A month passed.
The abandoned factory was large. Not as large as the complete collection of buildings at Old Home, but it was certainly large enough for less than a dozen occupants. The Haibane lived in the first two or three stories in one wing of the factory. Beyond this habitable zone there were empty rooms and storage areas, large spaces that would have once contained working machinery, voids, open spaces where tanks and furnaces once sat, and girders spanning ten metre drops. There were whole floors in the other wing that were open plan, and open at the sides, no safety rails or guides. But throughout the structure there were signs of colonization by the haibane. Ladders had been built and tied to girders to provide easy access. Lengths of pipe and wood were lashed to upright beams to act as safety rails. Sheets of corrugated steel were screwed down over the original roof cladding to block holes and leaks.
Most of the machinery may have been long removed, leaving an open net work of steel girders, but most of the original enclosed offices remained. Apart from the main living quarters, there were isolated rooms, mostly portable huts that had been placed at seemingly random places through the structure. One of these was placed at the top of the uninhabited wing, jutting out from the wall, giving a panoramic view of the surrounding district. Which was mostly more factories, but since the abandoned factory was the highest, there were also views of the town site, the Wall as it curved around the town, and limited views of the farming districts.
The factory haibane called it the Retreat. There were several routes to the Retreat from the living quarters, but they were all longish hikes to make. Accordingly the factory haibane had instigated a procedure for reserving the Retreat. If somebody wanted to have some solitude, they wrote their name on a special blackboard in the dining room, and the approximate times they were going to be there. It was understood that if someone else had reserved the Retreat, and you had not been invited, then it was considered bad manners to gate crash them.
On this day, Ame had reserved the room. She was sitting on the sofa (second-hand, of course, with stuffing falling out and three generations of patches), contemplating the climb of the sun upwards in the pale green sky and the shadows shortening in the view before her, as she did sewing repairs on some of her clothes. She was rightly pissed off when there was the clatter of feet on the steps outside the Retreat. Mawa barged into the room.
"Great, her least favourite haibane. Even Yasaka would be a joy to be with compared to him." thought Ame to herself.
"I've reserved the room! Can't you leave me alone?" she said out loud.
"Oh don't be like that, can't you be friendly for once" he said, sitting down right next to her.
She felt the first twinge of panic.
"I want to be left alone!" she said, starting to shout.
"Why are you so standoffish?" said Mawa. He placed his hand on her stomach, pushing her back into the sofa.
She channelled her fear. She shoved his hand sideways while turning her body out from under his hand, and then slapped him across the face while standing up and moving back.
Up until now he had been acting sort of normally. Normal for Mawa that is. Maybe more extreme than she had ever seen him before, but still sort of normal. When she hit him, it was as if the slap had ripped off a mask. There were no longer any signs of any smile or pleasantness, or any emotions at all. The image that formed in Ame's head was that of a predator; eyeing its prey and calculating what move to make next. She suddenly realised that he had several coils of rope attached to his belt. As he moved between her and the door, he took off the two coils and started to wrap the rope from the smallest coil around the door handle and a nearby hook on the wall. Preventing the door from opening. He kept glancing between tying the knots and Ame, tracking her position.
"What are you doing?" she tried to shout, but it came out as a whisper. He totally ignored what she was saying and kept on securing the door.
At this point she whipped around, opened the window and stepped out.
There was a sudden shout from inside, but she had more important things to think about.
She was standing on her toes on a narrow ledge along the base of the room's exterior wall. Since the window side of the hut overhung the wall of the factory, all that she could see below her was the concrete pad of the ground floor of the building, fifteen metres below. Fortunately she had once been at a social gathering here and Hyouko and some of the other boys had looked out the window and discussed this very matter; how to escape from the Retreat via the window. So she knew that there were handholds going along the side. She hurriedly moved sideways a metre or more. At this point Mawa put his head out and shouted
"Come back here!"
Ame looked at his face and decided that risking a fifteen metre drop would be safer than going back to that. She continued shuffling along as fast as possible, gripping each handhold in turn. And then one handhold twisted in her hand and snapped off. She frantically reached back with her other hand and managed to grab the previous handhold. Mawa had withdrawn his head and must be heading for the door. So she leant across as far as possible, let go of the old handhold and lunged for the next one. It didn't give, thankfully. She kept going until the corner and was relieved to see that the ledge and the handholds continued around the side. A few seconds later she was back over the wall of the factory. She reached over, grabbed the railing of the short staircase leading to the room, and heaved herself over onto the stairs. Audible from inside was someone swearing and shaking the door. No doubt he was racing to untie the door knob which he had so thoroughly tied himself moments before. With an adrenaline powered burst of speed, she scrambled as fast has she could back down through the floors and to the living quarters.
