Origin file // GF-2020-001

A friend went missing. The town moved on. Tella didn't.

A spoiler-safe account of what is known, what is disputed, and what nobody in Grievance Falls, the Septum County seat, will say out loud.

Fictional satire. This file is part of an original story world. No real agency, case, or person is depicted.

2020
[KNOWN]
The creek
While working for Grievance Falls Public Works, Mal Gardner found a body or troubling evidence near Fragile Creek.
2020
[KNOWN]
A familiar face
Someone Mal recognized approached him. He talked about reporting what he'd found. The person's identity: .
2020
[KNOWN]
Mal disappears
Then Mal was gone. A search. A thin file. Then nothing.
2020–2026
[DISPUTED]
Six years of silence
Whether Mal kept investigating after the creek is an open question. The town considers it a closed one.
2026
[KNOWN]
Mal is found
Mal's body is discovered. The official record calls the case resolved in a manner it declines to describe.
2026
[KNOWN]
Tella comes home
Tella Fero, Mal's best friend from elementary school through high school and a former military intelligence officer, returns to Grievance Falls.
2026
[KNOWN]
Resistance
Mayor Ruvello wants it quiet. Sheriff Sanger wants it filed. Deputy Transfeld wants to help, and is afraid to.

[UNKNOWN] Open questions

The creek