Incoming Transmission from Canberra Star City
Tau-44, Natio Octavarium
20. May 826 A.S.
To: "Taskmaster" "Weaver" Priority: Utmost Topic: Webs and Those Who Weave Them
Message Contents:
Taskmaster,
You have a great deal of explaining to do. I am willing, for the moment, to acknowledge your leadership of the Commission, but that is contingent on you first answering some questions, and on me being satisfied with said answers. If I'm not, you can find yourself a new line of work. Perhaps something like stamping number plates for personal shuttles. Are we clear? Good.
Most of my questions concern the bombshell you so casually dropped. What proof can you provide of Taskmaster Escher's survival? Every piece of information at my fingertips, all of it, tells me that Escher was on board the Redshift during that absolute cock-up of a demonstration. The crew manifest says he was there, and he was witnessed boarding alongside Taskmaster Kane and the rest of the previous Administration. His face was even briefly visible on the video feed from one of the Canberra News cameras covering the demonstration. He is listed as MIA, along with every other person on that ship, and up until now, I've had no indication to the contrary. Now, you come and tell me that not only is he alive, but he's conveniently absent, and left you in charge. And it may be permanent? Put yourself in my chair, and tell me that doesn't seem more than a little suspicious.
Assuming you can prove to my satisfaction that Escher is alive, and this isn't a poor attempt at self-promotion on your part, other questions come in. I would prefer to hear these answers from Escher himself, but I'll ask you for now. For example, how was he not on that ship? Did he know something was going to happen? If so, why did he not halt the demonstration and evacuate the Cabinet? Was he involved in the disappearance in any way? If he wasn't, why did he not come forward immediately in the aftermath? His presence could've gone a long way to stabilising the situation.
Finally, if everything else checks out, I want regular updates on his investigation, the second he learns anything at all. Assuming they survived the initial jump, and it's likely they did, Fleet estimates that the Redshift has enough consumables to sustain the crew for eighteen months with proper rationing. Almost six months have passed now, so we have about a year left to locate our people. The clock is ticking, and a even a few hours might make all the difference.
![[Image: pyBjInU.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pyBjInU.png)