dirt, digging their roots deeper. Others came willingly. One of them 180 00:17:11,759 --> 00:17:18,400 withered in my hand, giving up completely. When Jerry finally picked up, 181 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:25,160 I was out of breath. I need to ask about the communal garden project, 182 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:30,400 I said. I work with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. There's 183 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,640 a bit of an invasive species growing here, and I need to establish a 184 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:40,119 time frame as to when they appeared. All right, the red lilies, 185 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,640 the community garden lilies. They're actually a dangerous and invasive species. Do you 186 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,839 have any idea how long they've been here? Red lilies? Oh? Yeah, 187 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:56,440 we've had those for a while. How long there was a silence on 188 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:02,480 the other end. Maybe he was thinking about it. I didn't have that 189 00:18:02,559 --> 00:18:08,640 kind of time. How long, Jerry, I look, I don't know, 190 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:17,160 eight maybe nine years. I grabbed my hair and pulled. The pain 191 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:22,559 in my scout forced me to concentrate a handful of hair gave way. Thanks 192 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,599 Jerry. If you see these, throw them away immediately. I'll do that, 193 00:18:27,279 --> 00:18:33,519 and don't tell anyone. We don't want to want to alarm people. 194 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:41,599 I hung up. I was flailing, breaking protocol left and right. I 195 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,000 was breaching, waiting to be sealed. I was on my knees in the 196 00:18:45,039 --> 00:18:48,319 dirt, pulling up red lilies by the handful. One of my neighbors walked 197 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:52,519 past, and I could hear a dog whining in the side of me. 198 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:59,039 Or maybe it saw something I didn't. There was no telling what this could 199 00:18:59,039 --> 00:19:03,279 mean. Most breeches would encountered was one or two of these things. At 200 00:19:03,319 --> 00:19:08,279 most they were usually contained to the Minnesota side of operation. Them having skipped 201 00:19:08,279 --> 00:19:12,839 the state line and latching unto me was alarming. This could prompt a whole 202 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:19,319 new level of response. I knew Thomas held a level black response where termination 203 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:23,480 of lives would be necessary to contain the threat. But we'd never employed it, 204 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:30,599 not yet. But looking around me and running the numbers, this might 205 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,759 be it. This could be the first time they'd have to kill people, 206 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:41,039 and I'd be the first in line. The field agents would be there at 207 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:47,440 any moment. My hands were red and raw from pulling up lilies and stuffing 208 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,519 them into the garbage bags. I was so frantic that I grabbed everything that 209 00:19:52,599 --> 00:19:57,839 even remotely resembled them, anything red, anything lily shaped. I tore up 210 00:19:57,839 --> 00:20:03,960 more than half the community garden in ten minutes flat. I could hear a 211 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:10,200 car coming, I couldn't take any chances. I looked over the garden again, 212 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,400 I couldn't see any of them, and sprinted to the garbage cans. 213 00:20:15,839 --> 00:20:19,000 The moment i'd thrown it all away, I saw headlights turning the corner. 214 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:26,279 I recognized them. I brushed my hands off the best I could and shoved 215 00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:30,519 them in my pockets. A white hatchback with government license plates pulled up, 216 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:37,200 and three people got out. I tried to stay calm, I tried not 217 00:20:37,279 --> 00:20:42,640 to think about red lilies. I tried to smile. I could tell that 218 00:20:42,759 --> 00:20:48,799 I was looking at agent estevas Young and Owens. I had worked with these 219 00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:53,519 people plenty of times to prep them for excursion, never to this extent, 220 00:20:53,559 --> 00:20:59,680 though, and never on this side of the States. They all fixed and 221 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Eva did their blurguard helmets. Rough Night asked the steps. Yeah, yeah, 222 00:21:07,039 --> 00:21:11,960 I nodded, working on an update the helmet kind of. You know, 223 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,039 sure, sure, we'll just check out the apartment and be on our 224 00:21:15,079 --> 00:21:22,839 way. You mind waiting down here? No, that's fine. They turned 225 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,759 on their image recog, singed their combs and gave me a pat on the 226 00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:32,839 shoulder. We'll be an inn out, said Young, Sorry about the trouble. 