History Archives - Fractured Veil

The Green Lady of Keali’i Gulch

According to Kānaka legend, there used to be a large farm near Keali’i Gulch. Hana farm was well-known in the area for a number of reasons. It was one of the few places on the island relatively untouched by the fracture. The farm became a sanctuary for the entire extended family and many of their neighbors. The Hana’s become famous for the incredible fecundity of their land. The taro grew huge. All the fruit was amazingly sweet. The quality of the crops garnered a premium and the family did quite well for a period of time. Then the sickness began and people began to whisper about a curse.

At the end of that first year, everyone on the farm began to fall ill. It wasn’t long before some of the hired help started to have accidents. Between the misfortune in the fields and the mysterious sickness, the Hana’s soon found themselves working the farm alone. Tragedy continued to follow the family until only the grandmother and a group of 12 grandchildren remained. The collection of cousins and siblings kept the farm running, but it was a shadow of its former self.

While many avoided the family and farm, one of the village boys, Kahale Wiwo’ole, became good friends with Pualani the eldest granddaughter. The pair would often be found together talking about the farm and the future. One day the teenagers had been out too late making plans for Pualani’s birthday. The girl was turning 16 and Kahale was planning something special. They arrived around dinner time, and Grandmother Hana was not pleased. “Pualani! Where have you been? Why is that boy here so late? It will be dark soon and you know how tired you all get after dinner. Make him go home,” she yelled.

Kahale kissed the girl on the cheek and told her he’d see her in the morning. That night he tossed and turned. He couldn’t figure out why Grandmother Hana had been so mad. He and Pualani had been friends for years. Mostly, he thought about how embarrassed his friend had looked and decided he would sneak out to make sure she was alright.

It was easy for Kahale to find the farm even in the dark. He snuck around back and tapped lightly on the window. He tapped again and again, but nothing happened. Lifting the window, he crawled inside only to find all the beds empty. Opening the bedroom door just a crack he couldn’t believe what he saw.

All the children were still seated at the table, but they were all in a deep sleep. Pualani’s grandmother stood behind her with a hollow ipu gourd. The boy had to cover his mouth when he saw the woman pull a large thorn from a pocket, and poke the back of his friend’s neck. She filled the gourd with blood and walked to the front door without a word.

After she left, Kahale rushed to his friend to make sure she was ok. He couldn’t wake her up but was reassured that Pualani was still breathing, and decided to see where grandmother Hana was going. Sneaking out the door, he could see her walking through the fields towards the jungle, and decided to follow. The woman stopped abruptly. He was afraid that she had heard him, but then he noticed something moving. A tall green woman wrapped in vines, with flowers in her hair appeared from the foliage. “I have your drink,” the grandmother said before handing over the gourd. A sound like wind blowing through the branches came from the woman, and the scent of jasmine and gardenia filled the air, but she never spoke. “Yes, I know our bargain. She will be 16 tomorrow and I will bring her. As you are fed, so shall you feed our fields,” the grandmother said and bowed low. The green lady was gone as suddenly as she appeared, and the elder Hana walked back to the house.

Kahale didn’t sleep that night and waited for Pualani on the trail leading to town. The frightened young man tried to explain to his friend what he had seen, but Pualani didn’t believe him. When he mentioned the wound on the back of her neck they found that it had somehow healed overnight. He begged the girl to stay with his family, but she refused and angrily ran back to the farm.

Kahale didn’t know what to do. If Pualani didn’t believe him what chance did he have convincing anyone else? He hardly believed it himself. He walked home to try and figure out what to do. All day he paced back and forth and read through old books trying to find an answer. Finally, his uncle asked the obviously troubled boy what was wrong, and why he wasn’t with his friend on her birthday. Exhausted and out of options, Kahale broke down and told him what he had seen. Instead of laughing or accusing the boy of dreaming, Kahale’s uncle grabbed him by the arm and went to get help.

