# Vanished without a trace

The rain fell in soft, even drops on the excavation site in the Pompeii Archaeological Park. The earth beneath the archaeologists' feet gradually transformed into a thick, muddy mass, while the rhythmic lapping of the water was the only sound that broke the silence. Thick, gray clouds hung over the ruins, so low that they seemed to swallow the surrounding hills. The world appeared shrouded in a damp veil; the ancient walls and unearthed relics seemed even more ephemeral, as if they might sink back into the ground at any moment.

Dr. Leonardo Moretti, the excavation director, stood leaning over a crumbling stone wall, his gray eyes fixed on the progress of the work. His weather-beaten face was serious, his thoughts drifting back to the centuries when these streets and buildings had still been teeming with the inhabitants of Pompeii. The past few days had yielded promising finds—fragments of inscriptions, well-preserved household objects. But today, a peculiar unease hung in the air, one that couldn't be explained by the weather alone.

Suddenly, an assistant hurried towards him. His soaked clothes clung to his slender frame, mud splashing with every step. "Dr. Moretti, the inscription is almost uncovered. We need Martina Rossi for the assessment."

Moretti looked up from the wall. "Where is it? It should have been here long ago."

The assistant shrugged, a nervous twitch running across his face. "No one has seen her today. She wasn't at breakfast either."

A strange feeling crept up inside Moretti—as if an invisible hand had closed around his stomach. Martina was reliable, a woman who took every appointment seriously. That she simply didn't show up without a word was unusual. Too unusual to ignore. He looked at his watch. It was almost noon. The rain continued to patter against the stone floor.

“I’m going to check on her,” he said, more to himself than to his assistant.

Moretti hurried to his car, which was parked at the edge of the excavation site. In his haste, he forgot his umbrella—a silly mistake. As he walked the short distance back, he noticed the drops from the tree leaves splashing onto his collar. The cold seeped through the fabric.

He revved the engine in the car. The windshield wipers glided across the windshield, their soft scraping mingling with the steady ticking of the clock on the dashboard. Moretti thought of Martina, of Julia. They were like sisters, inseparable – even outside of work.

What had happened? His head was full of thoughts swirling around in a chaotic jumble. Had they hurt each other? Had there been an accident? He dismissed the thought. He would have heard about it.

He cast one last glance at the grounds, then turned into the narrow, rain-soaked street that led to her apartment.

He stopped in front of the small Italian house. The warm ochre facade with its crumbling plaster was familiar – he had been there often. But on this rainy day, the house seemed different. The shutters rattled softly in the wind, rain dripped from the eaves. An invisible threat seemed to hang over the place.

Moretti knocked. No answer. He knocked louder—still nothing. He listened to the silence, hoping that any moment he would hear footsteps, that one of the women would open the door. But there was no sound.

He peered through a tilted window. His heart began to beat faster.

The apartment's interior was in chaos. Clothes lay scattered on the beds as if hastily rummaged through. A half-packed suitcase stood askew in the hallway, its lid open. Papers and notes lay strewn across the kitchen table, as if someone had been hurriedly searching for something important. The scene had an unreal quality—but the disorder spoke volumes about a sudden, unprepared departure.

Moretti stepped back from the window. "That's not like Martina," he thought. "She's always so tidy."

He ran to his car, revved the engine, and sped off with spinning tires. Water splashed up from the roadside. He had to get help.

It was a gray, rainy morning when Moretti stepped through the heavy glass doors of the police station in Naples. The damp smell of the city clung to his clothes, and his wet shoes squeaked on the marble floor.

“I want to file a missing persons report,” he said, his voice urgent and exhausted. “Two of my colleagues—Martina Rossi and her mother, Julia Rossi—have been missing since yesterday evening. They were supposed to be at the excavations this morning. Their apartment…” He searched for words. “It’s chaos. As if they were in a hurry.”

The police officer at reception scrutinized him. "When did you last see the two of them?"

“Yesterday afternoon, at work. Everything was normal. They were near the new excavation site as usual. But after that, I didn't hear from them again. They simply… disappeared.” Moretti's voice broke slightly, a rare tremor he couldn't suppress.

The police officer took down the information. "You say your apartment was in disarray? Were there any signs of violence?"

Moretti shook his head. “No, nothing like that. But it wasn’t normal – the suitcases were half-packed, clothes were scattered everywhere, as if they were about to leave in a hurry.”

“We will take your statement and begin our investigation,” the police officer said. His tone was reassuring, but Moretti sensed it wasn’t enough.

He took a step back, looked around the station – officials hurried past him, telephones rang. Moretti felt out of place. Here, in a world of order and regulations, he could only hope that the unease in his chest would soon give way to an answer. But deep down, he knew: This was only the beginning.

The police took the case seriously. Two detectives—an older man with graying hair, a younger man with a determined expression—took over the file. “Two women, mother and daughter, missing since last night,” the older one read. “Apartment in chaos, no signs of a struggle.” They exchanged a meaningful glance, then he swung open the car door.

They drove through the rain-soaked streets of Naples towards Pompeii. The sky remained heavy with clouds, and the drizzle collected on the windshield. In this region, where the shadows of the Camorra were ever-present, there were many reasons why two women could vanish without a trace.

As they reached the apartment building, the older man got out and pulled his coat tighter. The apartment door stood ajar—a detail that immediately caught his attention. “This isn’t good,” he muttered. They entered cautiously. The air was stale and cold, the light dim, the silence unnatural.

