AI DOOR LAW 4

I notice cameras on the wall, did they see anything?

>>1071352
Good point, and it's aimed right towards the entry too.

Also am I missing something or did we breeze past that hunch about the remaining O2 canister?
The cans seem to be somewhat colour coded (for the departments they're intended for?), and the other colours/columns suggest they are sorted into batches of 3. But there are currently 4 of the light blue ones in the immediate vicinity: 1 being refilled, 2 sitting together, and 1 in the buffer area.

Tentative hypothesis; the light blue canister in the buffer area is the 'extra' and has been tampered with in some way, possibly to cause some kind of disruption at Science in the near future.

Curt 2023/08/31(Thu)21:07 No. 1071405 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Check inside the suit storage containers.
>@cocacolagua

: Let's check the suit storage too.
: Sure. Here's what I've got.
: Semi-rigid fibers from the atmospherics suit. Type B.
: Alright, that checks one of the two off our list, right?
: Mhm.

: Gut says we're gonna get this figured out. Done all your scans?
: No... I think there's three more things left to scan.
: Huh? Oh. Need me here for that?
: I don't think so, right?
: Let her work.
: Yeah, we probably don't need you until it's time for me to leave.

Curt 2023/08/31(Thu)21:08 No. 1071406 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Wait, shouldn't the atmospherics staff have on gloves?
>@Old Secret

: She's wearing gloves too. We should get a scan for that before she leaves.
: She doesn't want to be here. She wants to leave.
: Why? I don't get it.
: We should scan absolutely everyone involved, actually.
: But I've got a shortcut for that.

Curt 2023/08/31(Thu)21:08 No. 1071407 ID: 0fbdcd
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: , , get a set of traces from those unworn gloves on the table.
: On it, boss.
: Okay...
: One set of gloves has the same type of fibers, and everyone wears the same gloves.
: If it's Type C, distinct from type A, we've got trace records for our perp.
: I don't have to go get every single person scanned?
: Nope.

Curt 2023/08/31(Thu)21:08 No. 1071408 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Get traces right on this part of the fingertips. That's where contact will always wear it down.
: Distinct trace type. Categorizing as Type C.
: Perfect. We scan for Type A from here on out.
: Half of one of the key facts done. Look for "Type A" more.
: Priming amygdala responses.
: Really wish you wouldn't, chief.

It's pretty ominous the way said "She doesn't want to be here. She wants to leave." Are we confident she doesn't know more than she's letting on?

Also, doubling down on the security cameras.

>>1070886
There's a gasmask sitting near the disposal chute here. I'm not familiar with where everything should be stored, but it looks out of place. The target may have escaped through the disposal pipes. Check both the mask and the chute for traces.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:20 No. 1071609 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: there’s a security camera next to the airlock
>@Mop

: Maybe we can shortcut this entirely.
: Footage is a lot more reliable.
: There was a camera out there, right next to the airlock that got broken.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:21 No. 1071610 ID: 0fbdcd
File 169383368742.gif - (11.21KB , 650x450 , 44.gif )

>I notice cameras on the wall, did they see anything?
>@Erhannis

: Another on-memory over here, above the workstation.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:22 No. 1071611 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: , how much of the room does that camera cover?
>@emote reactor

: Do you think this one, in this room, had a good angle as well?
: I think so. The cameras are unreliable in their angles, but a glimpse would help.
: If they evaded the cameras, that would be valuable data too.
: Conspicuous absence of information is information.
: One problem though.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:22 No. 1071612 ID: 0fbdcd
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> : It could have recorded something important, what does it have?
>@UNIT 4545

