Day 1, Stakeout: 2007

I don't think you've ever been to Cleveland before. If you had, you wouldn't have made it sound like such a bad place. I actually like it up here. It's quiet enough to hear a bird flap its wings and fly away. Especially here in Cain Park. Of all the places you had me watch, this was the best. I still haven't seen Ms. Nathan yet. Then again, she knows this place better than her own house; that is if the Director was right and she moved recently. Personally, I love just looking at nature. That and all the people passing...hold on. Gonna send this quick because I think I just saw her. Keenan signing off.

Day 1, Stakeout: 2010

I was right; that was Ms. Nathan that was running toward us. She's gonna pass three more streetlights before the SUV. Hang it, she just pulled an earphone out and noticed my van. Not a problem as far as I'm concerned. We are dressed plainly enough to be relatively unnoticed. Alright, she's jogging again. We might follow and try to make contact. It gets boring just talking to Ben. Shifting into drive. Keenan signing off.

Day 1, Stakeout: 2016

Alright. This time she's going the other way. Must be going home. She seems worried. I wonder if she knows why we're here. She does seem agitated. Gonna trail her for a few more minutes. Keenan signing off.

Day 1, Stakeout: 2048

Crap. I lost her, boss. She led me all the way to the docks, but now she's just gone. I'll have to come out tomorrow and try to find her again. Keenan signing...wait up, I just saw a streetlight go out. That's weird; those things are LED. And the next one just went out. Ben, wake up! You'll wanna see this. Ben, stop yammering in my ear. I know it's late, just come on. You're really gonna want to see this. Keenan signing off.

Day 1, Stakeout: 2050

Holy crap, the car just turned off! Ben, where are you right now? Oh, good, you're right where you were. Did you touch the key? Don't lie to me; our cars just don't shut off. Ben, really. Stop! Get our hands off the--

Hey, this is Agent Gardener. Is this still running? Good. So after I'm rudely awakened, Agent Keenan accuses me of turning off the car! What's next, saying I blew out the streetlights? Oh hey, look at the jerkwad over here, shaking his head like a smug son of a... What's the matter, buddy? Wait, seriously, what's wrong? You look like...

No, I haven't seen...*static*

There's...*static*

Is, like, a...*static*

Coat or some...*static*

Tricorder failed. Transmitting last message recorded.

Day 2, Stakeout: 1834

Okay, that was some seriously crappy tech. Screw you for putting me with Ben again. You must think this is some huge joke or something. I swear, that guy can break anything by putting his hands on it. This time I am NOT following her, no matter what you say. If she doesn't show--well speak of the devil. She's jogging again. Actually, scrap that, she's full-on running. Toward us. Ben! Throw the door open! Keenan signing off.

Day 2, Stakeout: 1836

So, she's in the SUV now. Ben's trying to calm her down, but the poor lady doesn't want to be calmed down. She's muttering something about Daniels. That means she has an idea why we're here. I'm going to get a statement from her and send it to you. Sounds like she can barely wait to spill some top-notch details. Gonna hand the tricorder to her now. Keenan out.

Statement #1215 (Edited for Coherence)

Hello, my name is Audrey Nathan. This probably has to do with Marcus, and I don't blame you for coming armed. I used to work in a small lab in Cleveland, under the Cross banner. I've always been into experimental physics. Yes, I mean like particle physics, but also much more than just the nature of electrons. I loved reading the newest sci magazines and arguing them with the other people at Cross. I think that's what made me so attracted to Marcus. He totally got me. And sort of an Electra complex, if you get where I'm going. He was tall, handsome, and his voice soothed my ears. Naturally I asked Mr. Croit to let us work together. Mr. Croit thought that was smart, since we worked so well together, and assigned us to the Galaxy Gun. That was what we called our particle accelerator because it's basically a huge gun...you're nodding so I assume you know what that is.

