Prologue
Ithaca, New York – Climate lab at the Materials and Climate Research Institute – Present time, Tuesday, October 14.
“Dr. Kumar, Dr. Makram is dead.”
It was about 15 minutes past eight on this fall evening. Dr. Ravi Kumar, the Director of the Materials and Climate Research Institute, located on the outskirts of Ithaca, New York – had just finished dinner. He was helping Dr. Caitlyn Mariko, his AI expert wife and a fellow lead scientist at the institute, clear the dishes and clean the kitchen when the quiet of the evening was jarred by the loud ringing of his home phone in his study.
He let it ring for a while, assuming it was another spam call that would eventually go away. But the caller was persistent, and the phone kept ringing. Dr. Kumar could not ignore it anymore and walked up to his study to see who was calling. He answered when he saw the institute’s number on the caller ID. It was Tom Delaney, the second shift inside guard who had just come in to start his shift.
“No!!” he screamed. “That cannot be. He was alive when I left the office at 6:00. What was Bill doing? And what about the outside guard?” Ravi stammered into the phone, not knowing how to react and asking the first two questions that came to his mind. Bill Maher was the day shift guard whom Tom was replacing.
“He is missing. I cannot find him. And I have not seen the outside guard. He must have been on his way in when he heard the alarms go off,” Tom replied.
“I am on my way. Did you call Dr. Shapiro and Captain Thapa?” Ravi asked.
“Yes, I did. Captain Thapa is on his way and Dr. Shapiro will try and get into town as soon as he can,” he replied.
“Ravi, what is going on?” Caitlyn asked as she walked into the study upon hearing Ravi’s shrill scream.
“It is Omar. He is dead,” Ravi replied, covering the mouthpiece and trying to sound normal but failing badly. “I am going to the institute. Captain Thapa is also on his way. I will call you and fill you in.”
“And Dr. Kumar, the climate lab has been completely ransacked and CRAPS is missing,” Tom added before Ravi hung up and rushed to the institute, a ten-minute drive, still in his pajamas….