An hour later she was back, this time with Yuki, Machi and Michibi. They looked at the evidence. One medium coil of rope. One small length of rope that had once been tied to the door knob and the hook now cut into pieces. One small knife, dropped onto the ground. They stuck their heads out of the window to view the missing handhold.
Michibi prodded the knife with his foot.
"Yep, that's his knife; he always carried it with him. Remember him using it to cut open cardboard boxes? I suppose he dropped it in his hurry to chase after Ame, then decided he wouldn't bother to come back for it when he realised she had too much of a head start."
"Where is he now?" said Yuki.
"I don't know, but until I do, I'm not leaving you lot!" said Ame. In fact if they tried to leave her they would have to use a tyre lever to prise her hands from their arms.
"But how do we find out where he is? He might be in the kitchen, or halfway across Guri and into the farming districts." said Machi.
"Or he might stop at Old Home. Remember that Big Sam isn't always there." said Michibi.
Silence as they thought about the implications.
"I hate to say this, but we are going to have to all go to the temple. This is beyond our control. That old man does have some uses." said Michibi.
They argued about it for a while, but without much energy. Offloading the problem to the Communicator was their only option. They went back to the kitchen in a close group, made themselves a packed lunch, and set off for the temple.
They trudged their way towards the template, with a remarkable lack of energy or enthusiasm. The aftermath of the Hyouko wall climbing incident was still reverberating after seven years. None of the factory haibane felt the high regard for the Communicator that most of the Old Home haibane did. Give another haibane generation and relations will no doubt revert back to normal. As they were crossing the suspension bridge Yuki looked back and saw, in the distance where the vehicular track terminated and the walking track to the temple started, a vehicle stop and some people get out.
"Hey! That looks like the watch's van and two watchmen coming to the temple" she said.
"Yes. But we are first, so they will just have to wait." said Michibi.
At the temple entrance one of the Renmei waited, with the bracelet and wing bells in his hand.
"Do we have to? We not here for a social call, we're here because of some really unpleasant events that are going on." said Michibi. None of the males liked the little bells rituals, although the Stone Mill males put on a better face about it all.
The Renmei read their body language and decided to consult with the Communicator. He came back and gestured them in. They followed and stopped in front of the Communicators pagoda.
"I grant you permission to speak"
The three others looked at Ame. She calmed her nerves and recounted the story.
The Communicator thought about it and said
"What is your biggest concern right now about this?"
"I'm worried about the safety of us and the safety of the girls at Old Home." said Ame.
At this point the Communicator was interrupted by the front entrance Renmei. After a bit of sign language the Communicator apologised and made his way to the entrance.
"Weren't we first?" said Ame. "Aren't we important enough to ask some watchmen to wait?" She was beginning to fume.
"Actually, I've been thinking about this, perhaps those watchmen are connected with our problems? said Machi.
"Oh"
The Communicator returned.
"Things have become even more serious. Mawa has been arrested and is currently detained at the watch house. He tried to assault a human girl, but fortunately her brother was within hearing range."
Hearing this, the four haibane moved together until they were pressed against each other, as if to gain as much support from each other as possible. Things really had gone from very bad to even worse.
"We are going to have to walk into town. The watch want to conduct a preliminary inquiry. I have requested that Tsuchi and Rakka and Sam also be called in, as representatives of the other two nests." said the Communicator.
About an hour or so later they were in the court house, which was in the same group of buildings as the watch house. Tsuchi and Rakka and Sam were also present, along with the Communicator.
"Now, this might be irregular, but Mawa, who insists he is innocent, says he should be allowed to present his side of the story to all of us. Is this agreeable?" Nobody was willing to make any dissent, so Mawa was brought in.
He looked relaxed and confident.
"Good afternoon Communicator, Watch Captain. I will be happy to assist in these inquiries to the best of my capabilities."
"I request that you tell us what happened this morning between you and Ame" said the Communicator.
"I am sorry, I know it is not encouraged, but Ame and I had decided to have some private time together in the Retreat." he started.
At this point Ame couldn't take it anymore. "I did not do any such thing! I think you are creepy and horrible!"