I've always been very curious, but Marcus was more so. He was also a huge history buff, scientific history mostly. One of his favorite theories was Zero Matter: the existence of matter antiparallel to natural matter. Since its makeup would also be antiparallel to protons, neutrons, and electrons, it had enormous electrical potential. This was old research, so I wasn't too certain it was valid. I wasn't even sure it was real science. But Abner--Mr. Croit, that is--jumped on it like a jaguar. The experiment needed hydrogen fusion to work. Unfortunately, we didn't have a hydrogen bomb on site. Fortunately, if there's one thing that particle colliders have a lot of, it's hydrogen. So Abner decided to run with this idea. He put the best PR on the case in hopes that he could make Zero Matter the future of energy.

We came to work early one day because Abner asked us to. When we arrived, Abner swiped the keycard and let us in.

"Why so early, Mr. Croit?" I asked.

"We're going ahead and running the experiment." He said simply.

"That's like detonating a hydrogen bomb!" said Marcus.

Mr. Croit put his hands on Marcus's shoulders and shook him gently. "Kid, we're just rehashing old research. It's not like we're stepping out of established guidelines or anything."

He was wrong. Or lying, and I think it was the second. What he had not told us was that Zero Matter was also called Darkforce when it was first discovered...by the Nazis, and it is not just subatomic particles: it's extra-dimensional. If I had known that we were working off Strategic Scientific Reserve research...well some Goddard Mr. Croit was not. But I didn't care to ask. I was too fascinated by the science. So we trekked to the observation booth and turned on the Gun.

Not even ten minutes in, a hairline fracture seemed to develop in the glass. "Minor structural damage!" I reported.

Abner shook his head. "That's not the glass, Audrey. That's something else."

The crack widened slightly as pieces of the floor down ripped off and disappeared.

"Shut her down," ordered Abner.

"Keep pushing it!" I shouted in spite of myself.

Abner looked at me like I had used the worst profanities in the English language, as if to say how dare I contradict him. It's not like he was Mr. Cross himself. He's just a lab tech. "I said shut it down."

By now the tiled floor had been stripped to the concrete for about 6 feet around the Gun. Suddenly I felt very certain that I had to shut it down. I turned the Gun off and the crack shrunk.

We dressed in standard PPE and left the booth to see our masterpiece. The moment we opened the door to the lab, Marcus quipped, "Looks like oil."

He was right; it did look like oil. It also didn't. It was both a liquid and a gas. It seemed to hover like a vapor but flow like water. It occupied the space where the tiles had been removed, yet out of the corner of my eye, it looked like more than there was. It was black, blacker than a night without stars or the Devil's soul. It was the absence of light. It was absolutely impossible.

Marcus and I knelt by the puddle of seemingly living liquid and he turned toward me. "It looks like it's--"

"Gone," I said. He turned back around. Truthfully, the liquid was absolutely gone.
"Wasn't it just here?" he asked.

"Maybe it reacted to you when you got close. We might have to quarantine you," Abner warned.

"It's okay, I'm fine," Marcus said. And we believed him. The Darkforce had just evaporated as far as we could tell.

"Zero Matter insubstantial. The experiment failed," Abner intoned.

Marcus shuddered as we reopened the door. "I'm not sure I'm built for this," he moaned.

And the next day, he quit. As he walked out, Abner grabbed my arm when I tried to wish him farewell. I ripped it away and hissed, "If I ever see you again, I will kill you myself." Marcus walked out of Cross, but not out of my life. A week later, I left Cross, too. Work just wasn't worth it without him.

I guess mortal eyes were not meant to see such things. It's one of those sci-fi lines that scientists like to laugh at, but it's surprisingly accurate. I got deathly sick, both in the mind and the body. My only companion during my delirium was Marcus, who became my eyes. I believed I saw terrible things happen, things that could not be but were.

