{
    "title": "MIT/Dr. Cool Investigation",
    "date": "2019-10-27 22:00",
    "reportcode": "GT/GL-191027-080260507",
    "url": "https://teeth.zarquan.fyi/reports/gt-gl-191027-080260507/index.json",
    "description": "△▼△TOP SECRET//SI//DGO△▼△",
    "content": "\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReport No:\u003c/strong\u003e GT/GL-191027-080260507\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLocation:\u003c/strong\u003e\nCambridge, Mass\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAgents:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/cells/d/#mccarter\"\u003eMcCarter-2\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/cells/d/#booth\"\u003eBooth\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/cells/d/#smith\"\u003eJustin Smith\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/cells/d/#farrington-cowles\"\u003ePhilomena Farrington-Cowles\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents regrouped after McCarter’s return from an alternate version of MIT and pursued Wesley Cool as the apparent origin point of the Picky Eater phenomenon. They identified Cool’s residence, recovered evidence connecting him to the Book of Thoth, destroyed a Picky Eater 1.0 chip found inside his personal laptop, re-entered the MIT-centered reality field, gained access to Cool’s office through campus police, and recovered extensive research materials. The materials establish Cool’s development path from occult theory to mathematical formalization to hardware and software implementation. They also connect Cool directly to Anthony Cooper, Persistent Vigil, Kim Bowyer, Nora Bridget, Vicky King, Charles Bauer, and the prior Reno incident.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOperation Report:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents began the morning at the Marriott after an unsettled night. Philomena and Frank had slept poorly but were functional. Justin had rested well. McCarter had not slept since crossing into the alternate version of MIT.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter located the team at the hotel breakfast area after checking multiple nearby hotels. He reported that he had crossed into another timeline or reality centered on MIT.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter described an alternate MIT where Wesley Cool appeared to be a revered academic figure associated with a “revelation” in mathematics. He encountered a Gothic-script office labeled “Offices of the Revealer,” a receptionist active in the middle of the night, and a too-young version of Vicky King associated with the “Office of Pre-Revelatory Mathematics.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter stated that the false reality failed or shifted when he rejected it. He then found himself in a dark, ordinary version of Cool’s office, broke into it, found it dusty and apparently long unused, and exited after being seen by a janitor or other witness.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team reviewed what was known about the destroyed electronics. Devices that had been powered on appeared to acquire Picky Eater chips. Removing batteries did not appear sufficient once a device had been exposed. McCarter retained the shielded “reality anchor” device.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter reported a continuing sensation of being tugged or hooked, as if he were close to slipping out of the current world.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team reviewed publicly available information previously gathered on Wesley Cool. Cool was an MIT mathematics professor who began teaching there in 2007 after prior work in philosophy at state schools. His mathematics reputation was strong, including claims that he solved two Hilbert problems. His philosophy work involved phenomenology and simulation theory and was criticized as derivative. MIT listed him as on sabbatical. His last known courses were taught in 2016.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank contacted Antonia Pitzarelli from the hotel landline using a recognition phrase. Pitzarelli indicated that she had not heard from Frank recently, confirming that prior contact with “her” may have occurred in another reality or through a compromised line of contact.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank requested Cool’s home address. Pitzarelli later returned the call with Cool’s Cambridge address, Social Security number, and tax information. His latest known tax filing was for 2015, paid in February 2016. IRS records showed an unresolved investigative queue that appeared to keep being delayed or shunted aside.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team proceeded toward Cool’s residence. While leaving the MIT area, McCarter saw the shimmering boundary of the phenomenon behind the vehicle. The other Agents could not see it. Based on the team’s position and prior boundary crossings, MIT appeared to be near the center of the affected zone. Cool’s residence appeared to be outside the visible dome or field.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents parked away from Cool’s condominium and approached on foot. They located Unit 14B. The exterior appeared generally maintained, but closer examination showed grime, dirty windows, and signs that no one had attended to the unit personally in some time. A large accumulation of mail was visible inside through the mail slot.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin bypassed the lock, and the Agents entered the condominium. The residence was empty, quiet, dusty, orderly, and upscale. No occupants were present.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents searched the residence. They found a small office with books, papers, handwritten notebooks, a personal ledger, and a laptop. The laptop was off but plugged in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s handwritten material at the residence included mathematics, philosophy, and occult notes. Justin determined that many of the mathematical notes were beyond the team’s ability to fully interpret, but they appeared related to attempts to encode consciousness mathematically.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhilomena reviewed occult and philosophical notes. Cool had written about the Upanishads and the concept that gods are functions of the human mind, with the universe taking shape around thought. His notes connected failed human comprehension of the divine or infinite with the creation of monsters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s ledger contained a large 2013 expenditure labeled “Thoth.” The payment was associated with a rare occult bookseller in London known to Philomena. The seller specialized in occult texts and had previously made Philomena uneasy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s notes referenced the Book of Thoth, the abyss, a chamber of darkness, true nothingness, and the possibility that all realities could be manifested from a place where nothing is real.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s notes also referenced Abdul Alhazred and the Necronomicon, specifically a guide or guardian associated with a gateway.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin opened the laptop case before powering it on. He located a chip marked “Picky Eater 1.0” and labeled as an invention of Dr. Wesley Cool. Justin removed and destroyed the chip. The laptop was not powered on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents decided to return to MIT and investigate Cool’s office directly. They designated the Marriott lobby as a rendezvous point in the event of dimensional separation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the return trip, McCarter again saw the field boundary. In daylight it appeared more clearly as a curved dome. The other Agents still could not see it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents parked, exited the vehicle, and crossed the boundary on foot while holding onto one another, with McCarter positioned between the others.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen McCarter touched the boundary, he experienced a violent sensory episode: a bloody, chemical taste; a vision of being a cow eating from a trough while a machine behind it ground the cow’s own body into meat and fed it forward; and a panic response centered on dying while being compelled to consume in order to survive. McCarter stumbled but remained present with the team.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter crossing, McCarter no longer saw the boundary behind him. All four Agents remained together.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents proceeded to MIT’s Simons Building, home of the Mathematics Department. The building was closed for the weekend.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents chose an official approach and contacted campus police. Frank presented the need to access Professor Cool’s office as part of a federal investigation. Campus police initially requested a warrant or administrative approval.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMIT campus police officer Ray McKinley reported that Cool’s office had been broken into overnight. A janitor had seen a man hiding in the office. The suspect had exited through a fire exit. Camera footage captured only the suspect from behind: a Caucasian male in dark clothing, roughly matching McCarter’s general height and build. Nothing was obviously stolen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank and the team asserted that the break-in was related to their case and that stolen evidence could constitute a national security issue. McKinley escorted the Agents to the Simons Building and opened Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s office showed signs of the prior break-in, including a broken window. McKinley remained nearby initially, then later left the Agents with instructions to notify him when finished.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents searched Cool’s office. The office contained extensive notebooks, project logs, mathematical notes, published works, and research materials. The notes documented a project Cool initially called a “consciousness renderer,” later named Picky Eater.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin found a false bottom in a rolling file cabinet. Inside was a locked metal box. He opened it and found an old book with no title on the cover. Philomena identified it as an English translation of at least part of the Book of Thoth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe computer tower in Cool’s office was essentially empty. It contained a power supply but no motherboard, drives, chips, or other functional computing components.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents spent several hours reviewing Cool’s materials. McCarter’s lack of sleep degraded his effectiveness, and he was visibly exhausted.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe materials showed that Cool began with occult and philosophical concepts from the Book of Thoth and related sources, then attempted to formalize them mathematically.