You know what? Art... music... poetry... It's all grift. Cohen's got Ryan wrapped around his lil' pinky... and why? Because he tells him what he wants to hear. 'Rise, Rapture, Rise!' Nuts! That stuff was stale before it came out Cohen's pen. I'm through with the whole pinata. Let's see that old fruit try an' keep me here... - Hector Rodriguez
"I think I've managed to pinpoint a location." Matt said, lying on his stomach and doodling on a map. Matt had been in charge of the locations of the kidnappings, lights and likely places to build an underwater city. Mello was in charge of researching valuable people that had gone missing during that time and Near was researching the people they had already found.
"What's wrong, Near? You've been quiet since I mentioned that German woman from the Holocaust."
"I've been reading into Ryan's ideals. The enormity of a movement like this is unthinkable. They couldn't be touched by the law because they completely disappeared. If Ryan was in charge, and I think he was, then his ideals would have been the law along with his punishments. Plus, Matt's theory is bugging me."
"That the girls looked the same?" Mello asked, scrolling through another newspaper article.
"Tenenbaum was a prisoner of war but when the German's discovered her talent for science they put her to work at the age of sixteen. She was a genius. Hitler had ideals of a pure race and Tenenbaum was a genetic scientist. By law, genetic science is restricted because it is morally unacceptable. All the kidnapped girls are genetically similar and between five and seven. There would be no limits because no one would know what she was doing besides people with the same morals as her. She could want the girls for experiments."
"And it sounds like the kidnapper was wearing some sort of diving apparatus." Matt noted.
"I was thinking about this too." Mello said, picking some newspaper articles up from the floor. "I was thinking about how all the weapons described weren't anything I'd heard of and how the kidnapper had outrun the girl's father. It's mentioned the unusual speed in a few articles."
"A surgeon, medical scientist and genetic scientist… If you were free from law and morality, would you experiment on humans?"
"Fundamentally people want power. That Ryan guy doesn't sound like he'd let political correctness hold him back." Matt replied, adding some more detail to the map.
"In the past week there have been two more kidnapping incidents." Near said, looking away from the face of Andrew Ryan to the photographs of girls on the floor. "This means we're dealing with something worse than the Kira case – if we're right."
They looked at each other without speaking, all thinking the same thing. If they were right, they would have to involve L. Mello was the first to turn away.
"The theme of rapture keeps coming up. I think it had significance to Ryan."
"We still don't know if it connects to the case we should be working on." Near pointed out, twisting his hair around his finger.
"It's a logical conclusion. It fits."
"There is nothing logical in assuming that there is an underwater city full of geniuses that are performing genetic experiments on girls and sending an unnaturally fast robot to kidnap them."
Mello simply shrugged. A knock on the door interrupted them.
"What is it Roger?" Mello asked.
Roger entered the room, looking out of breath. "Some information has been retrieved. A poster and vinyl record washed up on the same beach that the doll was found."
"Okay, send us the information." Near ordered, turning back towards the article about Tenenbaum.
Roger left the room and a few minutes later a song filled the room of a woman singing in a shrill voice and two images appeared on the screen.
"O rise, Rapture, rise…"
One of the images was the case called Rapture Records.
"It sounds like a national anthem." Matt noted and Mello nodded.
"To help us crush parasites despised…"
The other image was something like an invitation. On the front was an arm with the hand positioned in a fist, directed to the sky. 'Welcome to Rapture' was written on the front.
"A city on Poseidon's floor, A set of ideals we adore…"
On the back it read, 'You are among a handful of people who have been selected to found a NEW KIND OF CITY built wholly on the principles of: FREE ENTERPRISE, TOTAL INDEPENDENCE, ABSOLUTE CREATIVE FREEDOM. You have been chosen for your drive, ingenuity, creativity and will to choose. Together, the best and brightest of the Earth will build a new tomorrow for the human race. Opportunity awaits. The choice is yours.'
"So it's true." Matt said ominously.
