It had only taken ten minutes to change Carlos' life. He had been standing in Kevin's studio, asking about the new equipment he'd just gotten in when it happened. Whatever had kept all the blood and viscera from his sight slipped, and in that moment Carlos saw what he was never meant to see.

He saw everything Desert Bluffs was, he saw Kevin smiling even as his smile was just a knife gash on his face, even as there was blood everywhere, even as Carlos saw everything that was imperfect about his home, all the horrible truths he'd been programmed to ignore, and re-educated to forget when he couldn't. And he understood.

Upon returning to his lab, he found that he could still see, that he still understood. And so did the rest of the scientists in his office. Together, they quietly packed up their equipment and that night, they set out. They had a destination. They were going to Night Vale.

They knew where it was-that was one of the things they understood.

Once they were just outside the town, Carlos had them stop and simply took scissors to all their lab coats, cutting away the bottom, where the orange triangle logo of Strexcorp was embroidered on each. He then had them drive through.

They couldn't. The scientists simply stopped moving as they touched the border, and a voice that, had it not been so angry, would be made of silk and honey reverberated through them.

They weren't sure if he had been in the cars with them, or simply in their minds.

"Leave now. We do not want your kind here!"

Carlos shook from the pure force of the fury in that voice, but spoke up. They wouldn't be deterred by fear.

"Wait-please. We...we are f-formally...requesting sanctuary. From...from that place. From...them."

The Voice seemed taken aback.

"You...have been found?"

"Yes. All of us. We left because we...didn't want to be lost any more. We didn't want to forget. Please let us in."

The Voice was silent for a few minutes, and then said "Alright. Please, enter."

They did, and their lives were never the same.

Sooooo...Inhuman DB refugee Carlos, right? I'm not even sure what this is, I'm not even sure if I'm done with it yet. Tell me what you think, please!