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"Something akin to it, yes," Raz said, "He has soundly reminded me why I dislike spending too much time around self-professed intellectuals. He says he will issue an apology in return for you lifting your restrictions on him. I'd counsel you to give him what he wants for now and begin preparing to have him dismissed through whatever bureaucracy is necessary. He is clearly incompetent and will likely be making this sort of misstep again in the future."
Professor Muhali sighs, and buries her head in her arms for a moment. A few muffled sounds escape. You cant really make out what she's saying but you're pretty sure she's cursing in Lashunta.
"Ok, yes. If that is what it takes. Fine. I accept. But one of you is going to have to go back and tell him because he's turned off his comlink. Probably so he can 'work in peace'."
Whaloss tries to blend in with a potted plant.
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"Of course you do." says Rat Tony. "But, I gots to admit he didn't take much of a liking to me. Don't know why, I am usually quite easy to get along wit'.
"I can deliver da message. You want it to be delivered in a soft, congenial-like manner? And you sure you don't wanna deliver it, Blixa? You bein' th' diplomat and all?"
'We could both go, or all of us, just to be safe.'
"So, Professor, does he ever get violent-like?"
"Violent? No. Dont know if he has it in him even. But I'm pretty sure that when you give him the good news that I accept his terms that he'll be as close to likable he'll ever get. And you'll be my stick-in-the-door. If you dont leave untill you've seen him record his apology I'll throw in something extra for doing this."
"You record him, he records himself. Doesnt matter. As long as I can point the board to a public facing apology."
"No, not here with me. I'm pretty sure he has some good quality equipment around so he can record his lectures for our out of campus students."
Professor Muhali nods understandingly. "Yeah, understandable sentiment. Whaloss, why dont you show the others to the caffeteria and get them all some lunch while Miss Blixa and Mr Antonius talk to Ailbliens. That leaves me free to call the deans the moment the apology is in. You can all rendevous at the caffeteria, and I'll let you know once I'm free to assist. Its my treat."
She slides over a plastic card with her picture on it to Whaloss, who gladly accepts it.
When Blixa and Tony make their way back to the other floor and enter Ailibiens office, he is still floating in the air, this time typing away on a tiny floating keyboard.
"Ah. You have returned. Did professor Muhali agree to my terms?"
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"Yeah, she accepted 'em." says Antonius, giving a pleasant smile. "Blixa is here to help you with your statement while I am here to record it for you.
"I haven't got anything other than my comm unit, so if you want better quality, maybe I can use some of your video gear? We want your apology to come off as sincere, so that Professor Muhali can't find no excuses that you are just givin' it lip service."
Tony looks around the office for what would look like good lighting, but that would show this blow-hard off in the worst way.
"Ah, I see Professor Muhali send you to be her eyes and ears. No need to record it for me, I can do that perfectly fine myself. If you're here to make sure I do it *now*, that is fine. Just stand in the corner, and dont make a sound.
Ailbliens takes two devices from a shelf. One is something he straps to his chest, and another is a floating camera.
Then you can hear him speak.
"Testing. Can you hear my voice with your ears now, instead of your mind?"
Ailabliens turns on the floating camera.
"Testing. Testing. Ah, the feed looks good. Well, if you want to record me separately I must insist that you hand over your recording to professor Muhali and that she deletes all other instances."
Ailabliens then launces into a long and convulted apology.
He then switches off the camera and voice device.
With a few clicks on his floating keyboard, he imports the videofile, edits out his 'testing testing' part, and sends both versions, the original and the edited one, to professor Mulhali.
"I hope that is satisfactionary for the professor. Now then. I did promis to help you with your research if you got out of my hair. Now then, what is it excatly that you to the university for?"
"Yes. Of course that is your research. And of course you will delete it. I've send professor Muhali my files and let her know to check if you deleted your files. Now, if there is nothing else, I must continue with preparing for my next lecture.
Before returning to the professor, you head by the canteen to meet back up with Raz and Jaru. You figure now that Alibliens made his applogy, she's going to need to make some phonecalls anyway.
The caffeteria is on the ground floor, and has big sliding doors that let in a warm breeze. Food and drink options range from simple and cheap, to fancy and quite pricy, but you have professor Muhali's card.
THe caffeteria provides all kinds of options for various kinds of diets.
