The Inadmissible

Dear Amos,

I apologize for reaching out for something so urgent with an email instead of a call, but I am greatly concerned that our security may be compromised, and I do not want to risk someone listening into a call. I hope our email encryptions are up to date.

We might have a whistleblower in the crew. On today’s episode Earl covered the chief. While listening to the reporting on it, though, we got hit with a bit of a bombshell. Somebody knew about it. They had reportedly been warned about it, and asked that whoever knew speak up about how they knew. Earl thankfully kept his cool during the recording, but as soon as we cut to an ad break he took me into the office and lost it, demanding we figure out what was going on. He did manage to sneak the phrase in after the bombshell.

I am greatly concerned about these circumstances. We have managed to keep our sailing smooth for a year, and I worry that the more popular we get, the more turbulent the waters get. 

We must proceed with immense caution. Someone knows about what we are doing, and I find it highly probable that this person is within or associated with our crew. Please respond as soon as possible.

Harris Williamson

Production Manager

Speak No Evil Radio

Dear Harris,

Your concern is justified. I myself am greatly worried by this news. This is certainly a problem we must take care of with haste. However, I find your evaluation of this situation lackluster.

You have voiced that you believe this “whistleblower” is someone on the inside. I believe this to be impossible. Were it someone on the inside, we would have heard something. We would have heard rumors float around the workplace, questions sent to higher ups, attempts to figure out what is happening. Were it someone on the inside, we would already be in handcuffs. Seeing that this is not the case, I must conclude that the threat is on the outside, someone who does not know how your crew works. It is someone who has merely stumbled upon our work, and out of fear for their safety is merely dipping their toes into the water without reaching out to the authorities.

As for what we can do, I have already created our contingency plan. It goes as follows:

Firstly, search the persons of each and every individual who enters the studio for any sort of bug or wiretap. All of them. Interns, assistant managers, production crew, even the hosts. Since Luke acts as night shift manager, he will be in charge of enforcing this policy whenever you are not in. Tell them it’s because we’re worried someone is leaking production secrets, merchandise information, things of the like. Be especially cautious with Gene. I know he has been trying to find another job, so he could easily be compromised by an outside source.

Second, instruct Earl to put use of the code phrase on hold. We need to do all we can to limit any pressure that might get put on us, so no more phrasing. It was already a mistake for him to use that phrase on any public figure at all, so for now he must not continue. You will tell him it is due to the possible merchandise thief, and that we are simply taking a precaution, not alleviating pressure. 

Third, you will keep Earl in the dark on all this plan, and keep him on a tight leash, and I mean damn tight. Earl is unpredictable, and I do not trust that his conviction to this project outweighs his self preservation instinct. I worry that the moment he gets wind of possible crashing and burning, he will jump ship to try and lesser his possible punishment with the law. We will not risk this. If a fall is going to happen, Earl must be the one taking it, and I will not allow him to avoid that. Earl is a damn good host, and the perfect choice for this project, but I do not trust that his dedication will overpower his desire to live free. You will assure him tomorrow evening, after his broadcast, in a completely separate conversation from the one where you instruct him to stop using the code phrase, that I have this under control, that the threat has been isolated, and is being watched. 

I know you are incredibly fond of Earl, but I hope you understand that if you fail me in this regard I will bring hell down on you. You might love to kiss Earl’s ass all day, but if you let that fact cause any blowback to myself, Ryder Media, or god forbid Silas Oil Industries, then you’ll be begging to god that the police get you before we do. This is a severe situation, and you are already aware of how little faith I have in you. In this situation, I am forced to trust you, so do not disappoint me.

Fourth, we need to scour all communications. I’ll check our servers and dig through every email, phone call, text message, everything sent through our channels. You will do the same in order to make doubly sure that we haven’t missed anything.

Fifth, I need you to work as often as possible. No more off days whenever you feel like it, no more leaving before Gene starts his show. You'll be paid overtime, don't worry, but this is necessary for our safety. I will also be working around the clock.

Finally, I have sent an intern to leave a package at your home. It is unmarked, no labels on it. You will open it by yourself, where nobody can possibly see its contents. It is a simple cell phone, easy to use, and hard to track. From here on out you will never contact me using this email. Instead, you will use what I have sent you. Once you have read this email, and taken in this contingency plan, send me a simple confirmation email. I will then delete these emails, and ensure they are scrubbed from the servers. 

You are not to save this email in any way, shape, or form. No pictures, screenshots, notes, nothing. This cannot be preserved in any way at all. A final note, do not mark any further emails as urgent. I will de facto treat further emails from you as urgent.

Respond with confirmation imminently.

Amos Knight

Media Projects Overseer

Ryder Media

Understood.

