The Dean and his guests stared at the wreck of the door. The gears and mechanisms were splintered and broken into ruin down the weakest point- the middle. To the sides of the wreck, parts of the door on either side revealed deeper gears and cables and panels. “Hmm. If we move the weakest point from the middle this door might withstand even this magnitude of blunt force impact.”

“Dean!”

“Nobody has the ability to damage this door, that I know of. There is a wild girl we need to find. She’s the closest to being capable of something like this.”

“There’s something bloody over here.”

“It has form. Skin, blood, bones? They’re almost dust.”

“Lilly can’t do this. Only a monster.”

“Well the door kept us safe from whatever crashed into it.

“I consider the matter we discussed settled then?”

“No, we have the militants to protect us from the threats.”

“There’s a top hat here. Lilly and the shivs have both taken their toll.”

Jorgon was fidgeting with his jacket hem.

Alyz tried to make eye contact with him, but he was too nervous to notice. He was clearly worried about Mat’hew. 

Drizzelda said, “Jorgon, we’ll see Mat’hew soon.”

“Oh yeah. Good.”

_______________

The picnic in the park was nice. Lilly blushed. She might only be seven, but she had matured rapidly. She had stayed very childish when her dad left, then matured after her mom was gone. She learned fast too.

-

Lilly bit her lower lip. Sui blushed.

“I love when you bite your lip like that.”

Lilly’s face went slack. “Oh. Do I do that?”

“Yeah. Whenever I do something you like.”

Lilly was tense.

“Maps then?”

“Maps? Maps?” Lilly pulled out Chila.

“There are those who go in recklessly… and there are those that enable them.”

“So, you know where they live?”

“I know what the militancy knows. I know where you were given that knife. I know where the Shivs attacked our neighborhood and what they were wearing. I know who came to the card games Lady Drizzelda had people play before they were formed. I know a lot, but I’m not so good at piecing it together. I think every neighborhood is part of it. They used to be more organized. There were leaders. Now I;m not sure. Since they seem to attack together, they are still planning together. So they are in their own homes, but each attack is by a group that lives close together.”

“Since the three random terrorists - “ 

Suina flinched at the harsh accusatory label.

“Oh sorry. I know you sort of looked up to them.”

“I…know they did terrible things. It’s hard to imagine.”

“Well since the three that killed people, including my mama are gone, I can’t go attack anyone. I won’t.”

“Unless you know they killed someone?”

“Maybe. My rage is mostly abated, but something is in me. I want to be a child again.”

“You are still childish. Also you’re still seven.”

“Not childish! I want to… go back I guess. Back when I played with kids and held hands with mama on the way to daycare.”

Sui looked around at the small clearing they’d found in the park. These were semi-private areas cultivated for picnics. They sat on a blanket upon which Sui had set plates with moorberries, grayshade cheese, and chivvet chews. 

“Chivvets are tasty creatures.”

“Mmhm.”

“Lilly, want to trade snacks?” Suina tried to put the gleam of an eager kid in her eyes.

“Yes!” Lilly swapped a quickly snatched berry with her friend’s chivvet chew.

“Oh Thish. meat is so tough.”

“Don’t pull it! you have to chew it slowly.”

They sat there and Lilly began to get bored. She summoned let-water from somewhere out of sight and had it merge into a little aquarium. There were no fish in the aquarium so Sui imagined.

“There is a wiggle-eel. It just ate a featherfish!”

Lilly laughed. “You’re making those names up! I think I see a tonguetail. See? It’s skimming the bottom of the water.”

“Oh a tounguetail. Is that how they eat?”

“They are leaving mucus on their eggs to keep them from floating away.”

“Oh. they must be good fish parents.”

“Yeah.”

Footsteps on the grass introduced Mat’hew walking toward them. Lilly held the cheese knife, and another hidden behind her. “Are you going to turn me in?”

“Would you go? I don’t want to endanger you or whoever would try to come arrest you. There is nobody to do that though. The militancy is too preoccupied.”

Sui concentrated on the floating aquarium. Please, help them. The water burst into a sprinkle rain that fell on the entire clearing. 

“Mat’hew why are you here?”

“Oh I uh…I tried to give you two some time alone, but I think the babies need supervision from an adult. Also I’d like a bite of grayshade. Mmm just like a nice nap.”

