In this installation, the crew finally confirms where they should be focusing their attention, and Naru has to make an executive call. Also acceptable summary: The team is way in over their heads.

A quick continuity announcement – I recently edited a few lines of chapter 5's dialogue with the officers. In it, they tell Naru that the woods are private property.

.o0o.

Mai got the hang of floating pretty well. At first, she had to flap her arms like a drunk bird, but after realizing that all she had to do was imagine herself floating forward, she had a much easier time. Flying was both exciting and underwhelming. Too high up, and it was hard to make out all the details below. She also lacked the mechanisms in her inner ear to tell her whether she was upside down or not, and that sudden drop in your gut that you got before a fall was absent. Mai couldn't tell whether that was for better or worse.

She followed the field team as they gave chase to the phantom. Lin's shiki flew faster than her. She had to concentrate to pick up speed, but she could only manage half their speed. They stopped at the highway, with the woods behind the guard rail. The rest of the SPR made it half a minute later, stopping at the road. The phantom stood on the other side, staring and taunting them with its mere presence.

When Lin decided to send his shiki across the road, Mai took that as her cue to follow. They flew slow enough for her to keep up. One was in front of her, the blue one, and one flew some ways behind them, the green one. Looking back at the green one, Mai noticed that its aura was pulled close to its body, rather than its typical gentle flares of essence. Mai realized that the green spirit was afraid.

She looked down. She had lost visual contact with the ghostly creature, but somehow, Lin's shiki knew which way to go. Maybe they could sense what she could not. They came to a small clearing in the woods, lit by the moon. The two shiki swirled downward, close to the earth. Mai joined them at the ground, trying in vain to see what they were seeing.

"What is it?" she asked, hoping they could respond to her. They did no such thing. "Where did the ghost go?"

"This is sacred ground, Mai."

Mai whirled around. There was Gene, dressed in black. At least, she hoped that was him. She called his name, and he nodded. "What do you mean, sacred?"

Gene offered her his hand. She reached out. The two shiki spiraled around them lazily, their fearful aura now replaced with a somber serenity. It was less like they had been calmed, and more like they knew it was inappropriate to behave any other way. Once Gene touched her hand, the forest faded slightly, and the world became gray and fuzzy. Mai realized Gene had transported the three of them to the spiritual plane. Lin's shiki transformed. Instead of the white lights that had accompanied them, or the serpentine dragons that had guarded her physical body, their shapes became completely new.

The blue one turned into a faceless female humanoid with fins for arms. She was shorter than Mai, roughly three and a half feet tall. Her legs were like that of a ballerina, made for leaping gracefully. True to form, she danced gracefully around them, her feet making tiny white ripples in the ground as she landed.

The green one transformed into a see-through bear, with white twinkles in its pelt. Two distinct patches on its eyes betrayed its species. It satisfied itself by pawing at the ground and licking something that Mai could not see.

"It's remembering bumblebee honey," Gene explained.

Mai frowned. "I don't get it. Are these…"

"Their true forms. Lin's Water shiki is a nymph, more specifically a naiad."

Mai's eyes widened. "Wow! Isn't that Greek though?"

Gene nodded. "You'll have to ask Lin for the story."

"I will. And the panda?"

Gene shrugged. "It's a panda. Lin's always been an animal lover."

Said bear looked up and huffed at them, going back to licking imaginary honey off its claws.

"If this is what they really are, then why do they look like dragons to us?"

Gene shrugged. "Passing through dimensions is tiring. And besides, they are under contract. I can't say for sure."

Wood sauntered up to Mai. Mai backed up, not used to a large bear being so close to her. She reached out to pet it, but the panda shifted behind her and nudged her forward, crashing into Gene. She wobbled in his arms as she caught her balance again. An echoing chortle came from behind them, and as Mai looked, she saw that the naiad was laughing at them. The bear grunted again, pushing Mai forward.

"What? What is it?" she asked.

The bear looked around. Mai followed its gaze to nothing in particular. There were just trees, no ghosts, no phantom. Then it hit her. There were no floating orbs anywhere. Usually, they would be abundant on the spiritual plane, but now there were none. She turned to Gene.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"I told you. This is sacred ground," Gene said. "Spirits do not come here without reason."

"What makes it sacred?"