Harris Williamson

Production Manager

Speak No Evil Radio

Hello,

I will refrain from using your name for safety. You are likely asleep by now, but I wished to send you this just to update you that I have received the phone. I assume you know who this is. I will speak to you tomorrow and update you on how I am maintaining the protocol you laid out.

Goodnight.

Hello Harris,

These emails are encrypted thoroughly, so you do not need to worry about avoiding the use of our names. 

Now, you remember the plan, I expect you to keep up with it. I am going to re-emphasize this: DO NOT let Earl use the code. You will keep him on a tight leash. You will send me another email tonight once Gene has settled into his recording time, and let me know all of the happenings during your shift.

I will occasionally be listening to Earl’s segments, so if I notice anything odd and you do not report it to me, it will be a great infraction.

Amos

Hello Amos,

This is my report for the day. Gene is recording his segment as I am writing this. He is continuing his reading of Les Miserables.

I searched all of the crew today, nobody came in with any recording device other than cell phones. To ensure further safety, I collected cell phones and kept them in my office, and made sure they were powered down. The recording crew was a little annoyed, but none of them were noticeably upset by this during filming. The hosts are a different story. Mark was apathetic about the situation, but Earl and Gene threw a bit of a fit over it, especially Gene.

Earl is greatly displeased about not being allowed to use the phrase. He argued with me for a while, but eventually gave in and agreed to stop using the phrase. I told him just before he left today that you have identified the threat and are keeping an eye on him. He seemed a bit hesitant to believe that, but he did not argue over it.

I started searching through our servers today. I haven’t finished doing so, as it is a great amount of work to do on top of my present duties, but I estimate I will be finished by the eleventh.

I found no serious issues today.

Harris

Hello Harris,

I am pleased with yesterday’s report. You were detailed, and I did not notice any aberrations during Earl’s segments. 

Earl and Gene being upset about this policy is no problem. They are not allowed to have their phones on during recording anyway, so them being in your custody makes no difference. They will deal with my rules.

Going forward, seeing how well this contingency plan has started, you will only send reports to me if something out of the ordinary happens.

Amos

Harris,

If you are even at all aware of what happens at your job, then you know why I am emailing you today.

All I have to ask is what in the hell is wrong with you? I instructed you to keep a tight leash on Earl, I told you that he was to cease use of the code phrase. May I ask why the fuck he just used it? Do you not understand the severity of this situation? 

As soon as you are able, you will take Earl into the office and you will reprimand him on my behalf. This time I will give you the slightest amount of leniency since Earl is difficult to control, but I better not hear that phrase again until I am certain the threat is contained.

Amos

Amos,

I am deeply sorry for what happened earlier. I have reprimanded Earl, and reiterated to him that the orders to stop using the phrase are directly from you. He is very angry about this, but I think he has gotten the message this time. I swear to you it will not happen again.

Harris

Hello Amos,

I am sending this merely to ask if you have any new updates regarding the threat? It has been a while since I have heard from you on this matter, and I would hope we have some sort of lead by now.

I have been maintaining the contingency plan thoroughly. It seems most of the grievances people have had with the confiscation of cell phones have subsided by now.

I hope that you will have good news for us.

Harris

Harris,

Your incompetence shines through once again. I have no new updates on that front because there is no possible way for me to find a lead until the threat crops up again.

I don’t have a voice to analyze, any location data to work with, a picture to look at, nothing. How could I possibly find a person if I have literally no information on them other than the fact that they exist? Until this threat, this whistleblower you called them, peeks out from the smoke, I have no means of finding them or dealing with them. The same applies to Earl’s audience. His use of the phrase after the bombshell was a futile attempt at displaying control.

The sad reality is that until they blow the whistle again, we cannot find them. This does not mean we can allow them to blow the whistle, but the facts are the facts, and we have no means of finding them.

All we can do is hope that perhaps the warning about the threat on Chief Sombarli’s life was mere coincidence, but we shall proceed as if it is not.

Amos

Hello Amos,

I am not sure if you were listening to the show just a few minutes ago, but we have some pretty good news. I’m almost certain the threat called in today. A man called claiming to be an investigative journalist who wanted to interview Earl. Things got a little heated, and looked bad for Earl. I signaled him to hang up, but he simply flipped me off and continued talking.

Where things got really tense was when the guy seemed to hint that he knew the truth. He said he “fully knew the risks” of talking to Earl, and that he “knew the secrets we have tried to hide.” Unless your Black File on Earl got leaked, I find it hard to believe he means anything other than the code phrase.