Mawa looked pained, when Ame had run out of steam for the time being he continued
"I suppose she must have reconsidered and is constructing this story to cover her actions." he said.
Ame started screaming: "You despicable little " followed by a collection of swear words which gained the respect of the watchmen.
Mawa looked around with a sad smile on his face, as if to say "See, she is obviously out of control and probably mentally unstable."
At this point Sam, who had been concentrating on Mawa's production, said in a firm voice to Ame.
"Ame, take a deep breath and try to regain control."
Ame took a deep breath, then another.
"Communicator, Watch Captain, I don't think this is working." said Sam. Could you please request that Mawa wait outside while we discuss things." said Sam.
"I would like to say that, based upon my knowledge of Ame's character, I believe her totally in this matter." said Sam.
Ame relaxed at this affirmation.
"So do I." said Tsuchi.
"I cannot believe that Ame would act in the way that Mawa is saying she did." said Rakka.
The Communicator spoke to the watch captain.
"If I may, I request that you and I have a private discussion."
The haibane were left alone, with the two watchmen supervising, for an hour.
The Communicator and the watch captain came back. The captain spoke:
"There doesn't appear to be any reason to keep this back, so I shall inform you that we are satisfied with the evidence against Mawa. There is not just the report of Ame and of the girl and her brother, but we have found out that in the struggle with the human girl Mawa left behind one of his main flight feathers. The Communicator has examined Mawa's wings and was able to show us where the missing feather came from."
"By the way, I find his name to be a bit odd, does it come from Mawaru, as in to turn or revolve?"
"Yes, that's right. It comes from his cocoon dream where all he could see was a strange blue sky, instead of the normal green, and a red ground, divided by a horizon line, turning around and around and somehow coming closer." said Ame.
Sam had two sudden flashbacks. One was of walking across the red sand, holding Suna, looking at the horizon and the bright blue sky. The other was of Harrison, saying the pilot had run out of fuel and spun the aircraft into the ground.
"But, that means he was the pilot that abandoned Suna and me to our deaths in the desert! It can't be a coincidence!"
"Why that little " at this point Sam continued the watchmen's education in swearing. Since most of Sam's swear words were direct from Earth, there were some that neither the watchmen nor the abandoned factory haibane recognised. They did their best to memorise them.
Sam continued: "He left us to die! Suna died because of that" more swear words "Some police officer had to go to her parents and tell them that their beloved daughter was dead!"
In his rage he picked up a wooden chair and slammed it against the ground, snapping of the back of the chair.
"I'm going to grab that " more swear words " and pound him into a bloody mess" he shouted, waving the back of the chair around. He started for the door. His face was red with fury, his fists clenched tight, he stomped as he walked. The watchmen, not being suicidal, retreated. So it was left to a slight teenage girl, who stepped in front of Sam and said, in a normal voice:
"Please don't Sam. It will only make things worse" said Rakka.
Sam cam to a halt. He slowly lowered the remains of the chair and let it go. It landed with a small clatter on the floor, easily audible in the silence. He stood there, looking downwards.
Rakka took has hand and lead him back to his chair. She sat next to him and put her arm around his. Sam sagged and buried his head in his hands.
The watchmen had been scared that Rakka would get hurt, and had tensed up and gotten their staffs ready when Rakka had stood in front of Sam. They were impressed at how well Rakka had managed Sam. The haibane had no such fears, but they were impressed nonetheless.
"Perhaps you can go home now, we can contact you if we need to." said the watch captain.
They all stood up. Rakka turned to Sam: "Maybe you could see your way to apologising?"
Sam nodded, walked to the front and said.
"Rakka suggested it, but I agree with her. I apologise for my outburst. I was distraught. I don't know what to do about the chair."
"All things considered, it's fine." said the watch captain. "I'll speak to the Communicator about things later."
The Communicator agreed, and the haibane were allowed to go home.
When the watchmen were alone, the captain said:
"That was an education, wasn't it?"
"I agree. You know, I wouldn't want to be the poor bloke that hurt one of Sam's girls." said one watchman.
"No. We would have to write it up as suicide by Sam" said the other.
"Fortunately nothing like that is likely to happen, is it?" said the captain.
By the time Rakka and Sam got back to Old Home, Sam was feeling the effects of emotional exhaustion. He made his excuses and went straight to his room. Rakka told the story to the others as they were having their evening meal.
"That's horrible about Mawa trying to attack Ame and a human girl." said Hikari.