"Strong emotion, generally. From both the living and the dead. Both sides must be in agreement for spirits to respect it."

"What makes this place sacred?" Mai asked, voice growing quiet. It was only now that she realized just how quiet this place actually was.

"Great suffering," said Gene.

If Mai had a heart, it would have leaped. "Can you tell me more?"

Gene shook his head solemnly. "It is not wise to be here in this form. Come with me, and I'll take you out of here."

"We are planning to come back tomorrow, in person."

"Lin's shiki will have a hard time following," Gene said. Mai was about to ask why, when she remembered sacred ground.

"It won't be impossible though," Mai said. "They followed me."

"They were under orders to suffer pain of destruction if it meant saving you," Gene said.

Mai whipped her head around to the bear now cuddling under her right arm. It was adorably fluffy. Mai could hardly believe that Lin could do such a thing to these spirits. The naiad bounded close. In her echoing, wafting voice, she said, "Do not feel bad for us, miss. Master has earned our loyalty. Besides, we do not fall easily."

Mai looked down. She didn't mean to doubt their capabilities, but ordering someone to their death like soldiers didn't sit well with her.

"It's the nature of shikigami and their masters," Gene said. "Lin's shiki are special in that he has allowed them to keep their original wills. Most would have theirs bound like mindless servants."

"I don't know whether that's better or worse."

"Life is better, miss," said the nymph. The wood bear nudged Mai's arm again. "Woodcock says friends are better."

Mai choked on a laugh. "Excuse me?"

"We forsook our names long ago. Willingly, mind you. And now, we don the names of camaraderie, and humor."

In other words, nicknames. "What's yours?" Mai asked.

The naiad let out a playful laugh and leaped away, teasingly. The bear between her arm and her body shuffled free, sauntering after the nymph. It looked back at her, as though beckoning her to follow. Mai looked back to Gene, only to find that Gene was no longer there. Her non-existent heart fell. It wasn't like Gene to abandon her like that. But if this ground truly was repulsive to spirits, it made sense then that he would leave. She supposed she would have to as well.

She took a step to follow the two shiki. All of a sudden, the sound of creaking wood echoed through the forest. It was followed by the sound of a tree falling. And then another one fell. And another. A great rumbling overtook the forest. Mai whirled around and around and around, looking for the source. She found it in the distance. A huge tidal wave of black was approaching. At first, she thought it was smoke. After staring at it for several seconds, she realized it was a wave of black sludge. Even more horrific were the multitude of white starry eyes sinking and surfacing in the huge mass. Tangled limbs like wretched trees sprouted from the edges of the amalgamation. It was as though hundreds of spirits were caught in a tidal wave of oil, desperately trying to escape. It was officially time to run.

Mai sped away from the wave. She caught up with Lin's shiki, now reverted back to the balls of white light. One of them slowed down so that she was in front of it. A part of her yearned to tell it not to worry about her, but it would have been a moot point. The moaning of tormented voices caused the forest to grow hot. It was as though the voices had been fused together. Mai didn't want to think about it just now, so she focused on running.

The trees did not thin. Instead, they just suddenly stopped, dropping off into the abyss. The shiki in front dove downward, passing through the floor. Mai skidded to a halt, at a loss of what to do. The shiki from behind frantically bumped her back, pushing her forward. The oozing mass was getting alarmingly close, reaching for the two of them with its spindly arms. Without a second to lose, Mai dove down, as though she were leaping off a diving board. Thankfully, she passed through the floor, reappearing in the middle of the highway. It was as though the world had been flipped on its head. Cars passed through her harmlessly.

Next to her was a blue dragon standing at waist height. Its eyes were wide, and it was looking around frantically.

"What is it? I'm here!" Mai attempted to soothe the dragon-shaped naiad, but it was of no use. The water dragon roared into the forest, desperate and anguished. It took a moment, but Mai realized what had happened. The wood spirit had not followed them. The dragon levitated off the ground, leaning toward the forest. Mai grabbed it by the tail.

"No! You can't go back! You'll just get killed too!"

Water let out a shrill whine, like an elk bugle or whale song. It collapsed on its front, covering its face with its paws. It was clearly mourning the loss of the wood spirit.

