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The wind blows on the leaves in the young Banshee's hand, and voices fall from the breeze.

(In Sarkaz) One more! One more story!

(In Sarkaz) How about the tale of the wandering metal hero?

(In Sarkaz) He even graced our valley once. In fact, the mist that shrouds Mist Lake was actually blown from his big pipe...

(In Sarkaz) Retract your feather horns like this, and you can shield your eyes.

(In Sarkaz) So we can use them as an eye mask to sleep during the day?

(In Sarkaz) No, of course not. This is so you can easily weave your tears into elegies at funerals...

Another recording ends, and the young Banshee keeps her leaves in a chest pocket, yet her gaze suddenly turns wary.

Eavesdrop again, and I'll throw you into the concrete mixer.

Was that... a Banshee's incantation?

Yes.

You've journeyed thousands of miles from Kazdel to Columbia, yet you record your people's voices to keep by your side, listening to them over and over?

Is homesickness hard for you to comprehend?

No. But, it's rare I find someone concentrating on nostalgia the same way she concentrates on a blueprint.

You're trying to decipher the Banshees' language and behavior. Why? To find a new path, to solve your entire race's plight that has endured for millennia?

Gah...

I'm not that arrogant.

I only hope to take a burden off the shoulders of a particularly worried individual.

I see, though that's pretty much what I just said.

So, any breakthroughs?

I'm not in that much of a rush.

It sounds as if you've replayed that countless times over...

Soaking in the same old corpus until you drown, unable to develop a new language.

The limits of vision and thought drown us in the pool of 'common sense', and then everything turns into so-called destiny...

I thought you left Kazdel knowing this.

Erasing those recordings... is a cruel suggestion.

It's rational.

Hello, I'm Kristen, Control of Rhine Lab.

Nasti.

The talented Banshee, freshly recruited by Sterleigh Construction Co, who completes projects three times faster than regular engineers, provoking rumors of you imbuing witchcraft into blueprints...

We're currently establishing an engineering department at Rhine Lab. Might you be interested?

I happened to overhear your chat with the boss yesterday... 'Rhine Lab' is a bio-tech company, yes?

Look up, Nasti... Do you see those fowlbeasts, and the morning stars behind them?

I'm only looking for some kind of power to break through the sky.

The sky...

Per your prior suggestion, if you wish to accomplish something that exceeds the borders of common sense, then perhaps the power you need doesn't come from our side...

Rhine Lab should be looking into a scientific investigation department instead.

A rational suggestion. Can I take this as the first proposal fielded by our Director of Engineering?

Miss Lunorey?

I thought you'd send me straight to the hearing, or perhaps a more confidential cell... but here we are, waiting for a cable car at the ropeway station. Are we to visit the levitation layer next?

Your visitor has indeed arranged for that.

Long time no see, Nasti.

...So it was you.

I just got here, and what a fine place it is. I still have half the place to see—shall we have a look together?

Alright.

Why is it raining only in the area we just passed through?

Cloud projections, thanks to a sky simulator system developed by Wrankwood. Wait five minutes, and you can even enjoy an aurora.

A century ago, that fellow known today as the father of projections once lamented to me on a film set, wondering when we could actually shoot a film up in the sky...

'Sky Fever' has truly set the revolutionary gears of film tech in motion.

Quite an atmosphere here, Nasti. Personally, I take civilization's rapid developments as commonplace happenings, and now I can't help but be moved by the Columbians' creativity.

It's hard to believe you'd still be in the mood for fun and games.

According to the laws drawn up for Propeller Paradise, relevant authorities must call for a hearing within twelve hours of an emergency event happening to investigate the matter and notify the public.

Gordon barged into Rhine Lab's Vivarium, wrecked our research projects, and exposed his shady dealings to public scrutiny.

Evidence and testimonies provided were complete and accurate, your people arrived quickly, yet you've been dragging your feet to begin this hearing...

This is no procrastination, Nasti.

Two years ago, the Columbians never thought they'd fight the clouds for the right to dwell above. But now?

Propeller Paradise has become the hottest topic in all of Columbia, and its name tops the special plate registry records.

Take a moment to ride the cable car as it circles around. Look at the facilities around you, and at the company representatives clogging the entrance to the registration center...

All of this already tells us what sort of judgment the hearing will produce, no?

<i>Propeller Paradise.</i> Hmph. You get it? 'Paradise', representing a zealous ambition to fly high up into the skies, while 'Propeller' has an exact implication too—there's no stopping.

A smuggling network exposed, revealed to be led by the chief executive involving nearly a hundred companies, numerous irregularities found in the park's research work over the past six months... once we begin investigating, the exhibition will have to be canceled.

You're right, Nasti. The hearing must convene, and everything that's happened must be accounted for—

But that's all they need. An account.

And Rhine Lab is the most appropriate party to provide that?

After all, this 'sky fever' began that night in Trimounts. Anyone could believe Rhine Lab will do something like this again.

*sigh* Never the silent technician connecting nothing but cables that your peers say you are.

Though, this isn't exactly a false accusation against Rhine Lab now, is it?

Your mystery 'tree' still floats in the sky. Putting aside your 'botanical unit' and other excuses, how are you going to explain that?

It sounds like I don't even have to attend the hearing anymore. You've already made up your mind, after all.

...I'm sorry, Nasti.

I'm not sure of the exact timeframe, but I'll go home eventually. Someone's waiting for me.

Before that happens, Rhine Lab can become one of the stops on your journey.

It doesn't matter if you want to develop a new language, create a new Convallis, or change the so-called 'fate' of your clan... no one will get in the way of your goals.

On the contrary, Rhine Lab will fight for everything you need. After all, we have many like you.

And the catch? Or perhaps I should ask... the cost?

Nasti, I don't ask company employees to view Rhine Lab's operations as some sort of grand undertaking worthy of personal sacrifice.

If we want to accomplish the unprecedented, we are already on a path strewn with enough doubt and loss...

So, we must never stop. Ever.

...I consent to join Rhine Lab then.

Seeing as we're still on the cable car, I'm sure there's room for discussion.

Mm-hm?

The hearing must take place, and everything has to be accounted for, but it's merely an accounting...

All of Columbia knows about the Horizon Arc Project from two years ago. Kristen stole funding from the DOD, but Rhine Lab as a whole was not fully involved...though, I was certainly her accomplice.

Pinning the blame of endangering the entire park on a company versus an individual has entirely different implications, Nasti. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself like this for Rhine Lab?

Sacrifice? Kristen and I aren't fans of the word.

Everything has a price. This is what life in the Convallis and Kazdel taught me. There is no way I'll willingly take the blame for one of Maylander's plans.

I won't make it hard for the other Rhine Labbers.

Nor that 'tree', for that matter.

Do as you wish with the device, but let my assistant take the data, since the research isn't finished. He knows nothing about my project, so don't worry about him tampering with it.

We're here.

The agents at the station will escort you where you should go.

Right, there's something else. When I returned to Kazdel, I went to the Convallis...

Væla is here... I already know.

I had planned to hurry to find her before I went to the hearing.

(Væla is in the park...)

(Heh, Mercia. So I see...)

I'll send someone to look after my old friend.

Thanks.

The hearing on the sudden accident on Propeller Paradise has just concluded.

Suspect Nasti Lunorey abused her position as the head of the Park's Engineering Department to conduct unauthorized experimental projects, and this nearly led to a disaster.