"What's worse, if he had managed to attack the human girl, things could have become very strained between the haibane and the humans." said Kana.
Everybody hoped that the two attempted victims were all right.
"You know, I would have liked to have seen the expressions on the watchmen's faces as you stood in front of Sam. I bet they were terrified for you!" said Kana, after a while.
"We all know that Sam would have never hurt Rakka." said Yasaka.
* * *
A week passed. At the watch house, there were seven watchmen on regular duties, plus the watch captain. They rotated their shifts on a regular basis, and most of the time there was only one watchman in charge of the cell block. Mawa listened to the bantering between the watchmen, and learnt that one had just returned from a couple of weeks holiday on the other side of Guri. He planned accordingly.
"Hi there, I haven't seen you before, I'm Mawa" he said, with a friendly smile through the bars of his cell to the watchman checking up on him.
"Greetings, I'm Yoshiaki. No, I've just spent a fortnight on my parent's farm." Of course Yoshiaki knew why Mawa was here, he had read in it in the duty roster sheets. However it only named the offense in dry official language. Yoshiaki had not yet heard any gossip from the others.
"Did you go fishing?"
"Actually, yes. It's one of my favourite activities to do with the old man, now that he is slowing down a bit."
"That sounds like fun. I think I might have done that in my previous life, but of course I can't remember any details."
"That must be tough". The watchman moved on to his other duties.
Somewhat later Yoshiaki delivered Mawa's breakfast. "Thanks, fried fish and tomatoes, looks good. Did you catch much fish during your holiday?"
"Not all that much, what with dad tiring out too soon."
"Cause I can't remember my own dad."
"Now that I think is a cruel thing to do to you haibane, removing the memories of your parents."
After breakfast, Mawa noted that Yoshiaki was suddenly busy with three drunken youths. He waited for the appropriate moment and
"Sorry to interrupt, but do you think I can use the toilet in the next cell, the one in this cell seems to have become blocked."
The watchman was distracted, and the door to the outside was locked anyway, so
"Sure" he unlocked the cell door. "Just get back when you have finished."
Mawa went to the outside door and simply waited. Yoshiaki was extremely busy with one of the drunken louts, who was too drunk to be able to fight well, but not drunk enough to be incapacitated. Eventually Mawa had the good luck that someone, who was only clerical staff and not a watchman, opened the door from the outside. He ran through, down the corridor, out off the main entrance and was out of sight before the watchmen had time to react.
The factory haibane had finished breakfast and had mostly scattered to various parts of the factory. Michibi was still in the kitchen when he looked up and froze. Mawa had walked in. Mawa took a long knife from the kitchen bench, grabbed Michibi and said
"You are going to provide some security for me. Come!"
Michibi had looked at Mawa's face, and realised why Ame had been hysterically talking about predators watching their prey. Mawa held Michibi's arm and waved the knife in front of his face.
"You will walk with me and act as naturally as possible."
"But what's the point, you can't escape anyway. Stay in your cell until they banish you from Guri through the gate in the Wall. Then you will be gone out of our reach."
"Stupid. I'm got a much better idea than that. It's quite obvious, really. Now get moving."
Being in Mawa's company and seeing the expression on his face was beginning to make Michibi feel sick. He would never have thought that simply being in someone's presence could have such a toxic effect. They were now outside Old Home, in one of the fields, sitting under a tree whose branches screened them from view. Mawa was trying to decide if it was safe to enter it when he had another stroke of luck. One of the Stone Mill trucks left the entrance, carefully negotiated the narrow pathway down over the bridge and rattled away towards Stone Mill. As it passed there was a clear view of Sam sitting in the back seat, and two Stone Mill haibane in the front.
"Right! Let's go!" said Mawa.
Yasaka, Rakka, Hikari and Kana were sitting in the guest room, ticking off items on a list. Stone Mill and Old Home had decided to do some trading of their own. Old Home would sew up and repair clothes a little better than the Stone Mill haibane were willing to do, and Kana could repair watches. In return Stone Mill was able to repair bits of machinery, service the motor bike and the like. Rakka had worried that the trade, being outside of the Renmei account book system, might be frowned upon by the Renmei, but Kana suggested making notes and handing them to the Communicator if he wanted them.
The door was kicked open and Mawa pushed Michibi in and followed.
"This is good, I get a pick!" said Mawa to the girls.