In the distance, Mai heard a faint scream. She and the water shiki turned around. Mai spotted the rest of the SPR at the top of a small hill, by two benches and a lamppost. From what she could see, Ayako, Takigawa, and John were crowded around Lin, who appeared to be kneeling on the ground.

"Lin!" Mai exclaimed.

Water lifted its head, alerted by Mai's call. Mai floated over to the group. Water gave one last mournful look toward the woods before following after its charge.

Mai found the group surrounding Lin, who was hunched over on his hands and knees. His eyes were squeezed shut, and his body writhed with pain. Whatever had happened to Wood was clearly not pleasant. The team was shouting at him, an unintelligible cacophony of, "Hang in there!" "What's wrong?" and "Call Naru!"

John, bless him, was sprinkling Lin's back with holy water, trying to bring the man some peace. Whatever he was doing was working, as a small glowing cord began to materialize. One end was attached to the center of Lin's chest; the other end was pulled taut toward the woods. It was clear that this was the tether between the onmyoji and his lost shiki. Monk raised his tokkosho and performed his chant. The focus of his stare told Mai that he could see the tether too. With one loud cry from both him and Lin, Takigawa sliced the tether apart.

Lin fell sideways, unresponsive on the ground, face still wracked with torment. It was as if the strings holding him up had been severed. Takigawa dropped his tokkosho and knelt beside him, followed by Ayako.

"Lin, you with us?" the monk asked warily. Lin did not respond. Ayako took his pulse and nodded, indicating that she found one.

"Naru?" came John's voice. He was talking into the radio.

"Report," barked Naru. The position of the moon told Mai that it was well past ten.

"Something happened. Lin's down."

"What? What's going on!?" There was an edge of panic in Naru's voice.

"One of his shiki was destroyed," Takigawa explained, receiving the radio from John. "Whatever was happening to it, Lin was in pain. I cut the tether between them."

"You what?" Naru blurted.

"I know, it was reckless."

"Damn right it was. You could have—" Naru stopped. "You can't cut an onmyoji off from his shikigami like that."

"He was suffering. He was—"

"Naru," Lin choked out. Everyone turned to him, surprised that he was awake. Weakly, he reached up, clearly asking for the radio. Takigawa reluctantly passed it over.

"Lin, report."

"I'll be fine," he said, voice hoarse as he struggled to sit up. Mai didn't want to imagine how much he had screamed.

"Don't say that if you don't mean it," Naru growled. "What happened?"

"Something destroyed my shiki. I don't know exactly what happened, but it felt as though I was being pulled apart and burned simultaneously."

The group recoiled in horror. Mai wondered how he even knew what that felt like.

"And Mai?" Naru asked. He sounded slightly hesitant, but it was clear he was doing his job.

Lin paused. He looked to the side. From behind Mai, the blue dragon flicked its head in her direction. "My other shiki reports that she is with the group right now."

"How many do you have now? Two?"

Lin nodded. Then he remembered that Naru couldn't see him. "Yes. And they aren't in an elemental sequence. There is a massive hole in my defenses. I'm afraid I'm now much more vulnerable than I am useful."

"Don't worry about that now," Naru snapped. Mai didn't quite understand how the elements and orders fit into Lin's abilities, but when Lin said he was vulnerable, he looked it. Seated on the floor, back hunched, arms tucked in—his face was uncharacteristically fragile, like his stern façade would shatter at the lightest touch.

"If I may make an observation," John started. Everyone turned to him. "It feels like you're being targeted. Mai's dreams, your shiki, whatever it is that's tormenting you from the forest, and now this."

Lin bowed his head. His brow furrowed, and he stood up, clutching a hand to the center of his chest, where the tether had once been. "Mai is here. We should head back to base," he said.

"Be quick about it," Naru said, clearly displeased. "Mai, if you can hear me, come back now. Don't go with the group out of habit."

Oh, right. Mai was still projecting. She floated up over the park, toward the hospital. She was reluctant to leave Lin in this state, but upon looking down, she saw that Takigawa was at his side, offering support. Lin stared at him, expression guarded. Monk said something that Mai couldn't make out, and then Monk slung Lin's arm over his shoulder. The two tall men walked, Lin staggering and Monk catching him every now and then. John and Ayako were in tow. Satisfied with their departure, Mai flew back to her body.

