Case 005: Pigeons Are Government Surveillance Drones

TOP SECRET

SUBJECT: Avian-Pattern Aerial Reconnaissance Unit, Codename COLUMBA

The wild pigeon population did not simply "recover" after the mid-century decline reported by municipal record-keepers. It was replaced, building by building, with a mechanical equivalent. Real pigeons blink. These do not, not in unison, not ever, for minutes at a stretch.

Note the perfect stillness on power lines and rooftops, held for durations no living bird would tolerate, and the faint red glint visible in the eye under direct light. Charging, most likely. Or watching. Possibly both.

They gather most densely outside courthouses, near payphones, and above whatever conversation you were just having. This is not a coincidence. This was never a coincidence.