He turned to Michibi "and you I no longer need." His knife hand moved, and Michibi was on the floor. Blood soaked his shirt.
Kana looked angry and frightened. Hikari and Rakka looked frightened. Yasaka, well Yasaka was living her worse nightmare.
Mawa decided he appreciated the expression on Yasaka's face the most. He reached out to grab her
"You're coming with me!"
As Yasaka opened her mouth to scream -
Naoki stood next to her, held her shoulder and said "It's OK, dear."
She clenched her fists together and swung her arms with her full weight behind him. She tensed and screamed just as her doubled fists hit his face.
Mawa wasn't a martial arts expert. So he never saw the blow coming. It knocked his face to the side and sent him staggering. But neither was Yasaka, so the blow wasn't incapacitating. Mawa yelled back and raised his knife to strike;
By now Kana had enough time to act. She picked up a frying pad and smashed the knife out of his hand. The knife went flying into the corner of the room. The momentum from the frying pan carried Kana's arm around and Rakka had to move back to avoid it. She tripped on the carpet and collapsed on the floor, facing upwards. Fortunately she had folded her wings correctly for the fall, so they were not damaged.
Mawa snapped around and faced Kana, brushing Hikari with one of his wings. He struggled and got the frying pan from her, then lifted it to hit her head-
Just as Hikari pushed herself into emergency mode, grabbed the wing, put her knee into Mawa's back, and pulled. She felt the wing elbow and the wing wrist crunch and snap, making her sick. But she kept pulling until Mawa managed to wrest free. He had dropped the frying pan, which would have landed on Rakka but she managed to deflect it. Due to the continual movement of everybody, Hikari was now standing near Rakka's head and Rakka was lying in front of Mawa.
Mawa, now in full berserker mode, stepped across Rakka with his fists ready. Hikari brain had gone blank and she was standing her, defenceless.
So Rakka, with all her strength, shoved her foot up into his groin.
Sam and Mado and Tsuchi had looked at the flat tyre.
"Well, we are only a hundred metres from Old Home, might as well walk back. You can borrow one of our bicycles" said Sam.
They were walking up the path to the entrance when they heard a scream coming from somewhere. They all started running and as they got to the entrance hall there was another scream, much louder.
Sam screamed back "Where are you?"
They heard the sounds of running feet, fading out. They themselves ran into the court yard and heard a faint cry from the veranda.
Sam was the first to get to the guest room and saw:
Hikari was vomiting up some of her breakfast, and clutching Yasaka who was clutching her back, both shaking.
Kana was hugging herself with her arms and looking horrified.
Rakka was curled up on the floor, trembling.
And Michibi was lying on the floor, with blood around him -
Big Ugly Sam slammed to a halt. Yes, Michibi was dead.
Senior Police Officer Sam took over.
Safety first. Michibi was beyond their care. The girls seemed to be all right for now. Somewhere outside was a killer. He turned and said:
"Mado and Tsuchi, I putting myself in charge for the time being. Firstly, go right now and check the children's quarters. Make sure that the house mother and all ten children and Kasai and Jika are present, and then make sure they all remain there. Stay there until I arrive. The killer may still be somewhere here in one of the buildings."
His voice had changed, slightly. Mado and Tsuchi didn't quite know how he did it, but it was now a voice to obey.
Shocked by the sight of Michibi lying on the floor, they did exactly as they were told.
"Ladies, I would like to help you a lot more than I will be able, but I must ensure the safety of the other haibane and humans. So in the near future I will be busy. But to start with-"
He moved to Yasaka, knelt in front of her, and held her free hand.
"Now, one by one, what happened?"
"M - M - Mawa came in and - and " Yasaka pointed her head at Michibi.
"Right, so Mawa did that to Michibi?"
"Yes"
"Then what happened?"
"Naoki held my shoulder and said it's OK, and then I hit Mawa with both fists."
Even police officer Sam had to blink at that one.
"Then, when he went to hit Yasaka back, I hit him with the frying pan" said Kana. Give her some time and she will be recounting that with pride. Right now her voice was flat.
"Very good, what happened next?"
Hikari struggled to say something.
"Here, I'll wipe that stuff off you" said Sam as he got out a clean hanky and cleaned Hikari's face.
"Thanks, thanks, I, I grabbed his wing and pulled. I heard both joints snap. I feel sick."
"Indeed? Kana can you guide both Hikari and Yasaka, I'll carry Rakka. We need to get to the children's quarter."
