Suyan trailed off, as though she had forgotten temporarily. Then she looked around.

She stepped over to the side, where the edge of the sidewalk was just visible, not seeming to notice the featureless shapes of people watching from somewhere just beyond that. Hawk's many faces followed her.

Hawk leaned over to look. There was nothing obvious in the gutter where she was now searching.

Suyan replied, now busy peering at the outlines of the stones.

Hawk asked.

Suyan stared up at the figure with huge eyes. Finally, she said,

"Aw, shit," Hawk muttered, and a flurry of movement went through the many heads as he looked round. "Uh, hey, can anyone--I need help translatin'."

The heads all aligned themselves to point into the shifting space beside him, where the shape of wings shrugged half open and closed. A silhouette came vaguely into sight there, as featureless as if seen through a thick fog. Maybe it spoke, but the words were inaudible, and it didn't elicit any reaction in Suyan, who merely looked.

"Ok, uh," the heads turned back to Suyan, coming somewhat more into focus as they lowered to her level. Skull-like, eyeless sockets, a long muzzle that was somewhere in the vicinity of a beak, serrated along the jaws in the approximation of teeth. He addressed her in clumsy Aetherian. he corrected himself.

she replied pleasantly.

[Double update today! Click back to make sure you saw the first page!]

He gave the impression of being multi-headed and multi-limbed, or else that his head and limbs were moving ceaselessly, leaving behind vague shadows. The stripes on his tailfeathers inked trails as his tail fanned, lifted, switched sides, set down. Parts of him--the edge of a long face, a taloned paw lifted in greeting--swam somewhat closer into focus, but the rest of him was like looking through a fogged glass.

"Hi," he said, in a voice that seemed equally indistinct.

[Double update today! Click forward!]

"What was her name?" Hawk asked no one in particular. The crowd was small: a few people pausing on their way to peer into the alley at the white figure pacing it, a few other fuzhu decked in leather harnesses and piercings clustered together.

"Suyan," one of the fuzhu replied.

"Swan?" Hawk tried to repeat the name. Another fuzhu looked around at him.

"Su-yan," they said, slower for his benefit.

"Okay." Hawk stepped forward out of the little throng. Heads turned towards him, the movement drawing their attention away from the ghost.

The mouth of the alley was cast in a cool shade. She was wandering across the cobblestones underneath a glass sign that was worked into a hand grasping its own suspension cables. A short distance beyond her, the alley was roped off by a cord strung with rectangular signs, and further obscured by a cloth tent that stretched from one side to the other, weighted by bricks along the bottom edge.

"Suyan?" Hawk called.

She had been looking idly down at the ground, but her head snapped up and towards him immediately.

A palpable shudder went through the small crowd--even over Luu and Vlad, who had ostensibly been expecting this. Hawk just raised a hand in a sheepish greeting.

"Hi," he said.

[Teige (still a little hungover) is meeting with a spirit who is tidying a stack of papers.]

Spirit: And with that, the paperwork is done. Welcome to R.I.T.! Next you'll need to report to the University admissions office for enrollment. R.I.T. will check in quarterly on your coursework to make sure you're getting along all right. Please be diligent with your studies!

[Teige nods and gets up from his seat.]

Spirit: By the way, I think it's really great that you are doing this. Almost all the potential recruits we get from Earth want to join the field divisions. So many of them wash out, but even then it's hard to convince them to try volunteering for another division. Some of them even get offended at the idea of doing something other than combat! They all have very strange ideas. It's nice to meet an Earthling who doesn't have to be convinced how important our support work will be!

Teige: [laughing awkwardly] Haha! Sure!

"Well, sure." Vlad shrugged uncomfortably. "A violent death, probably pretty sudden...that'll get you a ghost. But the cops usually dispel any ghosts that start haunting in Escalus. They're usually quick at it, too..."

"It's part of their job to dispel ghosts quickly," Dina snapped. "They're just terrorizing people at this point. And you know if anyone else tries to dispel it, they'll get into trouble."

Vlad made a noise of agreement.

"Wull, can't they, uh...try to get evidence from the ghosts, or somethin'?" Hawk asked awkwardly. Luu looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Hah? It isn't as though you could simply interview one, they can't see or hear you." They paused, and then added thoughtfully, "Perhaps watching one might be helpful, in case they do anything that might be a clue..."

"The investigators aren't even doing that!" Dina said angrily, as Hawk hesitated. "Even if they could just talk to the ghost, they wouldn't bother."

Finally Hawk cut in, looking resigned. "Well, I can," he said. "Lemme talk to them."

[Housekeeping: we'll have a couple of one-off break comics for the next two weeks before getting into the next short! Thanks for reading!]

"The only person that Terrya d'Ubis hates more than any given offworlder is the Cynn."

"He's such a goddamn asshole," Vlad growled as he got up to join them at the door, brushing the seat of his pants off. Hawk stayed quiet as the three spirits kept talking; he stood to one side, rubbing his neck and frowning.

"It's no wonder they've treated the site of the killing like they have, if he's in charge," Dina said irritably. Luu glanced over.

"I hadn't heard that they'd found it already," they remarked.

