Picky Eater Investigation Continued - Wed, Oct 23, 2019

The session opens with the Handler recapping the prior events and the team’s current status in Ithaca.

• It is about 10:00 p.m. on MASTICATE’s first night in Ithaca, after the team has checked into the Courtyard by Marriott.

• Justin (Cole Parker’s player’s character stand-in for the laptop work) has been working on Bradley McKay’s phone and laptop.

  • The laptop’s power supply is fried and the firmware is scrambled; it is fixable but not that night.
  • The phone still works, and its contents are immediately concerning.

• The Handler summarizes what Justin learned about “Picky Eater.”

  • Picky Eater is not just an app; it behaves like a VPN but also has many traits resembling malware.
  • It is always running and always rewriting itself.
  • It drains batteries completely while pegging devices at full load.
  • It acts as a photo tool, a web aggregator, and a browser plug-in for both standard browsers and Tor (which is described as making no sense).
  • Whatever it is doing, it never stops.

• The Handler recaps supporting evidence from CCTV.

  • During the attacks, McKay had his phone plugged into a massive external battery pack.
  • The external battery pack was collected as physical evidence by Ithaca PD, and it was drained completely.

• The Handler recaps McCarter’s review of McKay’s communications.

  • McKay’s message history shows ideology rather than occult symbolism.
  • McCarter reviewed McKay’s interactions with Robert Wallace; the two appear to be peers encouraging each other “down the rabbit hole,” and their contact goes back years.
  • In August 2018, Wallace sent McKay a chip and Picky Eater, promising it would “open his eyes.”
  • After that, the trail fades.

• The Handler recaps the morning investigation that followed.

  • The team stopped to buy a new power supply, then went to McKay’s dorm.

    • The dorm room remains sealed per local police instructions.
    • One book on McKay’s shelf stands out: The Catcher in the Rye, credited to “J.F. Salinger.”
    • Inside, the text is “wrong” and rewritten in “red pill” language, with women recast as villains and the misogynistic content enthusiastically highlighted.
    • Everything else in the room appears normal; only the one book is wrong.

  • The team also investigated the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority house.

    • The space only matches McKay’s photos from certain angles: front rooms, oblique angles down halls, and through half-open doors.
    • The differences between the real house and the rooms in the photos are obvious once viewed past those angles.

  • McCarter tried to track anything by smell (“follow his nose”) and found nothing, which frustrates him.

• The Handler recaps the moment the prior session ended.

  • Back at the hotel, Justin brought the laptop online; the fan screams under the load.
  • Picky Eater launches itself immediately.
  • A manifesto is on the desktop.
  • Installer files remain, along with instructions on soldering a custom Picky Eater chip onto the motherboard.
  • Justin opened Picky Eater’s built-in search engine and typed in the names from the photos.

Justin continues from that stopping point: searching names in Picky Eater.

• Justin enters the names of the young women identified in the photos and waits for results.

• Initial results look normal: Cornell-related items such as a student registry, plus social media (e.g., Instagram-style hits).

• Further down the results, Justin starts seeing items that “shouldn’t” be indexed.

  • The results include partial records resembling child protective services / child welfare intake documents.
  • The results include hospital emergency room / behavioral intake summaries.
  • The Handler frames the content as private legal and medical records that should not be publicly indexed.

• The Handler anchors the example to one name: Sarah Donovan.

  • The indexed fragments paint a picture of Donovan as someone whose parents lost custody due to abuse when she was very young.
  • The records suggest developmental issues, involvement in state programs, and eventual adoption.
  • The Handler emphasizes the records are fragmentary and from systems that absolutely should not be searchable this way.

Justin assesses whether the Picky Eater information is “wrong” in the same way other anomalies have been.

• Justin asks whether there are anomalies comparable to The Catcher in the Rye issue (e.g., names slightly different, dates off by a decade).

  • The Handler says Justin does not have enough comparison information in the records as presented, but Justin could spend time trying to cross-check if desired.

• Justin checks whether any of the Picky Eater search results look previously visited (e.g., link colors / visited indicators).

  • Justin clicks a link as a test and confirms the interface does show a visited/unvisited distinction.
  • As far as Justin can tell, none of these have been opened on this machine before (framed as likely cache-based).

Justin examines the browser history/cache behavior and finds additional material.

• Justin checks browser history and cache.

  • The history includes many domains and IPs that “don’t go anywhere” when visited live.

  • Cached content includes “community site” material about a “men’s underground” trying to keep themselves safe from women who would harm them.