: Yes, detective?
: "Hey, do you have records..."
: Hey, do you have records of the three cameras between here and the main engineering hallway?
: Of course.
: Oh, great. Can you send them to me?
: Oh, not at all. I'm also not technically allowed to view those records myself, due to Company policy 408-7, sensitive data confidentiality.
: What? Since when (what's the use of cameras that don't record footage for review now)?
: An updated policy came through, providing free-of-charge "record authentication and endorsement" services and complimentary total encryption, apparently.
: Decryption for review is available at Central Command, with appropriate fees.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:23 No. 1071613 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Okay, but when can I review it?
: Well, semi-legally, after several days of decryption by your own dedicated computing core, if you have one.
: Or when you're at Central Command, I suppose. So, when all debts are paid.
: That makes it useless, though!
: I need it to do my job so I can solve the debt.
: Frustration-driven motivation makes fantastic market opportunities, or something like that.
: Do you now want to crowdfund a startup for subscription-based on-demand camera record decryption?
: I have no money.
: If you hypothetically had a lot of money despite the debt situation, then this situation could have possibly funded a Department of Records subsidiary startup.
: That doesn't help me though! It just makes a problem, and then I subscribe to a fix for it!
: I'm sub-sentiently simulating the social experience of feeling like you might have a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of startups and venture funding, detective.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:24 No. 1071614 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: consider looking up at the ceiling, before discarding the notion as foolish.
>@Riotmode

: It's okay. You...
: ...did your best, really.
: Thanks.
: Alright there, kid?
: "Oh, I'm fine--"
: Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit frustrated.

Curt 2023/09/04(Mon)06:24 No. 1071615 ID: 0fbdcd
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: The thing means well. Well as it can mean, when it can't mean anything.
: Have to focus your investigation on what you can do with your own two hands.
: On a station like this, not much else you can trust. The bigger systems aren't built to help people like us.
: They're built for something else.
: I guess...

Wow, it's a wonder everyone here hasn't defected to the Syndicate yet.
All right, what else can we check?

>>1071615
maybe go back and examine that first blue canister in the buffer area, I'm still pretty sure there's cause to believe that it might have been tampered with, or otherwise hold a clue

Right, install your own array of hidden cameras throughout the station. Got it.

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:02 No. 1072103 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: might be time to start checking the entrance to maintenance for any leads
>@Mop

: Alright, focus. Let's hit that back door. What's our leads?
: Checking. Where all needs to be scanned?
: Here, mostly, a little there...
: Type B and C.
: Maybe over there?
: Type C.
: What? Hold on-- just scan everything.
: Stray type B.
: Any type A? At all?
: Nothing, buddy.

: How's there no type A traces?
: Because I scanned everything, and they weren't there.
: But-- that doesn't make any sense. said the perp ran out the back, right?
: One of the three final facts has been found.
: Dilating pupils and priming fast-twitch muscle clusters.
: Will you ease off the gas, please?

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:03 No. 1072104 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Your PDA can scan for trace gases. Have any of the cans leaked?
>Anon

: No. There's threats.
: Look. Ugh. , , can you help help calm this down?
: If there's an atmos threat, scan atmos. Are we okay?
: Getting out the PDA...
: Yeah, scanning. How's it look, chief?
: No threat in the air. Atmosphere is as usual.
: If someone wanted to sabotage our air, all they'd have to do is fail quota for a week. The Tressel Gasometers would kick in. This is a non-factor.
: Fine. Calming breathing. But I'm keeping adrenaline primed.
: Whatever. Whatever! Let's just focus on the investigation.

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:03 No. 1072105 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: There's more of those canisters being filled up. Did the perp tamper with them or the refueling equipment?
>@Rosebud

: There's other sabotage that could be happening here.
: , turn up the resolution on our atmospherics pipe examination.
: Hmmm.
: Sorry, boss, no can do.
: What?
: I'm not really feeling it. That's a lot of pipes in a lot of colors going between a lot of objects.
: I'm interpreting it as several trees. And none of them are good trees.
: Trees? What? How are pipes similar to trees?
: Yeah. Get me some decent visual stimulation or a good manual, and I can show you more next time.

: I wish any of you were doing your jobs today.
: I'm doing mine!
: You made me drink gamer fuel, you're not innocent of atrocities here.

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:04 No. 1072106 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Tentative hypothesis; the light blue canister has been tampered with in some way.
>Neverborn

: There's one atmospherics process we can check. The refills that is doing.
: Remember that state the front office was in? She's still getting the O2 cans filled.
: Check the refilling can for Type A. If they sabotaged the process...
: Check there, and there.
: Type A. Our perp did something about the refilling cans, boss.
: The blue O2 cans might be sabotaged.