"Aye, it happened on Bendh Truq, in front of that glassworks with the hand-shaped sign."

"Oh, Palma's," Vlad interjected.

"Yes. But all the investigators did was seal off the scene and then leave," Dina continued. "They didn't talk to anyone...but word's got around fast, I've already heard the victim's name floating around."

"See, you were right, Vlad--all they'd have to do is ask someone."

"And they could have asked anyone. It wasn't hard for people to figure out who she was! Her ghost is still walking around in the street!"

That brought Hawk out of his thoughts.

"Ghost?" he said, and all three spirits looked at him. "There's a ghost?"

< I have asked you to identify the victim's species, and you have done that, > the officer said, and gestured with a gloved hand. < Thank you, you may go. >

Vlad glared at them for a long moment, and then stormed out of the tent, cursing loudly enough under his breath that the officers and witnesses that he passed looked around at him.

"So I went," Vlad concluded irritably. "See, even if the Treiha does want to solve this, that's what they have to work with."

Hawk rubbed his throat. "...Whatta fuckin' asshole," he muttered.

"Let me guess:" Dina said, "that was Terrya d'Ubis."

"You bet," Vlad replied.

"Ah, of course it was." Luu frowned.

[Hello all, rare mid-story housekeeping Phooka here. Regular readers may remember that I left the webcomics collective Hiveworks a couple years ago without really any explanation; after a lot of ~stuff~ behind the scenes, a group of current and former Hiveworks artists have put out a statement about it via the Cartoonist Co-op, which you can read right here. I also detailed my own experiences on my Tumblr right here. The TLDR of it is that you shouldn't trust your money or projects with either of the two people who were in charge of Hiveworks, but the actual artists involved deserve your support!

Anyway I am now part of the Chimera Comics Collective, which is a webring that several of us put together just to keep our sites linked after leaving Hiveworks. My site currently has no ads on it so the comic only makes any money from my Patreon. I am considering adding an ad slot for Comicad.net to the left sidebar at some point though--this would only advertise other webcomics and feels like a nice way to pass the same $5 around between creators, as is webcomics tradition. Whenever I get around to it, I'll let y'all know, in case you'd be willing to whitelist my site on your adblocker.

Back to the comic! Thanks for reading, y'all! <3]

Vlad's incredulous voice caused both officers to look at him, the taller one with something of a glare. Undeterred, Vlad continued,

A condescending little smirk slid into place on the taller officer's face. they replied.

Vlad sputtered.

The officer held up a gloved hand to cut him off. vullar, > they said smoothly.

Vlad continued.

The taller of the two officers leaned away. they said dismissively, and turned to the other officer.

Vlad couldn't pull his eyes away from the disembodied head as the words rang in his ears. The blood on the white surface beneath it, the way it sagged to one side, the cloudy eyes under long lashes, the ring in its nose--Vlad's brow knit with anger.

"You can't be compelled to tell a truth seer what you don't know," Vlad said pointedly. "You see what I'm getting at, right?"

Hawk looked at him. "Yeah," he said after a moment, and then turned back to Luu and Dina with a shrug. "Look. It's just, I was told we could get the machete right to the Treiha. An' that even if it belongs to a cop, the Treiha would still go after 'em. So..."

He trailed off. Luu regarded him with some scorn. "Who told you that?"

Hawk gritted his teeth. "I can't tell ya that," he said. "You'd just have to trust me, I guess."

"Ah, well," Dina said irritably. "You showed such great judgement last night, after all."

Luu snorted. Before Hawk could retort, Vlad spoke up again.

"You might be right about the Treiha, hon, but the cops have already made it pretty clear to me that they don't give a shit about this murder."

Hawk frowned. "How's that?"

"They practically told me, when they made me come out this morning to identify the victim."

"And in the meantime, I'll try to think of a way to get the damn thing to the Treiha discreetly," Numair said, half to himself, as Hawk moved to leave. He looked distractedly over the desk, and then picked up the small notebook he'd been copying out of, muttering, "...once I've come up with a statement, or something...supposed I'd better get these timetables to the Enodian City Council first..."

"Hey," Hawk interrupted, turning to look at him. "'S long as we ain't lyin' to each other...did you ever actually get to sleep last night?"

"Some," Numair replied absently, now poring over the ledger. Hawk sighed.

"Mari..."

Numair finally looked up, exasperated. "I did try, you know, I've just got a lot on my mind! Once I've got R.I.T. to a certain point, I'll be able to relax a bit. There's just a lot of er, up-front cost." He pressed his fingers to his temple, a pen threaded between them, and gave Hawk an imploring look. "...Please be patient with me, love."

Hawk paused. "Hey, I'm bein' patient," he reassured Numair. "I'm just fussin', I guess. Can't ya at least try an' nap after you finish one a' those things?"

Numair seemed almost relieved by that. "I will, I promise," he said. "I love you."

"Love you too, Mari," Hawk replied. "See ya tonight."

[Part three starts next week on the usual schedule!]