As I got better and more mobile, I would go into these states where I would black out and hallucinate. I would hear screaming and in flashes of vision would see the black mist I had touched draining the lives of people I didn't know. Yes, I did touch the Darkforce, and it touched me. When I awoke, I was elsewhere from where I fell into the state, but Marcus was always there at the end. He never failed to show up to carry me home. He'd wrap his big black coat around me, and I loved him all the more for it. I asked him once why he stayed by me even though death followed me at every bend. He laughed and said, "Because you're the only light in the darkness. With you I see clearly." I giggled and threw my arms around his neck.

In this time of difficulty, I turned to my cello. I joined the Portland Symphony Orchestra and played to charm my fears away. Marcus would come to every performance, but even there I couldn't control my abilities. Marcus still would watch in rapt anticipation. Music seemed to calm my attacks, and Marcus would calm my hallucinations.

I guess I should explain why I came to you. You're agents of some kind, right? I have a confession. I'm a murderer. I didn't want to, but my attacks got worse with time. I remember distinctly I left a Starbucks with Marcus, when suddenly he gripped my arm.

"Don't look now," he whispered. "But I think that was Mr. Croit."

I did look, and it was Mr. Croit. He looked the same as he always did, his bald head flashing in the sun like the backup lights on a car.

Without warning, my eyes failed me. My coffee dropped from my hand and the world spun around me. I screamed for Marcus, and he came and held my hand. And soon more voices joined mine, out of agony. "Don't leave me!" I shouted.

He gripped my hand tighter and whispered, "I must." Suddenly he let go and my vision cleared. There lay Mr. Croit, his eyes devoid of light and life. I crawled over to him and touched his still-warm face. But he was already dead. I really didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.

And suddenly I realized. I was his light. I am his light. That is why I ran. I can't--

I just can't live with it, knowing--

I'm sorry, I have to go.

Day 2, Stakeout: 1945

Abruptly she stopped her story and choked out a tearful apology. She asked that she please have a head start. I'll give her ten minutes before we follow. That beep was the sound of the audio file being sent. My job's done here, but she needs immediate extraction. By tomorrow at the latest, I would say. I recommend Cookson; he's good at explaining the weird and bizarre to not traumatize civilians...more than she already is at least. Gonna return to base and get a jet ready. She needs serious help. I mean, imagine running from the guy you love because you don't want him to realize what a monster you have become. But that's life.

That's funny, the car won't start. Ben, get your elbow out of my face. There's nothing to see behind us. Stop poking me. I can't get this started with all your distractions.

That's funny, sunset isn't supposed to be for an hour or so, but it's getting dark really fast. Maybe I should turn on the headlights...oh, wait, the car's not starting. Damnit. Never mind. I'm almost certain it's just residual power drain from being near Ms. Nathan. Maybe she still has lingering effects of the Zero Matter. Poor girl, am I right?

Oh great, now my tricorder light went out. Can she affect us from this far? I literally don't see her anymore. But I do see something in the rearview now. Can't make out its face, but it looks like a guy in a long coat. He's knocking at the window; I can barely make out his hand. I'm gonna see what he wants.

"I just want a ride," he says. Do I look like a taxi to you, man? My car's not even working right. Hey, wait, man, don't touch the tricorder. I'm serious, man. Don't touch the--

He died without pain. I could give him that. I don't know how long this will run before my power shuts it off. Please help me. I need to find the light. It's so very dark. I can barely see. Black, inky tendrils wrap my eyes. And they swirl. Oh, yes, they spin and twirl like dancers. But I fear I cannot find her. Without her, there is no light. Without her, I cannot see. That is why I had to kill those people. I had to be near to her, so I could see clearly. That is also why I had to blind her, so she would not see what I had done. And why I let her believe she alone had touched the Darkness. She doesn't know I took it upon myself. If she believed she had killed them, she would turn to me. I cannot lose her now. I need her by my side. Without her, there is just the blackness around me. I need her. Please help. She is the only light in my darkness. Please--

Tricorder failed. Transmitting last message recorded.