Clothes were scattered across the beds. The half-packed suitcase lay in the hallway, its lid open, a lone shoe on the floor. Crumpled notes lay on the kitchen table. The younger man bent down and picked one up. "It looks like they were in the middle of preparing for a trip."

"That looks like a hasty departure," the older man muttered. "But no signs of a struggle." He opened the bathroom door—nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was normal, except for the mess.

The younger man raised the blinds. The dim daylight streamed into the room. "Perhaps they fled. There's no indication of violence."

Back at the police station, the atmosphere was tense. The investigators were gathering their findings. Just another missing person case? There were too many unanswered questions.

"This is all taking place in an area where the Camorra has its fingers in the pie," the older man remarked. "It wouldn't be the first time people have vanished without a trace." His colleague nodded.

The case was handed over to the public prosecutor's office – and to the Direzione Distrettuale Antimafia.

An oppressive silence hung in the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor, a middle-aged man with deep wrinkles around his eyes, leafed through the initial reports. "A case like this near Pompeii could be connected to the Camorra," he murmured. "We have to follow every lead—bank accounts, phone activity, contacts. No detail is too insignificant."

The investigators stood tensely. One of the younger officers stepped forward. "The workplace has confirmed the missing person report. The colleagues at the excavation site are extremely concerned. I suggest we conduct another thorough investigation there."

The prosecutor nodded. "Good. And I want the DDA involved." He thought for a moment. "And keep an eye out for anything related to historical artifacts. There are many valuable excavations in the area—organized crime is interested in them."

Meanwhile, ARS, the artificial intelligence secretly operating for I.R.A.R.A.H., was preparing its next digital deception. Its algorithms worked swiftly and efficiently within the networks of the police and airlines. Flight and travel records were manipulated, bookings canceled, and passenger lists falsified. It now appeared as if Martina and Julia had never left the city. The AI covered its tracks so thoroughly that even experienced investigators were trapped in a thicket of false leads.

But the authorities didn't give up. The suspicion that the two historians might have discovered something that was meant to be kept hidden was too concrete. During a renewed search of the apartment, they found a business card – Michael Phillips, professor at the Gregorian University in Rome.

The investigators examined the card thoughtfully. "Who is this man? Why did they have his business card?" His proximity to the Vatican piqued their interest. A connection to Rome's religious and academic elite—everything suddenly seemed important.

A team was assembled and sent to Rome.

Michael Phillips sat in his office at the Gregoriana University. The bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling. The light from his desk lamp cast long shadows across the wooden table. For days, he had felt the tension mounting around him—like a net slowly but inexorably tightening. The investigation in Naples had intensified. Martina and Julia were moving into the spotlight—and with them, he.

An encrypted message from ARS had arrived: “The air traffic control records have been deleted. No further traces.” It was a relief—but fleeting. The pressure mounted with every minute. He knew that the slightest mistake could jeopardize everything.

As dusk fell over Rome, Michael was still sitting at his desk. The sounds of the city drifted in through the open window—the hum of the streetlights, the distant hum of engines. A somber crescendo that made his thoughts race faster and faster. He knew the investigators would be arriving soon.

Then the knocking on the door.

A loud knock broke the silence. Michael had been expecting this moment, had prepared himself – but the churning in his stomach wouldn't go away. With a deep breath, he stood up, forced himself to calm down, and opened the door.

Two men in dark suits stood before him. “Dr. Phillips? We’re from the Polizia di Stato. It’s about the disappearance of Martina Rossi and Julia Rossi. May we come in?”

Michael nodded and stepped aside. They entered his office. He sensed the subdued tension in their movements—as if they were registering every wrinkle on his face, every involuntary gesture. He led them to the round table. The serious police officer sat opposite him; the other remained at the edge of the room.

“Do you know Martina Rossi and Julia Rossi very well?” the police officer began.

“Yes. I have worked with them on various projects – academically and within the framework of InSim.”

The police officer nodded curtly. "Martina's employer has filed a missing person report. She was last seen in your vicinity. Can you tell us what happened on the day she disappeared?"

Michael paused for a moment. “We met before their departure for Pompeii. They were going back to Italy for a workshop. Everything seemed normal.”

The men exchanged a quick glance. "Normal? There were no signs that anything was wrong?"

Michael shook his head. "Nothing I noticed." But inside, he was fighting. At that moment, the invisible interface of ARS buzzed softly in his ear: "They are reviewing aircraft recordings. We have deleted them. Stay calm."

"And what do you know about the InSim Mercedes accident near Pompeii? Two witnesses claim the vehicle was being followed."

Michael felt sweat on his forehead, but he forced himself to remain calm. ARS whispered: "We've processed the surveillance data. You won't find any evidence."

"All I know is that they were on their way to a conference. The accident came unexpectedly. I was in Rome at the time."

The police officer watched him. Then he pulled out a business card – Michael's own. "This card was found among the women's personal belongings. Can you explain that?"

“Yes. I gave them to both of them in case they wanted to contact me with academic questions.”

A deep silence fell. Michael felt the tension, the investigators' waiting. He kept his composure. ARS's voice remained constant in his ear.

After what seemed like an eternity, the second investigator stood up and went to the window. "You don't know anything about her current whereabouts?"

"Unfortunately not. I'm worried about her too."

He came back and leaned over the table. "If you're hiding something from us, Dr. Phillips, we'll find out."

Michael smiled thinly. "I understand. You can contact me anytime."

The men got up and left. The door clicked shut. Michael sank into his chair.

"They're gone. The traces have been erased. Martina and Julia are safe," ARS whispered.

Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath. But the worry remained – buried deep inside him. They were all just a small step away from being exposed.