    • The cached content frames messages like: it’s okay to be a man; you’re strong; you’re worth something.
    • The Handler describes the tone as persecution-complex content with self-pity and lack of empathy.
    • The sites appear private or invite-only, but the live versions are not accessible (nothing there when attempted).

• Justin asks if there is any auto-login or profile access for those sites.

  • The Handler clarifies Justin only has cache artifacts; no live access, and no auto-login is presented.

Justin searches for Robert Wallace and tries to pivot from cached site traces to working live sites.

• Justin searches for “Robert Wallace” within the Picky Eater system.

  • Justin finds what the team already knew: a Robert Wallace in Bangor, Maine, but little beyond a basic directory-style presence.

• Justin attempts to find the cached forum/support site by searching within Picky Eater, hoping to locate a functioning page (assuming URLs rotate/expire).

  • Searching through Picky Eater for the cached site does not surface anything useful; it does not bring up a live page.

• Justin searches for generic “men’s rights forum” / related keywords within Picky Eater.

  • The results align with the type of material Justin expects: overblown persecution narratives, self-pity, lack of empathy.

  • Justin asks whether there are saved credentials for any sites found this way.

    • The Handler says no saved credentials are found for those sites.

Justin checks for a “Catcher in the Rye” anomaly within Picky Eater.

• Justin searches for The Catcher in the Rye and the “J.F. Salinger” attribution.

  • The Handler says Justin finds only normal references to the familiar version, not an anomalous “wrong” version.

The team checks in on other investigative leads while Justin continues research.

• The Handler points out two unfollowed leads.

  • The laptop contains a piece of custom hardware (the Picky Eater chip) that has not been fully inspected.

  • The Handler also implies that references to Picky Eater being scrubbed from the internet suggests either:

    • It intersected a Delta Green operation before, or
    • It is considered a national security threat.

• Frank (Booth) has already messaged Antonia Pitzerelli about Robert Wallace to see if it triggers anything.

  • Pitzerelli responds: Robert Wallace in Bangor, Maine does not trigger anything in Program systems.

• Frank asks Pitzerelli if there is anything on Picky Eater.

  • Pitzerelli says she will make inquiries and let Frank know.
  • Frank notes both Wallace and Picky Eater look like they have been “disappeared” in a way “only we could.”

Timeline and camera coverage gaps around McKay are revisited.

• The team references local police notes: the first time McKay is caught on camera is on the sidewalk on the way to the sorority house.

• Police could not pin down when McKay was last in his dorm room.

  • Dorm residents largely do not remember seeing him; many do not recognize his photograph.
  • The shared bathroom arrangement should have produced sightings, but the notes still describe him as “never really seen.”

• The documented working theory in police notes is that McKay “really wasn’t there” and was living/staying somewhere else.

• Despite that, police still do not know how he reached the intersection without being picked up on camera elsewhere.

Justin cross-checks Picky Eater’s claims with normal searches on his own device.

• The Handler confirms Justin can cross-check using his own laptop next to McKay’s.

• Justin tries to verify Sarah Donovan’s parents.

  • Justin uses Picky Eater to find the parents’ names.
  • On his own device, Justin finds a social media post where Donovan mentions her parents; the names match.
  • The Handler clarifies these parents appear to be adoptive parents.

• Justin checks whether McKay is being celebrated/organized around in the men’s forum ecosystem.

  • The Handler says the event is treated as relatively minor in those circles in the absence of a public manifesto.
  • The forums celebrate the sorority shooting in a gruesome way, but do not recognize McKay by name as “one of their own.”

• The group clarifies what McKay’s manifesto did and did not contain.

  • It does not clarify what he was searching for.
  • It is broadly about men banding together, fear of women harming men, and pseudo-biological “alpha predator” framing.
  • The manifesto explicitly calls out Picky Eater as a key tool for hiding oneself and providing security against the “matriarchy.”

The team gets actionable information about Robert Wallace and the Cornucopia House records.

• The Handler states the team has an address for Robert Wallace derived from his tax records.

  • The address is at Frosty Oaks trailer park outside Bangor, Maine.

• The team confirms they have a list of children from Cornucopia House.

  • Those records were stolen during the original effort to misdirect investigation into deaths at the Cornucopia House site.
  • Many records were fabricated, but the list of names on file exists.

Pitzerelli’s follow-up on Picky Eater comes back with a concrete lead.

• A hit appears in FBI systems about a case intersecting Picky Eater.

• The case is older than the current incident, referenced as originating in 2016.