At the end of the call, Earl used the phrase on him, so hopefully the problem will be forgotten soon. One of Earl’s fanboys can deal with him, and this whole fiasco will be over with. If I had to guess, I would assume the biggest problem we will be dealing with as a result of this whole thing is just the hit to our optics because of how poorly Earl came off in that interview.

I hope you are as receptive to this good news as I am.

Harris

Harris,

I am once again forced to come to grips how much of a bumbling fool you are, and how incompetent of a manager you are. Were you not in possession of greatly confidential information, I would have had you thrown out of the company months ago.

Something you may not have seen while Earl’s asshole was blocking your sight is that the person who knows about this scheme is an investigative journalist. Any journalist worth their salt would have multiple copies of their drafts, and likely has a full manuscript or recording of the notes he has made through his investigation. This journalist needs to be taken care of by someone with us, someone who can follow our direct instructions and not only eliminate the threat, but scour their residence for every shred of evidence against us. Do you think the random idiots who listen to the show will know to do any of that?

This good news is a double edged sword. Had you idiots followed my instructions and not used the phrase on him, we would be fine. Unfortunately, you did not, and we are now in even more trouble. We can only hope that our people find this journalist faster than the psychotic losers online do, which is not guaranteed to happen. 

If they get to him first, then he will die or go missing, his possessions will be searched, and all of the evidence he most certainly against us will come to light. If they get to him first, it will only pull a bigger spotlight to us. I have already assigned some people to track him down, but unfortunately it seems we may have great difficulty doing so.

I hope things do not get desperate, but if we find ourselves dealing with the worst case scenario I want you to know ahead of time what the plan is. Unfortunately, if things go wrong, our only hope is to fully immolate the operation, and cut all ties as best we can. We need to make it seem like an isolated cell. We’ll need to purge all communications between us, which we have already been doing for a while. Thankfully since you and Earl are the only people at the studio aware of this scheme, it is easy to give off the impression of a lone wolf acting of his own volition. The only problem here is for you.

We have a full public relations team, and a mountain’s worth of plausible deniability. You, on the other hand, are SNE Radio’s producer, and have very little plausible deniability. Though I am often disappointed in your intelligence, your greatest commendable feature is your loyalty to the company and the cause. Earl, however, does not share this with you. He only cares about himself, and though you would not rat us out, he would not do the same for you. Despite your consistent brown nosing of him, he would not hesitate to rat you out if it gave him even an ounce of legal leniency. 

Therefore, I recommend you prepare a plan to run away and disappear to prevent any legal blowback to you. I cannot provide you any resources to help this theoretical plan, but I can help you formulate such a plan.

Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.

Amos

Amos,

I am sorry for disappointing you again. These are only internet weirdos we are dealing with, though. I’m sure our people can get things figured out before they do.

With regards to the future, I will try my best to prepare for the worst. I’ll come up with my own plan. Should shit hit the fan, I’ll give you critical updates, but try to limit my communications with you as much as possible to avoid risk of being caught.

Harris

Harris,

My people have yet to find anything conclusive as to the location of the threat, but I have a hunch that he may have already been gotten. Last Tuesday, there was a SWAT raid on the apartment of an investigative journalist in Atlanta for mysterious reasons. Apparently the police haven’t released much info yet, but it’s rumored the victim was innocent, and was the victim of a prank call.

I have a hunch this investigative journalist might be the same one causing our problems. If that is the case, then there’s already nothing we can do but wait and hope. Do not contact me for a while. Focus solely on purging our communications and immolating anything incriminating of anyone involved.

Only contact in case of emergency. I will let you know of any important updates.

Amos

Understood

Amos,

I believe we have reached the worst. Earl’s wife just texted me and said Earl’s been arrested. There’s no way it’s for any reason other than the threat. I’m currently still in the office writing this, and as soon as it is sent I plan on going home and immediately packing up all the essentials. When I wake up tomorrow, I’m leaving.

I’ll keep this device with me in case one of us needs to contact each other in an emergency, but I will not reach out to you for random updates. I’ll limit communication as much as possible.

Harris

Harris,

Give me an update on your plans as soon as you can manage. Don’t get too specific, just give me the vague details. This is certainly a severe situation, and I’m glad you’re responding appropriately.

Amos

Amos,

I am currently at my brother’s house. I’m staying here for the day just to be out of my own house and the recording studio. I’m sure you’d agree with me that telling the people at the studio I won’t be there isn’t the smartest idea, and it’s better to drop out without any clues.

Being away from where I should be should hopefully prevent any officers from suddenly visiting without warning. I’m gonna leave tonight. I’ll spare you the rest of the specifics, but I’m just gonna keep on driving. I’m not telling my brother anything. He believes I’m just here to visit.

I assume we’re going silent past this point. Farewell, best of luck to you and the company in the future.

Harris

Acknowledged