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool believed the Book of Thoth described reality-altering or reality-defining shapes. He sought to stabilize and control those shapes by inscribing them into circuitry.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool lacked the technical expertise to create the hardware and software alone. His notes identified Dr. Rajneesh Amardeep of MIT’s Electrical Engineering Department as a collaborator involved in chip design or fabrication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s notes identified several computer science graduate students who worked on software components: Michelle Jordan, Vicky King, Nora Bridget, and Kim Bowyer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool compartmentalized the software work. He gave the students partial requirements and represented the work as a security-related project whose full scope could not be disclosed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool also discussed his ideas with Dr. Jacqueline Chung in the Philosophy Department. He later dismissed her feedback and ideas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe timeline in Cool’s notes indicated that Nora Bridget and Kim Bowyer worked on the project from early 2015 into fall 2015, after which they were hired away by Persistent Vigil.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s occult research traced Thoth through Hermes as revealer, herald, psychopomp, and mediator between worlds. He then traced related ideas through Pan, Set, underworld rites, and Sanskrit roots related to harnessing or control.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s notes culminated in the phrase or concept “Yog Set Thoth” and described a progression in which imperative becomes prayer, prayer becomes deity, and deity grants comprehension. One phrase read: “a key to the gate whereby the spheres meet.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhilomena recognized the name or variations of it from ancient occult traditions. Cool was not the first person to pursue this path, but his work represented a specialized and dangerous synthesis of occult scholarship, mathematics, and technology.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents found printed correspondence between Wesley Cool and Anthony Cooper. Cooper originally contacted Cool regarding Nora Bridget and Kim Bowyer after tracking their work at Persistent Vigil.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe correspondence showed that Cool and Cooper developed a productive relationship. Cool and Cooper were working on related problems from different directions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool conceived of the “Watcher on High” as a possible supreme consciousness generating or sustaining reality. Cooper conceived of the Watcher as something outside his existence and as the source of all truth, which he wanted to contact.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCooper had a backdoor into Persistent Vigil and was monitoring its work. The correspondence indicated that without the exchange between Cool and Cooper, neither man would likely have completed his own project.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCooper’s later Reno operation appeared to be an attempt to create a bridge to the Watcher on High. Cool’s work produced a more direct and accessible mechanism for crossing or altering realities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Agents found a final connection to Charles Bauer. Cool’s notes stated that the system worked, but also recorded “important, non-existence at issue” and “need a tester.” The notes then referenced Bauer and Vicky King. This indicates that Bauer and Vicky were used, or intended to be used, as test subjects in Cool’s work.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnalysis and Recommendations:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWesley Cool’s work represents a convergence of unnatural texts, advanced mathematics, electrical engineering, software compartmentalization, and reality manipulation. The Picky Eater system should be treated as a technological ritual apparatus rather than a conventional device.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe MIT field remains active. The destroyed Picky Eater 1.0 chip at Cool’s residence was not the current sustaining source. The active mechanism is likely elsewhere, possibly on campus, possibly in an alternate version of campus, and possibly associated with the upgraded device described to McCarter as the “Atheraphone.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter is now partially entangled with the phenomenon. He can perceive the field when others cannot, experiences bodily and sensory intrusions at boundary contact, and reports a persistent sensation of being pulled out of the present world. He is operationally useful as a detector but also presents risk of involuntary transition, replacement, or propagation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll powered electronic devices in or near the affected zone should be treated as possible vectors. The appearance of Picky Eater chips inside previously ordinary devices indicates either physical manifestation, retrocausal insertion, or reality-level substitution. Standard evidence handling is inadequate.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA-Cell should assume the MIT field is a high-risk public exposure event. A federal cover story should be prepared immediately. Campus police, the janitor witness, and any camera records related to Cool’s office break-in should be identified and controlled.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDr. Rajneesh Amardeep should be located and assessed. He may be an unwitting hardware contributor, a compromised collaborator, or a secondary development node. Contact should not be made electronically.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichelle Jordan, Vicky King, Nora Bridget, and Kim Bowyer should be cross-referenced against all known Persistent Vigil, Gorgon Stare, and Reno files. Existing containment status for Kim Bowyer and any surviving related subjects should be revalidated. Prior assumptions about their knowledge may be dangerously incomplete.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnthony Cooper’s correspondence with Cool confirms that the Reno incident and the present MIT event are not isolated. Cooper’s “Watcher on High” and Cool’s “reality-generating consciousness” appear to be parallel interpretations of the same external structure or intelligence. Files associated with the Watcher, observer-dependent rituals, drone-mediated gateways, and mathematics-driven traversal should be reviewed under a single compartment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Book of Thoth translation recovered from Cool’s office should be secured under hostile text protocols. It is not merely a historical artifact; it appears to have provided operational instructions or conceptual scaffolding for reality manipulation. The London bookseller who supplied the Thoth material should be located, contained, and stripped of inventory. Overseas assets should be tasked quietly.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s reference to “non-existence at issue” and his need for testers may explain prior anomalies involving Charles Bauer, Vicky King, and missing or altered personal histories. Any person exposed as a tester may not have a stable ontological status and should be treated as both subject and vector.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe phrase “Yog Set Thoth” should be flagged. It may represent Cool’s constructed synthesis, but it may also be an older formula rediscovered through hostile scholarship. Similar names in prehuman, Egyptian, Greek, Sanskrit, or Arabic materials should be reviewed by cleared occult specialists only.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCool’s current status remains unresolved. “Ascended” should not be dismissed as metaphor. If Cool successfully moved beyond the local worldline or embedded himself into the operating structure of the phenomenon, conventional apprehension may be impossible until the active device is found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImmediate priorities should be: locate the active Picky Eater/Atheraphone system, identify all technical collaborators still alive, secure the Book of Thoth and Cool’s notes, prevent further use of campus electronics as anchors, and determine whether McCarter can be stabilized before further exposure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdetails \u003e\n  \u003csummary markdown=\"span\"\u003eSession Notes\u003c/summary\u003e\n  \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe session opened with the team at breakfast on Saturday morning, October 26, after the previous night’s events near MIT.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBoston had been seven hours away, and the SUV had been full of evidence that nothing electronic could be trusted.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli had gone silent.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicki King had vanished.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team had driven east toward MIT because that was where the trail pointed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin had examined the devices during the drive while Philomena drove.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA phone still in its packaging, never powered on, was opened and did not contain a Picky Eater chip.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank gave Justin his own phone, and Justin found a tiny stamped wafer inside it, matching the one they had found in Audra Powell’s network server.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team understood that powering a compromised device on was what summoned the thing, though they did not understand how.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena had meditated, reading the world against her own memory, and found it whole.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSomewhere past Newton, a car roughly 200 meters ahead of them shimmered as it crossed an invisible line.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena slammed on the brakes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe driver behind them did not react quickly enough and hit them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena took the airbag in the face.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank pulled a gun on the man from the other vehicle when he emerged yelling, then showed his FBI credentials.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHighway patrol arrived in response to a 911 call, but Frank’s credentials held and the troopers left them alone.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThree members of the team could see the membrane stretched across the interstate.