Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Bioshock or any of the girls named here - they belong to the viral website for Bioshock 2. When I was on the site I couldn't get rid of the feeling that L should be investigating the case - hence the inspiration for this story. All chapters are named after the audio diaries found around Rapture.

To build a city at the bottom of the sea! Insanity. But where else could we be free from the clutching hand of the Parasites? Where else could we build an economy that they would not try to control, a society that they would not try to destroy? It was not impossible to build Rapture at the bottom of the sea. It was impossible to build it anywhere else. - Andrew Ryan

"The first thing we need to do is find a connection." Near noted. The three boys were sat on the floor, huddled around a bunch of photographs. "They are spread around a large area."

"But always along the North Atlantic coastline." Mello noted, taking a bite from his chocolate bar. "Mary Elizabeth, 5 years old. The windowpane was cut with extreme precision and it appeared as though a red lamp was attached to the kidnapper's head."

"Ulrike, 7 years old. A window was smashed with a sharpened tool and the kidnapper was carrying a red torch…" Matt added as they took turns reading an article. They all caught each others eye, noting the connection between the red lights.

"Camille, 6 years old. No witnesses." Near said, putting the newspaper cutting onto a pile on ones they had already read.

"Chantal, 6 years old. Kidnapped by a skinny monster with a red glowing eye. Crashed through a third-story window." Mello said, shifting into a more comfortable position.

"Elena Rodrigues, 6 years old. A broken window suggests forced entry."

"Jennifer, 5 years old. Kidnapper ran away carrying a red torch. Large boot prints on the sand." Near said, putting down the last article.

"We need to research the red light." Mello noted, as Matt volunteered. "I'll contact the families and try to see if we can get any more information or find more witnesses."

"I'll search for other cases we might not know about and see if there are any other connections." Near said, moving over to the computer chair as Mello grabbed a mobile phone.

Three days later…

"Is this a joke? These people are describing weapons that don't even exist." He complained, biting his chocolate bar ferociously. "Most of them are describing some sort of strange robot. It's ridiculous."

"Look at this." Near replied, and Mello and Matt moved over to him. "Maura, 7 years old. The unknown attacker raced out of the window with 'incredible speed'. The girl's father attempted to pursue but was outrun, even though the kidnapper should have been slowed down by the girl's weight. It's reasonable to assume that someone chasing after their daughter would have an adrenaline rush and run at full speed. The attacker was thin, above average height and wearing a red light that seemed to come from its head. I find it difficult to believe that it would have been easy to outrun the girl's father whilst carrying the girl."

"This doesn't make sense." Mello complained, kicking a chair.

"I found something out too." Matt said patiently, pulling up photographs and articles onto different screens. "There have been a lot of reports of red light coming from underneath the sea. There's some photographic evidence too. Camille disappeared the same night that red lights were reported in La Rochelle harbour."

"So the kidnappings occur along the coast of different countries surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean, the kidnapper always has a red light and there have been reports of red lights underneath the ocean around the time that the kidnappings take place." Near summed up as Mello phoned another number. His expression changed rapidly from irritable to serious.

"Can you send the photograph over?" Mello asked. A few moments later he hung up and brought another image up on the screen. It was a strange footprint in the sand. The three of them stared at the image silently, trying to make sense of the situation.

Three weeks later they were back to sitting on the floor in silence, throwing around the same old ideas in the hope of finding a new angle.

"So…" Matt began, trying to find something new to say. "Have you noticed they all look the same?"

"…You're so stupid." Mello complained, not even having the energy to bite a chunk out of his chocolate bar. They were all exhausted. None of them had the will to do anything because the case was such a mystery that they couldn't figure it out. Matt stood up and plodded over to the computers, bringing up an image of a dark-skinned African girl with dreadlocks.

"See? She's around the same age as the others." Matt replied, slumping back onto the floor.

Near and Mello looked at the images of the porcelain-skinned girls again. After looking at the image Matt had brought up, the kidnapped girls looked liked clones. "Fine, you're right but I don't really see the point. Do you have a point Matt?"

"Maybe it's important. They're all between five and seven too. It's like collecting girls of the same type."

"I suppose." Near sighed, laying the pictures out side-by-side. "But if you have no theory then that point doesn't mean anything."

"Okay… A theory…" Matt said, lying on his back. "How about this kidnapper is making a museum… Yeah okay, you don't even need to tell me how stupid that suggestion is."

"I fail to see how their genetic similarity could be important." Near responded. Silence engulfed them again.

