text | @poker - late afternoon of may 5th

[stonehearts]

Ratio's missing.

And not just in the "they've left this world" way people tend to go missing, someone took him. And if I find out that it's one of you--

I'm finding him and there is nothing on this backwater dying planet that will keep me from destroying whatever is between me and him. That's your one and final warning.

Comments

@bustermove | a few hours later

[busternaut]

[One (as of now) un-threaded hacking misadventure later...]

@ curse, @ kuzunoha14 and anyone else who might be out looking

It took a bit but we managed to get access to the hotel's security feeds and review everything. Far as we can tell, Doc never even made it down to the lobby.

We checked the feeds for the other exits as well: emergency doors & employee corridors, the works. Cross-checked it with the building's blueprints too. There's no way he left that building. Or if he did, he didn't do it by normal means.

I don't know what the hell to make of it. The exits were all thoroughly covered by surveillance, but there're a few interior blind-spots in the feeds that might be worth going to investigate in person.

[the_fourteenth]

Thank you. this is a big help. I'm willing to investigate the blind spots.

[busternaut]

No problem. If you need extra hands on deck, I'm still in the area. Just let me know.

[He also attaches a file. It's an official blueprint of the hotel that's been really thoroughly marked up by Dearka himself: locations of security cameras are highlighted, estimated blind spots in security are noted, and a dotted line indicates the apparent path that Ratio took.

He's scribbled his own notes in the margins too, detailing what he saw on the footage: "elevator apparently out of service? he took the stairs instead." "this is the last camera Doc shows up on. For some reason he looks directly at the camera before stepping off-screen into the blindspot at the east end of that hall." "checked the footage on all other feeds at the timestamp which would match with when he stepped out of view at xx:xx. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the power flickering on floor x for about x.x seconds."

It's VERY thorough. Despite how unserious he is most of the time, apparently Dearka can whip out some really top-notch investigative reports when the need arises?? Almost like he's a genetically enhanced professional intelligence officer or something.]

This oughta help. Good luck.

[the_fourteenth]

[He's impressed.]

Thanks. This is an incredible help. I had asked around at businesses near the hotel, but there had been no sightings.

[He was a detective back home, sure, but his natural inclination isn't to check the technology like that yet. He's used to hitting the streets.]

[busternaut]

Yeah. Hopefully someone inside the hotel can maybe shed some new light on this. Let me know if you find anything, k?

[the_fourteenth]

Of course. Please keep me abreast of any new developments as well.

[gimu]

that’s strange. have you consulted locals in the area at the time? if his disappearance was by unnatural means, someone may have felt it, particularly if it was rift-related.

[busternaut]

I haven't yet, but that's definitely the next step we should take.

Also, here:

[He sends Choso the same file he sent Raidou. It's an official blueprint of the hotel that's been really thoroughly marked up by Dearka himself: locations of security cameras are highlighted, estimated blind spots in security are noted, and a dotted line indicates the apparent path that Ratio took.

He's scribbled his own notes in the margins too, detailing what he saw on the footage: "elevator apparently out of service? he took the stairs instead." "this is the last camera Doc shows up on. For some reason he looks directly at the camera before stepping off-screen into the blindspot at the east end of that hall." "checked the footage on all other feeds at the timestamp which would match with when he stepped out of view at xx:xx. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the power flickering on floor x for about x.x seconds."

It's VERY thorough. Despite how unserious he is most of the time, apparently Dearka can whip out some really top-notch investigative reports when the need arises. Almost like he's a genetically enhanced professional intelligence officer or something.]

In case you were planning on meeting up with Raidou to keep looking, you might as well both have a copy.

@mr. viper

[penaltypoints]

Thank you for sharing your findings. I'd like to contribute to the search.

I concur that it may be worthwhile to determine whether there are any unusual energy readings to detect in the area.

[busternaut]

Agreed, but we'll probably have to reach out to LILITH's science team for that. They're the ones who are usually keyed into this stuff.

[He tries not to think about how Ratio himself IS basically a part of LILITH's science team....]

[penaltypoints]

Yes. Considering that our own newly-established research team's projects will support LILITH, and Dr. Ratio is the team's leader, I would hope that we have LILITH's support in turn as we investigate his disappearance.

[ As well as Ereshkigal's status. ]

[busternaut]

They damn well better. Guy probably does more for them than anyone else here, on the non-combat end of things at least.

[Fuck. He seriously hopes he's alright.]

@justish

[lostdestiny]

... did we bring this tiny Rift crap back from Alexandria?

[penaltypoints]

We have no definitive evidence to conclude that a similar pattern of spontaneous Rift activity has begun to affect Neo Tokyo since our return from Egypt. Or is there some basis for this supposition?

[lostdestiny]

Isn't that why you want readings?

[penaltypoints]

To ascertain whether there is in fact Rift energy present in this instance, or traces of anything else to note, for now, yes. I would prefer to avoid speculating beyond that.

[lostdestiny]

What else would it be if there's not video of the guy leaving and he doesn't teleport

[ Or if Ratio does teleport does it was really weird to be asking about teleporting in Alexandria. ]

[penaltypoints]

I do not disagree that it seems likely. I simply mean that we must collect additional data before we consider any hypothesis confirmed, be it an explanation for Dr. Ratio's disappearance or a correlation between this incident and our time in Alexandria.

[ Admittedly, what Yesod also wants to avoid is hasty speculation regarding whatever connection Dr. Ratio and Ereshkigal have in place, since there seems to be enough of that already happening. ]

[lostdestiny]

It's not like there's a better explanation

Unless he fell asleep in a spare room