Personal Journal: William Aucaman

07/23/2175

At about 9:00 this morning my house got a call from the Ellensburg Police Department. Cynthia's little sister Olivia went missing in a fire some time yesterday morning. Police and Ambience engineers tried to track her Interlink but had no luck. So, the cops decided to open up a search of the city and the countryside and called us up for manpower. Apparently, there were no traces of her body, as if she'd been incinerated in the fire. My brother Adrian explained that they could search for the genetic trace of someone who had been burned, but they apparently found nothing. My mom, Adrian and I went to help with the search. Dad stayed home to work on some deadline projects but said that he'd join us as soon as he could.

Cynthia's house was burned down to the foundation. No fire crews were in the area anymore; the fire had happened early yesterday morning. Cynthia and her parents were there. The police were organizing search parties to fan out from the house in all directions. I almost didn't recognize Cynthia; she was very distressed, and pretty dirty from the fire yesterday morning. I don't think she'd showered or slept well last night. When I spoke to firemen later, they told me that she'd been hit in the head by a falling beam; no permanent damage was done, but it may have given her head pain and may have disrupted certain Interlink functions. I can only imagine how disorienting that might be, based on the things I've heard about the Interlink. Her parents were quite calm, though.

Looking around in her neighborhood, I was struck by how flimsy much of the construction was; it's a shock the whole neighborhood didn't go up in smoke. Many of the newer buildings are like that, of course, but everything I've seen of Cynthia made me think she was far closer to being upper class, maybe even corporate class, than it turns out that she is.

I spoke to Cynthia shortly before we split up to search. I told her I was sorry for what had happened and asked if she was all right. She seemed exhausted and lashed out a little bit.

"Am I all right?" she snapped at me. "My sister is missing, my head feels like it's been split in two, I haven't slept or eaten in 12 hours! How do you think I'm doing?"

I apologized for bothering her. She apologized to me for freaking out, saying that all her senses were in chaos since the beam had hit her. One more reason not to have one of those things, of course, but I didn't say so.

My party went south and kept on in that direction for about three hours, comically close together the whole time, yelling for Olivia and peering at the ground. We had a couple of bloodhounds with us from the EPD and one of the local ranchers, who claimed that his was a far more expert tracker than any that the police could field. We found no trace of her. Some of the older volunteers had to quit after that. The rest of us kept on for about two hours. Then the police called it off. Apparently, the girl had been pretty sick the night she disappeared; they weren't sure how far she could have gotten.

The police gave us all a lift back to the meeting point. My brother was already there, and he was pretty unhappy. Evidently, there had been tracks near the creek, not human tracks, but tracks of something large and bipedal. He described them as "almost human, but with claw marks on three toes and possibly another sticking out from the heel." But then, the police ignored him! They claimed that it was probably some animal of some kind and told him that it wasn't relevant to the search. When he persisted, the told him that he could follow them himself, but that he couldn't bother any of them with what he found. I've always had a solid opinion of the EPD, but this kind of blatant incompetence is beyond what I've ever heard of.

Adrian followed the tracks as far as he could, but he's not quite as good of a tracker as me, so he lost them after about twenty yards in the undergrowth. So, when all the volunteers had left, we stayed behind to check out the tracks. It was pretty late by that time, almost five-ish, so the light was far from ideal, but we went after it anyway. I was able to follow its track for about an extra hundred yards, but it stopped suddenly. I'm not sure what happened to it but finding it after that would have taken a better tracker than me. The tracks themselves weren't very well preserved; they were about a day old, by the size and distance from the stream. They head Eastward into the woods in more or less of a straight line. They start a little West of the stream and cross into the woods. Whatever the thing is, it's heavy; several of the tracks were very deep. It was very tall, too. The footprints were almost three quarters of a meter apart from each other, and it wasn't running, so I'd have to say it was around three meters in height. It definitely wasn't human, in other words.

I can think of a handful of things it could be. First, it could be an alien; there is an alien ship in orbit, after all, so I think that that isn't impossible or unlikely. It could be a robot, an experimental or modified utility drone or something; I've never heard of one that tall, but I suspect that it wouldn't be that hard to give one stilts. It could be a genetic augment; a company in Canada experiments with human gene mods, or so I've heard. For the most part, I think it's technically illegal, but so was hijacking the human brain, then Ambience made it possible anyway and no one cared. The only other thing I can think of is if it is some sort of hoax, someone on stilts or something, wanting someone to believe that it was one of the other things. Personally, I think one of the first two or the last is most likely. I also think that they have something to do with the missing girl, although I'm not sure what.

Adrian and I took the evidence of the tracks to the EPD. We both took photos and tracked the trail on a map of the area. But the commissioner, who is apparently an idiot, still wouldn't listen. He said that if the tracks weren't a hoax, then they were certainly from an animal or a bear. I told him that, not only are bears extinct outside of national parks, but no bear alive is three meters tall. Then he said I was wrong and told me to "piss off."

The conduct of the EPD in this case has been disgraceful. But I wonder if there's more to it; I wonder if there's a conspiracy of some kind. I have no idea why the police would want to cover up a kidnapping like this, but it seems as if they have.