…

"Wait!" Mello gasped. "Last year we studied the mystery 'The Vanishing'. Remember? The number of people missing could have been in the thousands. Some really intelligent people vanished without a trace and it couldn't be explained. We looked at the newspaper articles."

"It was likely a movement rather than a conspiracy due to the fact all the missing people had the same ideals. But the girls that have been kidnapped were taken against their will. It's completely different." Near argued.

"Langford, Suchong, Steinman… They were some of the people." Mello continued, ignoring Near's point.

"The only connection is a large number of people disappearing without a trace. That is hardly enough to call a connection."

"Whatever, I'm going to look into it anyway. It's more of a link than Matt pointing out that they all look the same."

"No it isn't because at least Matt's point was relevant to the case and also correct. Yours is neither relevant nor a correct link because a movement and a mass kidnapping are completely different cases."

"Well at least I have a suggestion, Near!" Mello yelled, spinning back on the computer chair to face him. "I don't just sit on the floor looking pale!"

"Ad hominem. You weakened your argument by attacking who I am rather than my point."

"Yeah, I remember the critical thinking lessons, Near. Can you just shut up and do something useful."

"What would you have me do, Mello? Try and solve a completely irrelevant case because the current case is too difficult? Next you'll try and find out who Jack the Ripper was and claim his relative is after revenge."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Near. You try and find a link then, since you're the only one who hasn't come up with a different angle. Matt can work on his museum of similar-looking girls' theory and I'll look into the vanishing case."

Matt had fallen asleep.

"I did come up with a different angle yesterday but you said it was ridiculous." Near replied, picking up the photograph he had found of a strange, hand-made doll that had been found at the edge of the beach. It had what looked like a helmet for a head and some sort of drill for a hand.

"That's because you're obsessed with toys, and a doll on the beach can hardly be considered evidence. It didn't even match the descriptions."

"Mello, you agreed that you have never seen a doll like that before and that the feet could resemble heavy boots and the head could resemble a helmet described by a witness. I don't think it is coincidental that a doll resembling the kidnapper was found near the coast when it is such a unique design."

"It was clearly made by a child."

"Exactly." Near argued, but he knew Mello wouldn't listen. Matt began to snore.

"Your point is only vaguely relevant and vaguely correct. I can't believe Matt has come up with the best suggestion when it was so stupid." Mello mumbled as he licked the edge of his chocolate bar and looked at some old newspaper articles. "There was Dr. Steinman, who could have been the best plastic surgeon in the world. Julie Langford, the famous botanist… Here's another article about a really good plumber that went missing. And Dr. Suchong who was a medical researcher."

"Mello, this is pointless. What would you do with a plumber, botanist, surgeon and…" Suddenly Near jumped up, startling Matt awake. "Mello, who else vanished?"

Mello smiled smugly. "So I'm right."

"I didn't say it had anything to do with the case we're working on now." Near replied as Mello flicked through some other articles. Matt groggily walked over.

"Why are we studying history again?"

"Mello thinks it is somehow relevant to the case." Near answered.

"And Near has noticed that I've found out something interesting so he's just as excited as I am." Mello added.

"'The Vanishing' is an unsolved case. It would be an achievement if we solved it; that is my only interest."

"Whatever." Mello replied, still trying to find more articles. "A business man called Andrew Ryan who was all into… finding 'true rapture' and 'being entitled to the sweat of your brow' and stuff."

"Andrew Ryan's parents were important in the Russian government and got murdered by Communists. He went to Oxford University before moving to America. He believed that people who benefitted from other people were parasites. He disappeared when Hiroshima was destroyed by the Atomic Bomb because he despised the 'parasites' for destroying what they couldn't have." Near added to Mello's explanation, causing Mello to scowl silently.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Matt asked, bored. Mello hadn't allowed him to use his DS since they started working on the case, knowing Matt had a short attention span. Mello turned towards Near, wanting to hear the words from Near's lips. Near stayed silent.

"Don't be shy, Near. Why did you jump up all of a sudden?" Mello prompted. Near sat on a chair next to him and Matt sat down too.

"Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Some of the most basic needs are breathing, water and food. A plumber and botanist could provide those. A successful business man could provide shelter, clothes and sleeping accommodations. All the basic needs could be catered for with just those three people. With those needs satisfied the next important is safety, including health-care. It wasn't just regular plumbers and botanists and surgeons going missing but they were the best in the world. You could essentially create living conditions with those minds alone. Specifically… living conditions in the ocean."

Mello grinned at his own ingenuity and Matt looked disturbed, like someone being convinced that ghosts exist. "So… There's something in the sea."