Hereafter

[Wayne23]

11/14: The only upset in the first round of the Classic was #11 UAB over #6 Arizona. We play UAB next. They played well and scored 89 against #24 ranked Arizona. We're expecting a challenge.

11/15: Can we keep up if it's a shoot out?

Back and forth early. Up 6 after 10; it's not a shoot out so far. 41-25 at halftime. It appears that my team plays some hella D! 11, 4 for my other potential superstar Sam Prio. But Kruo picked up 3 fouls and played only 7 minutes. Bench is +7. They're shooting 26.7%. Up 22 with 10 to play.

75-53. Scored 10 more than the 1st game, gave up 10 more. Probably doesn't mean anything but it's interesting.

1st game it was the bigs, tonight it was the guards. 15, 5, 2, 3 for Prio, 14, 4, 3 for Beja, 9, 5, 4 for #3 guard Laws. +11 RBs, +16 in the paint. They shot 30.5%.

Security Chief Marta Bankel: “We have a list of 11 people known to be associates of Runa Ben Di.”

“Are you questioning them?”

“No. We're tailing them. Security cameras are programmed to keep track of their movements at all times.”

“But the one who's doing this will just turn off the camera when he kills again.”

“We have robots and human security agents on every level ready to immediately go to the area if a camera is turned off.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

[Wayne23]

11/16: The top 4 seeds made it to the semifinal. We play #2 seed, #2 ranked Villanova. This will be our first real test. They're a big favorite. They have a world class PG and an equally impressive C. We'll need to be at the very top of our game.

11/17: They take an early lead. Down 10 after 10. 38-50 at the half. I maxed out the D 12 minutes in and we played them even after that but we didn't gain on them. 12, 4 for Kruo, 10, 4, 1, 3 for Walk. 3 fouls on our PG, Beja. Down 15 with 10 left. We just can't make up any ground. And then we do. Big run!

80-81. Beja missed an open 12 footer off a screen at the end. We actually took the lead twice late.

19, 9 for Kruo, 18, 5, 2, 4 for PF Toby Walk, 13, 2, 3 for Prio. +6 for the bench. Stats were very even.

We definitely looked like a team that can play the best in this tournament.

11/19: Lacy Day had her throat cut on deck 19, in the Waste Reclamation area. No cameras turned off, no clues. She wouldn't listen regarding travelling with friends. She was seen several times walking alone.

11/20: 3 of our 4 committed recruits signed. The one who didn't is a good student and he should hit our SAT score.

[Wayne23]

11/21: #17 ranked Georgia Tech, 2-0, is here. We're favored but they can play. Their PF gets 14 and 17, and their SG can score.

We drop to #12 in the polls. I think that's a major over reaction to our 1 point loss to the #2 ranked team.

11/22: Close early. Up 8 after 10. A tun puts us up 37-19 at the break. Terrific D again; they shot 20%. 18, 7 for Rich. Kruo has 3 fouls. 3 TOs to 10. +22 inside. Up 18 with 10 left.

80-56. 23, 10, 5, 3 for Rich, 19, 4, 3 for Prio. 11 fewer TOs. +32 in the paint.

No clues. No explanation for why a camera that appears to be functioning perfectly didn't register a murder, or the moving of a body.

None of the 11 people we've been tailing were anywhere near deck 19 at any time within 24 hours of when the body was found. The medics set the approximate time of death as 8 hours before the body was found. So we're back to square one.

The big question is, did Run Ben Di open her door to a stranger? If so, why! If not, what are we missing.

[Wayne23]

11/24: 2-1 Virginia is here. They're not the team they were last season. They do have a very good SG.

11/25: We take an early lead. Up only 3 after 10. Up 8 at the half after a late mini-run. Both starting guards have 3 fouls as does their superstar SG. +8 from the line. 7 fewer TOs. We're not deep so let's see how the guard situation plays out. Up 12 with 10 left.

82-69. They never really got it close. 21, 9 for Kruo. Both starting guards wound up with 4 fouls; Beja played 19 minutes, Prio 22. Barr and Wild filled in well.

8 fewer TOs, +14 in the paint.

5 of our next 7 are against ranked teams.

Morale was so high after the dining halls were restored and work hours got back to normal. It's back down in the basement. People are looking over their shoulders, afraid to enter their living quarters, afraid to go anywhere. We have to catch this killer. Marta says there simply isn't much of anything to go on.