I called Cynthia on our way back home and told her about the tracks, though not the police behavior. Adrian was quiet until we got home, when he suggested that we try a lightwave survey to check the forest for anything out of the ordinary. We plan to try it out tomorrow morning.

Official Transcript:Phone Call: From Cynthia Mattingly: To William Aucaman: 07/23/2175, 2140 Local Time

AUCAMAN: Cynthia? Hello?

MATTINGLY: Billy, I need you to show me those tracks you found out there.

AUCAMAN: Okay. Um, I can meet you tomorrow morning-

MATTINGLY: Not tomorrow, Billy, we need to go right now.

[Pause]

AUCAMAN: Um, okay. You realize it's dark out, right?

MATTINGLY: So? I thought you said you could track this thing.

AUCAMAN: In daylight, yeah, but I'm not Aragorn.

MATTINGLY: You're not what?

AUCAMAN: Never mind. Point is, to track something I have to be able to see the tracks, which is difficult in the dark.

MATTINGLY: So bring a flashlight. Heck, I'll bring flashlights. I'll have Brent bring flashlights.

AUCAMAN: Your boyfriend?

MATTINGLY: You think I'm not going to make him help?

AUCAMAN: No, just... surprised is all.

MATTINGLY: Whatever. Just get down here and bring a flashlight.

AUCAMAN: Look, I'm sure that the tracks will still be there tomorrow-

MATTINGLY: Not tomorrow, Billy, now! Tomorrow will be too late!

AUCAMAN: What do you mean? How do you know that?

MATTINGLY: I just know, okay?

[Pause]

AUCAMAN: Okay. I'll come down and take you to where the tracks started. But I can't promise we'll find anything. Okay?

MATTINGLY: Okay. Thank you, Billy.

AUCAMAN: Of course. I'll be there in a few minutes.

[End Transcript]

Official Transcript: Raw Video: Brent Calhoun: 07/23/2175

[Begin Playback]

[Calhoun holds camera aimed towards his face]

CALHOUN: Hey, everybody, it's me. I know it's kinda late, but I guess we all know that that's when the fun stuff happens, right? So, my girlfriend just linked up with me and asked me to come meet her where her house used to be and help her go out and find these animal tracks in the woods. She says it might have something to do with her sister, who's been missing; I don't know what it could be, but she says she needs me there with a flashlight or two. So here I go.

[Recording cuts as Calhoun enters his car and drives. Resume recording as Calhoun exits to find Mattingly and Aucaman already present. Calhoun is offscreen as he readjusts his view towards the action.]

CALHOUN: Hold on... That's Billy Aucaman, right? What the heck is he doing here?

[Calhoun's vehicle comes to a stop and he steps out]

CALHOUN: Cynthia! I brought the flashlights!

[Calhoun waves his flashlight in front of the camera]

MATTINGLY: Thanks Brent. Thank you so much for coming.

[Mattingly approaches Calhoun and takes one of his flashlights]

CALHOUN: Hey, um, what's Billy doing here?

MATTINGLY: He found the tracks and told me about them. He knows how to follow things in the woods.

CALHOUN: Oh. Okay, I guess.

MATTINGLY: Is something wrong with that?

CALHOUN: No, I just... kind of thought it would just be us.

MATTINGLY: Oh. Well... no. Come on, we need to get started.

[Mattingly turns around and returns to where she was. Calhoun follows slowly]

CALHOUN: Hey, Billy.

AUCAMAN: Brent.

MATTINGLY: How far is it, Billy?

AUCAMAN: Not too far. Um, Brent, are you recording right now?

CALHOUN: Yeah, man. I record everything.

AUCAMAN: Could you maybe not? I'm not comfortable being in too many videos online.

MATTINGLY: Everybody records things, or has a vlog, or something Billy. Should we get going?

AUCAMAN: Sure.

[Aucaman and Mattingly start walking towards the nearby woods. Calhoun follows and joins Mattingly. He offers his hand, and she takes it. Calhoun turns the camera towards her face]

CALHOUN: How are you holding up?

MATTINGLY: (sighs) All right I guess. I'm dizzy and my head hurts, but I think that's because I've been having trouble sleeping. And honestly, it isn't so bad now as it was; maybe I'm just glad to be doing something to find Olivia instead of waiting for the police to find her for me.

CALHOUN: What makes you think that she'll even be there?

MATTINGLY: Billy thinks so.

CALHOUN: Yeah, but, I mean, let's be honest; he also thinks that Ambience has some secret deal with the Hegemony. That's what he told you, right?

MATTINGLY: Yeah, I know. And he still smells like fish. But... I don't know. Maybe I just need to find out for myself that nothing is going on out there. It just seems like a weird coincidence; weird animal tracks show up in the woods near my house the day it burns down and my sister goes missing? Something just isn't right about that.

CALHOUN: It's probably just something wrong with your Interlink you know. Didn't you say that that beam knocked out some of its functions when it hit you? It's probably just making you grasp at things in order to make sense of the world.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, I know. But there's no harm in going and seeing, right?

CALHOUN: I suppose not.

