Rixey turns to Dot and Dash for support. They just shrug. Regi says "We told you! My father is alive! We must find him at once!" "Oh hell!"
The IVR says "Press 2 to appoint Farley Granger." "Will you turn off that damn thing?" "Only my Dad knows how." "Then we need to find him."
Regi says "That's what I've been saying!" The IVR says "Press 3 to appoint Stuart Granger." One by one we scuffle out through the rear door.
I'm last one out. As I leave, I hear the IVR say "Press 4 to appoint Regi Granger." Then "Goodbye Detective Arkaby! Prepare for the shift!"
Prepare for the shift? The IVR AI is completing the link between all the world's accelerators in a misguided search for the God particle!
We're back in the circular hallway of Body Parts R Us which I now know is the access corridor surrounding the IVR's particle accelerator.
Smack dab in the center of it all is Farley Granger's not-so-Safe Room. I say "If the IVR connects all the accelerators we're out of time."
"If the IVR has moved itself into the Cloud, there's nothing we can do." Dot says "Not true. The Cloud isn't really a cloud." "What is it?"
"It means the IVR has cloned itself in another data center." "Which could be anywhere in the world?" "Yes." "How does it help knowing that?"
"It doesn't." Regi says "My Dad doesn’t answer his phone. Dot, where would he be in this labyrinth?" Just then the Concierge jogs past.
Dot says "Maybe Henry knows." "Who's Henry?" "He is. The Concierge." The Concierge has a name? Regi shouts "Yo! Henry!" The Concierge stops.
Nodding at me and Dot he says "Yes, Miss Granger?" "We need to find my Dad. Have you seen him?" "I last saw your father before his death."
"We told you he's here." "Yes you did." "In all this time you haven't found him?" "I haven't tried. I have far more important things to do."
"Important like running around in circles?" "Don't knock it if you haven't tried it." Rixey says "Tried it? That's all Arkaby ever does."
"That's how I solve crimes." Regi says "Concierge, my Dad's life may be in great danger." "Again?" 'Yes. We need to find him immediately."
The Concierge extracts a phone from his pocket and taps a number. A tone sounds on building speakers and he says "Attention Willum Granger!"
"Please report your location immediately!" Pocketing his phone, the Concierge says "That ought to do it!" We wait in silence for a response.
Then a voice echoes over the speakers. "Willum Granger can't come to the phone right now. Press 1 to leave a message." Are we too late?
Dash says "What is the IVR doing coming over our loudspeaker system?" I say "Taking messages. I just don't know where I go to press 1."
Regi says "Dad used Farley's Safe Room as his office back when. If he's gone there he's in the direct line of fire." "Then let's go there."
Rixey says "You want to go into the heart of a particle accelerator?" "Well yes." "What part of 'direct line of fire' don't you understand?"
The Twitter Mystery continues daily at @Twitstery
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