• Pitzerelli provides the name of the agent connected to that case:

  • Special Agent Colin Boone, FBI Cybercrimes Division, Washington, D.C.

Justin attempts to search for “Picky Eater” within Picky Eater itself.

• Justin searches for information about Picky Eater (e.g., FAQ, Git page, origin details) using the Picky Eater search interface.
• The Handler states Justin finds nothing.

The team discusses next steps and splits potential tasks.

• Proposed targets include:

  • Interviewing campus police officer Wilhelmina Duff (the officer who shot McKay).
  • Reviewing body cam footage (if not already reviewed).
  • Examining McKay’s body / autopsy.
  • Investigating the Picky Eater chip under a microscope.
  • Contacting Special Agent Colin Boone.

• The Handler confirms Street View / visual check of Wallace’s address.

  • It appears to be a typical mobile home in a trailer park.
  • A pickup truck and a rusted old barbecue grill are visible.
  • Nothing remarkable (e.g., no obvious “electronics junkyard” indicators).

The team begins focusing on the custom hardware chip in McKay’s laptop.

• Justin confirms he had only glanced at the chip previously and noted it looked “janky.”

• Justin asks whether the soldering job looks like something a car mechanic might do.

  • The Handler says it looks like handsoldering by someone inexperienced following directions—consistent with McKay following provided instructions.

• Justin attempts to identify chip markings (manufacturer, part number, serial number) using a phone photo with pinch zoom.

  • The Handler says there are no markings.
  • The chip surface can only be made out blurrily; it would require a microscope.
  • The Handler also indicates there is no sign the chip came from a normal fab/manufacturing process; its origin is unclear.

• The chip’s physical presentation is described as unusual.

  • It is exposed in a way that is atypical (normally chips are protected; exposure makes imaging/reverse engineering easier).
  • The group notes this exposure would be expected only in research/development settings, not consumer hardware.

• Frank asks what connections the chip makes on the motherboard.

  • The Handler describes it as wired so that it sits “in the path” of IO—intercepting data coming into and out of the machine (framed broadly as anything coming/going from the CPU).

Justin attempts to capture macro detail with a phone camera, and the chip behaves oddly.

• Justin suggests that while a phone camera cannot capture true detail, it might detect macro anomalies (color shifting, pulsing, etc.).

• The Handler says the chip does not resolve into focus, and it is not just normal zoom blur.

  • The image appears to be shifting/changing.
  • Justin repeatedly tries to clean the lens and stabilize the shot before realizing the blur is not solely due to his camera handling.

• Justin concludes the chip itself is doing something “weird,” reinforcing the need for a microscope.

The team prepares to use a microscope and also acts on the Boone lead.

• The group notes a microscope could be available via:

  • Police crime lab resources,
  • University facilities,
  • Or the medical examiner/coroner’s office.

• The team decides to contact Special Agent Colin Boone.

  • McCarter (as deputized FBI consultant with access) obtains a number.
  • Frank (using the cover identity “Perry Hubbard,” consultant) makes the call with McCarter providing verification.

Phone call with Special Agent Colin Boone: what Boone shares about the earlier Picky Eater case.

• Boone requires credentials and confirmation of who Frank works for and with.

  • Boone asks to speak directly with McCarter as the supervisor for verification.
  • After verification, Boone agrees to speak, stressing the information relates to a still-open investigation and should not be shared broadly.

• Frank makes a successful Persuade-style roll (the Handler calls for a roll; Frank succeeds), and Boone opens up.

• Boone’s demeanor is described as emotionally flattened (“dead inside”), attributed to his work focus:

  • Boone states his expertise/responsibility is cybercrimes, specifically child pornography cases.

• Boone explains how Picky Eater entered his casework:

  • The case centers on Charles Bauer, a former theater arts professor at MIT.

  • Bauer was arrested for possession of child pornography in 2017.

  • Bauer had been openly showing deeply disturbing images to MIT students and coworkers.

    • Bauer did not treat it as secret and seemed to believe it was acceptable.
    • Police were immediately called; Bauer was arrested.
    • Bauer seemed confused about why he was being arrested.

  • Confiscation of Bauer’s computer revealed much more material.

  • During interrogation, Bauer described acquiring and using Picky Eater.

