Hey, whoever's fighting that thing in Bryant Park, it just took a chunk out of the library, right on my and Fletcher's heads. We're mostly okay. Fletcher's leg is broken. We're in the Special Collections section, in the eastern corner of the basement. I've got the door wedged closed so you'll have to make it extra crystal clear when you come down here that you're human.

Just do me a favor and wait until that thing is either dead or across town.

And in case you couldn't figure it out, I'm expecting someone to come down here because I'd be surprised if there's actually any of the library left when it's all said and done. And I don't have it in me to blow a hole in the place without passing out.

Harry, make a joke and I'll break your face.

I know my timing is crap, but I don't really care. I've had more important things to worry about lately than whatever new puzzles have popped up.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for everything they did to help out Fletcher. I don't usually do this, but I know he wants me to make sure I did that, even if he can't see this right now.

It's probably pretty selfish of me, but I've got another request to make. Fletcher's turning eleven Friday. I was hoping we'd be out of this dump before then, but that's not looking likely. So I was thinking of having a party somewhere, maybe at the restaurant in the Bryant Park Hotel. I'm hoping it'll be calm enough by then that some people could help with food and stuff. I'm not much of a cook.

But anything else, if anyone has anything they need help with, speak up. I'm an alchemist, I can probably fix anything you've got that needs it, and pretty much anything that doesn't involve anything alive, aside from plants. I've got some debts to repay.

But I want to congratulate the bastards that did this. They've beaten the man that killed my father as the person I hate the most. That's only because that fat asshole's already dead.

*The rage is so tightly controlled he could start screaming--or crying--any second.*

I want to make myself crystal fucking clear. To the two bastards that jumped my ten year old brother in the fucking elevator a half hour ago: When I'm done with you, you'll only wish I'd left you bloody and bruised on the floor.

I've put my life, and the life of the only family I have left, the only goddamn thing I have going right for me in this hellhole to do something positive for you ungrateful bastards, and this is the thanks I get? We were seconds away from getting crushed under everything when the monster came through. I worked on this shit for nearly a month with a goddamn crab bite. I've stumbled out of my lab and into bed half-dizzy from doing so much alchemy nearly every other goddamn night since I started this fucking project. All so we can have a food supply that we can guarantee can't be fucked with.

I'm not going to ask for a reason to continue this. I've got it already. Right now, he's asleep on the couch. The two bastards that did this better hope I don't find them. Or I'll do something I'll never regret.

Call me callous, but I guess I'm not as freaked out by this as everyone else. Somewhere a scientist is very pleased with themselves, and if I had the same outlook as that, I probably would have been too.

So instead of freaking out that it could happen, I'm more interested in why it happened. How long was he bitten for? Were there multiple bites? All of that is just much more useful to me than just abjectly panicking.

Though I guess when you've stared down a madman using lethally toxic chemicals as a weapon and a man with a grenade launcher in his mouth and a machine gun for an arm, you've seen it all.

So I guess this is an open forum for people this Andrew Basil knew. Anyone know when he got bitten, or any details like that? I know some of the Team Science people might want to know.

And on an only tangentially related note: Some people got a little wet the other day. If I haven't been by to clean up, let me know. I'll head your way.

Alright, you bastards. I want to make one thing pretty goddamn clear.

Where I come from, alchemists have a pretty loose grasp of conventional ethics. Basically, we have trouble not dabbling in things we're told time and time again are dangerous, taboo, or otherwise forbidden. The centuries-long search for the philosopher's stone is evidence enough of that. Chimeras don't help and general approval of our work took a nosedive after the end of the Ishballan Rebellion. The lure of the Stone is an easy trap to fall into. I did it myself. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought, as things turned for the worse, that a few sacrifices were necessary to finish this work that could do so much good for a tiny, proud town. That's how equivalent trade works, right?

Looks like the people keeping us here think the same way. I can't discuss details, but some of the things I've found out about their tactics are absolutely disgusting. And I'm sure others have additional evidence to back this up. But it's clear they have no issue with sacrificing people pulled from worlds they have little to no understanding of, along with a fair amount of their own citizens, to accomplish whatever they've set to do.

