There is suddenly a person standing in the alleyway, where there previously wasn't.

"Uhh... what?" they mumble to themselves before being knocked over by the huge orangey lizard.  They fall to the ground.

The lizard resists!

Well, more like "growls". This is not a happy lizard. It sticks its unhappy face in the new guy's face and growls. There's some embers of fire in the growl.

"AHHHHH WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK!!!!"

The new guy flails wildly at the lizard, scrambling backwards, trying to get some distance.

The lizard cooperates with this. Being treated with fear is the correct response for the squishy pink food people to have to it.

It breathes some fire to make sure, though. Maybe it can stick the squishy thing in a corner and roast it. It is hungry.

The new guy stumbles to his feet, grabs his backpack, screams at the terrifying lizard, and swings his backpack at the lizard's head.

This doesn't have much impact. It makes it angrier and more determined to roast the fleshy thing.

Fortunately something else drops on top of it with a thump. At approximately 9.8 m/s^2.

The something is a guy, who is snarling and has fangs.

Fuck.  What the fuck is going on.  Get out.

The new guy turns and sprints away while the flaming orange lizard is distracted.

"Please stop there!", the falling man shouts. However he is mostly concerned with drawing a big knife and applying it to the lizard's neck.

He freezes in place for a moment, then turns to watch the violence and puts his backpack back on.

His mind is racing.  Where am I?  How did I get here?  I can't remember what was just happening, more missing time?  Where is the fire coming from?  Flamethrower robot, like in the recent Boston Dynamics releases?

A woman comes running up the alley from the other end. She sees the falling man slicing through the lizard's neck and relaxes.

"Animal control officers, sir, please stay here so we can take a statement."

The new guy's eyes go even wider at seeing the blood.  That is definitely not a robot.  Too much blood to be a robot.

"Uh.  Okay.  I'll stay here so you can take a statement.  Thank you for controlling the animal."

"That's our job. Was the lizard chasing you when you entered the alley?"

"That seems plausible? I do not remember entering the alley.  I had some missing time, then found myself here right before it ran into me."

"I didn't hear running before he screamed," says the man with the knife, who is now removing his heavy leather jacket to wrap it around the body.

"Huh. Well, okay. Did you see anything unusual?"

(It may bear mentioning that neither of these people are in any kind of uniform.)

"The terrifying orange lizard is unusual.  There was a lot of fire, which is unusual.  Someone falling from the sky to kill a terrifying orange lizard is unusual.  Having this much missing time is unusual for me, but not unheard of.  I don't recognize this place."

"...Right. He was chasing it on the roof. We try to keep normal people out of this."

She pauses.

"The simplest response is you pretend this never happened and swear not to speak of it. I can give you a card to call if something comes up later."

Uh.  Concerning phrases include "normal people" and "pretend this never happened" and "swear not to speak of it".  This is not a comforting turn of events.

"That's worrying. Am I in danger if I talk about this? Who do I need to keep this secret from, and why? By 'something', do you mean more terrifying orange lizards, or more unprecedented anomalous events?"

"Yes, everyone, and either but mostly the first thing. Further answers fall under the complicated response, which involves much of your life becoming classified."

... ... ...

"Uh, sorry, let me just make sure I've got this straight.  I'm in unspecified levels of danger if I share this information with anyone under an unspecified threat model, and you can't tell me more without most of my life becoming classified? What do you mean by classified here?  Is there anywhere I can go to get more information to orient myself here, or do I just add this to the pile of terrifying confusing things I can't talk to anyone about, and add another vague threat to my paranoia?"

"It is unsafe to explain more to you without us taking significantly more intrusive measures over a much longer time period to ensure nothing leaks. Your life will be simpler not knowing, though at this point maybe not more restful."

"We're not the ones you're in danger from. Personally I say you should join the Conspiracy of Silence."

"Okay, thank you for explaining.  Can you tell me more-precisely which information is the infohazard?  Existence of terrifying orange lizards on fire?  People hunting them on rooftops?"

He pauses for a moment.

"Can you tell me anything more about the Conspiracy of Silence?  Is that related to the more-intrusive-measures, or something separate?"

"Yes, both of those. Mostly the first. Their existence and ours is classified."

"The Conspiracy is everyone who is cleared to know. This involves much more detail, including why it's all classified. If you assume that the measures are the same as what the CIA would do if you tried to leak matters of national security you will be approximately on the right track."

He turns to look at the corpse of the orange lizard, at the blood sprayed across the alley and pooling on the ground.

"Okay.  That's a pretty clear threat model.  Thanks."

He closes his eyes for a few moments, breathing deeply.

"Yes, I would like that card from you, and I'm interested in more information about joining the Conspiracy of Silence."

He takes off his backpack, and starts opening zippers and glancing through the pockets.