Twenty seconds into the descent, the dozens of guardians began to split into district groups. They split in pairs when they could, though short numbers left a handful of guardians alone. Good luck, Silas wished to all of them as the gap between the subgroups widened and the silhouettes of his kind dwindled into the distance.

As the breeze around Silas strengthened mid-dive, he felt compelled to reach for the pair of thin goggles in his side pocket. Once he had secured them over his eyes, he heard the howl of air soften on his left side. He looked over and saw his old friend, Anders, closing the gap between Silas and himself with a tilt of the wing. They had been friends for decades, though recent number shortages meant they spent less time patrolling districts together and more time apart.

"Why didn't you put those on earlier?" Anders called over the wind with a frown. "You're going to fall like that."

Silas opened his mouth to retort, but had nothing to say in his defense. It was important to fly carefully, and that meant no fidgeting on the way down. Especially at super-velocity, a single mistake in wing angle could change a guardian's wind-facing surface area enough to receive a velocity shock and slow to terminal velocity or less. The effect was similar to hitting a wall of various hardness on land, and if the guardian wasn't injured from that alone it could disrupt their landing and even become lethal. It dawned on Silas that he had been extremely careless to head into this type of emergency with such improper form.

"I'm still foggy from a nap―I'm sorry," he responded at last.

"Be careful, you hear?" Anders insisted, creating space between the two again. "I'll be alone if I lose you."

Less than a minute passed before Silas landed with Anders. Silas was good with intuition, empathy, and ground combat, but he was a fool with the celestial tech programmed into the wrist guards they each wore. "Which way first?" he asked to Anders for guidance.

"A lot of them are in an apartment complex....." Anders began. He concentrated on his wrist apparatus and finally fixed on a direction. "Over there."

"It could be a fire," Silas thought aloud.

Anders quickly shook his head. "Look at it. There's no smoke and my xWatch doesn't show any signs of mortality yet."

"A gas leak?" Silas tried again. "It's odd that we have this much foresight on the death count and proximity of an accident. Now if it were an intentional gas leak by a celestial being..."

Anders stared as if Silas had just killed a man. "The shinigami! Move―!"" he exclaimed as he grabbed Silas's arm and yanked Silas toward the building. "When we get there, I'll contact the front desk, locate the gas valve, and evacuate the residents. You figure out where the Shinigami are and don't let them get involved. Let's go!"