Episode 10

It's been a couple of days since I have been able to write about the first walkthrough of whatever was behind the rusty door.

When I did get back (and I'll write about the experience, I promise), house was super clean. Like, cleaner than we usually leave it. There were flowers in a vase on the dining room table with a note that read "We cleaned up."

From what I can gather, the corporation swept the house. In all senses of the word. Apparently not only was the house cleaned up, but also we were checked for bugs, the computers scanned and secured, and general security checked. You know, no breaches of privacy or anything like that.

I'm not sure how I feel about all that, but at least the house got cleaned.

So that morning the rest of my family went to visit some friends and I went down the access road towards the clearing. I walked around in the ravine for a little bit, "bird watching" and in generally trying to "allude pursuers." I get it worked because when I stood in front of the rusty door, I heard a pneumatic hiss and the door opened inward.

A single lightbulb dangled from a wire in the center of the ceiling of a small room. Besides the rusty door, the other four walls were bare concrete. I was a little confused; I had assumed the rusty door would lead into a giant underground lair like in "M.I.B." or "Captain America." I was underwhelmed.

The rusty door hissed shut behind me and I turned around in a panic. A voice came from a speaker hidden somewhere in the ceiling. "Relax, please." The walls puffed a quick staccato of compressed air and I guessed it was like the security screening at the airport, sniffing for explosives or drugs or something. Then a series of colored lights shone around the entire room, sweeping over me and everything else in empty space. The colored lights turned off.

A second passed and then with a series of unlocking clicks, the wall across from the rusty door began to separate. Even though I hadn't checked the walls closely, I hadn't noticed any cracks or hinges. On the other side of the opening was a well-lit hallway. The voice came over the speaker again. "Go to the end of hall and turn left."

I left the small room and continued down the short hallway as the door slid back shut behind me. After only a couple of strides, I was at the intersection at the end of the hall way. I turned left despite no signage. In a few more steps, a glass door separated the hallway from the secret base I had hoped to find!  

Episode 9

I signed the contract.

Maybe thirty second later, my cell phone rang with an unknown number. I knew who it was.

"Hello," I answered.

"Congratulations," said No. 5 on the other end of the line. "Come out back."

I hung up the phone and walked to the back door. It was dark outside and someone was working on a car in the parking lot. I could hear the engine running, but the vehicle wasn't driving. When I went out, No. 5 was doing something with this headlights. He wasn't replacing a bulb, but adding something.

I'll have to ask him about that later.

"Hey," said No. 5. "Take a walk tomorrow, midmorning. Make sure you're alone, and go to the door. They will scan the area and if you're alone, the door will unlock. Have fun."

I walked back to the house, closed and locked the door.

My family got home and we did the normal stuff: dinner, kids to bed, Netflix.
Once my wife and I got in bed ourselves, I told her everything that happened. I guess she's OK with it as long as I don't get killed.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

Episode 8.2

Yesterday when I got home from work, there were a pair of black pants, a food store rewards card, and two empty sports drink bottles sitting in the middle of the parking lot.

Episode 8.1

So the contract basically says I can tell my wife whatever I want as long as she tells zero humans.

It also seems like I can write whatever I want here, because no one believes it anyway. I will continue to document this experience. In case anything goes sour, at least there will be this digital evidence.

Though, I'm pretty sure "the corporation" can cover their tracks. They know everything anyway.

I think I'm going to accept.

Episode 8

About an hour after I had dropped that letter in the box, my doorbell rang. Luckily no one else was home. I'm pretty sure "they" knew I was alone in the house.

I will admit I was pretty scared when I answered the door.
When I opened it up, two guys were standing on the walk out front. I recognized one man as No. 5, a person I had seen in passing a couple of times in the months that we had lived in the house. The other guy was vaguely familiar and I assumed I was finally meeting No. 1.

We stood awkwardly for a couple of seconds until I realized I needed to invited them in like a polite host.

We all came in and sat at guy-appropriate distance from one another on the couches.
I was getting more uncomfortable.

