The Severance Clause
An independent forensic specialist enters the fluorescent-lit offices of Meridian Acquisitions Corp. The body of the CEO, Robert Sterling, has been discovered in the server room. Six executives, each holding a position of corporate authority, had scheduled interactions with the deceased or the location in the final hours. The investigation must reconstruct a fractured timeline from physical traces and competing alibis.
Initial Crime Scene
The sterile, ozone-laced air of the server room presses against you. A low, constant hum vibrates up through the soles of your shoes. Fluorescent light glares off the polished linoleum floor, illuminating rows of monolithic mainframe consoles. A single, heavy-duty server rack mount leans against a console in the back. The faint indentation from a heavy object is visible on the green leather blotter in the adjacent CEO's office.
Crime Scene Environment
The primary environment is a corporate shell bathed in implacable fluorescent light, casting sharp, shadowless illumination. The air is chilled and uniformly dry, carrying a composite olfactory signature of residual ozone, acrid cigarette smoke, and synthetic carpet fibers. The acoustic profile is defined by the constant, deep hum of mainframe cooling fans and the residual hum of ventilation systems, creating a baseline of sterile, mechanical noise.
Investigation Constraints
Late-1980s to early-1990s corporate infrastructure. Keyhole mainframe terminals, dedicated LAN networks, paper-based interoffice memos with carbon copies, physical log books for server room access, pneumatic tube message systems, early digital answering machines with cassette tapes, corporate security keycard systems with swipe logs, and photocopiers with internal memory for recent jobs. No internet, no mobile phones, no cloud storage.
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