Gloom rose up over the curtain wall. Formless tide gave way to shapes that they could barely pick out in the dim light. "Looks heavy tonight, people. Compassion up front." Their leader's amplified words echoed along the bastion.

Someone without context might have mistaken them for ragtag defenders making their last stand, with their apparent disorganization and motley raiment, but their ease had more to do with confidence. They turned from their ad-hoc conversations to face the darkness, colourful tchotchkes bouncing and jangling.

The thin one swung its head around ponderously. Its neck looked at risk of breaking, but, ignoring this, it swung its head over to the side. All the way over. It drooped now, like a wilted flower.

The stocky one swivelled up to look at the same thing. It had no neck, so it was forced to swivel its entire body. It swivelled so far it caught itself from falling on a thick, shiny arm with too many joints.

She blinked furiously. The light grew stronger now, well past the point of discomfort. She blinked some more. She willed her eyes to focus, to articulate what she was seeing, but it kept swimming just beyond apprehension. She blinked some more.

A soft rushing sound began to build. Where it was exposed, her skin began to tingle. Her spine arched involuntarily. She smelled combustion products.

"You've got it all wrong. They're not idiots, man. I do it too. Dive right in, no fear. And I do it for myself. You want to know why?"

The footmen lounged around the campfire, heavy steel helmets neatly arranged behind them, alongside a stack of swords and shields.

The slow oscillation of the frame of the structure was mesmerizing. As he stared, it resolved into the side of a face. He saw the gentle curve of a smile.

Peter rolled over. An insistent cloud of ephemeral wisps floated around him. They sang tinkling, crystalline notes. The sound was unsettling, discordant. He was afraid. He dismissed them with a twitch of his head. His pod was cramped and profoundly isolating, but he felt nothing but a distant, dull innervation to further the social good.