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin could not see it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter tied himself to a rope and pushed his fingertips through the membrane to test it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe rope dropped empty.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter emerged somewhere quieter, in a version of Cambridge with manicured streets and a maglev gliding overhead.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePolice in that reality told him he could not sleep beneath the tracks and suggested he knew what was going on and what would happen if they found him there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter walked to MIT.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBack on the highway, the team destroyed every phone and laptop by crushing them under the SUV’s tires.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAs Philomena flattened the third-to-last device, the barrier disappeared from her vision.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAs Frank finished destroying the last of the devices, the barrier disappeared from his view as well.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team retained memories of the original McCarter dead on the asphalt.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTheir memories of the new McCarter vanished along with him when he went through the barrier.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey drove the rest of the way to MIT, found the Simons Building, home of the Mathematics Department, locked until Monday, and checked into the Marriott to sleep.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn the alternate Simons Building, the Mathematics Department never closed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter found a door labeled “Offices of the Revealer” in Gothic script.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA receptionist waited behind the door at 3 a.m., ready for visitors.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe told McCarter that Dr. Cool was not there anymore and had ascended.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe said Vicki King could tell him more.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn another office down the hall, McCarter found a too-young Vicki King sitting pleasantly and smiling at nothing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe welcomed him to a place called the Office of Pre-Revelatory Mathematics.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen McCarter’s mind refused the lie, the room flickered out and he found himself alone in a different dark office.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBy morning, the team was eating breakfast at the Marriott when McCarter reappeared.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Mathematics Department would not open until Monday, and nobody was sure which version of Cambridge they were in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt breakfast, the Handler began with Philomena.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena made a Sanity roll and succeeded with a 15.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe had not slept well.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe had fitful sleep and thought she may have had nightmares, though she did not remember them clearly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe felt rested enough, and strong coffee or tea would help her function for the day.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank also made a Sanity roll and succeeded.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLike Philomena, he had not slept terribly well.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe lack of sleep was not severe enough to become a major topic of conversation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank noted that he did not know what reality he was in, which was reason enough for poor sleep.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin slept well.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had been very tired.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler reminded the three characters who had slept that they could recover 1d6 Willpower.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInjured characters could also make Constitution checks to recover a hit point.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank was not injured.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena failed her healing check and did not recover a hit point.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team clarified their memories of McCarter.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey remembered having another Matthew with them when they woke.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBased on previous experience, if they remembered him, that likely meant he had returned.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTheir earlier conclusion had been that they should find him, though they had no way to do so.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter had ultimately found them by walking around to hotels in the area during the early morning.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA little after 9 a.m., McCarter entered the Marriott breakfast area.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe was checking his fourth breakfast buffet of the morning.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe saw the others sitting at a table in the corner.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe tried to act casual, grabbing food while approaching them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had not slept and was likely hungry.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank greeted him by asking if he had had a good night.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter debriefed the team about what happened after he crossed the barrier.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe said he seemed to have crossed into another timeline again.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt was not his original timeline, but instead appeared to be Dr. Cool’s timeline.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn that world, Dr. Cool seemed to be an academic at MIT and a highly revered figure.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool appeared to have made something people were calling a mathematical “revelation.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool was no longer present at the university.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter encountered a version of Vicki King there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicki and the receptionist were both working very late into the night and seemed uncanny.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter tried to gather as much information as possible.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe then found himself back in the team’s world.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAfter returning, he broke into Dr. Cool’s office in the normal MIT building.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe could not make heads or tails of what he found there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe believed he was spotted while exiting.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe thought someone realized there had been a break-in and would report it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe said that if the team returned to campus, he might need some sort of disguise.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team discussed whether destroying the phones had affected McCarter’s return.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter asked what time he came back.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe others had destroyed the devices within roughly twenty minutes of his disappearance, around 2:30 a.m.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter returned around sunrise.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe timing did not clearly line up because time might move differently across realities.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter said that in Dr. Cool’s office, everything was dusty and seemed unused for a long time.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler confirmed that after McCarter returned and found Cool’s office, it was very dusty and did not appear to have been used in a long time.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team reviewed the implications of electronics and reality shifts.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter still had his phone battery removed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe also still had his reality-anchor “hockey puck,” which was not a cell phone and had supposedly been shielded.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team had smashed all phones and laptops that had been turned on.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey understood that taking out a battery was not sufficient once a device had already been powered on and acquired a Picky Eater chip.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank summarized the apparent rule: once a device is turned on, the chip appears.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team thought that if a person did not have a chip tied to them, they might not be pulled into another reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey also admitted they did not know exactly what anchored a Picky Eater effect to a person.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter made a Sanity roll after returning.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had already passed his breaking point and noted that he needed to reset it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe failed the roll with a 53 over 50.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe did not lose Sanity from the roll.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe became consciously aware of a disturbing sensation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt felt like a rope around his waist or a hook in him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt felt as though something was tugging or pulling him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe felt as if he was always half a step away from slipping off a precipice.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe sensation was disorienting.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAt first, he wondered if it was an inner-ear or balance issue.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe realized it was not physical balance; instead, it felt like he could blink at any moment and no longer be in the same world.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin asked whether McCarter had brought any objects back from the other world.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter had not.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter regretted not grabbing a notebook from Cool’s office before fleeing, but he had panicked.