But I was wrong then, and I still know I was wrong. Thanks to a certain blond midget, anyway. But there's two things I want to make crystal fucking clear: I will not let anyone make me think my current project is some how wrong or bad just because it makes me a target. Second: I will never allow anyone to make me look like a coward or less of a scientist just because I refuse to put my ten-year-old little brother in unnecessary danger just to prove I was right. I've made mistakes in the past. I won't repeat them.

[Private to Nash, if he's out there somewhere]
I'm stepping off of your path. See if you can't follow.
[/Private]

Now that I've made that clear, I have one question. Team Science. Where do we go from here?

Hey, you guys at the bar. Seventh Heaven, right? I need a favor. I've gotten my hands on something big here, and I need someone to take Fletcher in for a few days. Any takers?

See, this is why I've kept my neck out of these conspiracy theories. I've got more important things to worry about.

I can't be the only one that sees the connection between most of the missing people, can I?

Hey, Dr. Jackson, I still got something I need a hand with if you want to meet somewhere.

Hey, Dr. Jackson, where are you? I found a Latin passage I just can't work my way through, and it's kind of pissing me off.

I can transcribe it over the network if you're not around, or you know where to find me. Let me know when you're on the way.

[On the front doors of the Library Hotel is a note that has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday at hand. It is, in fact, srs business, and all concerned should read it.]

To the residents of the Library Hotel:

My name is Russel Tringham and I've moved into this hotel after the destruction of the university. There, I had hydroponic labs where I was growing enough food to make us self-sustaining. One week before we were to reach that point, the monsters destroyed the campus. The next day a fresh supply of food was found in Rockefeller Center. The connection is clear, and while one event does not indicate a trend, I will warn you all: It may happen again. I've taken up most of the science floor with my labs. I will also be using the greenhouse on the roof once the weather gets warmer.

My point is this: If you do not want us here, let me know ASAP.

--Russel Tringham

Alchemists, and I suppose scientists as a whole, have a thing about wanting to be right. All the time. No matter what. We also want to be the first one to get it right, and make sure no one else gets to our newfound information before we're ready to publish, so we encode it.

From observation to conclusion, we have a way we expect things to go.

But sometimes, it's good to be wrong. Very, very, good.

So Fletcher, whenever you come out of whatever corner of this place you're hiding in, that's a negative. I'm heading down there now.

Team Science, if you want to know what I'm talking about, come by the New York Public Library. The one by Grand Central Station.

Well, won't things be interesting to watch from here on out. Will honesty be rewarded or punished? I'd rather not take the chance, really.

But I did discover one thing interesting...

Neville. If you're really military, stay away from my little brother. That's all I have to say to you anymore.

What is it about trying to do the people here a goddamned favor that makes people want to fuck you up?! First, that asshole Axel comes along and beats the shit out of me for a few lousy crates, and now this? That monster's going to just walk all over the work my brother and I have been pouring over for months, and then they're going to slap us in the face by giving us just a little more to survive on? Am I the only one connecting the dots here?

And Axel, yeah, you heard me. Go ahead and try something, I dare you. I could use an ass to kick right about now.

*his tirade calms, but he's obviously still pissed off*

I know, I know, the important part is that we're okay. And we are. Fletcher and I made it out fine. But that's short term. In the long term, this means they can snatch our food supply away again tomorrow and let us sit and twist and there's abso-fucking-lutely nothing we can do to overcome it. I'm nobody's goddamned puppet. Not anymo- *Suddenly shuts himself up, sighs*

*There's a moment of hesitation before the recording ends*

So the Masquerade wasn't too bad, over all. Not a bad party, guys. But Harry, your mask sucked. I could still see that ugly face of yours. I feel bad for your girlfriend.

And while I'm on the subject of masks, you guys can't be honestly taking that fishbowl-head seriously, right? He looks like he just ran away from the circus. Leave him to his delusions of grandeur, meanwhile the rest of us will find our own way.