    • Bauer claimed that in March 2016 he started using a tool called Picky Eater.
    • He initially used it as a “fascinating AI tool” to create surrealist images, ostensibly for brainstorming theater props/backdrops.
    • Bauer could not remember exactly where he found it, only that it was on some kind of message board; he could not provide detailed sourcing.
    • Bauer said he had to install hardware and the app.
    • A couple months later, he claimed he bought a new phone that specifically came with Picky Eater integration.
    • He was confused that Boone did not have a Picky Eater phone, claiming they were very popular and available everywhere.
    • Bauer claimed he had shown the images to friends and coworkers many times and that they were “happy for him.”
    • Bauer referenced a social change event he called “the Reformation,” which he believed legalized what he was doing.

  • The interrogation ended with a violent outburst; Bauer was restrained and sedated.

  • Bauer was diagnosed with schizophrenia, pleaded insanity, and then hanged himself before trial.

• Boone summarizes the investigative dead ends in the Bauer case.

  • FBI techs confirmed Picky Eater software and a custom chip existed on Bauer’s devices.
  • Boone’s team searched public and less well-known sites extensively for Picky Eater traces and found none.
  • Bauer’s claim that phones were sold with Picky Eater pre-installed could not be substantiated; they found no phone manufacturer selling such a device.
  • Boone says all evidence from the Bauer case is still stored (he describes it as “sitting downstairs”).

• Boone describes an attempted escalation to the NSA and the result.

  • The FBI submitted a request to the NSA for assistance.
  • The request has gone nowhere; the NSA is stonewalling.
  • Boone interprets the silence as a “neither confirm nor deny” posture that implies sensitivity.
  • Boone does not expect anything meaningful to come from the NSA request, possibly “maybe one day,” but not soon.

• Frank provides minimal context for why he called.

  • Frank explains that the current Ithaca shooter (McKay) has Picky Eater on his phone.
  • Boone reacts with surprise that it is “still out there in the wild” and says he does not know how people are finding it.
  • Frank reports that the team’s best understanding is it spreads by personal connection / long-lived online connection.
  • Boone says that fits: passed individual-to-individual rather than via wide distribution.

• Boone requests ongoing information sharing.

  • Boone asks the team to contact him if they learn anything new.
  • Boone notes the McKay angle may provide access they did not have in Bauer’s case.

The team proceeds to examine McKay’s body and review the autopsy with the medical examiner.

• They go to the Tompkins County Medical Examiner’s Office.

• The body is presented after the autopsy is already completed.

  • The Handler describes the body as on ice, with the chest cavity opened as part of the autopsy process.

• The medical examiner walks them through the findings.

  • Cause of death: gunshot wounds to the chest.

    • The medical examiner describes shots to the chest, including one that caught the heart.
    • Death is described as very rapid (not necessarily instant, but fast).

  • General health: young Caucasian male, overweight, but otherwise in good condition with no major issues.

  • Brain examination:

    • The brain appears fine; no tumors or obvious abnormalities are reported.

  • No unusual electronics:

    • No implanted chips or “weird electronics” are found in the body.

  • Organs:

    • Organs are healthy aside from some strain consistent with his weight.

• Toxicology is raised as a question.

  • The team asks whether anything came up in toxicology.
  • The Handler indicates there is nothing notable reported from toxicology (no reported drug findings).

The team re-engages the Wilhelmina Duff angle, using official documentation and then speaking directly with her.

• The team has access to the shooting report and body camera footage and reviews it.

  • Duff is a campus police officer.

  • She saw someone moving into the backyard of a private residence just outside campus and heard breaking glass.

  • She radioed in a possible crime in progress.

  • She knew about the sorority shooting and recognized proximity; she suspected it could be the same perpetrator.

  • She acted before backup arrived, circling behind the residence to intercept.

  • She confronted McKay while he was attempting to break into the residence.

    • McKay drew his firearm / brought his rifle up.
    • Duff fired; she is not sure who fired first, but she heard him fire and saw him aiming.
    • McKay ended up dead; Duff was not hit.

  • The footage supports her account.

  • The team notes a specific oddity in the footage:

    • McKay is trying to get in through a window even though a back door is nearby.
    • McKay has previously demonstrated he can force a door (he “kicked in one door” earlier), making the window choice seem strange.

• Campus police summarize ballistics details and confirm internal review steps.

  • Two rounds were recovered that were fired from McKay’s rifle.
  • Duff fired nine shots; five of the nine struck McKay.
  • Duff’s shots killed him at the scene.

• The team is told Duff is on paid administrative leave while the incident is reviewed.

• The team interviews Wilhelmina Duff at her home.

  • Duff is described as an African-American woman around 40, on the bicycle rapid response team.

  • She appears tired and resolved, and tells her story in a practiced way, as if she has repeated it many times.