He gently picked up Rakka and they all moved out of the guest room, down the stairs and across the court yard. As he walked along he continually scanned the environment, including looking behind him.
"What happened next?
Rakka spoke: "He was going to beat up Hikari, so I kicked him between the legs"
Sam stopped in surprise, balancing on one foot.
"You did what?"
He started again.
"You all have done very well."
There was confusion in the children's quarters.
Sam stood in front of them and said
"Would all children please sit around the house mother"
They were surprised and shocked at his changed behaviour. They all huddled around Sayaka.
"Things are going to be difficult for the next few hours, but I am sure we can manage."
He turned to Mado and Tsuchi.
"Take the two bicycles. Ride like hell to the community watch house and stick together! Tell them what has happened and impress upon them that we have to act fast. Tell them to send some watchmen, in a vehicle, with some emergency radios, and come back here as fast as possible. Also tell them to send someone to the Temple and request that the Communicator make an appearance here. Also get them to send some watchmen to the Stone Mill, round up every single haibane, and get them all to come here. Finally you two go to the abandoned factory, get those three and all come back here. We must ensure that every haibane is here, so that any haibane that the public might see can only be Mawa. Now go!"
They went.
Sam the police officer relaxed and went back to Sam the haibane, for the while.
"House mother, if you could prepare some food for the children, it might keep then distracted."
"Here Kana, take this tea towel and help Hikari clean her dress."
"Rakka, help Yasaka and the twins and the house mother to make some snacks."
"And ladies, when the factory haibane arrive, I am going to have to break to them the bad news. If you can plan between yourselves how to receive them it will be good, since they will be shocked and not functioning."
Sam checked the perimeter of the children's quarters. He made sure that the back windows and door were locked and there were no other means of entry except for the front. Eventually he stood outside and waited.
The first to arrive was the watch van, with the watch captain and another watchman. Sam, back in full police officer mode, said a brief hello, then explained what had steps he had taken.
"Mawa has probably run off through the broken gap in the wall. But he could still be in the grounds, or in one of the buildings. If you could please put your watchman on guard outside the children's quarters, and I will show you the body." he said to the watch captain.
Since what he was requesting was reasonable, and more thorough than what the captain had thought out, the captain did as he was requested.
Sam showed the captain Michibi, and then described what had happened. After this was safely all over the captain would relish recounting the explanation of how Mawa was fought off by four girls, but right now, with the evidence in front of him, he accepted it glumly.
"I want all of the haibane, except for Mawa of course, here at Old Home, in the children's quarters. That way, any sighting of a haibane outside will automatically be of Mawa. Our utmost priority is to prevent any further violence, against either haibane or humans."
The next to arrive was the emergency services vehicle. This was equipped with the new emergency radio link, back to the watch house.
"Park it up the hill on the west side, to give good sight lines to the clock tower." said Sam. The central radio antenna for the emergency services was installed at the top of the clock tower, and connected by wires to the watch house control room.
The Stone Mill haibane came in next. Sam filled them in on the details, and then delegated some of them to guard duty at the front of the children's quarters, thus releasing the watchman. He then assigned the rest to searching and securing the entire building that housed the children's quarters.
"Remember; ALWAYS keep in groups of at least two, unless you are inside the children's quarters. That way, we will know at a glance that a single haibane can only be Mawa."
Finally a group of five arrived from the factory. Mado and Tsuchi plus Machi, Yuki and Ame.
"A police officer's worse job." muttered Sam to himself.
Mado and Tsuchi watched from a distance as Sam bowed to the three and spoke a few words. Machi, Yuki and Ame huddled together, and then followed Sam up the stairs to the guest room.
They came down again. By now Kana, Hikari and Yasaka had arrived. Kana took Yuki's hand, Hikari took Machi's hand and Yasaka took Ame's hand. After a while they all waked back to the children's quarters. Rakka was ready with a sofa for them that had been moved to the far end of the room, and had prepared tea and bikkies.
Sam was with the watch captain, standing next to the emergency services vehicle.
"You need to inform the population that this is a dangerous haibane on the loose. You need to get into operation every emergency transceiver you have. Spread the radio operators at strategic points throughout the town and the farming districts. You need to request everyone to be alert, and if they can, to be on the lookout for Mawa."
The next hour was busy for Sam and the watch captain. They allocated their resources and were busy with a constant stream of update messages, requests and minor problems. During this time the Communicator and two Renmei arrived. Since Sam and the captain were busy, one of the other watchmen explained the situation. The Communicator then went to the children's quarters to check on the other haibane.
