Escalation Protocol#

March 3

Posted first clip. Vest 2, running red light at Jefferson and Middlefield, 6:47 a.m. Captured on city traffic camera, exported as MP4, uploaded to Reddit r/BayAreaDriversAreInsane with title “Redwood City morning commuter thinks rules don’t apply.” Received 43 upvotes, 11 comments. Most agreed the driver was reckless. Two comments said “typical tech bro.” One said “how did you get this footage?” Did not reply.

No consequences for Vest 2. No consequences for me.

March 9

Posted second clip. The Laugher, yelling at barista through drive-through window at Starbucks on El Camino. Audio unclear but body language obvious—pointing, leaning forward, visibly angry. Barista looked young, maybe nineteen. Captured on bank ATM camera with 160-degree fisheye lens. Cropped and stabilized in DaVinci Resolve. Posted to Twitter with caption “Redwood City tech exec loses it over coffee order.”

127 retweets. Local food blog picked it up. Two people in comments claimed to identify the man’s company. I did not confirm or deny. The blog post was titled “Is This How We Treat Service Workers?”

No consequences for me. The Laugher deleted his Twitter account.

March 15

Noticed Sequoia entering building on Marshall Street, not his office, 2:14 p.m. on a Tuesday. Returned to same building 2:18 p.m. Thursday. Again at 2:09 p.m. the following Tuesday. Built a clip reel showing all three entries, time-stamped, no audio. Did not post. Saved as “sequoia_pattern_01.mp4” on external drive labeled ARCHIVE-02.

Searched property records. Building is commercial lease, third floor occupied by “Apex Strategies LLC,” registered agent in Delaware. No website. LinkedIn search returned three employees, all with vague titles like “Strategic Consultant.” Sequoia’s LinkedIn lists him as CEO of a SaaS platform for logistics optimization. No apparent connection.

Told myself I was documenting. The word still felt accurate.

March 21

Posted audio description of Sequoia pattern. Did not post video. Did not name him. Wrote: “Midsize tech CEO in Redwood City makes regular visits to unmarked office, always mid-afternoon, always alone. Building houses consulting firm with no public clients. Make of that what you will.”

Posted to Twitter and Reddit simultaneously. Reddit thread reached 230 comments before mods locked it for “doxxing concerns,” even though I had not provided a name or company. Twitter thread got 1,842 quote tweets. Someone found Sequoia’s LinkedIn. Someone else found the consulting firm’s Delaware registration. Local tech newsletter covered it as “mysterious” and “possibly innocent.”

Sequoia’s company lost a client. I know because I checked their website and a logo disappeared from the “Partners” page. I refreshed twice to be sure.

Still no consequences for me.

March 28

Relay on utility pole near Broadway knocked loose by crow. Discovered during routine feed check. Video frozen at 11:36 a.m. timestamp, showing top half of pole and grey sky. Checked feed daily for two weeks, assuming tech issue. Finally drove to location and saw relay dangling by ethernet cable. Crow had built nest on crossbar six inches away.

Climbed pole at 2:00 a.m. wearing high-vis vest and hard hat. Looked official enough that no one stopped. Reattached relay, repositioned antenna, tested feed from truck. Worked perfectly. Left nest undisturbed.

Felt absurd and competent in equal measure.

April 2

Realized I had been tracking wrong building for Vest 3. Twelve days of footage showing retired schoolteacher, late sixties, walking small dog, buying groceries, sitting on bench near Courthouse Square reading paperback novels. She wore a vest. I had assumed she was a target.

Reviewed all footage. Found actual Vest 3 in adjacent building, similar schedule, similar clothing, different gait. Felt embarrassed, then angry at myself for feeling embarrassed, then nothing.

Deleted schoolteacher footage. Kept one clip as reminder to verify subjects before logging. Titled it “control_error_01.mp4.”

April 8

Posted clip of The Jogger stopping mid-run to berate cyclist for riding on sidewalk. Jogger was technically correct—city code prohibits cycling on downtown sidewalks. But tone was aggressive, gestures exaggerated. Cyclist was maybe fourteen, looked frightened. Captured on parking structure camera, 240p resolution, heavily compressed. Stabilized and upscaled using Topaz AI.