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin wondered if items tied to McCarter would travel with him to the other reality, while items attached to the team might remain behind.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe proposed making a rope with bells or labels bearing everyone’s names or initials so the group could tell if someone vanished while traveling.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team discussed the limitation that if McCarter vanished while holding something, it might travel with him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin wanted a method to reveal when a person had crossed into another reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team considered what to do on Saturday, since the Mathematics Department would not officially open until Monday.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena suggested visiting Boston and seeing the sights.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team instead focused on investigating Dr. Cool.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey considered an official approach: going to campus police or campus security, presenting FBI credentials, and demanding access to Cool’s office.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey also considered pretending to investigate the break-in McCarter had caused.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank pointed out that Cool had apparently not been in his office for a long time.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin suggested locating tax records or another source that might reveal Cool’s home address.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team wanted a timeline for Cool’s disappearance and a possible home address.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey wanted to investigate Cool’s home because his office might contain little useful information or might have already been searched too quickly by McCarter.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter said Cool’s home might contain something more comprehensible than the office.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team reviewed public information about Dr. Wesley Cool.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler assumed they had looked up public information before smashing their devices.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWesley Cool was a professor at MIT who began teaching in the Department of Mathematics in 2007.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBefore MIT, he taught philosophy at several state schools.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool was highly regarded in mathematics.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had conquered two of Hilbert’s problems, from David Hilbert’s list of 23 unsolved problems proposed in 1900.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s philosophy work was less well regarded.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis philosophical work dealt with phenomenology, consciousness, subjective experience, and simulation theory.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReviewers often criticized his philosophical writing as derivative of Deleuze and Guattari.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis faculty profile boasted numerous academic publications in both philosophy and mathematics.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team inferred that he had pursued both mathematics and philosophy, though he began his teaching career in philosophy.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMIT listed him as current faculty but on sabbatical.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe last courses he taught were in 2016.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat timing aligned with Vicki King previously saying she was working on a project at MIT in the 2015 to early 2016 period.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe 2016 timing also aligned with the earlier event involving Charles Bauer from the Theater Arts Department.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool had old web material listing research and graduate students in mathematics.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team found no indication that he had a computer science or computer engineering lab.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey also found no obvious DARPA or defense funding sources connected to his papers.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin asked whether Cool had a large research group or seemed well funded.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe answer was that his mathematics reputation was strong, but there was no obvious sign of major defense funding or a large technical operation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank used a hotel landline to contact Pitzerelli.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBecause the team had destroyed their phones, they relied on the hotel phone.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank called Pitzerelli’s number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe line rang until just before voicemail, then someone picked up in silence.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank used a code phrase to identify himself.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli asked whether everything was okay and assumed the line was not secure.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank told her the line was not secure and that things were not okay.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe said the team could not trust devices anymore.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe asked for the home address of Professor Wesley Cool of MIT’s Mathematics Department.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli said she had not heard from Frank in a while and did not know what was happening with the group.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank was almost glad to hear that, because it confirmed that the earlier Pitzerelli contact had likely not been the same person.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank told her that the issue was “the thing” and where it was, which was why they could not trust devices.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe said they could not get out of it or away from it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli did not fully understand but agreed to look into Wesley Cool.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe said she could call the hotel number back in less than an hour.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAbout forty minutes later, she called back.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe gave Frank Wesley Cool’s Cambridge address and Social Security number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank asked for Cool’s latest tax filing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli reported that Cool’s latest taxes were from 2015, paid in February 2016.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere was some kind of ongoing IRS processing or investigation queue, but it kept being shunted to the back of the list.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis matched the expectation that Cool had effectively vanished or stopped normal activity around 2016.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank thanked Pitzerelli and said he hoped to contact her later that day, though it might not be from the same number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePitzerelli said they would rotate to the next code phrase and she would pick up.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team decided to investigate Cool’s home.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s address was roughly two miles from campus.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team discussed whether to walk or drive.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey were concerned about crossing another barrier while traveling.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey decided they could not walk down the road roped together without drawing attention.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin suggested implementing the rope policy once they reached the end of Cool’s street.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank noted they had seen the membrane the last time and could try to look for it before driving through.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team planned to drive slowly, park away from the target, and approach on foot.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the way to Cool’s home, McCarter saw the barrier again.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAs the team drove away from MIT and put distance between themselves and the campus, McCarter looked behind them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe saw a shimmering wall receding behind the vehicle.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team appeared to have passed through it again.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey had not seen it while approaching; McCarter only saw it behind them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter told the others to stop and pointed out the barrier.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe others looked but could not see it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOnly McCarter could see the wall at this point.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter checked how many people were in the car.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere were four people total, the expected number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere was no extra McCarter or missing team member.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team tried to estimate the barrier’s position.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin and McCarter discussed whether the barrier was centered around something.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey considered the midpoint between the barrier crossing on I-90 and the current barrier crossing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter made an INT × 5 check and succeeded.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUsing a road map, he estimated that MIT’s campus seemed close to the middle of the affected area.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWith only two data points, they could not determine the precise center.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTheir best guess was that the dome was centered somewhere on or near central MIT campus.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s condo appeared to be outside the shimmering field, since they were only about halfway there when McCarter saw the wall behind them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team continued to Cool’s condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey parked a few blocks away and walked in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey avoided driveways when possible, partly because driveways had become associated with danger in previous investigations.