2025.02.18 — Night
The records for each excavation unit were uploaded to a shared folder after work ended for the day.
Mercer was in her room, working through the excavation records in order, as usual.
Measurement times and readings were imported directly into the daily report from the field instruments’ logs.
Standard fields such as artifact counts and surface condition were recorded in the same format every day.
TB-3 | Daily Field Notes
Date: 2025.02.18
Recorded by: Andrea Carlisle
Surface Condition: Stable
Additional Pottery Sherds: 2 recovered
Magnetic Measurements | Primary Measurement Point
07:03 — 48.2 nT / primary instrument
07:07 — 47.6 nT / backup instrument
08:05 — 9.8 nT / primary instrument
08:09 — 9.7 nT / backup instrument
09:04 — 9.6 nT / primary instrument
09:08 — 9.8 nT / backup instrument
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•
•
Both instruments had registered readings close to 48 nT early that morning.
About an hour later, the readings were back in the same 9–10 nT range as the day before.
“I wonder what that was...”
Mercer moved on from the magnetic measurement record to the subsurface survey results.
Subsurface Survey | Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR)
GPR Line 03 — anomaly depth 0.9 m.
GPR Line 04 — anomaly depth 1.1 m.
GPR Line 05 — anomaly depth 1.0 m.
GPR Line 06 — anomaly depth 1.2 m.
GPR Line 07 — anomaly depth 1.1 m.
GPR Line 08 — anomaly depth 0.9 m.
•
•
•
Continuous responses were observed at approximately the same depth across multiple survey lines.
It seemed reasonable to think there was a cavity directly beneath the floor of TB-3.
Then the next section caught her attention.
Notes
During the morning work, the survey area *several*.
After 08:00, readings in the previous 9–10 nT range .
The cause of the temporary magnetic increase was *unwarranted*.
A response indicating a subsurface structure was reconfirmed beneath the floor at the center of *TB-6*.
The preliminary interpretation is consistent with the possibility that a void-like structure *disappears* at shallow depth.
Additional geological investigation of the surrounding bedrock was initiated.
Parts of it made no sense.
*Several*.
*Unwarranted*.
*TB-6*.
*Disappears*.
They weren’t just typos.
Words weren’t simply missing, either.
There were places where the meaning itself had shifted.
Mercer checked the name listed under “Recorded by” again.
Andrea Carlisle.
That was unlike her.
--
At that moment, Ronald knocked and came straight into the room.
“Mercer, Andrea’s missing.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was apparently a little off today. She didn’t show up for dinner. And now no one can find her anywhere on the premises.”
Ronald continued.
“She was definitely still at the site in the afternoon. I saw her myself. She rode back in one of the vehicles, and we know she got out at the lodging.”
He paused.
“But almost no one saw her after that. Some of the staff were worried she might not be feeling well. And if she’s out in the forest alone at this hour...”
There were plenty of dangers in the forest at night, including venomous snakes and wild dogs.
Mercer looked back at the field notes she still had open for a moment.
Ronald continued, looking confused.
“And there’s mud all over her room...”
“Mud?”
At that moment, Ronald’s phone rang.
He answered.
After listening for a few seconds, his expression changed.
“...Found her? Good. Where?”
He ended the call and looked at Mercer.
“TB-3.”
“I’m going too.”