227 00:21:34,519 --> 00:21:37,599 I watched them. I send the stairway while I stayed out by the 228 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,720 garden. I was going to make sure nothing popped up. If the agents 229 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:47,799 just up and left, I could come up with a plan, I told 230 00:21:47,799 --> 00:21:52,480 Thomas eventually, but I had to be clever about it. I had to 231 00:21:52,519 --> 00:21:56,599 assess the damage and spread to make sure I could trigger a quarantine rather than 232 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:03,200 an eradication level response. Still, looking around the apartment complex, there were 233 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:08,359 probably hundreds of people living there. These things could have made their way into 234 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:15,079 every single household, opening the way for pretty much anything not that I had 235 00:22:15,079 --> 00:22:18,759 the slightest idea of what that might be. I was lost in thought for 236 00:22:18,799 --> 00:22:23,519 the better part of half an hour. What the hell was taking them so 237 00:22:23,599 --> 00:22:30,880 long? Had they found one? I walked up the stairway and put my 238 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:36,920 hand on the apartment door. It was quiet. It shouldn't be quiet. 239 00:22:37,519 --> 00:22:41,000 I got this sinking feeling, like my body heat was leaking out of my 240 00:22:41,079 --> 00:22:48,160 feet. My mind started a brace with possibilities. Maybe they left, went 241 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,079 to the wrong apartment. Maybe they're watching TV and my couch, having a 242 00:22:52,079 --> 00:22:56,519 beer, burning a red lily in the bath tub. Whatever they did, 243 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:06,200 they wouldn't do it quietly, and this was quiet. I pushed the door 244 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:11,279 open and was met with a chemical smell, like a moist mix of methanol 245 00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:17,960 an iron. It was strong enough to taste est evers. I coughed out, 246 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:23,480 are you guys in? There no response. I stepped back out, 247 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:29,839 gasping for fresh air. The smell burned my nose hairs. My eyes teared 248 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,880 up as I tried not to sneeze. I didn't want to go back in. 249 00:23:33,519 --> 00:23:37,839 I knew it was bad. I could feel it in the pit of 250 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:45,319 my stomach. Still I didn't have a choice. I stepped back in and 251 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:51,119 shut the door behind me. I turned on the lights. I turned on 252 00:23:51,160 --> 00:24:00,400 the lights. They'd been torn to pieces. There was blood dripping from the 253 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:06,119 ceiling, two severed arms on the kitchen table, an armless, legless torso 254 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,480 resting on the couch, the blood sinking into the cracks in the leather. 255 00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:15,880 The floor was covered in gore, torn straight from their bodies and left in 256 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:21,200 the open, muscle, sinew, vital organs, all splayed out on the 257 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:26,000 floor and furniture. There was a single red lily in a brand new pot 258 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:33,559 resting on the window sill. There was a bright red handprint on the bathroom 259 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,640 door. I gently pushed the door open, only to reveal the severed heads 260 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:45,319 of Esteva's younger owens, unceremosely thrown into a pile on the floor of my 261 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:51,640 shower cabinet. I don't know how long I stood there. My mind went 262 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,759 completely blank. I could honestly not tell if it was real or a nightmare. 263 00:24:57,079 --> 00:25:02,640 For a moment, I was awash with this intense relief. It had 264 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,359 to be a nightmare. It didn't make sense for something so terrible to happen 265 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,039 so suddenly. It took me a while to realize that there was something looking 266 00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:17,640 at me from the bathroom mirror. I turned to it. My face wasn't 267 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,359 there, just the dark space where my face ought to be. It was 268 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,759 like staring into a hole, vaguely shaped like a humanoid. He followed my 269 00:25:27,799 --> 00:25:33,720 movements as I leaned my head left and right. We looked at one another 270 00:25:33,759 --> 00:25:38,480 in silence, hearing only blood dripping from the living room ceiling. A trembling 271 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:48,680 whisper burrowed into my spine. Hello, this was one of the things Tomas 272 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,519 had warned us about. This was one of the ships that came to shore 273 00:25:53,000 --> 00:26:00,279 following the lighthouse, one of the countless entities invited into my world, drawn 274 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:07,640 by this thing, the thing that ought not to be. I hate calling 275 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,119 it a red lily. I want to scream what it is and have them 276 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:17,200 torn apart, but I can't describe them or they'll spread out of control. 277 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,799 The longer I stared at the thing in the mirror, the more I understood. 