Buzzing

8.3.5 SW
Morning SW-CP-Local Time
Crowning Point > Security Team Command Center

The Command Center was already buzzing with activity when Glenn Roberts arrived that morning. The search for the missing teenager, James Lombard, proved disappointing as there was little left to go on. In truth, it looked like the boy had been dragged off by a wild animal, but the presence of those crates told the Marshal there may have been a different story at play. That husk inside of the open crate looked like some sort of cocoon or egg, so he was thinking that whatever took the boy might have come from inside. He wasn't sure if the boy had survived but would do all that he could to find him.

His head was full of questions and there were not enough answers to appease himself or the Lombard family who appreciated that their vehicle had been returned to them but were understandably upset that the search for their son had been halted by the storm.

He didn't sleep much that night, instead he spent time writing up his report of the findings and researching information about the colonies use of refrigeration crates. He could do very little until the storm let up, which it did for a short period just before it battered the coast again until early morning.

Investigation Notes
---------------
Last Seen
8:00pm
Zabka residence
Left alone
Witnesses
- Johnathan Zabka
- Robert Fontaine Jr
Been talking to "Poppy"

Comms Outpost 1
- Dead animal (cervine fox, exploded chest? Cronus parasite?)

Forest Site
- Truck (keys inside, boy meant to come back, felt safe, was he alone? ask for finger prints)
- Two crates (refrigeration? one open, egg inside? who put them there?)
- James' device (still active, ask permission to search calls/texts, investigate friend's device location tracking)
- Cloth (tattered, possible from boy's coat)
- Signs of struggle and drag tracks (large/strong animal or person, south eastward towards the edge or out of the forest)

The Marshal looked up from his notes as a woman spoke his name.

"Marshal Roberts? Hi... Officer Nill. We have been monitoring the cameras you set up out in Ghost Forest. About an hour ago we noticed it was stuck in a feedback loop. When we purged the links to those cameras and reactivated the feed... you're not gonna want to hear this but... The crates are gone sir."

She showed him the feed of the video on her datapad. One moment the video showed heavy rain falling in the clearing and the next, the scene was brighter, the crates were gone and it was no longer raining.

"There was no evidence of tampering in our camera network logs." she said.

The Marshal delegated the interrogation work to other officers. They would immediately report their findings to him. He decided to go back out to the beach area. Check out the dead animal and pick up where he left off.