"Here's the deal," said the one I had assumed as No. 1. "We know you found the door. We know you've seen people coming and going. We read your blog."

"You have a couple of choices," said No. 5. "Either you stop. Like totally stop all of this and pretend it never happened. Or, you start being helpful. The corporation can use a person like you."

"What do you mean, 'A person like you'?" I asked, honestly surprised at my options.

"In full disclosure, once we realized you had been poking around, we did some poking around on you. We have seen your records, your history, your presence online. All that stuff they do on CSI. You have skills that are useful to our corporation and we are offering to compensate you for those skills," said No. 5.

I started to speak, but No. 1 cut me off.

"You need to understand that if you agree to join the corporation, your life will change. I can't swear to you that you will be the next James Bond, but your life will get interesting. You will begin to see things in a different way, view your surroundings with new insight, understand the world through a different lens. Do not take this decision lightly."

No. 5. pulled a phablet from his coat pocket and tapped it a couple of times.

"I've just sent you a contract. Think about it. You will have 24 hours to decide; either delete the email or sign it and reply. There is an attachment that tells you what you may and may not share with others. Read that first."

"No matter what you decide, we are just neighbors. Nothing changes outside of the corporation," said No. 1 as he and No. 5 stood to leave.

I stood to my feet, mind racing. Too many questions.

We walked to the door.

"It was nice to meet you," I said lamely as they left.

Episode 7

I didn't blow up.

I used the front door for a couple of days, but the grill out back didn't explode. I don't know a ton about chemicals and stuff, but I figured it got cold enough to kill those assassin bugs from Star Wars, anthrax, or other chemical warfare. I hope.

Today I got the letter out of the grill. I laid it in the back seat and drove to a secluded park.

I made sure I wasn't being followed. Or at least, I tried to make sure no cars followed me. I'm sure the satellites can see me wherever I am. If they're going to detonate this letter bomb remotely, so be it. At least I'll be away from the house.

I opened up the letter.

No paper cuts, no white powder, no explosion.

The letter was handwritten (which I could totally analyze if was on CSI) and it said:

"We need to talk. Put this in [No. 1's] mailbox and we will make contact."

I sat in the parked vehicle for a while. I had a lot to think about.

Worst case scenario: they tell me to stop poking around the rusty door.
Actual worst case scenario: they kill me and have no witnesses.
Best case scenario: they pay for me silence and I live my life in luxury.

I drove back to the house and changed my mind about whether I would drop the letter in No. 1's mailbox a dozen times.

When it came time, I dropped the letter in the box, and closed the door.

Episode 6

I'm pretty sure I'm going to die.
Or at least, that's how it will look to the rest of the world.
I think they're going to kill me.

For a couple of days after I saw No. 1 enter his house, I didn't notice anything amiss. I didn't go down into the ravine. I didn't leave the house except to go back and forth from work. I didn't try to find anyone or anything.

But as I was coming and going, I realized that the car was still parked out front of No. 1's house. No. 5's car began to come and go at odd hours.

Today when I checked the mail, there was a sealed, blank envelope. No address, no return address, no stamp. I put it in my grill and closed the lid. If it is a bomb or poison or anthrax or something, I'll let it blow up outside on the patio and not inside on my dining room table.

If you never hear from me again, it's because they can't find my body in the rubble.

Episode 5

I think they're watching me.

More later, hopefully.

Episode 4

I saw No. 1!

Most of the snow has melted and so I have been less worried about tell-tale footprints.
I have been talking multiple walks in the woods recently, surreptitiously checking out the "rusty" door for any further signs of movement.

This morning a man came out of the door. He didn't really look around, just walked up the access road to the parking lot, got into the passenger's side of a car which wasn't parked there when I had come down to the ravine, and drove away. Luckily for me, I had been able to duck into the woods and I am pretty sure I wasn't seen.

A couple of minutes later, the same man came back into the neighborhood in alone in a different car. He parked out front, unlocked and entered No. 1's house.