278 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,200 It was one thing to know about the red lilies. It was a 279 00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:33,160 hundred times more potent to know exactly how they worked. For an average person 280 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,599 to know their appearance might invite a few to pop up, but to know 281 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:42,720 them at the level that I did. That was an entirely different league to 282 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:48,599 these things. I was precious cargo. I could light a hundred lighthouses a 283 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:55,200 thousand. They perceived Astavers and the other agents as a threat and disposed of 284 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:00,920 them immediately. I was the equivalent of a carrier patient zero. I was 285 00:27:02,039 --> 00:27:06,440 stuck in the eye of the storm, and everything around me would be torn 286 00:27:06,519 --> 00:27:14,279 to shreds. I ran a hundred scenarios in my head. Destroying myself was 287 00:27:14,319 --> 00:27:18,519 the obvious choice, but that would be the nail in the coffin that would 288 00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:23,279 force Thomas to take violent action on this entire apartment complex. Without context, 289 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:29,400 he wouldn't know how to contain it. Losing personnel was the final criteria for 290 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,160 a black Lever response. However, if it was attributed to a breach of 291 00:27:33,279 --> 00:27:38,519 protocol or faulty equipment, I could bring it down to a quarantine. There 292 00:27:38,599 --> 00:27:44,759 was hope, but I had to explain it. I had to stay alive. 293 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,240 As I pondered my options, I heard a running motor outside. I 294 00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:57,039 stepped out of the bathroom and out into the walkway. Another two white Hatchbacks 295 00:27:57,079 --> 00:28:03,000 had pulled up. I'd lost track of time no one in Estevis's team had 296 00:28:03,039 --> 00:28:08,200 reported and all clear or anything. This had prompted a standard backup response. 297 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,519 If these teams found traces of anything, our entire field division would be called 298 00:28:14,519 --> 00:28:18,880 in. They'd probably put people all the way down in Des Moines on high 299 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,839 alerts within the next fifteen minutes if there was no de escalation. There was 300 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:30,359 already new red lilies growing in the community garden. They wouldn't let me speak. 301 00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:34,200 Talking was a hazard since I could verbally describe what they were looking for. 302 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,799 I could yell out they looked like red lilies, and the entire squad 303 00:28:38,839 --> 00:28:44,720 would be compromised. Up until this point, we'd never had to worry about 304 00:28:44,759 --> 00:28:48,920 that kind of willful exposure, and there was no plan for it. That 305 00:28:49,079 --> 00:28:56,319 DUC didn't have enemies in the active sense. We were preventative. There was 306 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:00,519 no way they'd let me talk or leave, not with three human remains in 307 00:29:00,559 --> 00:29:04,359 my apartment. At best, they gag me and burn this place to the 308 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:11,920 ground. At worst, they'd shoot me and then do the same. I 309 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,240 scurried along the walkway, turning left at the far end, I took the 310 00:29:15,279 --> 00:29:18,960 fire escape to the ground floor, hugged at the wall of the building and 311 00:29:19,079 --> 00:29:23,519 circled back to the parking lot. I burst into a sprint for my sedan. 312 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:32,200 Luckily no one noticed, at least no one that cared. As soon 313 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:36,440 as I got on the highway, I called Thomas. I had trouble staying 314 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:41,079 in my lane. My hands kept cramping up. Thomas picked up. I 315 00:29:41,079 --> 00:29:45,160 could hear him opening a door, putting on a jacket. You got to 316 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,039 tell me what's going on, he said, where are you? I had 317 00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:53,960 to go. I had to the places infested, so let's deal with it. 318 00:29:56,759 --> 00:30:00,279 I didn't know what to say. It was no good place to start. 319 00:30:02,359 --> 00:30:04,519 I leaned back in my seat, tried to keep the car straight, 320 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:10,799 and took a deep breath. There were flashes of read by the roadside, 321 00:30:11,599 --> 00:30:15,559 could have been lilies. The back seat was dark, dark enough to hide 322 00:30:15,559 --> 00:30:19,480 a possible shape. I thought I saw an outline in the rear view mirror, 323 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:25,119 but it might have been my mind playing tricks. Stay where you are. 324 00:30:25,359 --> 00:30:29,119 I'll have someone pick you up and we'll deal with it. I can't. 325 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,480 I said, it's bad, Thomas, it's real bad. How bad 326 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:40,480 are we talking? We're talking a quarantine breach, a protocol. At least 327 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:45,440 three casualties Thomas took a deep breath. He held a line for a few 328 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:51,839 seconds. I could hear him get into the car. You know, don't 329 00:30:51,880 --> 00:31:00,000 you? Yeah, that's I'm sorry. They're everywhere. I can't stop seeing 330 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,839 them. Don't tell me anything nothing. I shouldn't be talking to you. 331 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,359 He was right. Talking to someone like me who knew was like trying to 332 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,480 pit a rattlesnake. It could be over in a snap. We got to 333 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,680 bring you in. What are you going to do? Did we lose people? 