It was Central Police Headquarters, not Bell Lodge, that was graced with Rai’s shuddering engine and axles first thing in the morning. A lot of shuddering, as they circled around the entire compound three times before finding space to park.

“Got some errands to run,” Rai said.

His use of the word ‘errands’ was as emphatic as the force he was applying to the elevator’s ‘close’ button.

They emerged on the second floor. Rai waved his ID at security and they began the long trek through the maze of meeting rooms and plastic desks. There was a nostalgia to the grey carpets, the blank walls and seemingly infinite rows of square lights set in the ceiling. While vaguely dismal to consider on their own merit, he admired the way they served as the perfectly unobtrusive backdrop to the inhabitants of the work floor. There was nothing to notice but the people themselves, all the little details of life and interest that had sustained him back when he’d been one of them, up on the third floor. Although Rai had eyes for nothing but the desk at the end of the room, Sao could not help but scan every cubicle they passed for the odd poster, framed photo of children or pets (they meant such different things), lines of tiny models stuck along the top of a monitor, piles of salty snacks, orthopedic pillows, sports shoes tucked behind wastepaper baskets...

He caught the eye of a young woman adjusting an arrangement of tiny pink blooms in a jar, the sole decoration of her desk. She smiled, rosy as the flowers. He smiled back.

The end of the row belonged to a young man with an auto magazine propping up his keyboard. Sao recalled Delta having done exactly the same when they both worked in the records department. The young man was deeply engrossed with some long document on his computer. Sao quietly moved on.

“It’s funny, I don’t recognize anybody, yet everything seems so familiar,” Sao said. He felt a sudden sting of sadness in saying so; Delta was gone, Sao had left, alongside countless others. Were they so easily replaceable?

“Oh yeah - why not send out notification to people who need it? Where’s the schedule-- just a minute.” Rai swiveled to Sao. “Sorry, what was that?”

They stared at each other for a moment as if confronted by total strangers. Sao realized that, despite returning on occasion to pick up files, this was the first time he had been to headquarters with Rai.

“Nothing.”

Under Rai’s elbow was a high, black countertop - reception to the private offices of their superiors, which lined the hall behind it. Seated at the desk was a stranger who must have been the receptionist, though Sao would not have suspected has she been placed so in any other setting. She simply did not at all look like someone who’d willingly be slotted behind a desk.

“Right,” Rai muttered, “Charm, this is Sao. He’s a transcription guy, works out of my office. Sao, this is Charmion Pine. She’s the chief’s PA. As of, er, a couple months ago.”

“Four months. Hey there, Sao. Or should I say, welcome back? Was wondering when we’d get to meet, been hearing about you a whole lot.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

He meant it. She was delightfully incongruous. If the greyness of the office served as a backdrop to colorful people, Charmion Pine relegated even the more colorful cohorts into further wallpaper. She was smaller than he or Rai, standing on tiptoes to lean over the desk, but possessed wide, enveloping green eyes and an unmissable knife of a grin. Her hair was also an eyecatcher, in the form a caramel tuft tossed over one ear, revealing a thin covering on the opposite side; freshly grown fuzz over a one-time shaved scalp. Large cotton balls hung as earrings, half concealing a triangular chip cut into her left ear. 

On her desk was a standard laptop wired to a sumptuous pair of headphones, a marvel of metal and leather, the earpieces large enough to serve as pillows. Behind her chair, free of any casing or costume, was a large axe.

“I was asking Charm to get the chief to look at the Racer reports,” Rai said. “Since the chief seems to be out of office. Again.”

He’d estimate the axe was almost meter long, with a carved wooden handle.

“It was a last minute invitation from the force’s benefactors in the military, some general who knew him personally.” Charmion sighed. “Charity brunch needed a representative. The army more or less foots our bills, I woulda been more scared if he said no.”

Rai chewed the side of his mouth. “Yeah. The chief has to keep us paid. Just make sure he gets someone to look into this Bell-Racer nonsense soon. This is the second time it’s happened.”