At last they had a sighting. A farmer and his son were patrolling one of the farm roads, and had seen a haibane moving towards the Western Woods. He appeared to have one wing flopping down. They called in using their transceiver.
The captain and Sam had set up a logistics map of Guri in front of them.
"Remember", said Sam, "we have to secure the entire perimeter. All he needs to do is to find one small gap to get through. So we need to have a lot of volunteers around the perimeter of Western Woods. But I also suggest you still keep some patrols in the town and in the other farming districts, and around Old Home, just in case. "
They moved little pieces of wood, representing various watchmen and farmers and volunteers and vehicles, around on the map.
They received another confirmed sighting of a haibane, with a dragging wing, seen at the edge of the Western Woods.
They adjusted their resources accordingly.
The sun was setting, the shadows were lengthening and the valleys in Guri were already dark. The wind was slight and the sky was clear, allowing the full moon to light up the fields and the town and also the search parties. Sam and the captain had worked hard and there was now a complete ring of watchers around the Western Woods. Not in the woods, since at night time it would be far too dark to see anything. The line of watches stretched from Wall to Wall, leaving a safe gap at the walls themselves, of course, all the way round the Western Woods. The population of Guri was putting a lot of effort into this, but then again this was the first murder in Guri for quite some time and they didn't want another.
The haibane packed into the children's quarters and slept on bedrolls on the floor. The Stone Mill members had gone, in pairs, to the nearest bedrooms and storage rooms, and bought back enough bedding for all. The factory haibane, still in shock, huddled together in one corner. Near them the Old Home senior haibane, except for Sam, had their bedrolls. In the middle of the room the Stone Mill people were sleeping. And the house mother and the children slept in their normal beds. The watch and the citizens who were helping merely handed over to the next shift, and walked home to sleep. They walked in groups. Finally, the Communicator and the two Renmei and commandeered a nearby bedroom and took turns to rest.
Rakka and Hikari, after settling in the factory haibane, had been busy preparing food for everyone.
Finally there was a sort of silence in the children's quarter. Many of the haibane were sleeping, but there were also some lying awake and holding onto their companions.
Sam didn't sleep. He stayed awake, supervising the changing of the shifts and monitoring the radio traffic. A couple of hours before dawn he began to organise the morning search parties. An hour before dawn there was a group of people standing outside the emergency services vehicle. They were looking out towards the Western Woods, visible as a silhouette in the moonlight. Four haibane from Stone Mill, half a dozen watch men, the Communicator, and half a dozen volunteers. Sam was explaining today's plan.
"The Western Woods are thick. There is no way we can search them thoroughly and be confident about not missing him. However we can keep the woods secured and send out search parties to try to flush him out. In there is also the old haibane chapel and the ruins. If I may request, the Stone Mill haibane should be the only ones to search there?"
The watchmen were agreeable. The Communicator did not object. They were all looking west when
A flicker of light.
An orange red fireball rose above the Western Woods skyline. From where they were, it was twice the size of the moon. It rose a short distance into the sky, then settled down again. A cloud of thick black smoke was visible, before it dissipated and merged into the pre-morning dusk.
The silence continued. Then, racing past them at the speed of sound, was a muffled crack followed by rumbling sounds, which slowly faded.
"What. Was. That." said Sam. "Anybody?"
Silence.
"Its not a fuel depot, they are nowhere near there.", said the watch captain.
"Communicator, do you know?" asked Sam.
The Communicator shook his head.
The emergency services radio operator was suddenly busy. After ten minutes of intense activity and communication, Sam called the gathering around his map.
"We have enough compass bearings and sight lines to be confident. The fire ball was centred on the haibane ruins."
"Mr Communicator, I propose that as soon as it is light enough a group of four watch men and four Stone Mill haibane take two trucks and a radio and set off to investigate. They get as close as possible to the forest, then walk in. At the ruins itself, the humans stop and the haibane investigate. Remember that the haibane must always stay in at least groups of two. Mawa may still be out there somewhere."
"I give permission."
As the sun started peeking over the Walls, the two trucks moved out and around the forest to the best point for accessing the ruins. They reported back by radio:
"We are at the forest, walking in now."
After a while, "We are at the clearing. The haibane are checking the area."
A further while, "We have him, returning now."