Just before nightfall Kahale and a group of the villagers raced to the farm. They arrived just in time to see grandmother Hana pushing Pualani in a wheelbarrow through the fields. Just as before, the green lady stepped out of the foliage and reached out towards the unconscious girl. Before she could touch her, one of the villagers screamed out and the creature froze. A deafening scream came from deep inside the green lady and she grabbed grandmother Hana. Everyone watched in horror as the creature drained the old woman in seconds until she was a dried husk.

The beast ran into the jungle with the villagers giving chase. They cornered her in a cave and decided to build a big fire at the entrance to smoke her out. By morning a few of the bravest ventured inside, but all they found was some bones and a tangle of thorny vines with a blood-red wilted flower in the center. Pualani recovered as did the rest of the children. They moved to the village and their ancestors can still be found there today. The green lady of Keali’i gulch was never seen again. People still farm the surrounding lands, but they are very careful to always be home at least 2 hours before dark.

May 7, 2117

The Office of Travel brochures and manuals

The fracture destroyed large swathes of land and a majority of the population, but it wasn’t just lives that were lost. Many of the systems and constructs of society were wiped out as well. The first few years after the accident was an extremely hard time for anyone trying to live, let alone rebuild anything from the old world. There can be no argument that one of the most important organizations to emerge in those early years was the Office of Travel Brochures and Manuals (OTBM). Founded by Ron Kapili sometime in 2052, the office served as an invaluable resource to those trying to repair the damage that had been done and remains an important asset for islanders seeking knowledge today.

Ron spent most of his life tinkering and collecting instructional manuals. Most of his toys had been taken apart and put back together at least once. He built his first bike himself from parts he had printed at Ano Lee’s maker commune in Lahaina. Unlike most mothers in her situation, Ron’s mom encouraged the young boy, and would provide him with countless how-to magazines and owner manuals to the home appliances he seemed fascinated with. Partially working vacuum cleaners, tripped circuits, and the distinct smell of electrical fires was common around the Kapili home.

While he was a wizard with tools and anything electronic, the structure of school was too restrictive for Ron. Failing almost all of his classes, it was no surprise to anyone when he dropped out, and began working at his mother’s thrift shop. If it weren’t for the great accident he might have spent his entire life fixing TVs, and the hand-held games that were sold in the store. Sometimes extraordinary talents are exposed through extraordinary circumstances, and such was the case with Ron.

While many around him sat stunned or scrounged for food in those first few days, Ron got to work. Within days he had fixed the store’s solar panel with his trusty folder of user manuals. By the end of the week, he had a generator working again too. At the end of the month, survivors in the teenager’s neighborhood all had light to sustain them through the uncertainty of the long nights. The boy collected a number of new owner manuals too and began work on the repairable items they belonged to. When he found a travel brochure about tours offered at a nearby aquifer facility his story took another big turn.

Water was at a premium, and up until this point most people had been relying on streams, and the few working wells scattered around the island. While looking at the brochure, Ron recognized the make and model of the water pumps used at the facility from some manuals he had collected. After packing his tool bag, arranging the proper manuals in his binder, and recruiting some help, he set off to the water plant to see what could be done.

To the delight of many, the group scavenged what parts they needed and had 2 pumps working by the end of the day. Word of clean water and the boy with the manuals spread quickly. Survivors from all over were soon seeking out Ron with hopes that he could fix their items, and brochures offering suggestions of places to go next. It became quickly apparent that there was too much work for the young man and his crew. It was then that someone suggested that they set up a place where others could get the information needed to make various repairs, and go about rebuilding places of interest. The Office of Travel Brochures and Manuals was established soon after.

Today the office is a valuable resource to anyone wanting to explore a new area, repair items, or build something from scratch. Physical copies of how-to books, user manuals, or brochures are still available for purchase, but most customers choose to have them uploaded to their Ceremplants. The office will still purchase any pamphlets, flyers, and user guides that are brought in, but prices vary greatly based upon the item’s rareness. For a nominal fee, visitors can get a history lesson by viewing Ron’s original collection in the “Drawers of Knowledge” exhibit that some have called “the most important stack of dog-eared documents to ever be crammed into a file cabinet.”

