Episode 2.02: Rivulets of Copper, Eyes Aflame

[Patrick Goodman]

"It could be a coincidence," the captain replied, "but I very much doubt it. What sort of anomalies were they encountering?"

[Renny]

The engineer raises an eyebrow. "Intriguing. At dinner, Storvant was describing an issue he was investigsting at the Institute. Specifically anomalous emissions from one of their research stations. The emissions were artificially created. He and his team couldn't think of why someone would do such a thing." He looked to Treyva as he spoke. "I wonder if that research station is the one Verrin was assigned to, and how these two events might be connected."

OOC: NIce!!!

[Doug Burke]

"Someone had placed an ionizer on one of the sensors to cause a false indicating of a leak," Sorak explained. "And in my experience, Captain, coincidences usually have a logical explanation."

[Renny]

"I agree, sir," Cole nodded, " There would seem to be grounds here for further investigation."

[Davy, aka GM]

"There will be a record of that call, and Storvant will have made a report of his findings," T'Kiri notes. "I can have one of my officers retrieve them after they get the collapse information from the GolanKorsta mine."

[Patrick Goodman]

"Thank you, T'Kiri," Treyva said. "Those should be helpful. Which brings us back to motive, and possible connections to each other. You said that some cursory investigation had taken place, but had been interrupted when the focus shifted to Thadis. I take it the initial inquiries led to nothing? How would we best go about reopening those?"

[Davy, aka GM]

Looking at her datapad for a moment, she scans the relevant info.

"It appears only basic public profiles have been gathered and correlated, and only on the first five decedents. No in depth analysis has been performed," she says. "We have access to their public records and movements, and I can also probably gain access to their V'Shar records through Principal Investigator N'Varas."

Editor's Note: V'Shar is the internal security service, which has been limited to a small staff that focuses primarily on monitoring communications and messaging through the world's network. (It also has a very small investigative team.)

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva contemplated that for a few moments. "We should do that, then. Gather as much data as we can on each victim from a reasonable time before the Drake's arrival to the present, to include any data we can obtain from the V'Shar, and then work on correlating that data and seeing what we can find." He turned to his chief of security. "How long before we got here do you think we should look, Mr. Cole?"

[Renny]

Cole considered this for a moment before answering.

"I would suggest starting a week before our arrival in the shipyards. That's the earliest our yard time would have been known to anyone outside of Fleet Command and if Mr Thadis has been targeted specifically to take the fall for this, plans couldn't be made before then. That's my best guess for now at least sir."

[Patrick Goodman]

OOC: Refresh my memory, because writing on multiple projects has reduced my brain to warm Jell-O: When did the murders start? What's the timeline of all this?

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: The first body of the seven was discovered 9 days ago, on SD 8864; forensic examination believes that victim (the priest Karatek) was murdered earlier the same day. It's currently SD 8873.

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva nodded. "That takes us back about a month...should be a good starting point, at least, to establish connections between the victims."

Shaking his head, he crossed the lab to one of the storage cabinets and retrieved a datapad of his own. He hadn't been taking proper notes; years in the captain's chair had apparently made him sloppy. He began tapping on it as he spoke. "Tobin, Cole...when was the last time either of you slept?"

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Cole is probably 2-3 hours behind Tobin in his day, although being out in the wilderness may have necessitated a midday rest period to stay out of the sun, so he may have a little more left in his tank. I'll leave that up to Renny.

That said, it's about the equivalent of 11pm-midnight for Tobin, and about 9-10pm for Cole.

[Davy, aka GM]

OOC: Updating my notes from earlier for everyone's benefit.

Avenues of inquiry (in no particular order):
1. Investigate Thadis' whereabouts for each of the murders. You folks know that he was sighted in the vicinity of five - one at the GolanKorsta mine, two at the eremology research station, and two in Ta'Vistar's shopping district. He has not yet been found proximal to the first two murders.
2. Interview others known to be in proximity to the where the bodies were found. T'Kiri can access reports and personal data on these potential witnesses.
3. Investigate ties between the now-seven victims. You folks plan to look back about a month.
4. Investigate the scenes of the crime and/or autopsy results.
5. The uniformed officers are retrieving information about the collapse over the body found in the GolanKorsta mine, whether it was natural, the result of activity elsewhere, or caused by proximal activity.
6. The uniformed officers are also retrieving the complaint about the research station and Storvant's report on his findings.

You folks can split up to perform these tasks, as well, and we can run the scenes concurrently.

Other upcoming events/requirements:
1. Tobin promised to contact T'Vaana-Sath on Thadis' behalf. (He also promised to contact T'Kalla tomorrow.)
2. Asha will hold Treyva to dinner tonight.

You gents are welcome to continue in the current lab scene or we can wrap up.

[Nolmir]

"Ah, I started my day about 20 hours ago, sir." He unconsciously shifts into a more formal body position, with his hands clasped behind his back and feet at shoulder width. "But I would like to continue working on this investigation, sir. As one of my officers, I feel it is my duty to ensure justice is carried out for Thadis."