The trucks came back; the sun was shining in its morning glory, glittering off the fields and waterways. The trucks parked and their occupants climbed out and stood around silently. Tsuchi went to the back of one and said
"Here he is."
Sam and the Communicator and the watch captain peered inside.
It was not a pleasant sight. Lying on the floor of the truck was what could be recognised as the figure of a haibane. Arms outstrecthed above his head, two wings, one in the normal position and one pointing down, two legs. Without any feature or colour. Blackened and burnt.
"Horrible sight" said Sam.
"The broken wing confirms that this is Mawa" said the watch captain.
The Communicator didn't say anything at all.
They withdrew. Tsuchi handed Sam a circular object. After a moment he recognised it for what it was: a halo. But a halo which looked like it had been turned into a foamy mass and expanded, before setting hard. There were countless holes honeycombing through it, it was twisted and distorted and burnt black.
"It looks like it suddenly released a lot of heat." said Tsuchi.
"So they have built-in self-destructs" said Sam. He couldn't suppress an involuntarily glance upwards in the direction of his own halo.
Weary, so weary. Sam spoke to the Communicator and the watch captain.
"The emergency is over. I'm sure you can handle it from now on."
He walked to the children's quarters.
"Everybody, the emergency is over. Hikari and Kana, can you come with me? I need to discuss some things we will need to do soon. Rakka and Yasaka and the twins, you need to provide food for the masses, and help the factory haibane."
Sam shoved his blankets to one side and lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Hikari sat on one side, and Kana on the other.
"For a start, I'm fairly sure I will be called in for a little talk with the Communicator, for overstepping my bounds and bossing everyone around." said Sam.
"But you did well, and you were first on the scene anyway!" said Hikari.
"If the watchmen weren't happy with you they would have said so!" said Kana.
"Relax. Remember the saying I have used before, it is sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission? Well, if you're going to work under that principle, you can't expect to get out of the asking for forgiveness bit. I did break the principle of not interacting directly in human affairs. But I'm sure I'll get off lightly."
More grumbles from Hikari and especially Kana.
"Secondly and more importantly, the factory mob are going to have a hard time. They are now down to three, and Michibi was, by their popular choice, their new leader. I think we had better coordinate with the Stone Mill nest and have a group visit them every evening. To make sure they get their food supplies and cook enough to eat and generally to keep them safe and sane."
"I'm happy to go over and do some cooking for them." said Hikari.
There was a small gap and then Hikari continued with
"How did Mawa end up in Guri in the first place? He quite definitely did not belong here"
There was silence from Sam. Hikari and Kana looked at him, and realised he was fast asleep.
"Well, he didn't get any sleep at all since it started yesterday morning." said Kana.
Hikari lay down on her back and also stared at the ceiling.
"But still, Mawa must have been a mistake. So the Wall can make mistakes?"
"Hmm, something must make mistakes, or not be perfect. Remember how Reki was born in a garden shed and nobody found her for some time?" said Kana.
"Sam said something about he, Suna and the pilot, which we now know was Mawa, all died at about the same time. So maybe something got confused?" said Hikari.
"Maybe. And Sam and Mawa were sent here by mistake. The Wall, if it is the Wall, managed to adapt to Sam, but failed completely with Mawa." said Kana.
"That is, failed completely until it trigged Mawa's halo's self-destruct mechanism. Do you think Mawa was trying to do a Day of Flight?" continued Kana.
Now there was silence from Hikari. Kana, who had been absent mindly studying her hands while trying to think up her replies, looked across. Hikari was also asleep.
Kana pulled up the blanket, and put it over the two of them. For good measure she rolled under it as well, she wanted to do some more thinking before going off to her bed.
"So Sam was a mistake, that turned out well for all concerned. Mawa was just a very bad mistake. Perhaps the mistakes are connected. But if no original mistake had been made, then me and Hikari would not have the great experience of being Sam's senpai. And Kage would have missed her Day of Flight. No, can't have that. Why couldn't we have had Sam but not Mawa? Nothing good came from Mawa's stay in Guri. We escaped his violence by the narrowest of margins."
Kana mused for a bit: "And where would Sam and Mawa have normally gone?"
Fifteen minutes later a tired Rakka stepped through the still open door, to ask them if they were having breakfast and how much. She stopped and looked at all three of them sleeping soundly. She smiled and closed the door as she left. She was still smiling faintly by the time she got back to the kitchen to say there was no need to make double breakfast helpings for Sam.