“A nap?”

“Yes. Cheese makes me tired.”

“Mat’hew are you waiting for Jorgon?”

“Uh well, what better place to meet him than here? We’ll leave you two alone once he arrives.Looks like your snacks are almost gone anyway.”

________

Jorgon arrived many slivers later and they made true on their promise. Lilly and Sui felt that their sanctuary had been invaded. The boys might come back if they felt the whimsy again. 

“Let’s go…uh to my house.”

“I want to look at the maps again.”

The maps lay forgotten but still open over the edge of the blanket. The city looked like a collection of kids’ toy town sets from different toymakers all mashed together - but in an elegant logical way. There was the park that circled the university. Then the various districts of colors. On one side was the big ugly meilitant building. On the southern portion was a. The gentile neighborhoods stood mostly near the north, but in deeper than the artisan district. There were many other random sections of markets, crafts, and work for adults in the remaining emptyness. At the outer edges were crops and rolling hils in all directions.

ink blots marked tiny shapes that represented homes and apartments.where Sui thought Shivs lived. There were so many in some that the ink had seeped together into a big ink blob neighborhood.

“They’re all over. Even some in the gentile district. That’s weird.”

________________

Mat’hew and Jorgon kissed on a bench in a secluded “room” with bush walls. They were close enough to hear if the girls screamed. ….or their victims.

Mat’hew held Jogron’s neck which he knew was one way to melt him. Jorgon wrapped his arms around Mat’hew’s shoulders to stop himself from turning to goo. They made out like that for several slivers that went on into at least a shard longer. They were tongue-kissing and mouthy-big-pushy-mushy-kissing when they heard the squeak of a wooden wheel.

Mat’hew fled into the bush wall within a speck. Leaves knocked off from his escape in a ‘Shsh’ sound that only leaves make. How did he even get in with all the branches in the way? 

“I can see you’re there. Leaves all over the ground in a suspicious spot.” Drizzelda was already here. She was standing.

Jorgon hopped to her as she swayed. Alyz came around the corner with the personal chariot. Jorgon eased her into the seat.

“Uhhh.” Drizzel breathed shallow breaths. “It’s so hard to display authority when I can barely stand like that. But…. I love it. I won’t give up.”

“Even if it kills you?” Alyz looked concerned.

“Haha! Not that far. Now Mat’hew. Hew yourself out of that bush. You no doubt have some minor scrapes and cuts from such a panicked escape from me.”

“His rabbit instincts took a-hold of him.” Jorgon jested.

“Join us. We need to find our wild water girl.”

“Oh that’s right around the corner” said the bush wall.

________

“Lillian Greyvlat!” Alyz’s voice resonated loud and crisp.

Lilly woke from her half-nap. “Hu…”

Sui was laying down with her eyes open. 

Alyz rolled Lady Drizzelda over the grass and stopped the wheel right on the edge of the blanket so that it was depressed into the grass. Lilly lifted herself up onto her elbows. Drizzle stood up from her chariot and stepped onto the blanket. Laying as they were, she was a formidable visage. “You need to be punished for murder. Those militants were under my watch! Well the Top Hat’s watch, but I cannot allow them to dismantle.” 

“Didn’t you create the Shivs?”

Sui sat and listened.

“I did, but not on purpose. My intentions were good, but they led to a terrible outcome.”

“So what is my punishment? There’s no executions, even though some might deserve it.”

“The card game. We need to bring it back.” Drizzel backed into her seat again, already winded.

Mat’hew’s eyes went unfixed. “Barn really liked that card game.”

  “It was too boring. Unrealistic.” Jorgon stood with his arms crossed.

“Lilly.” This was Alyz talking. “The people of the city need to know who you are. They need to know how dangerous you are. They need to know what you’ve done. They need to see justice.”

“We need to find Barn.” Drizzelda put her head on her hand. “Where has he been?” Her voice was still clear but was also more faint now.

Jorgon answered. “He is staying home, which is the smart thing to do. Well safe thing, I suppose.” 

“Shade on me Jorgon. Thank you. Is he at the same address?”

“I think so. He likes to go up on the roof like a streetsearch militant.Even though he hates them.”