334 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:26,880 Mists his team? I said, something came through. Jeez, are 335 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:34,200 you saying you're causing manifestations? I don't know, but you do know you 336 00:31:34,599 --> 00:31:42,759 if anyone knows, so tell me. Looking back in the rear view mirror, 337 00:31:44,279 --> 00:31:48,559 I knew there was something riding along, something that had caught onto me, 338 00:31:48,359 --> 00:31:53,279 something that had stepped into our world following the light of the red lilies. 339 00:31:55,680 --> 00:32:00,160 There was no point in denying it. I'll figure it out, I 340 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:05,559 said, I'll deal with it. Before Thomas got the chance to object, 341 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:13,279 I turned off my phone and chucked it out of the window. I drove 342 00:32:13,359 --> 00:32:17,000 for the better part of an hour before a familiar sound snapped me to attention. 343 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,839 Whatever surface level plans I'd made in my head dissolved completely. I heard 344 00:32:23,839 --> 00:32:31,119 the sound before I saw the flashing lights, a siren. I was probably 345 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:36,920 swerving left and right, trying to keep the car straight. No wonder I 346 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:42,519 was being pulled over. This could get real bad, real fast. I 347 00:32:42,599 --> 00:32:45,359 thought about bucking it and hoping for the best, but that had just draw 348 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:52,079 more attention to me. Instead, I found a secluded spot and pulled over. 349 00:32:53,279 --> 00:32:58,240 It was only as I pulled the handbrake that I remembered I'd been drinking 350 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,880 early that night. I'd had about two Roman Cokes. I'd completely forgotten about 351 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,799 it. I tried to consider my options, but there was no time. 352 00:33:09,599 --> 00:33:13,759 I was told to turn off the engine, roll down the window, and 353 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:19,240 placed my hands on the dashboard. There were two officers, a man and 354 00:33:19,319 --> 00:33:24,559 a woman. I could barely hear them over my pounding heart. To them, 355 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:29,720 it was a routine stop, but I was trying to save lives. 356 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,079 They had no idea what kind of trouble they are in. I tried to 357 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,839 wrap my head around it to come up with something plausible that they'd understand. 358 00:33:37,799 --> 00:33:43,400 I could tell them I had a bomb strap to me or anything, but 359 00:33:43,799 --> 00:33:47,119 there was no time. I hadn't even heard them asking for my license in 360 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:52,119 registration. I could feel a flashlight shine in my face, but I barely 361 00:33:52,160 --> 00:34:00,519 registered it. They asked me three times. Then they changed tactics. Sir, 362 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:02,519 we needed to step out and place your hands on the hood of the 363 00:34:02,599 --> 00:34:09,559 vehicle. I fumbled my response. This something in the car. I said, 364 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,639 You've got to be careful. There's, sir, is there currently a 365 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:17,840 weapon on your person? Something that can puncture wound my partner? A pencil, 366 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:22,559 a knife, a sharp set of keys. No, listen, you, 367 00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:27,960 you got to step back. There's something. My thoughts blanked. There 368 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,239 By the side of the road, I saw one, a red lily, 369 00:34:31,599 --> 00:34:37,280 clear as day, growing through the cracks in the pavement. Sir, I 370 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:42,440 needed to cooperate with me. The officer insisted, have you been drinking tonight? 371 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,920 I couldn't take my eyes off the red lily. It was like a 372 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:53,960 reminder that this was already over, that my fate and theirs was sealed. 373 00:34:54,000 --> 00:35:00,760 The moment we met dead men walking, please, I whispered, let them 374 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:07,719 go. For a second, I thought that it might do it. I 375 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:12,239 was willing to listen, to give in if that's what it took for these 376 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,079 people to live. The red lily knew, I know it knew, But 377 00:35:17,679 --> 00:35:22,880 like a lighthouse, it can't help but to shine and bring ships to shore. 378 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:31,639 And with that, a familiar tremble rose in my stomach. Hello. 