"A philosophy we can all emphasize, So rise, rise r –" At that point the record sounded as though it had died. There was a pause and a little girl's voice filled the room. It sounded ghostlike and afraid. "Daddy? Where are you Daddy? Are you going to come and find me?"
The three boys stared at each other, each face frozen with disturbed features. Matt broke the silence first. "They're still alive."
"We need to contact L." Near sighed, avoiding the pictures of Tenenbaum and Ryan.
Mello thought for a while, his chocolate bar pressed against his lips. "Let me do the talking." He said, getting up to call Roger.
"I'll do it myself." Matt said, with a smile. "I've always wanted to hack L's connection."
"Don't be stupid Matt. L's connection will be one of the most secure in the world. Someone like you won't be able to hack into it."
"Oh ye of little faith, Mello." Matt grinned, already typing on the computer.
An hour had passed and Near and Mello were sat on the floor, lining the photographs of the girls up again. Matt was humming the tune 'Rise, Rapture, Rise' as he typed faster than L had.
"Matt, stop humming that song!" Mello yelled, throwing an empty chocolate wrapper at him.
"Well, it's stuck in my head." Matt argued, but stopped humming anyway. Near adjusted the arms on his robot. "Hey, how come Near gets his robot if I can't have my DS?"
"He doesn't." Mello replied, snatching the robot away from Near, who looked completely shocked.
"Mello, give it back!" Near shouted, reaching out for it. Mello hid it behind his back.
"No. You shouldn't be playing with toys at a time like this. Besides, I like watching you struggle."
"You're being completely immature, Mello." Near replied, coldly furious.
"YES! I'm through. Pwned Mello." Matt laughed, setting up both webcam and audio for them and L. "Oh look, he's staying in a hotel."
Mello dropped the robot and Near instantly retrieved it, hugging it to his chest. At that point they heard someone walk closer and L crouched on his chair, staring at the screen. "Matt, you hacked my laptop. I'm impressed." He said with a small smile.
Matt opened his mouth to reply but Mello interrupted. "You know, we solved two cases L. But if you want to find out what we know then you have to come here." He demanded, stubbornly folding his arms. L looked slightly taken aback.
"Mello, I'm working on the Kira case. I cannot go back to England."
"This is more important than the Kira case!" Mello argued, angry determination on his face.
"Well, Mello, I think you're being slightly immature." L responded, his smile disappearing.
"L, this is more dangerous than the Kira investigation." Near said, backing Mello up.
"But we won't give you the information unless you come here." Mello added.
L seemed to twitch, looking at something that they couldn't see. "While investigating this case I am risking my life. Abductions are not life endangering cases to solve."
"Well, if we want to rescue the girls then they are." Near murmured.
"L, listen to this." Matt said, playing the vinyl again to Mello's and Near's reluctance. L listened until the end, when the girl spoke.
"There is a high probability that it's a hoax." L replied simply. Mello stood up quickly, his hands balled into fists.
"It isn't a hoax and we're going to find the girls with or without you so I hope you'll be able to live with our blood on your hands."
Near looked quite unnerved by this suggestion. L pressed his thumb against his lip and stared at the three of them and Mello's determined glare. Eventually he sighed. "Fine, I'll come back to England." He replied. He opened his mouth to say something else but thought better of it and broke off their connection.
"L's coming!" Mello grinned happily, nibbling at his chocolate bar.
"Mello, we can't go after them ourselves." Near stated, his eyes still wide with fear.
"Why not? Who would believe us?"
"We have sufficient evidence. To rescue the girls there would have to be a team of trained fighters, we don't know what we might find down there."
"So? I'm curious. We were the ones who solved the case so I want to be the first person to find Rapture. It'll be fine. For all you know it might be better down there than it is up here."
"Then why are they kidnapping girls?" Near asked, his hair wound tightly around his finger.
"Stop worrying." Mello sighed. "Anyway, we need to organise all our information for when L gets here."