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey found Cool’s unit, 14B, among a set of upscale condominiums.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe condos looked nice, with maintained grounds.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank suggested knocking first.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere was no obvious pile of mail or eviction notice outside.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBecause it was a condo, it was difficult to judge care from the exterior alone.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank and Justin inspected the exterior of Cool’s condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank made an Alertness or Search check and succeeded with an 80.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin achieved a critical success with an 11.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAt first glance, Cool’s condo looked like the neighboring units.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey then noticed small signs of neglect.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDirt and grime had built up around the mat, suggesting nobody had swept there in a long time.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe windows were dirty.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe property looked slightly less cared for than neighboring units.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin noticed the mail slot.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe opened it and looked inside.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe saw a very large mound of mail inside the front door.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin picked the lock and the team entered Cool’s condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin pretended to tie his shoe while picking the lock.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe lock was not particularly secure.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWith his locksmithing skill, Justin opened it without needing a roll.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team entered.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe condo was quiet.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo lights were on.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt was dusty.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe interior had two stories, a small dining room, and upscale features such as granite countertops and newer appliances, likely from around 2010.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAside from dust and the mail piled inside the front door, the condo was clean and neatly kept.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey heard no sounds indicating anyone else was inside.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team searched Cool’s condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter tactically cleared the building.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe succeeded on his Search check with a 48 under 50.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team confirmed no one was present.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank and McCarter found a laptop upstairs in a small office that had probably been a second bedroom.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe master bedroom had a made bed and was tidy but dusty.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe small office contained a desk, a reading nook, bookshelves, papers, and the laptop.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe laptop was sitting on the desk.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt did not appear to be powered on.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt was plugged in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe bookshelves and papers contained mathematics and philosophy texts.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team found a personal ledger in Cool’s neat handwriting.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe ledger listed expenses.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAround 2013, it showed a substantial outflow labeled “Thoth.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena recognized the significance because, during a previous meditative ritual, she had interpreted the Picky Eater circuit as resembling a divination rune recorded in the Book of Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe payment was an outflow, meaning Cool spent a significant sum on something associated with Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team inferred the purchase likely involved an occult text.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe ledger entry included the name and address of a bookseller in London.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe bookseller specialized in rare occult texts.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena had interacted with the bookseller before.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe bookseller was an unsettling individual who had made her uneasy in person.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team discussed Thoth and Cool’s intellectual path.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank did not know what Thoth was.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena and others recognized Thoth as an Egyptian god associated with wisdom and magic.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team connected Thoth to Cool’s sudden rise from a middling philosophy professor to an acclaimed mathematician.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena wondered whether Cool intended to dissolve the barriers between realities or whether the deterioration between realities was an unintended consequence.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank believed the consequences were probably unintended and that Cool was likely looking for a reality that made him famous or for some other personal objective.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team examined Cool’s handwritten notes at the condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes were not his formal research notes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey appeared to be idle thoughts, doodles, and brainstorming written at home in the evenings.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin made a Mathematics roll with a 10 under 40.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe recognized that much of the material was beyond him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrom the parts he understood and the freehand notes surrounding the mathematics, Justin concluded that Cool was trying to mathematically encode consciousness.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes seemed related to Cool’s work, but they were not the main technical research.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey appeared to be evening sketches and thoughts connected to the broader project.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhilomena interpreted the occult and philosophical material in the condo.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena made an Occult check and succeeded with an 8 under 76.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe found one of Cool’s notebooks, probably from about five years earlier, containing notes on the Upanishads.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool had written about the idea that gods are functions of the human mind.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes suggested that the mind provides form and the universe takes shape around it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool wrote that human experience and the divine infinite are separated by a gulf beyond human comprehension.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe identified that gulf as the source of monsters.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe idea was that human thought, trying to encompass what it cannot understand, creates monsters.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena interpreted this as the inception of Cool’s ideas.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool seemed to be blending philosophy and mathematics, with the mathematics serving as the method to realize the ideas.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team considered where the technology came from.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena noted that Cool was the mathematics and philosophy person, but the technological implementation had to come from elsewhere.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team remembered Vicki King’s computer science background.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool had an improperly intimate relationship with Vicki King.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicki had been involved in the technical side.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team also recognized that Cool was a professor at MIT and had access to technically skilled people.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe condo notes did not identify who built the technology, but the team suspected Vicki and others.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Handler summarized more of Cool’s occult reasoning from the condo notes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool wrote about reality flickering into being from nothingness, formed by thought.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe quoted or referenced passages from the Book of Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wrote that the initiate must glimpse the abyss without annihilation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe described opening a way into a metaphorical chamber of darkness.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wrote that one must find the heart of the abyss, true nothingness.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrom that place, he believed the human mind could manifest anything.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis idea was that all possibilities could become real if someone could reach the heart of the abyss where nothing is real.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool appeared excited by this idea.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe also referenced Abd al-Hazred and the Necronomicon.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool wrote of a guide from the Necronomicon that could take him to the abyss.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe referred to “he who guardeth the gateway.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena knew the Book of Thoth and the Necronomicon by reputation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe two works were separate: one Egyptian and one Arabic, with different histories.