379 00:35:35,519 --> 00:35:38,480 There was a flicker as one of the light posts went out. I closed 380 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:43,760 my eyes, trying to keep the tears in. The officer to my left 381 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,599 started screaming. I had a gunshot, but muffled, as if firing into 382 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:53,000 something at close range. I had fabric being torn, then flesh, then 383 00:35:53,079 --> 00:35:59,239 sinuant arteries. No one ever told me it was possible to deserve the sound 384 00:35:59,239 --> 00:36:04,800 of marrows separating from breaking bone. But now I can't stop hearing it. 385 00:36:06,639 --> 00:36:15,119 Hello. Primal animalistic screams a program response in a biology to alert other humans 386 00:36:15,159 --> 00:36:20,480 to stay away, to run. Splotches of blood rained down on the concrete 387 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,719 and the hood of the car. I could feel something warm splatter across my 388 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:30,440 face and run down my cheeks. The screams stopped. I had sunk to 389 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:35,679 my knees. I looked like a crying older boy, praying for it all 390 00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:40,639 to stop. When I finally forced my eyes open, the world was red 391 00:36:40,679 --> 00:36:46,000 with blood. In the flicker of a dying light post. I saw something 392 00:36:46,079 --> 00:36:52,840 vaguely human drop the sundered remains of a torso. He followed my head like 393 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:59,079 movements left to right, mimicking me. I could tell it was proud, 394 00:37:00,079 --> 00:37:08,760 like a dog bringing back a stick to its master. Hello. I stumbled 395 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:14,639 to my feet, leaning against the car to steady myself. The concrete was 396 00:37:14,679 --> 00:37:19,920 slippery with blood, and I kept stepping on something indiscernible. I tried to 397 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,360 look straight ahead as to not look at the entity too closely. It was 398 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:30,119 just standing there in the middle of the street, looking at me, waiting 399 00:37:30,159 --> 00:37:35,880 for me to say or do something. I looked straight ahead, pretending it 400 00:37:36,079 --> 00:37:39,719 wasn't even there. The car took a few turns of the key to start. 401 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:45,360 The steering wheel was slippery with blood, but I managed to steer back 402 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,960 on the road. The windshield wipers smeared the gore into a thin red veneer. 403 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,280 I had to go away, far away, and there was only one 404 00:37:55,400 --> 00:38:04,920 place I could imagine. As I mentioned earlier, the DUC had certain contaminant 405 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:10,599 areas, previously user spaces where they simply moved people of interest. But with 406 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:15,639 me there, they'd have to leave it alone. It'd be too dangerous to 407 00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:21,639 interact with. They'd have to trust that I wouldn't interfere as long as I 408 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:25,320 kept to myself and out of the way. I burned my car in a 409 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:30,960 field and walked nine miles. I washed myself off in the river. This 410 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:37,639 was a town designed to keep people comfortable enough not to ask questions, so 411 00:38:37,159 --> 00:38:44,119 having a stranger wandering off the streets wouldn't be a problem. And everywhere I 412 00:38:44,199 --> 00:38:50,000 looked there were red lilies. They were in the windows of every house by 413 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,360 the roadside, in every garden. Hell, they were even used as a 414 00:38:53,440 --> 00:39:00,599 logo. I'd seen that logo a hundred times. Maybe they had no idea 415 00:39:00,679 --> 00:39:06,639 what it meant. I've stayed in that rural minace of the town ever since. 416 00:39:07,679 --> 00:39:10,480 I've seen more horrors than I dared to count, but they seem to 417 00:39:10,519 --> 00:39:16,360 ignore me. They treat this place as a nesting ground or a staging area. 418 00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:21,880 Considering how many of them there is, I'm astounded that anyone is still 419 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:28,440 alive. Do you see has declared this entire town a hazard. I've tried 420 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,559 getting in touch with Thomas again, but all my attempts at communication with the 421 00:39:31,599 --> 00:39:37,440 outside world has been censored. If this, by some miracle, gets through 422 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:40,559 the filters. I urged that do you see to get in contact with me. 423 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,840 I want to be an asset. I want to help turn off the 424 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:52,599 lighthouses. And as for everyone else, the best thing you can do and 425 00:39:52,840 --> 00:40:00,519 stop asking questions. Don't question the armed men with strange helmets and look too 426 00:40:00,519 --> 00:40:06,000 closely at the strange plant in the community garden. Don't look for anything abnormal, 427 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,840 and if you see something, try to consider it might be artificial. 428 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:20,039 Don't dig too deep into this. If you're not involved, consider yourself lucky 429 00:40:22,559 --> 00:40:40,719 and stay out of rural Minnesota.