“I get it, Rai. I took a look at both cases. Four people were fired and three suspended as a result of that raid two years ago. If we’re looking at a repeat, it’s going to take a while to process. Yes, the reports are definitely a mess. But no point in kicking up further mess in an attempt to clean one up.”

“Fair point,” Sao said.

“You actually read them? I didn’t think you read anything unless you absolutely had to,” Rai said.

“Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence. Bu-u-ut you’re not all wrong.” Her smile was broad. “I’m not the studying type. I just read up on the case because a certain somebody has been trying to bug the chief every other day about it.”

“I only learned about the Racer case yesterday.”

Sao finally wrenched his eyes away from the axe. He received a scowl from Rai for his efforts. 

“Not you,” Charmion said. “You weren’t the first to complain about the inconsistencies.”

“Oh. You must be talking about Raph. We’re gonna chat with him before heading out.”

“Perfect timing, then.”

Coming up behind them was a man in a slim, papery brown coat that seemed to whip at his surroundings. “Updates, Miss Pine?”

“You’ll be sent an update when there is one.”

“Nothing, then.” The coat sliced the air, and burning yellow eyes - comparable to Rai’s in intensity - zipped across the scene, landing on Sao. He got a loose smile before Raph turned to Rai, eyes snapping to Rai’s hands. Though gloved, a faint blue light was visible around his wrists. Raph laughed. “Well, well. If it isn't the old investigator - I thought you forgot about me. Finally seeing the truth for what it is, huh? You have a lot to catch up on. Let me bring you up to speed-”

“The entire hallway has heard more than enough of your case in the last week, Raph. And,” Charmion said, bundling Rai and Sao along with him, “if you three are going to be taking a deep dive into this Bell situation, you’re probably going to want some privacy.”

She nudged open one of the doors behind her, the narrower hall of administrative offices. Their meeting spot was to be across the hall from Chief Zu’s office.

She gave them a little wave as they filed in. It reminded Sao of his time as a student, funneled between classrooms. If only the tutors had been the sort to wear cotton balls on their ears, forest-pattern tights and boots with wooly fringes.

Or leave axes leaning against walls.

Charmion smiled as he passed, gentler than she had at Rai and Raph. “See something you like?” Her smile broadened at his surprise, and she nodded toward the axe.

“Oh! Yes, it is a fascinating piece.”

“You a magic guy, then?”

“I’m sorry?”

She shook her head. “Story for another day. My bad. You’d better get to your meeting.”

---

Detective Raph had a wiry figure, angular and dressed to show, even enhance it; topping it all off with a peroxide-bleached coiff groomed to a glossy sheen. A modern man of the city, at the other end of the spectrum from Charmion’s scrappy cut and woodsy print. He could have easily passed as elegant if not for the constant aggravated jitter of limbs and eyes and lips.

“I’ve been saying for years now, there’s someone on the inside fudging things for Bell. What other explanation is there?” Raph began a lap of the room, fingers twitching over invisible evidence.

Rai remained standing. “Thinking of anyone in particular?”

“No, because I don’t have the support of the team, and-” After making a quick circle around the table in the center of the room, Raph rounded on Sao, as if he were prime suspect. “This is your assistant?”

“Yep. Sao. No handshakes, he has a condition.” 

Sao had his hands behind his back. “Good to meet you. And odd as it sounds, it’s true. A touch aversion. And you must be the detective...?” Sao let the question drift off. So did Raph. 

Rai shifted forward, urging Raph to back off. It did not work. Raph had no interest in a handshake, but continued to study Sao, tapping a foot, before breaking into a smirk. “Hah! Looking like that, I thought you were some kind of mole-informant we were prepping to send in. The imagination got carried away for a minute. Though, you do have exactly the kind of face Bell would snap up.”

Sao glanced at Rai who shook his head.

No, I didn’t tell him anything about you.

“So maybe Rai’s told you already, we worked together back in the raid of Bell two years ago, when things first started looking fishy. Well, I was just a local patrolman at the time, but I was called for the raid. Rai was involved in the paperwork cleanup - that’s how we got connected. Might not have been the best start, I hounded him like a madman in those days, him and the other rec roomers - and not that it helped. But guess who’s hunch turned out to be right, when nobody listened?”