She woke to the sight of Naru pacing back and forth like a madman.

"Naru?" she said weakly. Naru turned to her. He was instantly at her side, helping her out of the uncomfortable slouch that she had fallen into.

"Mai. What happened?"

"There was a huge tidal wave of spirits. We ran, but I was too slow. Lin's panda stayed to make sure I got away. I didn't see what happened to it. I'm sorry! I didn't mean for Lin to get hurt, or to get his shiki killed!" She couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Her hands were at her eyes, frantically wiping them away.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. I made the stupid call to investigate the forest at night. With everything that's happened, I should have predicted this."

The bitterness in Naru's tone made Mai look up. Naru wasn't looking at her. His angered stare was fixed on the floor, and his hands were crushed into fists.

"Should I report…?"

"No, wait until the others get back. Then you don't have to repeat yourself."

And that's what she did. The two sat in tense silence for several seconds. Mai's mind was, as usual, on overdrive. How had this gone so sideways? She knew she should have been ready for anything and everything, but somehow, tidal wave of melted ghosts was not on her list. She had to get better at making quick decisions, or next time, she would get an actual person killed. She looked at her hands. What were Lin's shiki to him? Were they like pets? Or children? Or were they really just servants? The way Water had cried when it realized Wood was gone had broken Mai's heart. She didn't know whether she could face Lin, or more specifically, his two remaining shiki. They must have been furious with her.

"Mai?"

She looked up at Naru.

"Tea. Please."

Naru's eyes were troubled, like hers. She wondered if he really wanted her tea, or if he was just giving her something to do while they waited. She wandered over to the electric kettle and the stash of tea that Lin brought every time they went on a case. While the water brewed, the door to base opened. In walked the rest of the team. Lin was no longer leaning on Monk. He was not touching anyone, in fact. The rest of the team had solemn looks on their faces, ranging from contemplative to disturbed.

"So that happened," said Monk. Lin pushed past Ayako and Monk and made his way to the computer. He booted it up and began typing.

Mai took a breath. "Lin, are you—"

"I'm fine," he all but snapped. Mai leaned back. Now it felt like they were back to square one, before Lin considered her even a coworker.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry."

Lin paused in typing. He sighed. "These things happen."

No, they didn't. She should have been a better teammate. She should have…

"Let's start the report," Naru said, interrupting any further talk on that matter. Mai handed him a cup of tea, and the reporting began.

The team talked and Lin typed. When it came to Mai's turn, she recounted everything that Gene had told her. The team, especially Naru, perked up when Mai mentioned the forest being sacred, and that an immense amount of suffering had made it so. And then came the hard part. Recounting the disaster that had killed Lin's panda.

"This horrible… thing, like a rolling wave of tar. It was like the spirit we saw, but hundreds of them, all melted together. All I could make out were their faces and their arms. They were reaching, falling over each other like a rolling cylinder, but they moved so fast… Lin, I'm so, so sorry."

"Stop apologizing," came Lin's response, sharp and curt. Mai couldn't help but let out a whimper.

"Hey, lay off, would you?" Takigawa barked back.

Lin jerked back, surprised. At what, Mai wasn't sure.

"Monk, calm down," Naru snapped.

Takigawa turned to him, but he didn't say anything. He returned his stare to Lin, who sighed. Lin turned to Mai, letting her see the exhaustion in his expression. "I won't pretend it was pleasant," he began. He looked away, contemplating his words. "But what's done is done. You did not intend for this to happen." Mai nodded furiously. "So there is nothing to apologize for."

Mai wasn't convinced. Nevertheless, she nodded. Monk still looked like he wanted to yell at Lin, just a little bit.

"How did you escape?" Naru asked, drawing the focus back into the room.

"The shiki in front led us to the edge of the woods, and then it dove down through the floor. That's where I hesitated. The one behind me tried its best to encourage me forward, but I didn't move until it was too late. I'm—" Mai caught herself before she blurted another apology.

Ayako moved next to her and pulled her into a hug.

"It was my fault, if anyone's," said Naru. "After everything that's happened today, I should have called off the ambush—at least until after we had investigated in the morning."

Nobody made a motion to disagree with him.

"Are we still going to investigate tomorrow morning?" John asked.