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJustin examined the laptop before anyone turned it on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe laptop was plugged in but off.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin wanted to carefully disassemble it to look for a Picky Eater chip while preserving its functionality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe removed the back panel and examined the components with his microscope.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe found a chip on a board.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe chip was labeled “Picky Eater 1.0.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn very small script, it said it was the invention of Dr. Wesley Cool.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin removed the chip and smashed it thoroughly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank approvingly thought Justin had the right Delta Green mentality: destroy the dangerous thing rather than preserve it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team noted that this was likely not the chip currently maintaining the larger dome because the laptop was off and outside the bubble.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey also noted that the laptop could potentially be examined later for information after the chip was removed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team discussed what might be running the active Picky Eater effect.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank wondered whether MIT had a supercomputer on campus or nearby.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team considered that if someone were creating a world-generating system, installing it on the most powerful available computer would make sense.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler mentioned the Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center, though it was not on campus.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team also considered that the active system might not require that much computing power.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey remembered McCarter had been told by the alternate-world receptionist that Cool had invented an upgraded replacement for Picky Eater.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe had called it the Atheraphone.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team considered whether they needed to enter the alternate reality and find that device there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank noted that if destroying the system on either side worked, they might need to locate and destroy the Atheraphone wherever it existed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter said the people at the alternate university had been very helpful, as long as one did not sneak around at night.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin suggested the Marriott lobby as a rendezvous point if the team became dimensionally separated.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team decided to return to MIT and investigate Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey planned to watch for the shimmering barrier on the way back.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen they reached the location where McCarter had seen it before, he saw the barrier again.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn daylight, the surface was easier for him to make out.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt appeared to be a large curved dome.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter pointed it out, but the others still could not see it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team decided to park and walk through the barrier together rather than drive through.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey held hands as they approached, with McCarter placed between Justin and Frank so that if he vanished, the absence would be obvious.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey left Cool’s laptop in the car.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMcCarter touched and crossed the barrier.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe saw the field shimmering in front of him as he approached.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen he touched the surface, he made a Sanity roll and succeeded with a 7.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe held himself together but experienced a disturbing vision and sensation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA bloody, meaty flavor filled his mouth, with a heavy chemical taste.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had a vision of being a cow eating from a trough.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBehind him, a machine was grinding him and feeding the raw meat back into the trough.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe heard metal grinding and clanking.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe felt a panicked sensation that he was dying but had to consume in order to survive.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe vision passed, and he found himself walking down the sidewalk.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe others saw him stumble and shake his head.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe was disoriented for a moment but shook it off.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe memory of the sensation remained clear.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had no idea what to make of it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEveryone remained present.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere were four members of the group, the expected number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen McCarter turned around, he no longer saw the barrier behind them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team retrieved the car and drove to MIT.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey were a little over a kilometer from campus after crossing the barrier.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena walked back, picked up the vehicle, and drove forward to collect the others.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey drove onto MIT’s campus around late Saturday morning or lunchtime.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team went to the Simons Building, Building 2, home of the Mathematics Department.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe building was still closed for the weekend.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe posted hours said it would be closed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team concluded they would need a key, keycard, or official assistance.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey considered breaking in but decided to try the official approach first.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey went to campus police or security to ask for access.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt campus police, Frank presented the investigation as an official matter.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA ranking officer, later named Ray McKinley, asked whether they needed access to one of the buildings.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank said they were on an investigation and needed to get into Professor Cool’s office.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley asked whether they had a warrant, because the office was a personal space.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank tried to argue federal jurisdiction, national security, and the impossibility of showing the warrant because of classified implications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe attempt did not go well.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley said that without a warrant, he needed to talk to the administration office before opening the door.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe then mentioned there had been a break-in in that building overnight and asked whether it was related to their case.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank immediately said it was related now.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank said they needed to be in that room because of what they were trying to find, and if anything had been stolen, it was a much bigger national security issue.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena reinforced that the break-in gave them probable cause to examine the office because evidence might have been stolen.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley accepted the reasoning and agreed to take them there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the way to Cool’s office, Frank questioned McKinley about the break-in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley said there was no useful surveillance footage.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA janitor had seen the man who broke in.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe intruder had been hiding in the office.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe office window had been broken.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCampus police did not know how the intruder got into the building.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne camera caught the back of the intruder.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe description was a Caucasian man of roughly McCarter’s height, wearing dark clothes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe camera saw only the back of him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe intruder left through the fire exit.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCampus police did not believe anything was obviously stolen.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley had not contacted Cool because Cool was on sabbatical and he did not have a phone number for him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley expected to talk to the department head on Monday.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank challenged how McKinley could know nothing was stolen without talking to Cool.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley admitted it was only that nothing was obviously missing and the office did not seem heavily searched.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCampus police had already processed the scene and considered it released.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe broken window had not yet been repaired.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcKinley opened the office door by reaching through the broken window and stepping back.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe told the team the office was theirs and waited in the hallway.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team searched Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe office was packed with material.