[They proceed in silence. Aucaman leads the way. In two minutes and 46 seconds, they arrive at the creek where Adrian found the tracks]

AUCAMAN: They should be around here.

[Calhoun aims the camera towards the ground and stream. He points his flashlight in the same direction. Aucaman and Mattingly do the same. Aucaman reaches the water's edge. He turns around a few times. He becomes increasingly agitated]

CALHOUN: So, where are they, Billy?

AUCAMAN: I don't know. They should be right here.

CALHOUN: So what? They just disappeared?

AUCAMAN: Well, somebody must have erased them.

CALHOUN: Yeah? Who and why? Did you bring us out here on a stupid prank? Cynthia's really upset about this.

AUCAMAN: Says the guy who's vlogging about this whole thing.

MATTINGLY: Guys, come on. Billy, seriously though, where are the tracks?

[Aucaman jumps to the other side of the stream. He searches the ground with his flashlight. He turns around in another circle]

AUCAMAN: I don't know. It should be here.

MATTINGLY: Billy, my sister is missing! I need you to find something!

[Aucaman examines the ground again and crosses the stream. He examines the ground very carefully with his flashlight. He moves in a circle following some sign from the ground]

MATTINGLY: Well?

AUCAMAN: There are some other signs here. I'm not completely sure in the dark, but I can see where the tracks have been brushed over.

[Aucaman looks up and examines nearby undergrowth]

AUCAMAN: Here. Do you see this branch? It's been snapped by something. Something big has been through here. And if you look at the ground, there's signs that more tracks have been brushed aside, same as back there

CALHOUN: It looks like a bush and some dirt to me.

AUCAMAN: Look, down here, all the dirt on this patch has been moved in one direction. See how the grooves and creases all point the same way? That means something has been brushed over it in one direction.

CALHOUN: I literally don't see that.

MATTINGLY: I almost do. At least, I think I do. I'm not sure.

[Mattingly puts a hand to her forehead]

CALHOUN: Are you all right?

MATTINGLY: I'm fine. Billy, do you think you can track this thing?

AUCAMAN: I mean, I can try, but I might miss signs in the dark. It'll be slow going at best. It'd be much better if I could come back in the morning when there's light out.

MATTINGLY: I keep telling you, Billy, it's got to be now. Tomorrow will be too late.

AUCAMAN: What exactly do you mean, too late?

MATTINGLY: I don't know okay? Just, please, can you try to follow it?

AUCAMAN: Okay, fine. But both of you need to be quiet, okay? If it's still around here, whatever it is, I don't want the two of you snapping every twig on the forest floor and letting it know we're here. Keep your flashlights pointed at the ground and follow my lead exactly. Okay?

[Mattingly nods. Calhoun sighs, but doesn't object. After glancing at both of them, Aucaman nods and walks out into the forest. Mattingly and Calhoun follow. They make slow progress through the forest as Aucaman stops and stoops to the ground to examine faint variations in the ground. The trio stops after 35 seconds, 1 minute and 12 seconds, 1 minute and 34 seconds, 1 minute and 43 seconds, and so on at fifteen to thirty second intervals, during which Aucaman takes several seconds to examine the ground. The trio advances through the forest, crosses the stream at a later point farther upstream, and continues into the darkened woods. At 12 minutes and 14 seconds, Aucaman halts and listens to the surrounding forest. He drops to a crouch and advises Calhoun and Mattingly to follow suit]

AUCAMAN: (whispering) Turn off you light.

[Mattingly and Calhoun obey as Aucaman turns off his own flashlight]

MATTINGLY: (whispering) What is it?

AUCAMAN: (whispering) I think I hear it.

[A twig snaps off screen]

AUCAMAN: (whispering) Don't move. I'm going to look.

[Aucaman moves off quietly into the surrounding woods. Calhoun angles the camera up and around to view the woods and the sky. Two minutes and twelve seconds pass silently.

CALHOUN: (whispering) Where is he?

MATTINGLY: (whispering) Shut up.

CALHOUN: (whispering) No. You know what, I am done with this. Billy is an asshole and a creep, and he is doing this, whatever it is, to mess with you. I don't think there were any animal tracks to begin with.

MATTINGLY: (whispering) Brent, he showed me pictures.

CALHOUN: So what? That doesn't mean anything. Anybody could make that up.

MATTINGLY: (whispering) Brent, keep your voice down.

CALHOUN: No, I am through with this. I'm going home. Have fun on your pathetic wild goose chase.

[Calhoun stands and turns to leave. His camera points away towards a patch of sky in the trees. A dark shape rises from the undergrowth. It blocks out the stars from the sky behind it. It seems man shaped but stands almost three meters tall. Straight horns protrude from its head. Two red eyes reflect moonlight from behind Calhoun. Calhoun stops dead still. From behind him, Mattingly screams]

ALIEN: (screaming) Shalvool nos ravanoch! Zakal-Faah menoo!

[Alien raises an arm and fires a red beam at Calhoun. Calhoun drops the camera. We hear screams and Alien roaring. The underbrush snaps. Slowly the sound recedes into the distance. Camera continues to run for three hours and fifteen minutes before running out of battery]

[End Transcript]