Naru folded his arms. He took a deep breath, as if coming to a grand conclusion. "It was the plan, but it is no longer." He waited for the group's exclamations of what and why and the like to calm before continuing. "It is clear to me that the haunts are coming from the stand of trees and not the hospital. We were not hired to investigate the woods."

"We can't give up just because it's not our job!" Mai shouted.

"That's not the point," Naru snapped. "We were not hired to investigate those woods," he said. "It's private property. If we go there, we'd be trespassing."

Ayako stepped forward, letting go of Mai. "So what do I tell the board?"

"Exactly the truth. We can't fix the problem because it's coming from somewhere else, and we do not have authority to investigate this second property. We are sorry, but we can't solve this haunting."

"So then what am I supposed to do?" Ayako asked, voice lower. Mai turned to her. She had never heard the redhead sound so defeated. "I came to you because I know your record with cases. Even if you couldn't get every answer, you were able to at least put a stop to the hauntings."

"At the very least we know this," offered John. "The haunting comes from the trees. It's a stand of trees. Aren't they your specialty?"

Ayako let out a breath and shook her head. This was clearly not how she wanted this to go. "I will see what I can do."

"Hey," said Monk. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm between gigs right now, so we can work on your spooky forest together."

Ayako looked up at him in surprise.

"Don't look so shocked. With or without jurisdiction, who are we to leave a case unsolved?"

"I don't think you understand," Naru said. "If you do this, you are acting on your own, not as agents of the SPR. Without being officially hired, the three of us cannot help you." He gestured to himself, Lin, and Mai.

Mai blinked. "Wait. I can't help?"

Naru glared at her. "If you want to do this, I won't stop you. But it is a lot harder to keep the business out of legal trouble if you, an official SPR employee, gets caught."

"I can't believe you. You'd really put the business over our friends?"

"If we go down because of a legal battle, we will be unable to help anyone in this capacity again. Likely the SPR will be disbanded entirely, and I will return to England."

Mai opened her mouth, a response on the tip of her tongue, but there wasn't anything else to say. Not that had already been said. Takigawa put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Mai. We've got this covered. You can sit this one out, 'kay? We'll report back with any news."

"No, you won't," Naru said. "Not to me or Lin."

Right. If they were doing crimes, the less the SPR knew, the better. Still, Takigawa flashed her one of his warm smiles, and Mai couldn't help but be reassured.

"So then," Mai said. "Life goes back to normal?"

"Normal? Probably not," Ayako said. "Routine, definitely."

Mai nodded. She could deal with that, for now.

"That's settled," Naru said. "Let's take down base."

And so they did. It took them quite a lot longer to pack up than it did to set up, due to the fact that, one, it was late at night, and two, Lin was clearly still feeling the residual effects of the rather violent death of his Wood shiki. Whenever he had to pick something up, he visibly tensed, and right after putting his load down, he would let out a sizeable yet quiet breath. Normally, this type of work was effortless for him, but clearly not tonight. Mai's heart ached for him, especially in light of what Gene had said. This ground was made sacred by great suffering. And, if Mai remembered correctly, Lin was still missing his two other shiki.

When they had a moment alone, she approached him. "Your other two." He paused what he was doing, wincing as he set down a large monitor. "Did you ever find them?"

Lin shook his head.

"I'm… What can I do to help?"

"Grab that keyboard," Lin said. Not what she meant, and both of them knew it. Nevertheless, she did so. She followed Lin all the way to the van. They both loaded their loads, and then unremarkably, they turned back to get more stuff. They probably would have split up, except the base was where all their stuff was. Monk and Ayako had already gone to gather the stray cameras, so now it was just a matter of finishing up base.

When they returned, there were just two monitors left. Mai was able to grab one, and Lin the other. When they stepped outside, Lin gently put down the monitor along the wall. Mai paused, restabilizing her grip on her own monitor, and turned to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I have to take down my fortifications," Lin explained.

Mai's brow raised in surprise. She had only seen Lin make the fortifications a few times, mostly because she was usually setting up cameras while he was doing it. Even rarer, she got to see him take it down.

"Can I watch?" she asked. Lin nodded. She followed him back in. He stopped in the middle of the room, and Mai stood back. He hardly moved, but Mai felt a small whoosh from behind. Lin's jacket and hair swayed as the breeze centered around him and then settled as it stopped. Lin turned around and began walking toward the door. He opened it and held it, turning to Mai.