“Those reports were and still are atrocious,” Rai grunted. “I wasn’t going to be able to drag any kind of recommendation out of them.”

“Because they were tampered with.”

“I believe it. So there was something changed about your report?”

“Not mine, but probably everyone else’s. Yeah, yeah, I know how that sounds. But if you review the details, mine is the closest to being correct. I got the weather right, I got the time right, from what little that lazy-ass photographer produced, my numbers were more or less right. I even saw the exact moment Sigma came through the gate, because that’s where the detectives stuck me. As I said, I was just a beat cop, a toddler they told to wait in the car - but lucky me, it was there I got an eyeful of the guy up close. That fucking slimeball. Came in smiling, like he’d prepared for exactly that, trained all his little followers to clam up just like they did. All for one. Spiritual unity. Defend the sanctuary. Typical cult head. It was like he wanted us there - it was a chance to show off.”

"Sigma turned up late during the Racer investigation as well," Sao said quietly.

"Ever consider that he doesn't turn up late, but that his presence somehow just signals the end?" Raph scuffed some invisible dirt from his shoes. "Now an old guy’s fucking dead. A different set of detectives, yet a repeat of the old fucked-up reporting, and they’re still walling me off..."

Before Sao could ask, Rai explained, “Raph here is a detective Level 2 - but he’s the only detective who isn’t allowed on cases that would require entering Bell Hospitality Group property.”

“That damned raid. I was a nobody at the time, my supervisor was the one who sent me, and I’m still being burned for it like I triggered the whole thing. Sigma knows this, somehow. He’s got some influence over the police, someone high up in the police, maybe more than one person.” Raph inspected one slim hand. “I was the one who thought to hit him with magic detection. None of the others even thought of that. He must have had something to hide.”

“And yet….” Rai drawled.

“Everyone should know a bit, these days.” Raph folded his arms, taking Rai’s gaze without faltering. “You realize at least 75% of cults in the Central region are led by magicians? And these are just the ones that are found to be magicians in the end. The remains of fifth-century wizardly autocracy, wedging themselves into what gaps they can find in a society that doesn’t need their bullshit anymore. They pretend to be little utopias for those who fall down through the cracks, isolate what they catch, infest whatever’s nearby to protect themselves, setting in small towns and paying off cops, playing nice with neighbors, building a shell in which they can do whatever they want to whatever they’ve caught. Bell’s in the early stages, but...”

The air around Raph was blazing, every inch of him shaking with vigor. After a deep breath that did little good, he returned to his pacing.

“Anyway, Sigma didn’t show signs of magic use at the time. Although I didn’t get a great reading, I didn’t have anyone backing me up...”

“And you weren’t even supposed to be there. The whole raid was unauthorized.”

Raph flapped a hand at Rai, evidently used to fanning away such nonsense. "I myself thought the Group didn't look too bad yet, but now there's a body. Sigma needs to be stopped before there are more. I can see it on his face, whenever I see him. He’s rapidly deteriorating. I won't fault you for being worried about what the force will think, because I know you also know, deep down, that something's wrong."

Quiet. No, silence. Sao leaned on a shelf. He hoped he didn’t look like he was taking cover. “You’re very involved in this. How did you come to know Sigma so well…?”

“You’re trying to ask if I know Sigma, personally?” Raph said. 

The silence continued, but the weight was on Raph now. There was something to his pause, his refusal to face them as he processed the situation, assessed alternatives, that Sao found familiar. Not just familiar, but relatable.

Some nightmare door has opened.

“Tell me, Sao. Do you know the origin of the name Raph?”

“Hard to say. No. If I had to guess, it’s an angel’s name.” He felt the urge to shift his feet. “An archangel, was it…?”

