Human Edge

Finally cleared from his injuries, Aly had spent the morning being briefed on the events of the past two days. The salvage and repair operations were not a direct concern for him. The explosion that had forced their landing was. Signs pointed to sabotage and there was a crew member unaccounted for.

The investigation would begin with the tech's bunk and understanding who they were.

The room was surprisingly clean - there weren't many personal items, just a copy of the Order of Five Pillars foundational texts, some technical reference books, and a padlock on his locker.

The locker would be the obvious place to look, but it would keep while he looked through everything else. He searched thoroughly, skimming through the books and looking for any place something could be hidden, anything that seemed unusual or out of place.

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[D3, EA] The Hunt Begins (Crew Quarters), Investigation/Perception: 7d10o10k4 48

In the business, you learned to recognize when things weren't natural.

The entire room was unnatural.

The way it was organized, the fact that he had Union technical manuals and sensor operations textbooks... everything about the room screamed guilt in a way that was too much to be natural. All the usual detritus of human life had been squared away.

Either he had known he was going to die, and prepared for that eventuality... or someone else had cleaned this room after he vanished.

The only other thing clearly out of place was a small origami cat, sitting on the pillow.

Aly took the cat and put it away in a pocket. Someone, somewhere, knew what it meant. He imagined the locker would be just as immaculate, but it still needed to be searched. He examined the lock. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too difficult.

It was a very simple lock, anyone with the skill could easily unlock it.

(Sleight of Hand(lockpicking)/Dexterity TN 10)

It gave him some trouble, but it was fairly simple.

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[D3, EA] The Hunt Begins (Crew Quarters), Sleight of Hand(lockpicking)/Dexterity TN 10, Unskilled: 3d10 10

The lock popped open, revealing a locker with several things that should not be there. Such as a large and partially used package of plastic explosives, a needler, and some disposable encryption logs.

Aly was a bit surprised. Cleaning out the rest of the bunk, but leaving the evidence here seemed sloppy. He felt certain the tech was dead now, no need to hide what was done anymore. Why it was done was the real mystery.

Aly sent a message to the sisters, requesting a meeting when convenient. Then, he removed and inspected each item, while searching the locker for any hidden compartments.

No hidden compartments, and no further clues... only that it definitely seemed like someone wanted those bits of evidence to be found.

His message was answered fairly quickly, Lucretzia sending a responding email that simply said, Where?