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEveryone made Search checks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena rolled a critical success with a 1.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter rolled a critical failure with a 99.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank barely missed his roll.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin searched effectively.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBecause of McCarter’s critical failure, the Handler asked him to make an Alertness check.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter failed the Alertness check with a 74.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin found a rolling file cabinet under Cool’s desk.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhile going through the bottom drawer, he noticed a false bottom.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe false bottom was not extremely well hidden, but it accounted for a couple of missing inches.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin found a suitable shim, removed the false bottom, and discovered a locked metal box.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe box was a few inches deep and weighed roughly five or six pounds.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin positioned himself so people passing the office would not see him picking the lock.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe lock was small and not particularly sturdy.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin picked it open.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInside the locked metal box, the team found an old book.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe book had no title on the cover.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena opened it carefully.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAfter flipping through the first several pages, she identified it as an English translation of at least a portion of the Book of Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe book was likely connected to the “Thoth” purchase in Cool’s ledger.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena took charge of examining it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team found more substantial research material in Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnlike the condo notes, the office contained detailed notes, research logs, and project logs.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe material appeared to document Cool’s project in much more depth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEarly in the notes, Cool referred to the device as a “consciousness renderer.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe eventually named it Picky Eater.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes were densely packed with mathematics.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team recognized that without a skilled mathematician, much of it would remain difficult or impossible to understand.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere were many notebooks and published works.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team realized they would need several banker’s boxes to haul the material away if they wanted to preserve and analyze it properly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team examined the computer in Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter had previously noted that the computer case felt too light.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin opened the case.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt was basically empty.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt contained a power supply but no motherboard, no hard drive, and no chips.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team could not tell whether the parts had been removed normally or had vanished due to the reality effect.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank noted that if someone had transported the computer, removing just the motherboard seemed odd.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJustin suggested that leaving an empty case might preserve the appearance that a university-owned computer was still present.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team concluded there was no active Picky Eater chip in the office computer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe active system had to be somewhere else, possibly using the removed components or another machine.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team spent several hours reading and comparing notes in Cool’s office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBy around 5 p.m., McCarter still had not slept since returning to this world.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe rolled 1d6 and lost 4 Willpower.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis Willpower dropped to 6 out of 13.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe began taking a −20 penalty due to exhaustion unless he used a stimulant.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOfficer McKinley watched the team for about thirty minutes, then decided to leave them to their work.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe gave them a phone number and asked them to call when they were done.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe asked Frank for his phone number.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank gave him his number, though his phone battery was dead or unavailable.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the research notes, the team learned the broad structure of Cool’s project.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool came up with the idea and much of the theoretical underpinning for what became Picky Eater.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe believed there were reality-altering or reality-defining shapes described in the Book of Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wanted to control and stabilize those shapes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe developed the idea of inscribing the shapes into a circuit.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe did not personally have the technical knowledge to create the chip.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe also needed software to control the system.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThese ideas developed over time.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe notes identified Dr. Rajneesh Amardeep as a collaborator.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmardeep was in the Electrical Engineering Department.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe appears to have worked with Cool to create or design the chip according to Cool’s non-technical specifications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes did not yet make clear how Cool persuaded Amardeep to participate.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Amardeep collaboration appeared to be early in the process.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe notes identified several computer science graduate students who worked on the software.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe names included Michelle Jordan, Vicki King, Nora Bridget, and Kim Bowyer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank recognized the names Nora Bridget and Kim Bowyer from the Persistent Vigil matter.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank also recognized Vicki King from the current investigation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe repeated names confirmed that the project connected directly to earlier events and people.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team noted that all of Cool’s graduate students appeared to be women.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank observed that Cool had a type.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s notes suggested he compartmentalized the software work.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe gave the students partial requirements rather than the full picture.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe told them it was some kind of security software.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe claimed the work was for a secret project and that he could not give them the full picture.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn this limited sense, he was telling the truth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe notes also identified Dr. Jacqueline Chung.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChung was a professor in the Philosophy Department.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool appears to have shared some of his ideas with her.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe ultimately dismissed her feedback.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis notes included chauvinistic language about her.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team concluded this fit the pattern of Cool’s character and his apparent treatment of women around him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank connected Nora Bridget and Kim Bowyer to Persistent Vigil.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s dated notes showed that Bowyer and Bridget worked on the project from early 2015 until fall 2015.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat roughly aligned with when they were hired by Persistent Vigil.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team concluded they may have been hired away from Cool’s project.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis strengthened the connection between Cool’s work and the later Persistent Vigil events.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePhilomena and the team extracted more occult implications from Cool’s research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool had not only material from the Book of Thoth, but also texts dealing with the Book of Thoth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wrote about prophecy and perceiving the gods.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe had read widely in occult sources and appeared to have real knowledge of them.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool pointed to ancient Greek texts that equated Thoth with Hermes.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe focused on Hermes as a herald of the gods and mediator between the world of the living and other worlds.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe traced Hermes backward into older conceptions, including ancient Pan.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe tried to locate the earliest source of ideas about Thoth and related figures.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe linked Thoth-Hermes as revealer and psychopomp to Set, god of the underworld.