Peter and I went looking for Mr. Park, the Professor, who went missing in Crimson City. We had to start somewhere, and the city seemed the most obvious place to look for someone who had entered via the Nether Portal.
“Too bad the border forms don’t require scientists to disclose what kind of experiments they want to conduct. That would have helped us to find him,” Peter said.
“You know what? That’s a very good point,” I stated. “We should definitely tell my Dad once we find Mr. Park.”
“Okay. So, do you have any idea where he might have gone?” Peter wondered.
“Honestly, zero ideas. I guess we just go around and ask Piglins if they’ve seen him,” I shrugged.
We stopped some Piglins in the street and asked them about David Park. We didn’t have a picture of him, so we had to rely on luck.
“Excuse me, madam. Have you heard of a human named David Park? He was last seen around here. Human, wearing a white lab coat. Can’t miss him.”
“Lab coat? Do you mean Professor Johansson? I haven’t seen that guy in a while. He’s such a terrific human, isn’t he?” The old Piglady replied.
“No, no…”
“What do you mean? Don’t you think Professor Johansson is a good human? Shame on you!” The old Piglady said.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I said David Park, not Johansson…”
“You should be ashamed of yourself. Johansson Armstrong has done so much for this town. I won’t let any youth ruin his reputation,” the old Piglady left us.
“I suppose we should ask the younger folk about David Park’s whereabouts.”
“I agree.” Peter replied.
“Excuse me. Have you seen a human in Crimson City lately?” I asked a passerby.
“Yes, I have.”
“Great!”
“Which one are you talking about, because I saw at least seven humans yesterday?” The Piglin said.
“We’re looking for one Piglin in particular. His name is David Park. He is a scientist and was last seen wearing a white lab coat,” Peter told him.
“Nah, I don’t recall seeing anyone like that. I would definitely remember if I saw a human milling around in a lab coat,” the Piglin said.
“Good, thank you. See, Peter? We have made some progress. That Piglin hasn’t seen David Park in the city.”
“Yeah, despite being negative progress, I guess it’s still progress,” Peter said. “Let’s look elsewhere.”
We continued searching for David Park all over Crimson City. Not a single Piglin had seen him or his lab coat.
“That’s strange. David Park should be quite the recognizable character, wearing a lab coat in the Nether. At this point, someone ought to know about him,” I said.
“Unless David Park never made it into Crimson City,” Peter theorized.
“Do you think he went somewhere else?”
“Think about it, Detective. David Park is a scientist wearing a lab coat. Someone should have remembered him by now. We’ve talked to countless Piglins, and no one knows anything about him. That makes me think David Park never entered Crimson City.”
“Either that, or he took off the lab coat before doing so,” I said.
“Yes. That is also in the realm of possibilities,” Peter concluded. “What do you want to do now?”
“First things first, let’s go back to the Police Station and tell the other Officers to keep an eye out for the missing scientist. With their help, we might be able to locate him more easily.”
At the Police Station, we filled in all the details about David Park to the other Police Officers.
“Great. The borders have barely been open a day and a human is already missing in the Nether? I tell you, those guys have to be more careful when wandering around. This place ain’t easy.” Officer Tenpen said.
“Yes, I agree. We should inform all humans about the risks in entering the Nether. This place is more dangerous than the Overworld after all. I don’t even want to think of the possibility of David Park getting hurt somewhere out there,” I said.
“But if he does get hurt, it can’t be our responsibility, right? He’s the one who didn’t obey the law.” Officer Sal commented.
“Yes, but we’re supposed to enforce the law as well. If we let a tourist slip away unnoticed, we’re also to be blame,” Detective Peter said.
“Peter is right. Letting a tourist disappear in plain sight is a dangerous precedent. We cannot let it happen, not on our watch. We are the Police Force in Crimson City after all. How can our Piglins trust us if we can’t keep everyone safe? That goes for visitors and tourists. Now, we must start working on locating Mr. Park and bringing him back to the Nether Portal, safe and sound,” I said.
“Roger that Detective,” the Officers replied.
“Where should we look for him?” Officer Zimmer wondered.
“First, I want you all to patrol around Crimson City. Peter and I already checked some areas, but our search was unsuccessful. David Park was wearing a white lab coat when the Immigration Agents last saw him. Take it from there, based on the information provided.”
“Okay, copy that.” The Officers left the Station.
“What about us?”
“We will have to go deeper, Peter. There’s only one person who might have an idea where David Park went.”
“Are you talking about Johansson?”
“Yes. I don’t know if Johansson is a friend of David’s, but considering David is a Professor at the University, I bet they know each other.”
“Yes, I think you’re right. Everyone knows Johansson both in and out of the Nether. He might have an idea where David went,” Peter said.
“Okay, off we go. We’ll let the Police Officers take care of things while we’re gone.”
We went to the Red Forest once again.