Chapter 1
March 2004, St. Luke’s Hospital, Alkena
A young woman lay on the operating table at St. Luke’s University Hospital. After the anesthesiologist did his work and prepared the patient for surgery, a tense silence fell for a brief moment, broken by the voice of the surgeon asking for tools in turn and describing each step of the operation. For a unique procedure was taking place in the operating room: the implantation of a microchip using nanotechnology, which connected to the parasympathetic nervous system. Through it, the muscular system could be stimulated. The operation proceeded without complications, and the patient was sent home the next day. Only her life was never the same as before.
July 2004, Interrogation Room of the Investigative Office, Alkena
“Ladies and gentlemen, you are probably asking why I have asked for your help. I assume you have already introduced yourselves and communicated with each other at least minimally, and so you have learned that each of you is an expert in a completely different field, from mathematics, through biology, and medicine to psychiatry. At the beginning of May, someone uploaded a computer game to our police server. We thought it was a joke and paid no attention to it, until the author of this game contacted us and informed us that we had failed the first level within the time limit and thus failed to save a person imprisoned in one of the warehouses on the outskirts of the city. We sent our people there, and they actually found the victim.”
The chief police investigator, during his briefing and familiarization with the case, started a presentation showing the game’s intro, a message from the author, and photos from the crime scene.
“The victim was Jonathan Stevens, whom we found dead on a hospital bed in the warehouse. The cause of death was tetrodotoxin administered intravenously. This substance paralyzes the victim’s body, and death occurs after a few minutes. It is a substance contained in some species of pufferfish and jellyfish.”
“We started taking it seriously and got into the game. Unfortunately, we were unable to solve the tasks contained in the game in time. Alongside this, we of course launched an investigation and manhunt for the perpetrator, but without success. That is why I have invited you today and am asking for your help. The tasks in the game are from various fields. At the same time, I want to ask some of you for help in creating a profile of the perpetrator. All the hints and the manner of communication are very difficult to read and very vague. Furthermore, we failed to complete several other tasks in time, and more people died. Therefore, we are forced to act faster, at least regarding solving the individual tasks. The file in front of you contain further details. At the same time, I want to ask you to sign a confidentiality agreement and for your full cooperation. At the end of the file is a proposal for the method of solving and division into teams. I accept any comments, suggestions, and input. I think that’s all from me for now. Please, your questions.”
A few days later, the police department was swarming with people, so a different space was allocated for this purpose near the city, where the investigation of the entire project was moved. It was a former small hotel in a quiet location, which companies occasionally rented from the city for team-building activities. Here, everyone who accepted the request for cooperation lived, because the project required intensive investigation. This project was later named Fishing, as the hotel was located near a small lake and was top secret.
The individual teams worked as best they could and solved task after task. Despite the difficulties, they always managed to solve the tasks on time. However, they never managed to trace where the perpetrator was hiding his victims, and the victims themselves usually remembered nothing. No description of the perpetrator, no specific locations, only increasing tasks. The profile they managed to create was very general and applied to almost any university student. Additionally, the police had to proceed very carefully so that the entire project would not be declassified and cause unnecessary panic among people.
Several years passed, dozens of people cycled through the project, many were completely recalled after three years and could not later contact each other or say anything about their previous life, while the perpetrator was still at large and, increasingly, more dangerous.
April 2013, Apartment of Police Investigator Philip Simon, Alkena
Filip returned home from work and after a demanding day, he was getting ready to take a shower. The only one who welcomed him home was his dog. A big black ball of fur with kind eyes, which he usually called Beauty. She came to him, sniffed around him, and returned to her spot. He was just opening the bathroom door when his phone rang. He grumbled and looked disappointedly at Beauty.
“You have no idea how much I envy you for not having a phone. Yes, I’m listening, Sabina. I hope this is important.”
He spoke into the phone. His bored expression changed to serious; he even raised an eyebrow. He listened with concern and finally rubbed his forehead and his tired eyes.
“Fine. I’m on my way right now.”
He hung up and sighed. He tucked his shirt back into his pants, threw on his jacket, and headed for the door. As he was putting on his shoes, he addressed his dog.
“Beauty, I don’t know when I’ll be back. Don’t you dare throw a party without me.”
He warned her and closed the door behind him. On the way, he pondered why it couldn’t have waited until morning or why Sabina couldn’t have handled it herself. She’s not a beginner.
When he arrived at the station, she was waiting for him between the doors of his office.
“So, what is it?” he asked her.
“See for yourself, and you’ll understand.”
Sabina had a serious face, and despite Filip knowing her like the back of his hand, he couldn’t read anything from her. He glanced into his own office and looked back at Sabina, startled. Inside sat a roughly thirty-year-old woman with a child in her arms. She was shaken, tearful, and clearly exhausted.
“Why is she in my office and not in the hospital?”
“She doesn’t want to go to the hospital. Worse still, she can’t tell us anything coherent. She’s in shock.”
“That still doesn’t explain why she’s in my office. And besides, we have people for these kinds of cases.”
“We do. But you’re still the best, and besides... she said your name.”
