Hello everyone,

I love everything about chapter 39, it is really a nice example of great storytelling. Nevertheless, I feel ambivalent about how Michael's group gather the information and even found handwritten notes. In addition, Raydon Labs does not seem to be a top notch reference for a biotech firm, Michael mentioned storage boards and white boards in Doc Roberts room. Personally, I would not have expected the room to look like this and it does not make it easier for me that Doc Roberts is able to pull off z-day whilst being so careless about his notes.

First of all, Raydon Labs security standards appear to have been quite lax when all that is between an intruder and Raydon's biotech knowledge is a padlock and so mechanical devices. With regards to other enterprises, I would have expected substantial more security measures, e.g. like this policy or like this one. Baseline: each and every information has to be encrypted. A printer, an USB device or external computational device may provide a potential security thread.

Furthermore - and to a lesser intent, Dr Roberts does not seem to rely on computer aided chemistry tools which are around for quite some years, cf. here.

And now, well, my question is - as desirable as it seems to have a satisfying explanation for z-day, just how big is the chance to gather the necessary information in a world that relies heavily on IT structures and data exchange? Would there be enough breadcrumb trails left to reconstruct what led to the outbreak?

Please do not regard this thread as criticism. I just fell compelled to write it.

YABC