Page 224 of The Examiner

Alyson Lang created the most extraordinary, inventive and beautiful artwork for this course. But Suzie Danners worked harder and for longer – on a job no one else could do. Suzie and Alyson are sisters, born somewhere in China, but as their earliest memories are of scavenging on a rubbish heap alongside others in similar destitution, who knows what their true background was. They can only have been toddlers when they were adopted by aid worker Sue Lin Lang and her engineer husband Charlie and brought to the UK, where they enjoyed a happy and privileged upbringing, in complete contrast to their start in life. Yet something about the horror of those early years meant Suzie was able to do something that drove the other team members to the edge of insanity. Day in, day out, she kept Cameron’s phone working and his family, friends and colleagues in the dark about what had really happened. Final grade: Distinction

Ludya Parak

As a stressed single mother struggling to maintain a freelance career, I never expected Ludya to be an outstanding student. But with her background in design, she could bring some weight to my course feedback. So when Jonathan and Suzie wanted Ludya on the course too, I agreed. I see now they needed to balance the power. Three of them against three regular group members. Only in the end, Ludya rejected them. When she drove away from RD8 she kicked Suzie and Jonathan out of the car and told them she was finished with AetherGen. I understand she drove straight to a police station to turn over her laptop and phone. All three discovered the limits of teamwork, and Ludya was central to that learning. Final grade: Pass

Cameron Wesley

Cameron was a remarkable student who, had he not vanished under a cloak of secrecy, I’m sure would have passed his MA and rediscovered the joy of creativity. I hope to name a prize after him, if I can get the paperwork to Hannah on time and the idea is passed by the department committee. It will be awarded to the student who achieved the most, against the odds. I’m sure he’d be pleased to know his time at Royal Hastings is not forgotten. Not by me. Final grade: Discretionary pass

And now I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll write a Tutor’s Report that I can actually submit. One that says how well all the students did and how much I learned from them – knowledge I can take forward to next year’s course.

Do you see now what my problem is? After my last exchange with the college admin, I sought out three people connected to this case: Hannah O’Donnell, Gela Nathaniel and Jemisha Badhuri. They agreed to send me their communications with ‘Ben Sketcher’, so that I could gain a better understanding of events leading up to and beyond that final project. This explains why you can see them here.

I went to the police and gave them all the documents I had, along with every contact detail. They thanked me and said they’d be in touch.

I didn’t hear any more.

Weeks later I noticed a small news item about three climate-change activists who were charged with trespass, cyber-fraud and criminal damage. They belonged to a small underground group called AetherGen, which effectively dissolved when its leader disappeared, around the time of their arrest. They all pleaded guilty, so there was no trial. Two were given sentences of ten years each; the third a suspended sentence, because she had provided evidence that led to the other convictions – her lawyers pleaded that she was a single parent whose mother was unwell. Apparently the trio had broken into a high-security building to damage expensive technology, and the judge was determined that sentencing would be robust – to deter others.

Any investigation into what happened to Cameron, Patrick or the mysterious Ben Sketcher would shine a spotlight on technology that RD8 and their clients want to keep shrouded in mystery. So officially nothing unusual happened on the inaugural Masters degree in Multimedia Art (Full-Time Programme).

I approved Gela Nathaniel’s grades and finally clicked ‘retrieval complete’ on the Doodle files.

The police must surely have additional evidence gathered from the devices of the conspirators and witnesses. If these ever come to light, then you will have a far clearer understanding of this strange case than I ever will.

Yours,

Philippa F. Moreton, BA, MA, PhD

The Examiner

To: Gela Nathaniel

From: Mae Blackwell

Date: 31 May 2024

Subject: Post-mortem

Dear Gela,

I appreciate you had nothing to do with what happened last night, but Marketing is holding a post-mortem and I know Royal Hastings will not emerge in the best light. This is a terrible shame, as I understand our research-and-development division enjoys a close relationship with your engineering faculty. The future of that link is in severe jeopardy.

Did you know your group contained AetherGen activists? The only saving grace is that our guests, having explored the experiential and immersive installation, thought Jem’s retrieval of the head statue from the sculpture was performance art to round off our presentation. Many took it as a satirical comment on the 24/7 mobile-phone ‘habit’ that most people seem to have these days. If it were not for that, we would be turning this whole episode over to our lawyers as a case of trespass and sabotage.

Please know that RD8 are fully committed to reversing the effects of climate change. We have switched to 100% electric vehicles and maintain a company-wide policy to reuse and recycle. Our aim is to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

On another matter, your student Patrick Bright signed in, but didn’t sign out yesterday. We need his ID pass returned asap. I see Cameron Wesley signed in and out via our biometric gate, but I didn’t see him at all, did you? If you see him, please ask him to contact me asap.

Mae

To: Mae Blackwell

From: Gela Nathaniel

Date: 31 May 2024

Subject: Re: Post-mortem