[ WP ] Mankind has succesfully deleted every trace of the year 2016 . You , a historian in the year 2416 begin to wonder why there are no records of the year 2016 ever happening . When you begin to investigate , what you uncover , sends chills down your spine .

“ This is mazing. ” said the Cytherean of Cytherea, a planet once called Venus. He flipped through the archives with excitement. Old digital papers which flickered under the soft tangerine glow of a floating lamp. 
 
 “ I'm close to figuring this out. I know it. ” he said with enthusiasm. 
 
 Earlier in the week, an anonymous server at the social entertainment building, had left a thin twig in his synth-drink. Upon it was etched a message, “ EY-2016CE. Year missing. No accident. ” 
 
 Jansky was not a private investigator. He was a social watcher, made to keep the peace throughout the harvest farm. While he did n't often research history off-world, he felt it was always nice to know one's past. And well, he did love a good mystery book or two. 
 
 Jansky already knew there was a bit of controversy surrounding that year upon Earth. Large chunks of data vanished during the colony revolts of 2053. The year 2016 was completely lost. Some countries of the time decided to blend years together, making a new'16 to replace the gap. At first, the change met with a lot of resistance. But within an Earth year the majority agreed it was better to blend the years than leave a blank. In later generations, only a few thousand people even knew EY-2016 had gone missing. It had become yet another wild conspiracy theory. 
 
 A brief mechanical shudder, elsewhere on the floating farm, startled the man away from his thoughts. He looked around with a nervous glance but sighed when all was calm. It was just the internal ventilation motors and not the main jets having trouble again. Living in Venus' atmosphere was n't without its risks. Lately there had been increasing turbulence in the solar winds. For the people from the 2nd planet, unexpected patterns were often a nerve-wracking experience. 
 
 Back 8 years prior, the algae farms risked dying off due to the repeated solar bursts. The ternary government immediately discussed an early evacuation. Thankfully, everything stabilized soon after. The cultured bryophytes acted as emergency companion plants to the algae and helped get things back to safe levels. 
 
 A robotic voice broke the silence. “ Your daily allotted research time is almost at an end. ” 
 
 “ Yes, I know Parsek. A bit over a click left. Let me have that click and we'll go home, alright? ” He studied the robot a moment. It was a hand-sized personal support companion hovering on the algae-grown plastic table. At rest, the bot formed a silver diamond shape. It could, with an almost fluid-like shift, take many other simple geometric patterns as well. These changes were done as needed by the bot or commanded by whim from its human owner. 
 
 These bots were handy machines which allowed one to record personal logs on the fly, give hourly reminders and even chit chat outside of normal social hours. Voices and personalities could be set to personalize a bot. Jansky preferred to keep the robot sounding robotic at all times. It was too unnerving otherwise. 
 
 “ It is agreed. ” the robot acknowledged the human's plea for more time. 
 
 Jansky nodded in return then put his focus back upon his work. An archival video shifted across the page, this one quite common for that decade. It was another'ancestor hysteria' example called “ Rolling for Rick ”. It had become a much beloved pastime some years after the'16. Curiously, it also had its roots reaching late in that time's previous century. 
 
 Moving pictures displayed across the table. Some of these clips were called'memes' but years later the word evolved into'memeries'. Many of them were the same videos or clips considered shocking actions or statements of the time. Nothing new, he shrugged. 
 
 “ No. ” He assured himself outloud. “ It was n't mass hysteria or hypnotism. These are just repeats filling in the gaps. Slices of time which were thrust into the lost year. So why did 16 get put under the clouds? ” He shook his head. 
 
 Leaning back in his chair, Jansky looked up through the dome window. He let his mind drift a moment. The yearly cycle was nearing its end, yet it was always daytime for him. The farms always chased the sun as it traveled East. But despite the never-ending day, the windows were dimmed during personal improvement time. 
 
 “ I wonder. Could there be a connection with the'17 and'19 due to all the turbulence those later years had? Why could n't they get people to share their stories of the previous year? ” 
 
 “ Personal improvement time will be over in 25 micro-clicks. ” Parsek warned. 
 
 “ It's an error. Refresh and re-apply last time command given. I have a half click left. ” 
 
 “ It is... agreed. ” the bot refreshed the old data. 
 
