The D List

Yesterday, Rome finally found the complete list of Darwin Project members. At first, she was surprised to discover 111 members but Rei cleared up that mystery because two of the names were the missing command crew. As I mentioned yesterday, they were not the people who tried to kill Rei. I assure you they are long dead.

Given the complete list, now Rome and Rei must deal with the task of whittling down the numbers until they came up with the missing two people who are undoubtedly the would-be assassins:

     “I see,” Rome said. She scrolled down slowly. “Stanton, Pierre and Wright. Those are the three dead people we found back at the cave. Their names are marked with KIA. What does that mean?”
     “Killed in Action,” Rei replied.
     “Then this is our list,” Rome said. “It is complete and reflects the state of things after they arrived on this world.” She whirled in place and looked up at the tall black livetar standing off to the side. “MINIMCOM, I would like you to take a snapshot of this list, please.”
     “Of course,” MINIMCOM replied, stepping forward. “However, I think our OMCOM clone would be better suited to store the data and collate the rest of the evidence we collect. After all, that is his specialization.”
     “That’s an excellent idea,” Rome said. “Can you fetch his livetar?”
     “It would be my pleasure,” MINIMCOM replied.
     With a whoosh and a pop, OMCOM’s two-meter tall, all-white livetar appeared beside them. The shell was the manifestation of their OMCOM clone which was buried 700 meters below Rome’s library.
     “How can I assist you?” the livetar asked.
     “OMCOM,” she said pointing, “on this slab is a crew manifest of the original occupants of Rei’s Ark as well as a complete crew roster for the Darwin people. 111 in total. We know that three are dead. Two are missing out in space somewhere. Of the remaining 106 alive, 104 were transported to Helome. That means two were left behind but we don’t know which two. With MINIMCOM’s help, we should be able to identify more than half of those transported. But it is imperative that we narrow the list all the way down to the missing two. We believe they are the people who bombed our house and tried to kill Rei.”
     “Are they also the people that stole the two items from the library? The handgun and the invisibility cloak?” OMCOM asked.
     “What would make you think that?” Rei interjected.
     “As you are so fond of saying, ‘there ain’t no such thing as a coincidence’. What could be better for sneaking a bomb into someone’s house, unnoticed, than an invisibility cloak?”
     Rei looked at Rome. “He’s right,” Rei said. “I haven’t had time to think about it but it makes perfect sense.” Rei turned back to OMCOM. “Do you have any surveillance video or audio that might help us identify the thieves?”

We're all familiar with A-list celebrities and if someone is called a B-lister, it has a certain negative connotation. So saying someone is on the D-list would certain be a demotion. I decided to flip that upside down and make the D List the only thing Rome and Rei care about. My own personal joke. But they still have a tall task in front of them.