Entry #5 - 8.23.5502

It had been a while since Athena and I took any time off, and lately -- between long days and worries about Mar -- we'd been snapping at each other way too much. So one morning last week we decided go diving. It's something we'd wanted to do for a couple weeks, ever since reading about some spectacular sites nearby. And while we didn't know if there was still a viable ecosystem to be found, we thought we'd check it out anyway. If nothing else, we figured it would be a nice change of scenery and refreshing break from the heat.

We left the city immediately after breakfast, heading west till we reached the eastern edge of the sea, half an hour's ride from the gate. It was a perfect morning to dive -- seas as smooth as a lake and visibility in excess of 25 meters. We planned to do a shallow, hour-long dive before returning home to help the vermin work on the Etherdome -- the Academy's atmospheric lab and planetarium/space center.

Gearing up quickly to avoid being eaten by rabid mosquitoes that inhabit the flats, we entered the water and made our way to a drop-off about 20 meters from shore. There, we descended and began working a rocky, sloping wall to a maximum depth of 23. While reports said there was an abundance of soft coral and anemone gardens in the area, those animals seemed to have all but disappeared -- the terrain we discovered was mostly rugged and rocky, hosting a variety of less-delicate plant and animal life. Regardless, it was awesome. Eventually, when I get some free time, I'll put some pix online.

Returning to the Den just before noon, we expected to find the vermin hard at work in the labs, but instead found only a note on the door that read "Meet us in the lunchroom -- big trouble." It was signed 50-50. We dropped our gear and made a beeline for the mess.

"Everybody shut-up, they're here!" 45 snapped as we walked in to the hall. The rats had been arguing furiously as we came in through the door; they were clearly very upset. It took only a few moments to realize 101 was missing from the group.

"What's going on -- where's 101?" Athena asked, sensing the object of their concern.

"We're not sure," 3.14 replied, stepping forward from the group and beginning to explain the situation at hand, "the Etherdome's mainframe malfunctioned and..."

"It didn't malfunction it was sabotaged!" 45 broke in.

"We have reason to suspect Hershel's behind it." 14/2 added.

"Now let's not jump to conclusions till we've weighed evidence on all sides -- we just can't be sure." 50-50 cautioned. "Hershel may have had a hand in this or, then again, may not."

"Are you forgetting I found evidence that the sewer rats were there -- strands of mousy-brown hair that surely belong to Gina!" 14/2 offered in defense of his theory.

"No, I'm not overlooking your evidence, I'm just saying..."

"You're wasting time, is what you're doing!"

"OK guys, calm down and tell us what happened." I asked, directing my attention to 3.14.

"Well, it was like this -" 3.14 began, ignoring the now-muffled argument still going on behind him, "- we'd just finished replacing several circuit boards that govern the Etherdome's connection to the Academy intranet when an unexplained power surge..."

"Unexplained, my ass!" 45 piped up.

"...when a power surge triggered an energy bubble of indeterminate composition that enveloped 101 and left the rest of us temporarily blinded. When our sight returned -- after a few minutes -- we realized the little guy was gone."

"So what're you doing here -- why aren't you over at the lab trying to sort this out?" Athena asked, her patience clearly waning.

"The surge fused the circuits and we couldn't figure out how to shut it down -- couldn't risk being there for another bubble formation. So we came here to..."

"...waste valuable time!"

... wait for you guys to return."

By mid-afternoon we'd managed to locate the main breaker for the system, shutting down the power and making it safe to return to the lab. It took till late evening the next day to repair the damage and begin a systematic investigation into what happened. We've been at it now for 3 whole days, trying to determine whether 101 is gone for good or just missing in action.

First Mar and now 101, both unaccounted-for and silently feared dead. Needless to say, morale here in the den sucks. As for Dr. Hershel's involvement in 101's disappearance, indications are he did indeed send Richie and Gina to do his dirty work cross-wiring the offending circuits. But while we're pretty sure it was their tampering that led to the energy bubble's formation, we still don't know 101's fate.

It's almost midnight and I still can't fall asleep, though I've been up since dawn. The stress of it all is exhausting, yet at the same time has me wired. I've been trying to reach Sona all week but she, too, seems to be missing -- though at least with her I know she's just "out of range" so to speak.

Guess I'll take a walk over to the lab and do a little more work -- better than sitting here agonizing...