Surveillance remains very intense. The robots really help with that sort of thing. The real worry is in regard to Lacy's murder where no cameras were turned off yet nothing suspicious was seen. Again, what are we missing.

[Wayne23]

11/28: #11 Syracuse, 4-2, is here. 102 year old long time head coach Jim Boeheim just picked up win #1502. That puts him 300 wins ahead of #2. They have a very good Center, but we think we're better at every other position.

We're now #8.

We never finished the poll on favorite holo programs. When Kelly was murdered it just sort of went away.

11/29: Back and forth early on. Down 4 after 10. 43-34 at the half. Their excellent C has 12 and 4. Sub Mal Barr has 15 and Prio has 11, 2,

3, 4. Our bigs aren't getting it done but so far our guards and our bench are making the difference. Up 13 with 10 to go.

88-73. They never threatened us. Sub C/F Mal Barr had a night, 23 and 4. 16, 5, 6, 6 for Prio. +11 RBs.

Nothing new on the serial killer. Thankfully no new victims.

[Wayne23]

12/1: #22 Florida, 4-3, is here. We score more, give up fewer. They have yet to play a ranked team. They are strong inside, maybe very strong, but again, they haven't faced any real competition.

12/2: We take a quick lead. Up 5 after 10. They go on a run and it's 32-43 at halftime. Most of the difference is inside. Both of our guards have 3 fouls again. Not good. They're shooting 50% to our 35.7%. I make a couple of adjustments. We go on a run, take the lead, but it's back and forth. Up 6 with 10 to go. And a run gives us a big lead.

85-68 but it took some time. 6 players with 10 or more. +9 for the bench. +8 RBs. 9 TOs to 17. +16 inside, almost all of it in the 2nd half, which we won 53-25.

24/7 surveillance. That requires monitoring, so security is on 7 days, 12 hours a day. Still no clues but no new killings in two weeks. No one will relax until we catch the killer though. Use of holos is down, which is a sign of low morale. The programs that are being used are all “comfort” programs- pets, animal interaction, people on boats or trains... The comfort food dining halls are packed.

[Wayne23]

12/5: 3-3 Georgetown is here. They're rebuilding after losing three to graduation, one to the draft, and 2 to transfer. They score outside but their C can score and rebound. Their PG can make things happen.

We're #7, NET #2.

12/6: We're worried about their PG.

We jump out to an immediate lead. Up 16 after 10; they can't score so far. 41-23 at the break. 14, 6 for C Josh Rich. +18 down low. They're shooting 28.1% to our 54.8%. Up 29 with 10 left. We're cutting off the passing lanes and they're not getting good looks.

84-52. Maybe the best we've looked all season. 22, 10 for Kruo, 22, 9 for Rich, 11, 6 for Walk, so we really got it done inside. +12 RBs, +34 inside.

Mel Barr hurt his calf. Day to day.

SG Sam Prio came to me after he showered and dressed. He says he's frustrated with his play. He expected to have a big year. He's playing well but the numbers aren't there for him to get any national recognition. I told him to keep working hard, and that I'd put in some things to get the ball to him more often.

It's very quiet on board. Security, human and robotic, is everywhere. That's comforting but it's also anxiety provoking at the same time. No one is relaxing.

Hali, June, and I went for a two day boat trip. It was nice to just feel like we were escaping.

[Wayne23]

12/8: #21, 5-2 Duke is here. They can score, especially their SF. They're 2-1 vs. Top 10 teams so they can play.

12/9: Early lead. Up 11 after 10. 35-26 at halftime. Balanced scoring. +7 RBs, 5 TOs. Up 17 with 10 to play.

82-66. We were in control all the way.

18, 4, 6 for Prio, 15, 8 for Rich, 14, 8 for Kruo. 10, 6 for Barr, playing sick. 8 TOs, +14 in the paint.

Ranked #6, NET #2.

June turned 18 this summer. She's working in engineering as she continues her schooling and she really likes it. Schooling here goes at a pretty accelerated pace. Students are through with middle school by age 12, high school by age 15, and university by age 18. There are no master's programs but students who wish to pursue a Ph. D. can usually complete it in 3-6 years, depending upon whether it's full or part time. June just started a program in Chemical Engineering. She wants to work so it will likely take her about 6 years.

[Wayne23]

12/12: Two very tough road games in a row. At #3, then at #2.