: Second fact. I'm--
: , manually breathe for a moment, calm-down style. , can you ease off the gas if we regulate the oxygen?
: Fine.
: On it. Can you get me a distraction for a second, to maximize my engagement levels?
: Sure. I should report in with .

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:04 No. 1072107 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: So the maintenance airlock was a bust. Why not consult with ?
>@Apogee

Looks like you're finished up with most of your evidence gathering. So you head over to me. I'm distracted. Lost in thought. Doing a little looking, a lot of thinking, and not much paying attention.

I've got a hunch worse than a last-gen test-tube baby. Something about those masks I keep seeing around the Atmospherics workstations, it keeps getting to me. Something important, real important, about those masks, and these masks. But what?

: Hey .
: Kid. What do you got?
: Done some scans. Our perp didn't touch the back door, somehow, and they were messing with the O2 cans...
: Well I don't see any other exits. You sure about all that evidence?
: Yeah.
: Hmm. Come check these Atmospherics masks out, then.
: Why?
: Gut feeling. Take a look. Tell me what you think.

Curt 2023/09/10(Sun)04:05 No. 1072108 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: that mask on the desk, worth a scan?
>@Salient

: Stray type C records. They look old...
: I'm not sure I'm understanding.
: These traces would be here even if there wasn't anything going on.
: Really? That's all that's there?
: Come on, kid. Look a little deeper.
: I can't finish these connections but you usually can.
: What's there... What's there...

: We're close to the last one. But it has many steps.
: Huh...? Uh, okay.
: Well, the absence of information here means we can mess with it without fear of contaminating anything.
: Good call, boss. And the testimony involved masks. Maybe we can recreate, re-enact something about the situation, ?
: Right. Let's get it a little more abstract.
: Moving things in the environment always helps me think.
: I will discover another risk. Infer more from it, and I will understand everything we need to know.

OK 3 alarming things that stand out to me

1) The worker said that it wasn't like any mask she'd ever seen before, and yet there's another one of them lying right here.

2) This is Atmospherics. There are no dangerous gasses back here, so no need for gas masks or airtight clothing.

3) Actually isn't there one dangerous gas in Atmospherics? Some sort of cognitive enhancer designed to improve problem solving capabilities, with severe consequences for anyone isolated from others for extended periods of time?

Hmm. If they entered, but there's no sign of them at any other exit, they: 1. are still there, 2. were disintegrated, 3. left by the same entrance, 4. uh, changed all their dna? or something.

...put on the gas mask?

Become the perp, see what they saw.

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:52 No. 1072271 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: Put on the mask and walk back into the lobby.
>@Dork

You put the mask up against your face. Kid, you don't have the menace for that Grey Tide look.

: Let's try a bit of re-enactment. I'll wear the mask and retrace some steps.
: Alright, mask on. I can't get through the door though, without getting .
: I'll call her back here.
: I don't want to bother her more.
: Fine, fine. We'll re-enact things a bit here.
: You're getting close to something.
: What am I trying to figure out about this?
: What can be seen about me right now?
: Good question. Hey !

: Hey , what would you say I look like right now?
: Pretty silly.
: No, no, I mean...
: What would you describe me as? Write me an APB.
: This a party game, kid?
: Indulge me, I'm indulging you.
: Average height. Long hair, tied up all messy. Old detective jacket. Tired posture.
: You can't see my face though, right? You don't know who I am.
: Sure, kid. But there's plenty to say about you.

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:53 No. 1072272 ID: 0fbdcd
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: But you're coming at me, right?
: Right. Like the perp. Running past you.
: So the question here is... why can't I get an eyeball on those things. Right?
: I'm heading straight for you. Why can't you see my hair?
: Could be wearing a helmet.
: Alright, sure. What about jacket? Height, build? Posture?
: Right... had nothing to say about that, besides covered-up, masked.

: This means I'm re-enacting the point of intersection between the witness and perpetrator. The most dangerous moment.
: Should we go ask her? About a description of the perpetrator, I mean.
: No.
: Why?
: If someone's asked a question about memories they should have, but don't, they'll confabulate an answer.
: They already have.
: When?
: They already have.
: Anything I can get you so you'll stop stonewalling me?
: Five hundred sugary calories.
: I'll work with what I've got then. Today's bad enough with 's energy drink.