“Archangel. You do look like a guy with that type of education. Yes. I was born into the Patron Order, Western Branch under the name Raphael. Angel of healing. There were six other kids with the exact same name under the same roof. Have you heard of the Order? My branch was one of many. North, South, West, the Saviors, the Guardians, and whatever the hell else. They’re gone now. But, while I was there, life was pretty good, I thought. We had a big house. Lived with mom, had all these friends, some older brothers who turned up once in a while, and a bunch of us shared the same rich old dads. No computers, no telephones, no bad books, just daily prayer, early to bed, early to rise. Couldn’t be more perfect, right? If you really didn’t like it, you could leave. It wasn’t framed as a threat. It was freedom, whenever you needed it. You weren’t trapped. As time went on, a couple of my friends’ moms decided to take that chance, especially those with newborns, with more than one kid, who’d been saving their allowances. We threw goodbye parties and everything. They were just about the only times the kids got to eat something sweet, kind of looked forward to them.”

As the bounce in Raph’s voice diminished, Sao felt as if he’d made some horrific mistake.

“As it turns out, the old boy’s club would take these ladies away the night after the party, have their final moments of fun and bash their skulls in and dump them down the unused well before daylight, along with any kids who happened to be in tow. When the Central gov started repiping the local sewer system, they drilled too close to the side of the well... and the whole story spilled out.”

“God. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t need apologies, I was one of the lucky ones. This wasn’t one of the cults who enforced regular beatings or anything, the threshold of punishment was trying to leave, and I got out after each of the fuckers had been sentenced for the rest of their natural lives. The thing is, the old guys, the leaders, they knew it was coming. They always do. Sigma’s probably better at hiding it, being an actor, but I know the shifts, the way they become. They start hoarding secrets. They said we could go out less often, that people around us were sick. They said wolves were coming in the night, that’s why dad needed a gun. They cut us off, and themselves, closing the doors to their mansions. Of course, not all of these leader-types end up the same way, but when a body drops - I think of the well. So do I know Sigma? On some personal level, maybe, even if he doesn’t know me.”

The deadly silence had returned.

“Mansions...” Sao ventured.

“It’s a figure of speech.”

“I see.” Sao smiled, but it was too late.

“No, no,” Raph drawled, “Don’t let me stop you. Sounded like you were onto something, have you ever been into Bell?”

“I -ah. Well, it’s daunting but I heard it’s not completely off-limits --”

Unwilling to put up with any more from either companion, Rai threw in a hacking cough and made a show of yanking off gloves, checking his phone. “Well, we’ve gotta get going soon to get there at the agreed time.”

Raph sprang upright, punching his palm with a brawler’s gusto. “Right, right, so what’s the plan, investigator?”

“Not much. We - meaning Sao and I - have an appointment to tour Bell Lodge. Apparently, we’ll be given permission to talk to a few residents.” Before Raph could protest, Rai had pulled open the door. “It’s like a general checkup on the residents’ welfare and impression of Racer. The crime scene will probably have changed too much to be useful at this point, but we’ll have a look there too.”

His stark explanation did nothing to quell Raph’s jealousy. “See if Indigo’s still there. If there are any structures on the grounds that they refuse to explain. And are either of you magic guys?”

Behind her fortress of a desk, Charmion raised a trimmed eyebrow. “Your magic test didn’t detect anything at Bell.”

“I was just an amateur at the time.”

“I’ve seen you now, and you aren’t much better than that.” Charmion snorted. “Why don’t I join you on your little trip and administer the ‘test’ instead? This Bell place sounds like fun.”

Inexplicably, she reached behind the chair for her axe.

Raph ushered them on before she could raise it. “Yeah, I’m sure Sigma will love to see you rushing the gates with that, Axe Girl.”

When they were safely in the vestibule of elevators, Raph clapped Rai on the shoulder, and just barely remembered not to slap an arm over Sao as well. “She was joking, of course. Miss Pine is a sweetheart, but she has no place in this investigation.”

“You think she’s involved with Be-”

“No. Use your brain. For one, she’s retainer to the chief. The shaved head is all very fun and punk-rock, but with a job like that, how could she be anything but deep in the institution? You know that before her, the chief had gone without a PA for years. There’s something about her that he trusts. Chances are, she’ll tell him everything. Number two - it’s because she’s a sweetheart. She doesn’t want to see a bunch of detectives kicked off the force again. If things look bad, bad enough for another mass firing, she might say it’s all fine, try to get the case shoved back to the depths of the archives.”