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe pieced together ancient text that purportedly described ritual and sorcery to invoke and constrain gods of the underworld.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe included Sanskrit material, specifically “yuj” or “yog,” meaning harness or control and related to the discipline of yoga.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis chain of associations eventually produced “Yog-Sothoth.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wrote of a cycle: imperative becomes prayer, prayer becomes deity, deity grants comprehension.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe wrote the phrase “a key to the gate whereby the spheres meet.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePhilomena made an Unnatural check and got 25, close to success but not enough.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe thought she had seen this name or variations of it before in ancient human material.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShe understood that Cool was not the first person to tread these paths.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis research was part of an esoteric body of occult scholarship.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank made a Sanity-related check while reviewing the notes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler first called for a Sanity roll, then clarified that Frank was adapted to helplessness and would automatically succeed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrank still lost 1 Sanity.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe trigger was a folded campus email printout in one of Cool’s notebooks.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe email correspondence was between Wesley Cool and Anthony Cooper.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis revealed a direct connection between Cool’s work and Cooper’s work.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Cool-Cooper correspondence revealed how the two projects intersected.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper originally contacted Cool to ask about two graduate students who had worked for him: Kim Bowyer and Nora Bridget.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper wanted Cool’s assessment of their capabilities and knowledge.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool responded with faint praise and dismissive language, suggesting they had only contributed under his eye and guidance.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOver the correspondence, Cool and Cooper developed a rapport.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey eventually began discussing Cool’s project and concepts Cool was struggling with.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s project was not functioning properly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool believed there were elements or pieces he did not understand.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper helped Cool understand parts of the problem.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Handler clarified that it was collaborative: Cool and Cooper helped each other understand.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey both developed ideas around the “Watcher on High.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool approached the Watcher from the perspective of consciousness creating reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool wondered whether all of reality might be created by some greater consciousness.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper viewed the Watcher as something outside his own existence and as the source of all truth.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper wanted to communicate with it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank considered the human implications of Cool and Cooper’s collaboration.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe made a HUMINT check and failed with a 76.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEven so, the Handler stated that Frank understood that if Cool and Cooper had not crossed paths, neither would likely have accomplished what they did.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper had been following Persistent Vigil.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhen Bridget and Bowyer appeared at Persistent Vigil and proved to be very sharp computer scientists, Cooper investigated their background.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat investigation led him to Wesley Cool.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThrough coincidence or synchronicity, Cool and Cooper were working on similar problems from different angles.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper had a backdoor into Persistent Vigil and was familiar with what they were doing.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe team clarified the relationship between Cooper’s work, Persistent Vigil, and Picky Eater.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper worked on the Gorgon Stare project.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn the Reno events, there had been a ritual worked on the ground and observation through a compromised drone running Cooper’s software.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper wanted to talk to the Watcher on High.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe knew it was beyond his world and needed a bridge to reach it.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThat was what he had been trying to make.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePersistent Vigil was likely a side effect or byproduct of Cooper’s research rather than his primary goal.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper probably did not intend for other people to take steps into alternate worlds.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCrossing worlds required a great deal of knowledge.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOther very smart people working alongside him figured things out before his work was complete.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool and Cooper did not necessarily share the same technology.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThey shared ideas and solved parallel problems.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe drone technology and Picky Eater worked differently.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePicky Eater seemed more advanced or more user-friendly in terms of crossing realities.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore the session ended, the Handler added one more connection involving Charles Bauer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team had asked whether there was any connection to the theater professor.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn Cool’s notes, after the project began working, Cool wrote that it seemed to actually work.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe also wrote, “Important, non-existence at issue.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe then wrote that he needed a tester.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe notes identified Charles Bauer as that tester.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThere was also a line that said “Vicki.”\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThis confirmed that Bauer’s involvement was not incidental.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool used Bauer as a test subject.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicki King was also directly implicated in that stage of the work.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team concluded Cool was responsible for far more than they had already suspected.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the end of the session, the team had several clear investigative conclusions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWesley Cool bought an occult text or related material associated with the Book of Thoth from a London rare bookseller around 2013.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s work began as a fusion of occult philosophy, phenomenology, simulation theory, mathematics, and the idea that consciousness can shape reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool believed the Book of Thoth and related traditions described reality-defining forms that could be stabilized and controlled.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHe developed the theoretical basis for Picky Eater but needed help from technical collaborators.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDr. Rajneesh Amardeep helped design or create the chip.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMichelle Jordan, Vicki King, Nora Bridget, and Kim Bowyer helped with the software.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool compartmentalized the project and hid the full purpose from the software contributors.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNora Bridget and Kim Bowyer later moved to Persistent Vigil.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnthony Cooper discovered Cool through Bridget and Bowyer and began corresponding with him.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool and Cooper helped each other solve pieces of their respective unnatural projects.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s project involved creating or stabilizing a way for consciousness to alter or select reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCooper’s project involved reaching or communicating with the Watcher on High.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe two projects converged around the idea of a gateway, bridge, or observer connecting worlds.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool tested the working system on Charles Bauer.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVicki King was connected to the operational stage of the system.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s active system was not in his home laptop, since Justin removed and destroyed an old Picky Eater 1.0 chip there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCool’s active system was not in his office computer, which had been stripped of motherboard, drives, and chips.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe current Picky Eater or Atheraphone system was likely somewhere else, possibly on or near MIT’s campus and possibly in another reality.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMcCarter remained especially affected by the reality distortion and was the only one who could currently see the dome.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe apparent dome seemed centered near MIT’s campus.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe team still needed to locate Dr. Cool, the active system, or both.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\u003c/details\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n"
  }