Tony comes back to the table with a veggie burrito, a bowl of steamed rice, some fresh sushi (they rolled it as you watched, perk of having the card of a faculty member) and a grilled meat sandwich. And a huge smoothie.
Jaru is seated at the table, sipping on a huge smoothie of his own, a fresh apple in each of his other hands.
As Tony approaches, he lobs an apple at the Ysoki and sets it spinning gently in mid-air just in front of him.
"You've got to have an apple, Tony. They've become quite hard to find recently. Prices on the Idari were getting ridiculous."
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Raz was halfway through a plate of steaming rice, a couple of colorful kebabs drizzled in a creamy sauce, and something that looked like a bunch of grapes crossed with an octopus. The little tentacles twitched slightly when the bunch was disturbed.
"How faired your efforts? Is our 'friend' still alive?"
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Blixa uses both hands to carry a plate upon which sits a small mountain of grilled meats. Another plate hovers next to her upon which rests a glass and a pitcher filled with a bright red liquid. Eyes sting and water from the spiciness radiating from the meats.
Reaching the others, Blixa pours herself a glass and, using her hands, tears into the meat mountain. With a single mindedness Blixa destroys her meal, pausing only to belch or refill her glass A final rafter rattling belch compliments her stomach pats. An empty pitcher, glass, and plate sit before her.
”What?”
Having had an excellent lunch, you head back up to the office of Professor Muhali.
As you enter her office, she looks tired, but much more relaxed.
"Ah, there you are. Thank you for helping me out. I just finished talking to the board, and it looks like this storm is going to blow over soon, now that the apology has been posted. And as promised, here is some extras for helping me out."
She retrieves a credstick and a ring from a drawer. [b]"This was part of a research grant for Ailibliens, but with all that hassle, I am happy to say it got canceled and I'm granting it to you instead."
"Now, just one more thing before we can get on with what you all came here for. Did you delete that recording of Ailibliens that you made, like he requested?"
Professor Muhali tiredly rubs her yes. "Ok, good. This s&+$storm just blew over, and I rather have it lie down and be over. And not start up again because you had *ideas*."
She types a few things on her computer. "So, Chiskisk said you had discovered some interesting writing. I can definitely help you analyze those samples. He did not mention however where you found them. Can you tell me? Context might help in deciphering them."
Professor Muhali raises an eyebrow. "So that is where its from. That drift rock thing was popular with the students, but Im not a big fan of live streaming. Still. It must have been quite the ordeal. It does deepen the mystery. Why would a non-Elven language group on a technologically advanced rock in the drift also show up in a few known elven sites on the continent of Ukulam? Very strange. Let me call upon the specialized knowledge of a colleague."
Professor Muhali types a bit on her computer. She shrugs at what she sees and uses her com unit several times. Its clear she doesnt manage to reach the person she is trying to contact.
"This is all very strange. Give me a moment."
She goes to the corner of her office and speaks quietly with several people on her com unit. After the calls, her brow is furrowed with worry.
"I am sorry to impose upon you again, but my colleague, Dr. Solstarni appears to be missing. She is not at the office, where she should have been at this time, and she did not show up in class this morning. I contacted her parents and her flatmate, but neither have seen her either. This is very concerning. I am going to take a look at her office. If you could please accompany me."
You take a few corridors and end up in front of a heavy wood composite door. Its locked, but professor Muhali uses her keycard to unlock it.
The office behind the door is in disarray, with cabinet doors ajar, several stone artifacts scattered across the floor from open archival drawers, and a traveling bag open and half-packed. The computer on the desk at the far end of the room is dark, but a diode at its base blinks regularly
Seeing the mess, Muhali lets out a few soft but colorfull curses in Lashuta.
"This is not good. Looks like the place has been ransacked. Stay here. Im going to call the police. See if you can find any clue to what happened here."
She hurries away down the corridor.
Jaru follows Antonius into the office and begins searching for clues. He makes sure not to touch anything and levitates papers and objects when necessary to see what lies beneath them.
"Hmmm. I wonder if the University has received any visitors from Eox recently?"
Tony checks out the computer. The blinking diode indicates that the computer is not powered down, but in sleep mode.
It easily wakes up with a keyboard press. Tony easily bypasses the login screen with a common hack that he knows this OS is vulnerable to.
Once having access to the computer, he quickly scans what programs are currently open. Her personal calendar notes that she is scheduled for a research sabbatical in approximately 2 months, as approved by her department head, Muhali, and the authorities in Turhalu Point on the east coast of Ukulam.