Rai and Sao let Raph’s breathy ramble consume the silence. It seemed the easiest option. 

“I wish I could go with you guys, but I’m still banned from Bell.”

The elevator made its glacial way toward them on the second floor.

“If you need anything, anything at all to take them down, if I can help in any way, just-”

“Raph,” Rai said. “I asked to see you because I do have something you can do for us. I’ll tell you on the way to the car.”

---

“What a startling coincidence. One of the detectives at the raid came from a cult himself,” Sao very nearly shouted to be heard over the engine, and the sound of gravel crunching under the wheels. Rai’s car seemed full of holes. He gripped his seat as they shifted lanes. “Did you know?”

“I was hoping the ladies-in-the-well story wouldn’t come up. It’s not relevant.”

“I’m not sure. It seems to have given him some legitimate insight. Changes in the leader may mean more than we think. Delta noted something similar...” Sao rested his head on the rattling window.

“Raph’s from a puritanical polygamist farmhouse. Sigma’s running an alien-themed hotel.” Rai groaned. “I should have prepared you better. I just thought... it would make things uncomfortable to go straight to death-cult theories.”

“I did egg him on a bit.”

They ground to a halt at - no, a few inches past - a stoplight. “Detective Raph is not particularly secretive about his past. He told me the whole story over the phone two years ago, while asking me to triple-check my ‘sham of a review’ for the raid case. I guess I should have expected he’d let loose today.” The engine screamed the moment the light flicked green. “He’s pretty cavalier about it, but the Order he came from was a real hellhole. It’s pretty clear that he sees Sigma morphing into one of those monsters before his eyes. It’s completely personal at this point - that’s why he can’t get too close to Bell. Especially if he’s right.”

“I feel I should apologize for dredging this business up.”

“Hah. Well, don’t apologize to Raph, he’ll just repeat everything a second time for good measure.”

Sao sat, watching the world fly by. The city basked in the springtime sun, the air sweet with trees in full bloom. Greenery was everywhere; on the sidewalk, in the miniature parks tucked between offices and apartments. Had there always been so many gardens?

With a pained creak, the car joined the highway.

“What he said about magical influence. I thought about it too,” Rai muttered. “Raph didn’t spot anything during the raid. Maybe the incantations were too light. But even a little bit, just weather distortion, would take too much energy to fly under the radar…”

“How does magic detection work?”

“I can make a guess based on how it’s described in reports. The investigator does an incantation to create a sensor, which activates if some kind of magic sequence passes through. Of course, to get material evidence, you then have to transfer the results to something physical, otherwise it’s just a feeling. Takes more effort than you’d think; you need authorization, the sensor spell, then additional techniques to reflect the sensor’s result to paper. The shortage of magicians on the force means it’s never been popularized.”

“As useful as it might be.”

“Right. Case in point: if Raph was an amateur at the time, he could easily have screwed up the final step. The casefile had no magical detection documents at all, so he probably just did it on the fly. All he can remember from that night is the fleeting feeling that there was no magic in the air, for the minute or so that he was sensing, from the place he happened to be standing. How much would you trust that?”

It reminded Sao of his musings on dreams. A story that slipped away, leaving only the memory of losing it. “The lack of paper would probably have the chief shaking his head as well.”

“Raph didn’t even get to join the raid in person.” 

Sao rubbed his eyes. “Yes, I got the feeling he hadn’t been inside Bell.”

“He was stationed outside at the gate, since he didn’t have the experience or clearance levels yet. That’s why he caught Sigma coming in - but it’s not like he got to interrogate the guy or test him within his home turf. In the aftermath of the raid, he was banned from any Bell-related casework, HQ fears he’ll get pinned for retaliation. Little wonder why he’s salivating for a second chance.”

“You seem to know more about this magic business than you claim.”

Rai puffed air. He may have been flattered, or fuming at the family van about to overtake them. “Like all procedural magic, it’s full of holes. The test just looks for the presence of magic in the air; not the source, and not the intended outcome. Life Fountain aura could get in there and trigger a false positive.”