Sighting confirmed.

Episode 3

During the first of the snowy days, we had walked down the access trail to the base of the ravine. Built into one of the snow-covered hills was a rusty door. We almost didn't see it, set back and partially covered with overgrown weeds and now the snow. The door seemed like it hadn't been used in years, maybe was a sewer access or something, but it was warm to the touch; not warm enough to give off much heat, but certain not as cold as it was outside.

We had tromped around the ravine for a while, looking at trees and birds and the stream that trickles through one part of the culvert. Besides the strange door, nothing was really out of the ordinary.

By the next afternoon, the snow had stopped.

I went back to the ravine later, this time alone.
Most of our footprints had been covered up as the snow had continued to fall after our first excursion. In the small valley were more footprints. Fresh footprints. Footprints coming from the door.

After looking around, I walked up to the door. From the marks in the snow, the door needed to open inward. The footprints led out from the doorway and continued up the access trail, heading the way I had come. The door's hinges were hidden inside the door and only the smallest crack showed where the door was separated from the frame.

I tugged off my gloves and dug my keys out of my pocket. Using one of the keys, I scraped a small spot near the bottom of the door, in a place I hoped was unnoticeable under casual scrutiny. I scooped up what I had scratched off and held it close to my face. What I had originally assumed to be rust was in reality paint. The door was not rusty, it was painted to look aged.

I looked down at the footprints again and realized that now my footprints stood out in the clearing. I began to walk at random around the area, trying to make it seem as though I had been wandering around and wasn't only checking out the door. After I had convinced myself that the amount and pattern of footprints hid my true intentions, I walked back up the access trail to my house.

I was glad the ice on the parking lot kept me from leaving footprints all the way to my back door.

Episode 2

Something nefarious is going on and I'm afraid for those of us who aren't in the inner circle.

No. 1 is a spy. This is a fact.
No. 2 covers up for No. 1.
No. 5 is the handler. He deals with technology for No. 1. Tracks his location on GPS and other high-tech gadgets.

There are tunnels underneath the houses. I have heard them being used and we stumbled upon a back entrance in the woods. After we can sneak there again, I will need to post more.

The neighborhood has too many dead-end streets to be normal. Allegedly these are for "future development," but the existing houses have been here for years and the underground spy base would deter any continued construction.

The other day, two cars were parked in one of the dead end spaces backing up to the woods. One was a sedan and one an SUV. I had come home with groceries and our lot was basically empty. I am pretty sure they saw me looking at them. By the time I had brought the groceries inside, both cars with gone.

Both No. 7 and No. 8 work for "the Corporation." Future interaction with these will hopefully tell me more about what the "Corporation" does and to whom they report.

No. 3 and No. 6 seem unconnected. Maybe.

Episode 1.2

Snow reveals people.

Those of us who know better, clear the snow as soon as possible, clear it off the cars and sidewalks and let the sun do its work.
Those who haven't needed to worry about the snow before sit and watch.
Some people are afraid of the snow.
No. 1 isn't afraid of the snow.

No. 2 dealt with the snow. She claims to know No. 1; she gave a name that I've forgotten because I'm awful with names.

No. 3 (both) have left the house. No. 6 understands the snow. The rest of the neighbors are indoors.

Episode 1.1

We have lived in our neighborhood for six months.
In that time, we have at least seen all of the neighbors who live in our row.

Except one. But there's a reason for that.

Some of our neighbors are normal folk; they have jobs at restaurants, bars, schools, corporations.
One of our neighbors never seems to leave the house. He doesn't collect his mail. He doesn't make noise next door. He doesn't have people over. He is No.5.

No. 1 doesn't exist.

At all.

At least, not the way the rest of us do.

No. 1 is a secret agent. No. 1 has a house. The house has a garage. No one and nothing goes in or out. No. 1 never collects the mail. No. 1 doesn't put out any trash. No 1 does have a wreath on the front door.

We hope that No. 1 is still alive.