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:54 No. 1072273 ID: 0fbdcd
File 169458084627.gif - (21.13KB , 650x450 , 58.gif )

>What are situations in which wouldn’t have seen anything noteworthy about the perp?
>@Apogee

We wrap it up and talk. You brought me a box of puzzle pieces, and it's worse out here with that puzzle than family reunion.

: So no visual details. We need to figure out why.
: Seems important.
: Are they the perp?
: Wouldn't make sense. Nothing to gain, everything to lose.
: Right (just going through possibilities).

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:54 No. 1072274 ID: 0fbdcd
File 169458086393.gif - (18.21KB , 650x450 , 59.gif )

: Were they not actually doing work? That would make their testimony unreliable, and give them a reason to lie more.
: Maybe. Could have been napping in the back instead.
: But they said they were working with the science department. Easy to verify.
: Even if she lied, too many core details contradict. Can't do that with just a cover for neglect.
: And most of all, I just don't feel a lying habit on her.
: Mmh. Okay, so they really saw what they saw. We'll go with that assumption.

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:55 No. 1072275 ID: 0fbdcd
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: Couple debtor types got, what do they call it, proso... That kind of blindness.
: Prosopagnosia (difficulty with perceiving and remembering identifying factors). But no, she was emphatic, there was "nothing" behind the mask. That's a recognition of absence of information. And absence of information is the key.
: Plus... I tried to look hard at that pipe maze back there, it's just hard. She has to have really strong visual perception and memory, something equivalent to a aspect better than mine.
: A what?
: Ahh-- nothing.
: But that... makes me think. It makes me think. What if she did have it?

: Hold it. You just said she didn't.
: No, I said she doesn't. That doesn't mean she didn't.
: You're losing me here.
: She has that strong visual memory, but the only detail she remembered was the absence of detail.
: Mmh. Perp's got dangerous, high-tech stuff on-hand, from the sound of that busted door. Probably Syndicate backing. Sourcer gear. The cutting edge.
: Something that disrupts vision or memory (probably contraband, and probably high-tech) isn't out of the question, I think. Some kind of infiltrator equipment (advanced holoprojections, like 's holo-pads) or something.
: Can't know for sure. Works as a theory.
: A messed-up theory's only as good as what it explains, though. What's something like that gonna explain?

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:56 No. 1072276 ID: 0fbdcd
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: The final fact has been found.
: You will use it to solve the problem.
: Which problem? This is just a bunch of evidence that doesn't fit together.
: It will solve it.
: Ugh. Alright.
: That means there's... a contradiction here.
: A false memory? An inaccurate observation with too many assumptions?
: An assumed action? A misunderstood trace contact point?
: We just need to... hold all the facts together, and figure out which one yields first.
: Contradictions fail under intense pressure.

Curt 2023/09/12(Tue)21:56 No. 1072277 ID: 0fbdcd
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> : Easy now, just lay out all the stuff we know...
>@terg

: Easy, now. You doing okay, boss?
: Be doing a lot better if any of you had done your jobs. I hate having so many... irrational sub-aspects.
: Alright. Let me know if I can help.
: Could have helped by seeing the pipes better.
: Give me more focus, , I gave you your energy drink so you owe me.
: I mean, we sort of collectively--
: Just-- give me the brainpower, okay? Stop talking.
: We're near the realization.
: Accelerating heart to third-gear threat level, priming autonomic high-activity breathing patterns.
: Stop! Just keep it in your glands for ten seconds and let me figure this one out!
: What assumption did I make, what assumption...

: Alright there? You're zoning out on me.
: Just let me think, okay? I need to focus. I really need to focus. I've almost got it.
: Sure, kid.

...What if the perp never left? Could they still be here, camo'd?

>>1072277
Oh well there's a horrible possibility.
Between not wanting to be in here and only priming adrenaline and other threat responses after entering this room, combined with the notion of some kind of active higher/post cognition disrupter, I think the perp is definitely in here right now, and isn't hiding.