Posted with caption: “Redwood City exec stops workout to scold kid on bike. Legally right, humanly wrong.”

Local subreddit post reached 600+ upvotes. Someone identified The Jogger’s company. Someone else found Glassdoor reviews describing “toxic” and “aggressive” workplace culture. Company’s Twitter account posted vague apology: “We believe in community and respect. This does not represent our values.”

The Jogger did not apologize. I did not expect him to.

April 14

Built first narrative file. Target: Vest 1. Three weeks of footage showing pattern: arrives early, leaves late, eats lunch alone, never speaks to anyone in parking lot. Walks with head down. Twice seen sitting in car for 10+ minutes before going inside. Once seen sitting in car after work, 6:47 p.m., staring at phone, not moving.

Could frame this as: “Isolated exec works unsustainable hours, possible burnout, company culture problem.”

Or as: “Antisocial executive avoids coworkers, erratic behavior, red flag for workplace toxicity.”

Same footage. Two stories. Both technically true. I built a rough cut in Premiere, 90 seconds, no narration, just timestamps and location data. Saved as “vest1_narrative_draft_01.mp4.”

Did not post. Watched it four times. Tried to decide which story I believed. Both stories fit the footage. Neither story was wrong. One story justified action. One didn’t.

Clips are exposure. Narratives are weapons.

April 16

Reviewed all footage from past six weeks. 230 GB across four external drives. Forty-seven targets tracked. Nineteen posted clips. Eight resulted in identifiable consequences—deleted accounts, lost clients, public statements, one resignation I cannot definitively link but suspect.

Opened new spreadsheet titled “Consequences_Log.xlsx.” Began cross-referencing posts with observable outcomes. Added column for “Severity” (scale 1-5) and “Certainty” (confirmed / probable / speculative).

Told myself this was data hygiene. That documenting outcomes was responsible. That knowing what happened was different from intending it.

Did not believe myself but wrote it down anyway.

April 19

Target Alpha still clean. Forty-two hours of footage, nothing usable. Man works, goes home, orders food, texts at stoplights. Once helped someone jump-start car in parking lot. Once donated to street musician outside Philz. Boring. Decent. Infuriating.

Watched oldest footage again. Saw him laughing in car after bad parking job. Realized I could clip that, remove context, pair it with ominous text: “What’s so funny?” or “Tech exec laughs alone in car after work. Why?”

Would be dishonest. Would work.

Did not post. Saved as “alpha_contingency_01.mp4.” Backed up to all three drives.

Told myself I was keeping options open. Told myself that was different from deciding.

April 22

Counted cameras. Fifty-one active feeds. Nineteen city-owned, twelve port authority, six bank/commercial, fourteen relay-mounted. Coverage now includes 73% of downtown Redwood City. Gap near Brewster Avenue, residential area, low priority. Gap near Bair Island, marshland, no targets.

Realized I was thinking in terms of coverage and priority and targets. Realized those were not neutral words. Realized I had stopped noticing when I started using them.

Updated map on garage wall. Added green pins for planned relay locations. Drew dotted lines showing projected sightlines. Map now covers 40% of wall. Looks complete. Looks professional. Looks like something that should have oversight.

Does not have oversight. Has only me.

April 28

Built second narrative file. Target: The Laugher. Four incidents over six weeks. Yelling at barista. Cutting off driver in parking lot. Arguing with someone on phone, visible through office window, body language hostile. Returning shopping cart but shoving it hard into cart corral, loud metallic crash.

Cut together with timestamps and minimal text: “Pattern of aggression. Redwood City tech exec. Four incidents. Six weeks.”

Ninety seconds. No narration. Just clips. Let the footage speak.

Watched it twice. Felt satisfied. Felt disgusted at feeling satisfied. Saved as “laugher_narrative_final_01.mp4.”

Did not post. Not yet.

But the file is ready. The story is built. The footage is assembled into something larger than itself.

That is the line. I am standing on it. I can see both sides.

I have not decided which way to step.