#3 Kansas is 9-1, 6-0 at home. They score 10.5 fewer and give up .3 fewer. They tend to turn it over. They're 3-0 vs. ranked teams. They can play!

12/13: They take a quick lead. Down only 1 after 10. 30-30 after a hard fought 1st half. 5 fouls on them, 9 on us. 11, 7 for Prio, 10, 6 for Krou. +8 RBs, 13-0 on 2nd chances. But we're shooting poorly, 31.6% to 41.7%. I haven't yet maxed out the D but I'm ready to. Down 2 with 10 left.

62-63. They hit a 16 footer with a hand in the shooter's face with 2.1 to go.

21, 9 for Kruo, 14, 9, 2, 3 for Prio but 5 TOs, 13, 6 for Rich. We lost in the backcourt, 17 for our starters, 25 for theirs, and on the bench, 6 to 14. +6 RBs, 5 fewer TOs, +16 in the paint, +17 on 2nd chances. But they shot better and barely edged us.

2 losses so far, both by a single point

12/15: Deepak Samudra, a 15 year old boy, was found in the holo, inside a hiking program, with his throat cut. It is all but impossible for someone to enter someone else's holo program unless they have administrator privileges so either Deepak was in the program, or an administrator or hacker did this.

No one is listed as being in the program except for Deepak.

The robotic security agents are going through the entire trail and the area around it, hoping to pick up clues.

“Marta, what can you tell the Council?”

“Deepak is our first male victim. He was a very out homosexual who-”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“We don't know, Mick. It may be a factor, it may not, but we absolutely need to look at everything. Anyway, we hacked Deepak's social media and he was very out front about being into... 'risky activities.'

“We're looking at all of the people with whom he interacted and looking to see if we can discover whether he had started up with anyone new. He was clearly quite active so it may be a long list.”

“Sounds to me like you're targeting gays. That's discrimination.”

“We're targeting possible suspects, as we have with every other victim. Deepak was very into some things that could be extreme. We have a duty to follow up. We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't. Five people are dead and we don't have a perp yet.”

“Any chance there's more than one killer?”

“We're looking into that possibility. No way to know yet. We need the killer to screw up, or we need to strike gold in our surveillance, which now also includes people connected to Deepak. As we discover more of those people they'll be added to the list.”

“Can you keep track of this many people.”

“Absolutely. We couldn't do it with only human security personnel but we can with robots. Sadly, whoever is doing this has already once found a way to block our surveillance cameras very effectively. Again, we probably need the perp to screw up.”

“Meanwhile more people get killed.”

“Okay, Mick, that's enough. As Council chair I think we need repeated warnings about being extremely cautious in our behaviors.”

[Wayne23]

12/19: At #2 Villanova, 10-2, 9-0 at home. They beat us by 1 in the Coaches Classic semifinal game. They're heavily favored. They average 9.3 more RBs. 1-1 vs. ranked teams. Very good at PG and C and solid inside game. In our first game their PG and C combined for 45.

We're #7.

12/20: I decide to start in man-to-man.

Back and forth at the start. Down 4 after 10. Up 37-36. Lots of lead changes and ties. 12, 8 for Toby Walk, 8, 4 for Kruo. Their PG and C combined for 17 but the C has 3 fouls. +12 RBs. We're shooting only 35.9% to 46.7%. Only 2-10 on threes; they're 3-9. I maxed out the D early. Up 6 with 10 to play; we need a run!

85-88. Damn! So close! We're not winning close games though. 0-3 in one possession games. We missed an open three at the end.

22, 9 for Kruo, who played really well. 14, 10 for Walk, 12, 9 for Rich, 11, 8, 5 for Prio. +14 RBs, +6 in the paint, but -5 TOs. The blame has to go to the D.

We shouldn't give up 88 points.

We're a veteran team. We start 2 juniors and 3 seniors, but I changed systems on both O and D, so we'll probably be better in the Spring, after playing my systems for a few months. We're not far from where we want to be, really.

Ben Roll and Ely King, a couple of bigs who don't play much are both out for at least two weeks. That makes us frighteningly thin inside.

An exhaustive investigation of the holo hiking trail didn't turn up anything we can use. The perp seems to mange to get behind the victims and slash their throats with one quick swipe. He leaves no hairs behind, no prints, no DNA. Whoever he is, he's really careful.