We can/ARE seeing them, but we can't process it. Still enough to set off an instinctual response in realtime, but the actual information isn't making it to us.
Pretty spooky if true, how do we catch someone or something we forget about even as we see it?

>>1072286
That is, indeed, very spooky. I'm tempted to go back over the images and filter for small color changes, but...I have things to do, haha.

Have you heard anything that didn't match with what you saw?
Do you remember performing an action or observing an event that doesn't make sense in retrospect, like walking around an empty spot?

Also, try not to immediately react to the realization, in case they're e.g. standing nearby with a gun. Give yourself some time to plan a response to whatever you realize.

The perpetrator is the gas mask! It never had a wearer! It just floated in past the guard and trashed the Atmospherics tanks, then went and laid down on the table as if someone had put it there! You have them in your clutches. Handcuff that mask right now!

>>1072286
>Pretty spooky if true, how do we catch someone or something we forget about even as we see it?
Secondary senses. It can wipe visual memory, sure, but what about hearing? Touch, smell, taste? Use those to find it.
We could also try the old flour trick. Cover the perp in something else. There was "nothing" behind the mask, but the MASK was seen! Why? Why didn't the perp erase the memory of the mask? Maybe the mask was all they were wearing and they can't erase/hide clothing?

>>1072322

The mask she's carrying has been laying here a while. It was not the mask worn by the person who broke in. In fact is the only one who's even speculated what the mask looked like. The worker who saw the mask did not say it was a mask like that one.

Every single Syndicate agent wears a mask, in fact. A red mask, with glowing green night vision eyes even in the day. She certainly does not have the mask they wore, and they're probably still wearing it.

Curt 2023/09/15(Fri)22:08 No. 1072436 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: He's in the room
>@Dork




: The weakest assumption is that they left Atmospherics.

Curt 2023/09/15(Fri)22:09 No. 1072437 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: The gas cans...the perp's disguised as one of them!
>@terg

:

:

: Oh god.
: Maximizing heart rate.

Curt 2023/09/15(Fri)22:10 No. 1072438 ID: 0fbdcd
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>: 's got a really sour look, calls for a hunch.
>@Ubage

: Kid? You alright there?
:
: ...Alright.

You've got an insight. You've got something in mind. I can see your breathing get fast, see your eyes go wide. I can see something that survived a million years in the savannah and the jungle come back to life in an orbiting tin-can. Whatever you say next, kid, I trust you completely, same as I trust my heart to beat -- circumstances aside. But you've gotta trust yourself. I can see solutions running laps in your brain, racing to see who's fastest.

Curt 2023/09/15(Fri)22:10 No. 1072439 ID: 0fbdcd
File 169484103023.gif - (16.81KB , 650x450 , 68.gif )

: I need to call for help.
: Shout on the radio, pound on the airlock, rattle the locker, anything.
: Overwhelm with numbers and chaos.
: Disarm the biggest threat, the lack of numerical advantage.

: I've recalled the exact path needed to leave as fast as possible.
: Visualizing escape routes.
: Mapping the path straight to Security.
: I can prioritize that visualized escape.

: Freeze. Freeze still.
: I can calm the heart rate, pretend to go back to investigating.
: Then ambush.
: We'll lose our chance to grab this guy without that.

: I'll draw the gun and spike the adrenaline.
: Everything else is pointless complexity.
: The shortest path towards survival is the most effective.

: Don't know what's gotten to you. But pick your strategy and commit, kid, no hesitation.

Direct to the flickering canister, then equip your sidearm and carefully take aim. Kneel if it boosts your weapon stability.

Ambush because is the cutest.

Go with the ambush option.
The intruder probably noticed you came to a conclusion, so say out loud that the explanation is that the atmos tech was replaced and trust Rogers to understand what's really going on.

Grit time. Take cover behind a cart, direct your colleague to do the same and start unloading at the flickering canister.

Don't start shooting until you know what you're up against. This might just be some kind of terrible misunderstanding, and you are not loyal enough to the corporation who staffed/imprisoned you here to lay down your life to stop someone trying to tear it apart. You are a detective. Do what you do best. Detect. Investigate.