Hawk closed his hand around Numair's. There was a brief silence, while Numair looked away. Finally, he murmured, "I know, intellectually, that this is not my fault, but I still feel guilty. I know these rooms are warded, and nothing will happen to me when you leave, but I still feel paranoid. And then, I know it's quite reasonable to feel these things, but seems selfish to. Someone is dead."

Hawk leaned forward over the desk and kissed Numair's forehead, as Numair continued quietly, "So it's not quite a lie: I am fine. I just do not feel fine."

Hawk kissed his lips next, and then pulled away enough to say, "I can stay if you want."

"No, no," Numair whispered, though he was holding Hawk's face gently now to keep him from pulling away any more. But he relented, and grasped Hawk's hands instead. He continued assuringly, "I am fine. The sooner we can get the weapon to the Treiha, the better."

"Then I'll get it an' be back as quick as I can," Hawk said, though he didn't pull his hands from Numair's hold just yet.

"Please," Numair agreed, not letting go either. "Don't touch it if you can avoid it--wrap it in something, perhaps."

"Got it."

Hawk paused. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Numair gazed up at him for a moment. He seemed to consider the question, flipping back over the file to look at it, before putting it face down again with a sigh. Finally, he said simply, "I'm all right."

Hawk bent double to lean across the desk on his elbows, trying to catch Numair's eye even as Numair looked away. He didn't recoil, though, as Hawk leaned in to nearly whisper in his ear.

"Look," Hawk murmured. "If this is gonna work, we gotta be equal."

Numair met his gaze then--there was no anger in it, only concern.

"I can't lie to you," he said. "So don't lie to me. Okay?"

He offered his bandaged hand, palm up on the desk. After a moment, Numair placed his own hand into it. "All right," he agreed.

"Oh yeah?" Hawk asked with interest. "What do you get?"

"Boiling," Numair replied.

"Boiling..." Hawk repeated, but Numair didn't elaborate. "...Water? Oil?"

"I do not know. Just boiling."

"Wull what's that s'posed to mean?" Hawk wanted to know, bewildered. "Is that bad??"

Numair shrugged. "I could mean any number of things," he said. "I don't know. Difficult to say, without more context."

Hawk took a drink. Numair, seeing the look on his face, added dryly, "Not everyone is as easy to read as you are, you know."

"No, it's just--if I get the machete back...do you trust the Treiha to, y'know..." Hawk waved his bandaged hand, trying to find the words, "...follow up on it?"

"Hm." Numair reflected for a moment. "I think so."

"You think so??"

"People do surprise me at times," Numair told him. "But they have a reputation for keeping law enforcement on a tight leash, so I think it's our best option."

"If you're sure...then let's do it." Hawk got to his feet, frowning. "I'll get the machete."

Numair looked up at him with a wan smile. "Er...are you well enough?" he asked gently. Hawk did look slightly uncomfortable.

"I'm fine," he said anyway.

"I'm still weighing my options."

Hawk rubbed his eye, muttering, "Jeez."

"Well, you ran into the likely culprits last night, what do you remember?" Numair wanted to know. "Anything specific?"

"Uh..." The memory came back slowly, blurrily, in streaks of color. "They were wearin' hoods an' masks...the kind I see people come in off the plains with. And..."

A sharp glint of light off a blade--

"A machete," Hawk finished, and looked at Numair. "Like the one cops carry. One of 'em dropped it--"

"They left it behind??" Numair asked immediately. "Do you know where it is now? Investigators have spells that can track items like that back to their owners, under the right circumstances..."

He broke off quizzically, because Hawk was grimacing at him.

"Okay, but what if the owner is an investigator? An' don't say it ain't possible," Hawk added before Numair could respond. "I've heard some shit."

Numair sat back, frowning. "No, it's certainly possible," he muttered. He crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Perhaps if we got the weapon directly to the Treiha..."

"Who?"

"The Treiha...like, er, a public prosecutor," Numair explained, though he seemed distracted by his own train of thought. "We'd be going over the investigators' heads. The current Treiha has a good track record, but..." he paused, putting his head to one side. "I've never been able to get a clear read on them."

Hawk had taken another sip, which he now swallowed hard. The memory of the graffiti with its streak of livid painted blood across the stump of its neck flashed across his mind's eye.

"Oh," he said.

He gave the report back to Numair, who took it mutely. The office seemed suddenly very dark.

"...Wull..." Hawk said finally, looking much more disturbed than Numair did, somehow, "now what?"

"Now what...?" Numair echoed, his eyes on the front page of the report. "Now the Escalan investigators will take over. I don't have any say over them--that'd be the City Administrator, Enetis, a cousin of mine."

Enetis was a severe looking spirit with a disdainful set to their mouth. Hawk frowned at Numair.

"So, what, you're just gonna...wait?"

Numair looked at him. "I'm also drafting a statement," he replied, and added, rhetorically, "What else should I be doing?"

"Hah??" Hawk said blankly. "I dunno, what usually happens when someone threatens the Cynn??"

Numair clasped his hands together over the top edge of the report. "Well," he said slowly, tapping his lips with his index fingers. "Nothing quite like this has ever happened. Not this publicly, not in Aetheri, anyway," he added. "So I suppose I get to decide what the response will be."