[b]Cryogenics Lance Lawrence and Loretta Riadne[/b] Lance had no idea what it was he was doing down in Cryogenics, only that there was some commotion going on and he was in the mood for real work after running his training session with the Agents rather than being forced to go back to his desk or patrolling aimlessly. The scene that greeted him was certainly more concerning than he’d expected though. A cryo-pod cut open with the occupant nowhere to be found. Could the people frozen in there survive having their pods cut open? Was this a missing persons case, deliberate sabotage or a murder investigation? He spoke up to try and get the attention of those gathered. “My name’s Lance Lawrence, I’m a Patrol Captain with Ark Security. What’s going on here?” He tried his best to play it off as if it were natural that he take control of the scene, which he supposed it was given his job title. Still, he only knew the basics when it came to the people cryogenically frozen down here, awaiting either the needs of the ship or arrival at wherever their eventual home might be before they woke up again. Loretta turned as someone, in stress on the [i]one[/i], wearing security attire walked within earshot. Not only that but within distance to be heard, but see what was going on. She wasn’t sure whether or not he could see that the wires and tubes had been cut to remove the occupant, or solely that it had appeared to be force opened. She pushed her way past all the other techs milling around, waltzing right up to the [i]captain[/i]. “Doctor Raidne, head of Cryogenics. We’ve got an open pod, and the occupant appears to have been cut out. You need to quarantine cryogenics and review any and all security footage within the last two hours-” At least that would exclude [i]her[/i] activities “-of all exits. Someone has come in and removed the occupant, and somehow managed to get them past security. Though it should be done quietly to not cause a panic.” She pointed over to two techs who appeared to be more shaken than anyone else. “I’ve kept the technicians who made the discovery here, as well as having a list of names of anyone who has had access to this pod and the skills to prevent N.O.4.H or our own failsafes from alerting us. So, where do you want to start?” Lance was certain that if she hadn’t introduced herself as such, the good doctor’s attitude would have practically screamed the fact that she was the Head of Cryo and used to being in charge. Well, if she thought that applied to this investigation too, she’d have to make some adjustments. He agreed with her about the need to avoid panic. Cryogenics was the best hope for humanity and it being in any way endangered could make panic spread like sand in a dust-storm. “I’ll start by getting this place under quarantine. Then I have some questions to ask the primary witnesses. My Agents will escort you safely from the field interview station until it’s your turn for questioning.” He called in just ten agents to carry out the quarantine, two for each entryway and two to help him manage the area and investigations. As the first pair arrived Lance met them at the entryway and gave hushed instructions that he wanted the surveillance footage for the last six hours gone over, then gone over again with a fine-toothed comb and every person on that list who wasn’t already here brought in for questioning as quickly as possible along with anyone else whose skills and access matched the description. Doctor Riadne might have her opinions on how to handle things but he wasn’t about to rule anything out. Loretta herself was next after the two witnesses. In terms of immediate suspects she was top of Lance’s list, if only because in terms of both skill and access to the pods she immediately fit both criteria and had already had ample time and authority to access the crime scene. Unfortunately that also meant it would be hard to pin her down if she was the culprit. They’d set up a makeshift interview room with a set of opaque dividers, with the two Agents not currently on quarantine duty standing by to make sure nobody eavesdropped, and it was here that he’d had them bring each suspect for questioning. Lance sat on a swivel stool and regarded the Head of Cryogenics critically. “So Doctor Loretta Riadne, you mentioned you run things down here in Cryogenics, correct?” Loretta sighed. Every moment she wasted playing cops and robbers with this idiot was one less working to improve cryogenics or running her experiments to better humanity. “Obviously, you have access to my personnel file. If you’re going to ask such basic questions then I advise you to read it.” Lance shot her a rather disappointed look “Oh, but I have read it. I’ve read and memorized files for quite a few of the notables aboard the Vitae. As a result I already know that you’re Loretta Riadne, Age 31, Born on the [i]Vigilance[/i] before it went down over Titan when the Devastators attacked. I know that you’ve spent your whole life afterward driving yourself to be the best in your field, that you’re a practical genius when it comes to the technology