[Murdergame 2] Hyperlocal Outage

From: In-Game Messaging <msg_008037@comms.multiplex.se>
To: The Team <msg_0001@comms.multiplex.se>
Subject: WTF?
Date: 2039-08-04 21:30:35 UTC
Ross is gone. What gives?
 - 008037 (anonymized)

<og_Epi> [> Epi: Read your mail.]
<og_Epi> [Another day, another inbox. The in-game team can't connect with you by any normal means, but you hacked in a mailer daemon a while ago - otherwise identical to the Lesser Direwolf pet in shape, size, and visible features, but for the fact that there was a carefully coded shunt to get information to you.]
<og_Epi> [(The Greater Direwolf was never supposed to be tameable at all, and would have stuck out.)]
<og_Epi> [Sometimes it's good news, sometimes it's bad news. They found Skye a little while ago, and 8037's been helping you handle that, but...]
<og_Epi> [Shit.]
<og_Epi> EE: Vi, there might be something up with Ross.
<og_Violet> AH: When you say "Something" you mean....?
<og_Violet> AH: Narrow it down a touch for me, please?
<og_Epi> EE: The in-gamers can't find him. A brief scan for his fingerprint didn't work, so I'm trying to find his signature, but I can't put too much load on their servers, so it might be some hours until I get those results.
<og_Epi> EE: He could've just been reassigned, but... I'm fearing the worst-case scenario.
<og_Violet> AH: You want me to check the tap I got on his unit, then?
<og_Epi> EE: Please.
<og_Violet> AH: Right! Let me just check against the spreadsheet and I'll be right with you.
<og_Violet> AH: Okay, that's him aaaand shit.
<og_Epi> EE: What've we got?
<og_Violet> AH: I suddenly am getting *jack* *shit*. Pinging just to make sure.
<og_Epi> EE: ...
<og_Violet> AH: Ping timeout. Right. Okay.
<og_Violet> AH: Which one of us is closer to him?
<og_Epi> EE: How about we go together, just in case.
<og_Epi> [So she won't have to handle the body, if she doesn't want to.]
<og_Violet> AH: Sounds like an idea. I'll need to sweep the area just in case he wasn't the only one. Might've been a 'net dropout - that'd explain why we can't ping him.
<og_Violet> [ Denial is a powerful thing ]
<og_Epi> EE: You taking the jump-jets in?
<og_Epi> EE: There's a vancab from the terminal to Gates Square, which is close enough that we can walk from there.
<og_Violet> AH: I'll get a jump-jet in. Might need to neck it over on a train. See you iiiin...A few days at most, I guess?
<og_Epi> EE: Ping me when you've got an itinerary. I'll try to arrange to meet you.
<og_Epi> EE: My latest above-board client is being a /bitch/ with my scheduling.
<og_Violet> AH: Might take a couple of hours before I can book it. Gotta arrange maintenance for one of the apartment blocks out here before I go.
<og_Epi> EE: Right. Call in any favors you need to; we can always ask more later, and this is one of /yours/ we're talking about.
<og_Epi> EE: In the meantime, I'll be prodding at the netblock to see if it looks like a local outage or... a hyperlocal outage, as it were.
<og_Epi> EE: On that note, you owe me one. The client says if I take any more "family emergencies", I'm being cut off. I can survive without them, but it'll be a lot tighter.
<og_Epi> [You're not mentioning that your expenses are already pulled as tight as they'll go.]
<og_Epi> [She doesn't need to worry about /that/.]
<og_Violet> AH: I'm sorry about this. I'll fly solo the next time something comes up.
<og_Epi> EE: Don't be. He was one of yours.
<og_Epi> EE: I mean is.
<og_Epi> EE: Dammit.
<og_Epi> [You remember a bit too late that she's trying to play denial.]
<og_Violet> AH: It's okay! Just because it's been a long time since he and I really saw each other doesn't mean he's not one of mine still.
<og_Epi> [You don't /quite/ remember when you stopped doing this for Myra, and started doing it for everyone else, too.]
<og_Epi> [But you feel like you need to be there for her, when she sees.]
<og_Violet> [ You've gotten good, over the years, at convincing yourself that the truth isn't. It's easier that way. ]
<og_Epi> [Everyone sees only what they want to see. But computers don't see what you /want/ them to see; they just see, and you have to understand that before you can do /anything/ useful with them.]
<og_Epi> [Which you have.]
<og_Epi> [And now you can't turn it off.]