Episode 1: The Disappearance of Marcellus

Posted October 13, 2025

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

— Marcellus,Hamlet

Marcellus always stood a little taller when he passed the flag.

A naturalized U.S. citizen, Army veteran, and father of two, he kept a laminated photo of his family tucked inside his lunchbox — right next to his ID badge. He loved this country. Believed in it. Fought for it.

But he also knew what it meant to be seen as “other.”

Even in uniform.

Even speaking perfect English.

Even here.

At the fulfillment center, they called him “Sarge.” He trained the rookies, covered double shifts, and never missed a day. The bosses respected him. The younger workers looked up to him. He was the guy who held things together when everyone else wanted to clock out.

But lately, something was off with Marcellus.

The warehouse buzzed with rumors:

A cousin picked up off the street.

A neighbor vanished after a knock at the door.

ICE vans lurking by the schoolyard.

Circling churches on Sunday like sharks in shallow water.

Marcellus tried to stay calm — for his kids, for his crew at work, for his undocumented brother-in-law hiding in the basement. But when the Supreme Court ruled that certain presidential actions were beyond legal scrutiny, he began watching the news like a man watching the sky:

He knew the storm was coming.

He heard the sirens.

But he also knew — no one was coming to help.

Then one morning, Marcellus didn’t show up for his shift.

No call. No text. No “tell the guys I’ll be late.”

His locker sat untouched. His pickup truck sat idle in the lot for three days before someone from HR called a tow.

Gone.

Marcellus had simply… disappeared.

Some say he fled. Others say he was taken.

Only Jackson — a co-worker, maybe the closest thing Marcellus had to a friend — remembered what he’d said during lunch the day before:

“There’s something rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Nobody knew exactly what he meant.

But Jackson kept turning those words over in his mind.

Again and again.

A whisper that refused to quiet.

When had the good guys stopped wearing white hats?

These days, the so-called protectors all wore masks.

People whispered behind locked doors.

And sometimes —

People just disappeared.