Tape: Detective King, 31 March 3859

**King:**

Alright, looks like that’s going. Okay. Private back-up analog record of Detective King regarding the death of Alyce Erigindr, the Architect. 30 March 3859–no, wait, it’s…uh…2:14 am, so I guess that’d be 31 March 3859.

To recap, Miss Erigindr was found dead in her Eligos office on 12 March 3859–that’s (...seventeen, eighteen…) nineteen days ago.

…God, I can’t believe it’s already been that long–it feels like we just got the news yesterday. How did the time pass that fast? It’s been weeks and we’ve got nothing. No new evidence, no new motives, no new witnesses, no new developments…nothing. It’s…*[sigh]*...it’s frustrating. It’s …sad.

*[A moment of silence.]*

Alright, King. Pull yourself together. Take a step back and think. There’s something you’re not seeing. Okay, motive. The Architect was always a high-profile individual. She got a lot of attention–I mean, she made headlines regularly, so everyone knew about her. That expands our suspect base to…anyone in the city, or even in the Sister Cities, I suppose…but let’s assume and hope that that isn’t the case…

Now, The Architect was a pivotal intellectual figure who made great bounds both at the Akademiya and in the tech behind the government and PD. It’s therefore logical to conclude that all of the city’s enemies would have an interest in seeing her dead–-beyond that, though, there is the possibility that one of her academic rivals may have taken things too far…

God, damn it. Ally, why did you have to have so many enemies!? *[clear throat]* I mean, um, Erigindir had a large number of potential enemies. A lot was to be gained from her death from multiple angles, so trying to deduce the profile of these enemies beyond the necessity that they were supernatural is…pointless, for now at least.

Whoever it was, they killed her for a reason, and they did a Hell of a job covering it up. Okay…what do we have…alright, what about the timing?…that had to mean something. Why now? The Architect has been a threat to all of these enemies for years–if not decades–so why wait until now? It can’t have been Alter Ego. Even though we only became dependent on it maybe five years ago, that project was in place for over a decade. That’s too long ago for Alter Ego to be the motive.

So, Ally must have been working on something new. Something that someone really didn’t like…or…maybe she figured something out…but what would that even be…

*[King slams her fists on the table.]*

Damn those bastards at HQ! They want us to solve this case with nothing but breadcrumbs, while keeping all the vital clues classified as "need to know." Well, I need to know! Not to mention that idiot 707…God! We don’t have a lot of time, our trails are already starting to go cold. I can’t…I won’t…I won’t lose this one.

*[A knock at the door.]*

Ahem. *[Sniffle.]* Yeah, come in.

**Nakamura:**

Hey, uh. Oh, you were in the middle of…Sorry. But…it’s late. King, you haven’t slept in a few days…

**King:**

Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up? ...While I appreciate the concern, I…I don’t need to be babysat. Let’s not forget who’s in charge here.

*[Nakamura remains silent.]*

**King:**

Don’t look at me like that, kid.

**Nakamura:**

You won’t be able to think clearly without sleep. The more you deprive yourself, the more your faculties will suffer and the longer this case will take to solve. You need to take breaks. You need to sleep.

**King:**

You’ve got a lot of nerve, Naka. What I do with my time is my own business.

**Nakamura:**

King, we’re partners. That means that I’m here for you, and that we’re going to solve this together.

*[King clicks her tongue with annoyance.]*

**Nakamura:**

But it also means I have a duty to report to our superiors when my partner is behaving in a manner dangerous to the investigation or to personnel–themselves included.

**King:**

*[A sigh of frustration.]* Fine.

*[The recording clicks off.]*