  • Philomena performs a HUMINT check and succeeds.

    • Result: Philomena does not believe Duff is lying; the practiced delivery is attributed to repeated retellings rather than deception.

  • Duff states she has never encountered McKay before and did not know him.

  • The team asks what McKay was doing with the window.

    • Duff initially offers a reasonable assumption: he was trying to get inside to hide and evade pursuit.

    • Philomena’s HUMINT read detects that this explanation does not perfectly mesh with what Duff observed.

    • Pressed further, Duff provides a more specific detail:

      • She looked through the window area and noticed a bedside end table within reach.
      • McKay was reaching through toward the end table.
      • The only obvious item to grab was a phone charger.
      • Duff does not know why a phone charger would have been worthwhile, but it seemed like that was what he was trying to get.

  • The team confirms the residence had no connection to the campus or to McKay; it was simply a private residence near campus.

The team returns to the Picky Eater hardware: using a microscope to examine the chip.

• With access to a microscope (commandeered for their use at the medical examiner/coroner context), Justin examines the chip under magnification.

• Justin performs a SAN check and fails, losing 1 SAN to the Unnatural.

• Under the microscope, the chip appears fundamentally wrong and difficult to perceive.

  • Justin can see gates/loops and what is described as “gold inscription” circuitry, but it bends and eludes the eye.
  • Every time he tries to focus attention, it seems to move away from where he is focusing.
  • The structure appears to project “up and around,” as if three-dimensional.
  • When he tries to focus on that three-dimensionality, it moves away and blurs.
  • It is described as projecting a semi-translucent, melting sphere that never quite comes into focus.

• Justin describes what he sees to the others rather than immediately displaying it to bystanders.

  • The Handler notes it is hard to put into words, but Justin does a good job describing the impossible visual.

• Frank looks through the microscope.

  • Frank does not have technical context for microchips, so Justin provides a reference image of what a normal circuit would look like.
  • Frank nonetheless has a strong intuitive sense that “this is not right.”
  • Frank makes his SAN check successfully.

• Philomena looks through the microscope next.

  • Philomena rolls SAN and succeeds.

  • Philomena uses technique described as “unfocusing” (likened to a “Magic Eye” approach) to perceive the shape without directly focusing on it.

  • Philomena makes an Unnatural roll and fails, then makes an Occult check and succeeds.

    • Philomena concludes the shifting hologram-like projection is forming a symbol she recognizes as a scrying sigil.
    • She identifies it as a shape described in the Book of Thoth (connected in her explanation to Thoth as an ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, writing, and magic).
    • She interprets it as an old Egyptian magical shape that someone has turned into a microchip.

  • Philomena tells McCarter that she sees symbols associated with Thoth and suggests he look and try to “divine” meaning from it.

• McCarter looks through the microscope.

  • McCarter rolls SAN and fails, losing 2 SAN.

  • He chooses to accept a paranoia activation rather than reduce the loss via Bonds (framed as being in a relatively safe place and not wanting to burn Bonds).

  • McCarter attempts to smell the chip while examining it.

    • Despite the visual anomaly, the chip smells normal; there is “nothing wrong” to his nose.

  • McCarter makes an Unnatural check and narrowly misses.

    • Even without succeeding fully, he recognizes the symbol of Thoth inscribed in the circuit.
    • He connects it to “seeing beyond what can be seen with the eye.”
    • He also recognizes there is something else inscribed alongside that symbol—“something more there”—but he cannot determine what it is because it remains elusive to perception.

The team attempts to document the chip visually and fails.

• The team proposes taking pictures through the microscope.
• The Handler states that any photos taken are entirely blurry and capture nothing.

The session ends with the team’s position and knowledge consolidated.

• The team has confirmed:

  • Picky Eater has surfaced in at least one prior FBI cybercrimes case involving Charles Bauer (MIT), with origins claimed as early as March 2016.
  • The FBI failed to find public traces of Picky Eater, and NSA involvement appears to have been stonewalled.
  • In the current case, Picky Eater is present on McKay’s phone and linked to a custom-installed chip in his laptop.
  • The chip exhibits an Unnatural, perception-resistant, three-dimensional/sphere-like shifting structure under magnification, tied (by Philomena’s Occult knowledge) to a Thoth-associated scrying sigil described in the Book of Thoth.
  • Attempts to photograph the chip’s true appearance fail completely.

• The Handler closes the session with the framing that Picky Eater extends beyond Ithaca and raises the question of how far it goes (and “in how many dimensions”).