Mai blinked. "Was that it?"

Lin nodded as she walked out the door. "I simply took back the energy that my shiki used to create the barriers."

Oh. Lin's shiki made the barrier. But how did that work, with three of them missing now? She was burning with curiosity, but perhaps that was not the most tactful thing to ask. So instead, she went with, "Can you explain the element thing that Naru mentioned? Or not now?"

Lin sighed. He picked up his load and walked with Mai through the hospital.

"In Chinese philosophy, there are five elements that exist within a cycle of creation and control. The order of creation goes: Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Metal directs Water, which nourishes Wood, and so on. There is also the order of control. Its concept is well known, but the order is less so: Metal chops Wood, which drains Earth, which pollutes Water, which douses Fire. And then there's the creation cycle backwards. Fire eats Wood, which drains Water, and so on."

Mai was secretly awed by the fact that Lin could talk for so long, uninterrupted. She supposed it was true—introverts could be quite chatty, if you engaged them on something they wanted to talk about.

"I took care that I had five shiki, each corresponding to one element. That way, they could cover each other's weaknesses, elementally speaking. For a threat that uses brute force or other threads of magic, they are less adept."

"Oh!" Mai exclaimed. "So that's why you had Water travel behind Wood, so that she could help it."

Lin nodded. He then did a double take. "You can tell my Water shiki is female?"

"Uh huh. When we were… when we were in the forest, we crossed over to the spiritual plane. Your two shiki took their original forms. Your Water one's a naiad, right?"

Again, Lin nodded.

"And the other was a panda."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it. Lin turned away from her.

"What are your shiki to you?"

Lin frowned. Mai realized as soon as she spoke that her question could be taken as an accusation. That wasn't what she meant, but…

"They are my soldiers, and I am their commander," Lin replied.

Well. That was cold.

"But until now, I couldn't imagine losing one."

Oh. Lin meant Father to his men, rather than sergeant nasty. Mai flashed back to her discussion with Water and Wood. It was Water who said that Lin had earned their loyalty. But the way Monk had first explained Lin's power after their close call with Urado, and then how Masako explained the emptiness of the god-controlled house, Mai got the idea that shiki were supposed to be empty spirits, devoid of all will and personality.

"That is normally how they are, yes," Lin said. Oh, did Mai say that out loud? Or was she just that easy to read? "Spirits under enthrallment or in some way bound are like that. The first shiki I received was actually passed down from my grandfather." The orange shiki around his neck glowed, allowing Mai to see it. "When he passed, I did not bind this one to me. It chose to stay with me, out of loyalty to my grandfather, and slowly, I've built its trust in me. It's been through mutual respect that I've entered contract with all of my shiki."

"So when Naru called them your familiars…?"

Lin nodded. They exited the building and entered the parking garage. Wow, had they really been talking for so long?

"They are still technically shikigami by definition. That was the basis of our agreements, and anyone looking at our tethers would have to agree. But they are not shikigami by convention."

Mai's respect for Lin suddenly doubled. Had he told her that they were indeed no more than robots back when she knew nothing about his practice, she would have accepted it. Begrudgingly, but that would have just been how it is. Now that she had had that conversation with Water, no way would she have accepted that shiki were just mindless servants. Knowing this about Lin, even though he was prickly toward most other people, it gave her new insight into him as a person. He was kind to those under his care, so long as they weren't brats like a raven-haired boy they both knew and loved.

And then came the intrusive thought that sang, He's a Pokémon master!

Mai shook her head furiously, muttering, "No! Bad! Stop it."

Lin stopped, looking at her with a baffled expression. She blushed. "Sorry, weird thought."

Lin gave his head a tiny shake, turning away from her. Mai flushed as she barely heard him mutter to himself, "Teenagers." Though clearly, it was purposefully just loud enough for her to hear. Mai smiled softly. Even though Lin had spurned her apology earlier, it was now clear to her that she had been at least somewhat forgiven. He was comfortable enough to tease her, which meant they were friends again.

I went ahead and took some liberties with Lin's powers, as well as his relationship with his shiki. It's more interesting when they have personalities, and I personally enjoy writing nonhuman, non-sapien characters.