Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leverage Headquarters
Portland

9:20 AM

The young man hadn’t touched his food. Nate wasn’t sure if he was worried about poison or just–too worried. He had flicked the bread off both sides of the sandwich with his fork, then pushed the plate to the side. He just stared at the beer.
“Could you tell us more about your town, Karim?” Sophie gently smiled across the table, using her coaxing voice.
“I…It’s–small towns are special, y’know? They have this atmosphere, this flavor, that you can’t find anywhere else. And for a long time, I didn’t like that about Nightvale. It felt off. But I couldn’t seem to leave, and I grew to love it. There’s no place in the world like Nightvale, and if Strex Corp comes back…they’ll ruin it forever. This company, they’re a stain. They leave a sour taste on your teeth.”
“You said Strex Corp?” Nate looked up at Karim. He had never heard that name before, and his list of corrupt companies to keep an eye on was updated daily. “What, uh, what kind of company are they?”
Karim fiddled with a red stone hanging from his necklace. “I say company, but it’s almost more like a cult. They had control of the whole town once, years ago. They brainwashed people, hurt people. They owned everything, they could see everything. They killed people, then told us to smile and keep working. We drove them out eventually, but it took a lot. And some of the people who helped do it don’t live in Nightvale anymore, or are too old to help.”
“And the company is back now, yes?”
“Well…Mother Lauren is back. Not the whole company, not yet. I don’t know why it’s just her, but she’s already started recruiting. If she’s in town, Strex isn’t far behind.”
Nate frowned slightly. They had other clients, clients who were in danger right then. He wasn’t sure if it was worth it to drive out into the middle of nowhere for a town that might be under threat by a company he’d never heard of. “Karim, look. We are the best at what we do. But cults, and–”
“We’ll do it,” said Parker, popping up from the booth behind Nate and Sophie. “Don’t worry, Karim. We’ll keep Nightvale safe.”
Nate turned and gave her a look, but Parker just shrugged and dipped back down, disappearing. “Well. Alright then.” He knocked back the rest of his drink and stood. “I guess we’re doing this.”

Chapter Text

“Parker, y’know, you can’t just undermine my authority in front of a client like that,” Nate pushed open the door to their rooms above the pub, Parker and Sophie with him. “It’s a bad look for us. I know I’ve been involving you in the planning more, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not in charge.” 

Parker hopped up onto the counter and crouched there. “Nate. This one’s important. I can feel it.” 

“Sure, sure,” he said, pouring out another few fingers of whiskey into his cup. “But I can feel the fact that we’ve never dealt with a cult before. And we’ve been over this before, entire towns are too big. And especially a town like that, in the middle of nowhere, is not gonna be fond of outsiders. We’ll be too suspicious!” 

“Nate,” said Sophie. “We already told Karim we’d take the job. Come on, it’ll be fun! We haven’t had a good challenge in a while.” 

“No, yeah, we’re doing it, I know. But I’m registering my concerns right here. Elliott’s gone for now, so go ahead and run it, Hardison.” He knocked back the drink. 

Hardison, who was lying back on the couch with a ball cap covering his face, groaned slightly. “Can’t.” 

Parker slumped a little. “I thought you’d be with me on this.” 

“Oh, I am, babygirl, I am.” He swung himself upright and held up his clicker. The screen turned on to reveal…the screensaver. 

“I can’t run it because I can’t find anything to run.” A couple documents and maps flashed here and there on the screen, but they were all fuzzy and redacted. “This town must have some serious cyber security. I can’t find it on any maps–digital or archival, not even a travel blog. It’s like the whole place is shielded. NASA satellites can’t see it, hell, nobody’s satellites can see it. You know where I do find mentions of Nightvale?” 

He clicked again. “Mental hospital records. Therapy notes. Conspiracy blogs. Parker, I trust your instincts, but I’m starting to think this town is some sort of mass hallucination.” 

“And, uh, Strex Corp?” Nate asked. 

“I got a creepy-ass commercial from the late 80’s. But that’s it.” 

“Play that, please.” 

The screen was filled with static momentarily, then cleared slightly to reveal a man in a yellow and black suit. His face was in shadow, so none of the crew could see his eyes, but his smile was lit up and way too bright. His strange, wide, too-many-teeth-and-not-enough-space, smile. Sophie shuddered when the man in the video began to talk, and the points on his teeth became visible. 

“Are you achieving your fullest potential? Are you finding the right solutions for your challenges? Are you making the most of what you’re given? Do you believe in a Smiling God? 

“Of course you do! We all do. We must! Well, what if I told you the Smiling God was smiling more than ever? What if the Smiling God had a smile so wide that you could see yourself in its mirrored teeth? And what if I told you that your gauzy reflection looked perfect–just perfect?

“You would like that. Of course! We all would. We must!

“And what if I told you your perfect self hated your imperfect self? And as the Smiling God smiled wider, you could see a tongue pressing through the teeth–thick, and pink, and gray, and wet. 

“And what if I told you you could see your imperfect self in the shining sheen of the bulging tongue? And in your reflection, you were slack and sallow? And maybe bleeding. A lot.

“Bleeding so much!

“And what if I told you you could kill your imperfect self? What if I told you you could achieve your fullest potential? StexCorp Synernists Inc. is a proud supporter of the greater Desert Bluff and Nightvale community. StrexCorp. Believe in a Smiling God. Believe in your perfect self. 

“Strex. Strex.” 

The ad fuzzed back to static. 

The power blipped out for a fraction of a second–

Then practically exploded. 

The lights grew brighter and brighter, far beyond the capacity of LEDs. The team cringed away from the oppressive light, Parker buried her face in the couch. Every device in the kitchen, every screen at full volume–a horrible white noise of a scream. Louder, louder, brighter, brighter, until–

Pop.

The power slammed back into nothing, each bulb blown out. The wires hooked up to Hardison’s moniers were basically melted, looking more like a mess of guts on the floor than anything mechanical.

“Okay,” Nate whispered into the darkness, after a few beats. “Okay. Let’s steal a smiling god