There is also a letter open Professor Muhali granting Dr. Solstarni leave to depart 2 months early to take advantage of special conditions in the field, signed 2 days ago.
While Tony tackles the computer, Jaru has a good look around.
You see the door to one of the offices cabinets stand ajar. Inside, a set of basic lashunta tempweave fitted for a kasatha has fallen from its hanger. Strangely the cabinet is dented. As you give the door a more in depth look, you spot a piece of paper sticking out. Its a printout of an invitation, inviting Dr Solstarni to meet at a cafe called the 'Five Arches' to discuss a find of new artifacts.
Jaru passes the floats the note into the middle of the room where the others can get a look at it.
"This note seems to be inviting Solstarni to some kind of clandestine meeting at a cafe."
Ras looks around but doesnt spot anything interesting.
At a loss for what to check next, Jaru pensively stares into the distance, but then spots a camera down the hallway. The office doesnt appear to have one, but there are several security cameras placed at strategic points in the hallway and at the elevators so that the whole length of the corridor is covered.
When Jaru points the cameras out, Tony recalls that he hasnt seen a security office, but the entry desk you passed and the receptionist you spoke to might have acess to the cameras images.
Meanwhile Tony digs a bit trough the email conversations on the computer. He finds a series of 15 messages exchanged between Dr. Solstarni and a person named Dr. Eyrub Paqual regarding Solstarni’s research into the ancient elven settlements of Ukulam. The exchanges begin fairly cordially as Paqual and Solstarni discussed minor details of interest from the minimal research published about these sites. As the discussion continued, however, Paqual grew more insistent and attempted to cajole the kasatha to meet with him at a cafe called the Five Arches in Qabarat’s Gateway District 2 days ago to appraise several artifacts he had recovered. Solstarni refused, citing a busy schedule.
Jaru listens attentively as Tony recounts his findings.
"From the messages, it sounds as if the good doctor was against visiting the Five Arches but it is still our only lead other than whatever the camera may have caught. Perhaps we should visit the reception desk and then swing by this cafe?"
Tony is pretty sure he's gotten as much out of the computer as he can for the moment.
As you all take another look around the office, you hear the lift *ding* at the end of the hallway, and Dr Solstrni and an Lashunta in uniform exit. While she asked you to help, Tony knows that law enforcement generally isnt very keen on others intervening.
So you make a quick exit down a side corridor and head down to the reception desk.
At the desk, the receptionist you heroically saved from the mob of journalists is still on duty. He looks happy to see you all. "Hey everyone. Are you leaving? Or is there anything I can assist you with?"
Explaining that you're here helping Dr Muhali investigate something, Ikimsi, the receptionist, gladly hands you the controls of a computer console, so that you can brows trough the camera footage.
Going off the day and time of Dr Solstarni's last email, the only thing the receptionist sees is out of the ordinary, is 2 days ago. A trio of korasha lashuntas carrying heavy backpacks and wearing uniforms entered the building in the late evening—after all reception personnel had left. They then took the stairs up, but there seems to be no footage of them on other floors or even leaving the building.
You identify the uniforms the lashuntas are wearing as being of the Gateway District’s Port Authority.
You note that there are inconsistencies in the footage on several floors (including the fourth floor, where Dr. Solstarni’s office is), suggesting that someone hacked into the building’s security cameras and looped footage of empty hallways to hide whatever they were doing. If asked, the receptionist knows nothing of how or why someone would hack the cameras.
Jaru's brow furrows as Tony mentions the Port Authority.
"Strange. What would the Port Authority want with Dr. Solstrani? And Why would they loop the security footage to cover their tracks?"
The receptionist has no idea why the port authority would be here. If there was an issue about wrongly imported goods, it would be an issue for the logistics and/or legal departments.
As you apply scroll trough the images once more, Dr Muhali comes downstairs.
"Ah, here you are. Checking out the cameras. Good call. The police is searching the office. They no doubt will be thorough and persue all leads. But something is very wrong here and I suspect foul play. I'd like you to persue this issue seperately. You'll be able to act while the authorities would need time to arrange for authorization. Dr Muhali might be your best bet at getting the information you need, so seeing her back safe and sound is in your best interest. And because she's my friend, and I want you to succeed in getting her out of whatever trouble she is in, here is some extra help."
Dr Muhali slides a credstick across the desk. It contains 2000 credits.