behind these cryogenic storage pods. I know that your co-workers describe you as utterly brilliant and utterly cold. I know your parents stayed behind when the Devastators returned despite both of them possessing valuable experience as engineers. What I don’t know, Doctor Riadne, is how cooperative you’re prepared to be during the course of this investigation. An investigation that’s become necessary under your supervision.” He watched her reactions as he spoke, trying to get a read of her as he continued. “Now that we’ve established who you are and the fact that you doubtless think this is a tremendous waste of both our time, why don’t you tell me everything you can remember of your activities over the course of the past day, especially anything unusual or of relevance to this incident.” She could have sworn at him, why he had asked when he already knew. “Excellent, then I advise we skip anymore unnecessary questions as I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do, Captain. I clocked in this morning at zero seven thirty two hours, worked in my laboratory until zero nine thirty three where I then moved onto my standard maintenance checks. Which I am sure you can understand take a rather large amount of time. The pods require constant supervision and have a balance between the technological components, software components and the chemical components. The slightest mix up could result in the death of one, or all occupants.” “At-” She paused for a brief moment, recalling something. While her implant did help her remember sometimes she had to take pause when processing vast amounts of data. “Fourteen hundred hours I was made aware of a software glitch by the technician responsible for that system. While I was trying to resolve the problem, as per procedure, I ordered a visual inspection which yielded the open pod.” She sat back and crossed her arms to indicate that she was finished. Lance took her statement in, committed it as best he could to memory along with her reaction when further angered before continuing his questions. “Were you the first one in that day? Who was the occupant of this pod? Was the software glitch related to the pod having been breached? Finally, why was it you suggested a timeline of four hours back for the video data? Why not a narrower band of time?” “First one in? Of course not. These systems are regulated twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I was the first one to ever enter the vault once it had a cryo-pod in it technically speaking, but that particular day no I was not. One of the first few day staff I suppose. In terms of the glitch, it would be sensible to presume that the two have some form of correlation, whether the glitch allowed the culprit to breach the pod or the breach caused the glitch is unclear. With my understanding of the systems I am more likely to go with the former. In terms, why four hours? That is the time between the glitch being brought to my attention and the empty pod being discovered. There are a lot of pods, visual inspection takes time. Thankfully the system is fully online again.” She stretched her legs, pointing her toes away from her as she did so. “Is there anything else you need Captain? I need to ensure that whatever caused this breach cannot happen again.” Lance listened without giving much in the way of reaction, masking his face with professionalism. “Well, on that point we’re agreed. That’s why I’ll be keeping a skeleton watch here until we get to the bottom of this. The agents involved already will split and guard the area in shifts. I don’t want whoever’s responsible for this striking again. Like you said earlier, we’ll keep it discreet but the work you’re doing here is too vital to risk further sabotage.” Loretta made to go to stand up. “Excellent, so long as my people don’t feel like they’re under a microscope. They need to be at their best, so is that all you need?” Lance stood up just before Loretta “Yes, that should be all. We’ll be in touch as the investigation progresses, I’m sure. Thank you for your eventual and somewhat forced cooperation.” Without waiting for anything more Lance walked out of the little curtained off interview area and moved back over to the sliced open pod that was the center of all this and started going over it with a critical eye, looking for anything of use. Two details stuck out to him afterward. The first was the blood around the area. They hadn’t taken samples for analysis yet so he motioned one of the Agents on standby to take them in thoroughly. The second was more subtle and more concerning. There were signs, once he looked and mentally compared, that the cuts made on and around the pod were made with a blade that was standard issue for the Vitae’s military and security personnel. So either somebody had misplaced a knife or things had just become a lot more complicated. Lance made sure the blood was already set to be sent in and analyzed then left in a hurry. His other duties as a Patrol Captain aside, he was going to have to start looking for traitors in his own ranks if he guessed right.