[Private to Mia // Hard to hack]]
Hey, Mia, I want to let you know, I've gotten a pretty good size hydroponic system set up in one of the labs of the University, and I've just gotten the first real good yield from it. It was pretty much an experiment from the start, but it's viable now. I'm about to take some to one of the supply centers so they can get it out to everyone else. Some fresh vegetables will probably do some tired bodies around here some good.

[Private to Team Science // Hard to hack]
Hey, McGuyver, Dr. Nye, and the rest of you. I know you're all working on your own projects, I need as many boxes and crates as you can come up with and as many extra hands as I can get. I've got more produce here than Fletcher and I can manage.
[/Private]

Day-to-day this place isn't so bad, really. At least I'm getting a lot of progress on my research projects.

Tatsuki.

I just talked to Fletcher.

I'm going to find you, and you're going to tell me what the hell happened. If you still want my help looking for your friend, anyway.

I'm glad the food's back and all, but does anyone else feel like punching someone after that little display they made? Bastards. If they had all that all this time, then why did they torture us for two weeks first? If anyone finds out who's responsible for that, I want to get in line for the beating.

I'm still working on my crops, though. I'm slowing down a bit, but I'm not halting the project altogether. Fresh fruit and vegetables can do everyone some good.

Speaking of, hey, Team Science (as MacGuyver called all you guys anyway) I'm bringing a couple extras with me. One's Akira, that selfish brat, (if I'd known that at the time I agreed she'd be SOL), and Tatsuki Arisawa. She's alright, for a girl anyway.

Last time I was down in these neck of the woods I got chased out by a bunch of those creatures, but it looks like they found somewhere else to hide.

Alright, it's time to let you all know that we've got a snake in the grass around. Worse than your usual problems, I'd say.

We've got a thief, what's worse, a desperate thief. He let himself into the library, and beat up a guy already dealing with a crab bite to steal some of the food I've been growing.

Yeah. He stole a good third of my total yield from my hydroponic growing tanks.

Worse is, I didn't see him. So if anyone saw a guy in the streets with a couple boxes of vegetables yesterday, let me know what they look like so I can go kick his ass. He got the drop on me, I never saw his face.

In a related note, MacGuyver, I'm taking you up on your invitation. We'll need a truck to transport all my equipment. I think my brother is looking for roommates.

And thanks again for your help, Harry and Aerith.

harry get to the librray

someone got teh drop onme took the food didn tsee who

nedd that girl

fletchers okay

IT'S WORKING!!

*His outburst is cut off by a long, nasty sounding cough*

It's budding already! At this rate it'll be ripe in 72 hours. Yes! I can do this. I just have to stay on top of it, excite the germination periodically, and... *and his voice fades into alchemical/botanical technobabble before it times out*

People, this is important! Has anyone seen Fletcher? I woke up just now and he was gone. I looked over the entire library, and he's just not here. The tracks in the snow are all covered up, and he didn't even leave a note.

He's not used to this kind of weather, really. So I need help trying to find him. I'm really in no condition to go out, but I will if I have to.

Fletcher, if you see this, respond right away so I know you're okay, please.

Alright, everyone, I've got a list of things to look for while we're all running around in the snow. This time, it's directly related to your continued survival. I can force some food out of some plants in a couple weeks' time, but I'll need lots of supplies.

Due to circumstances, I can't just get it on my own, and there's only so much a ten year old can do outside on his own in this city.

So here's what I need to get some plants going:
-Heaters - Me and everyone else, I know, but if it comes down to it, it'll be everyone's food supply over a few people's relative comfort.
-Sun lamps - they imitate the sun's rays, allowing plants to be grown inside. I thought I saw some on the university campus when I lived there before.
-Empty syringes

And a runner, hopefully someone that can hold their own against the crabs. I've moved a bunch of stuff to the greenhouse on top of the Library Hotel, but it needs to come back here to the library.

I guess this is where I kiss ass and beg, hmm? Happy Looting.

P.S.: First one to get a snowball down Harry's shirt gets their pick of the first harvest.