[Transcribed from the video "Internet Witchcraft, Episode 22: The Disappearance of Cat Zirka" as narrated by user "fiskousfluid"; published October 2030]

Today, we examine an old internet mystery: the infamous Skyscraper Ritual and the mysterious case of Cat Zirka. Cat was a normal Egyptian college student, one year away from getting her master's degree back in 2025. Considered a normal girl, she had friends, played RPGs, posted to online message boards about ghosts and spooky rituals... Hm.

See, on spring break, Cat stumbled upon the Skyscraper Ritual, often described as a "game" that can apparently transport you to another world parallel to ours. The rules are simple.

Actually, the rules are quite complex and vary depending on which website you read them on and when. There are often ten steps in which you travel between different floors using the elevator of an especially tall building. First you go to the third floor, then the eleventh, then the fifth, back to the eleventh... et cetera. Apparently, near the final step, a single spider is supposed to crawl into the elevator to ride with you to this "other world".

So, keep that in mind when you see this collection of security footage.

[Shown: footage from various angles in hallways showing Cat riding the elevator, making multiple stops but never getting out.]

This was the last that was ever seen of Cat. This frame here, just as the elevator doors are closing. We can see in this next clip that the elevator stops on the 4th floor and opens, but Cat isn't there. She's gone. An extensive search was conducted over the next several weeks. Every room, every air duct, the roof, the basement... to this day, no one has found neither hair nor hide of Cat Zirka.

In the version of the ritual that we know Cat read, it says that if you get out on the last floor, you may have trouble coming back. You may become disoriented and confused from being within this... "other world". It's also said that you must be careful, because if you make any sounds, any noises at all, beyond just your footsteps, someone or something will find you.

So... did Cat Zirka really step off an elevator into a shadowy otherworld? Did she fake her disappearance to start a new life somewhere? From testimonials, we know college debt was building, and there were rumors of a bad home life. While cameras were extensive in the hotel, there are blind spots that could make this a convenient, if convoluted, cover-up by a student known to be fascinated with these modern urban legends.

Was she kidnapped or otherwise taken? Cat was new to that city and could have easily gotten lost and run into a bad part of town. For now, we can only wonder and wait as the trail of Cat Zirka... has gone unusually cold.

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