 On a whim, Jansky shifted the papers together at various angles - like one would attempt at piecing a fancy jigsaw puzzle. Some sheets left hovering above floating shelves, giving what looked like a 4D choropleth map. 
 
 Within a couple minutes, he had formed what seemed to be an intricate pattern which led off in many directions. Some points went straight to data gaps in the timeline. Others, to odd symbols and memes. 
 
 One symbol was a simple outline of a human. The being wore a grey planet as a hat with an asteroid belt for the rim. It had no eyes yet wore a full smile as it pointed towards the viewer. 
 
 “ I think I've seen this symbol before... ” he touched the image and it opened up related files. “ Yes. This is Plutino Haven's symbol. That so-called cult which broke off from Earth. The hat represents the Kuiper Belt, I think. It's in the wrong century though, why is it here connected in the undersides of the'16? ” 
 
 He questioned himself further, “ Were n't they only around 160 or so Cytherean cycles ago? Here it is. It says they formed around EY-2316CE, after a mini revolution. They were protesting the rewriting of history. A little late though. ” 
 
 He studied the entries further, “ This paragraph says they had found some information about the'16. They tried to release it to the public before they went into hiding. ” 
 
 The room com activated, a gentle hum came with a robotic voice. 
 
 “ This is the Leisurely Research Center overseer. Due to your overuse of limited inquiry resources, it is necessary to inform you that your cyclical research access time has now been consumed. It is time for you to depart. We are glad for your motivation to learn. We hope you'll now allow another Cytherean the time to learn about our history. ” 
 
 Jansky nearly shouted, flustered at the interruption. “ There is an error, this may be the cycle's last quarter but I still have plenty of daily research time left. Also, these documents are in the open cycle section! ” 
 
 “ It is incorrect. We scanned your room twice to verify. Unfortunately, seems a previous user had put the files in the wrong section. We apologize for the misunderstanding. Regardless, the orders stand and your time is complete. We will see you next cycle. ” 
 
 “ Fine. ” he huffed. “ Give me a few micro-clicks to stack the files for returning. ” 
 
 “ It is agreed. ” The gentle hum faded when the com ended. 
 
 Jansky shuffled some sheets together, grumbling all the while. He then noticed two which were stuck together by a light amount of static. One was the article on Plutino Haven, and the other sheet contained a collection of images and memes. The latter images all said basically the same thing, “ Pics or it did n't happen. ” One portrait was of a funny man with a funny hat pointing right at the viewer, with a similar sounding phrase below him. A curious thought entered his mind but was nearly wiped by a sudden interruption. 
 
 “ You have paused. Do you need assistance in completion of your task? I will call for assistance in 3 micro-clicks. 3. 2. 1- ” said Parsek. 
 
 “ No, I'm good. ” he cut off the bot. “ They're just a bit slippery. I'm flipping them all back to the right side so the next user wo n't have as much trouble. ” He lied to buy more time. It seemed to work. 
 
 Going back to his earlier thought, he overlaid the sheet containing Plutino Haven's symbol with a similar looking meme. They matched somewhat. Two men, both wearing'hats' and pointing at the viewer. Two images, from two different centuries both seemingly making the same statement. The matching meme said, “ PORTRAITS - OTHERWISE THE INCIDENT DID NOT OCCUR ” 
 
 Jansky asked himself outloud, “ What did n't occur? The year? Could the year'16 itself never have happened? How is that possible? ” 
 
 A new voice came directly from Parsek, this time human. 
 
 “ In-Com Request. Priority A. Stand by. ” 
 
 Jansky was too shocked to respond, not that he could deny such a com. He'd never received a Priority A message before. One time he was honoured with a C com. It was a commendation on his patrol duties for he had caught a severe Air-Leak crime before it unfolded. 
 
 A man's voice spoke, “ This is Helio Hertz, 3-level from Ternary Silver. We need you to take the rail to Section 4 immediately. Delaying is disobedience. Imprisonment will follow. ” 
 
 His eyes jumped over to Parsek who hovered at the table without a sound. Shivers went down his spine. This was not normal procedure for a research violation. The Leisurely Research Center would have fined him in supply rations, not take measures as severe as this. 
 
 What did you say to them, Parsek? He wanted to ask. But something in his gut told him, asking more questions would only make things worse.