Personal experience, by the sound of it. Sao mulled over his clinical utilisation of a phrase so romantic as ‘magic in the air,’ while Rai gave their fellow drivers his full, scathing attention.

Sao picked at the loose seat cover. “So... Ms. Pine.”

“She always tells me to call her Charmion. ‘Pine’s my mom and she’s not dead yet’. Although she wasn’t so picky toward you saying it.”

“About her choice of decor...”

“You mean the axe. I don’t know for sure. But I suspect that’s why she’s the chief’s favorite.”

“Excuse me?”

“Forget Raph’s theory on indoctrinated loyalty or whatever it was getting her the job. You’ve seen the odd press, showing how the chief carries an axe instead of a gun? It’s smaller than hers, but, yeah. But you never see him using it. It could be a…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking... like a magic wand. Don’t laugh.” 

Sao tried not to. 

“Ever seen him use it? Two-four-six and chop. I dunno what kind of spell he’s using - can’t remember the last time I saw someone make a vocal incantation - but he doesn’t even need to get close and… no?”

“I’m not familiar with the chief’s fieldwork.”

Rai sighed. “Okay. But when’s the last time you saw a magician, even on TV, wielding a big wooden staff? Modern magicians have replaced blood sacrifice with lab-grown powders. The modern students learn mental templates, no poetry or fancy sigils anymore. The side effect of this - and one that's totally intentional on the military's part, I'd say - is that techniques are obscured to the public eye. Not always subtle, but not something you'd suspect. So who are us peons to say what a magical tool looks like or not? The chief’s some kind of specialist, and Charm...”

Sao watched the treeline flicker by, listening. But Rai did not continue. With a deep breath of the musty air, Sao cut the silence. “I should learn magic. Sign up for some of the army-police joint courses.”

“You should. I’d love to but...” Rai rubbed his fingers together. “These hands are banned.” The hands in question returned to the wheel. “I’ve heard it’s an intense regimen. They take you to wherever the local reserve is, and you camp there until you manage to forge a connection with the energy flow, whatever that is. And only after you pass the three rounds of examinations, the psych assessments, and memorize thirty-ish incantations by heart - hell of an investment before you even know if you’re suited or not. Army magicians are like a cult themselves, when you think about it.”

Sao continued to smile into the window. 

“Hm,” Rai said, “it’s almost noon. I’ll speed it up--”

“Please don’t.”

The engine poured its heart into the matter with a pained screech and Rai, mercifully for them all, kept the pace steady. “I’m surprised you’re awake. Something on your mind?”

“I've been thinking of what Delta said to me yesterday. Time getting away from all of us. Sleep is like that too. You close your eyes in one place and open them feeling like you're someplace completely different.” 

“Sleepwalking?”

“No, I mean… in a metaphysical sense. Even on a normal sleep schedule, there’s always some regret as to what you missed. Life that passed you by, changes to the world that you didn't experience yourself. Even if you intended to miss something, by closing your eyes, there's regret. It’s time you’ll never get back. I must be getting old.”

“Yeah…” Rai said, cautiously. “Never feels like enough hours in the day.”

The quiet that followed was not as comforting as Sao had hoped. His throat felt sandy. 

The wall of trees vanished, and they found themselves in a township of cracked, low-rise blocks. He saw no people, only bricks in faded coats of paint and cloudy storefront windows with signs begging to be bought. Those signs were overpowered easily by the billboards plastered across fences and walls, directing them toward the Bell Lodge & Resort Entrance. 

Sao rolled down the window. Despite the desolate sights, the air was fragrant, luxurious and weighty. A gust of wind tossed a cloud of petals overhead, from somewhere unimaginable yet impossibly near.

Sao inhaled deeply. The first and last time he’d visited, it had been after dark, him and five friends in a taxi, 3 years ago. Hard to notice anything but the people then. Hell, later that same night, he had barely been able to recall the place. But now, on smells and a handful of petals alone, it was all rushing back. He could almost see the stars, exactly as they were that night.

It had been a morning for memories.

“I see it now,” Rai said, as they turned the corner and approached the gates to Bell Lodge.