If you are trying to repair an item, learn a recipe, discover a new area, or just unload a stack of booklets, the Office of Travel Brochures and Manuals should be your first stop.

Bruddah Lee

Kanaka Historian

August 6, 2116

Lilinoe and Clever Kopono

The Kānaka’s relationship with technology is a complex one. While they accept the need for science and machinery, most consider the fracture to be a direct result of an unhealthy obsession with them. Add to this the fact that the accident caused severe deformities in many Kānaka which makes working on fine components difficult, and it is no wonder why their heroes don’t interact with technology. Clever Kopono is the rare exception. There are many stories about the resourceful young man and his backpack, but the most well known is about his adoptive mother, Lilinoe.

Lilinoe was a widow and sickness had claimed her children. She was the poorest woman in the poorest village on the island. Her back ached when she walked and she had lost most of her teeth years ago, but she was always caring to others. She would gladly share what she had, which was almost nothing, with anyone in need.

One day while she was searching for a crab to add to her onion water she heard a noise from behind a rock. Slowly Lilinoe hobbled over to investigate and saw that it was a crying boy. The wretch was soaking wet and shivering. A dirty backpack was stretched over an enormous hump on his back. It looked as if the poor boy hadn’t eaten in a week. Lilinoe took off her tattered cloak and wrapped the boy up. She walked him over to the soft sand and asked if he was alright.

The boy said his name was Kopono and that he was an orphan. He told Lilinoe that he had been wandering for weeks and just wanted a place to stay for the night to dry off. The old woman agreed right away. It wasn’t much, but he was welcome to stay in her children’s old room and share as much of her onion water as he could stomach.

One night stretched into two, then three. Lilinoe began to care deeply for the odd little boy who never seemed to let the backpack out of his sight. She asked him if he would like to stay with her permanently and make the village his home. “You won’t have to carry around that backpack anymore, you can leave it in your room,” she said. The boy began to cry and gave Lilinoe a hug. He said he would be proud to call her mom and leave his bag in his room if she promised to never ask what was in it and always knock before she came in. It seemed a strange request but this was a strange little boy, so she agreed.

Kopono began to settle into life in the village. He wasn’t very strong or especially quick. His back kept him from being a good hunter, but he was very smart. He knew a better way to make fish traps and a way to grow plants in balls of moss without soil. Soon Lilinoe had something to add to her soup besides onions, and everyone in the village began calling the boy clever Kopono.

After living with the boy for almost a year, Lilinoe began to hear strange noises coming from Kopono’s room. She would knock and ask if the boy was alright to which he would always reply that he was. He would tell her that he was working on projects with his helpers. She thought he was a little too old for imaginary friends but he didn’t think like anyone she had ever met, so she didn’t let it concern her. Then one morning she heard a different noise. One that excited her.

She could hardly believe her ears at first. She held her breath to hear it more clearly. When Kopono’s door opened the boy was holding her old music box and it was working again. She had no idea where her husband had scavenged it, but he had given it to her on her wedding day. She took the box and stared at it in disbelief. “How did you fix this,” she asked through the tears rolling down her face. “My helpers showed me how to make it work,” he answered. Two hours later a line had formed outside of the house with villagers hoping to have their broken items fixed.

Clever Kopono fixed fans, handheld games, and a pile of other electronics over the next few weeks and word of his abilities began to spread. Usually the Kānaka need to go to the Thrivers to get things fixed and that can be dangerous and expensive. Having one of their people who could repair things was a blessing. Before the month was up everything was working in the village again, including the generator. The village began to grow thanks to clever Kopono.

Word spread far and wide about the clever little boy until one day Chief Ikaika himself appeared in the village. He had heard about the strange little boy and wanted to see for himself if the stories were true. The chief was in the middle of his campaign to clear this part of the island of all the dangers to the Kānaka. One of the drones he was using to keep track of his enemies movements had broken, and he didn’t want to pay the people on the hill to fix it. He asked Kopono if the boy could rebuild it. “I’m sure I can, give me 2 days,” Kopono answered.

The chief agreed and promised to have some more land cleared for farming, and 3 new fishing canoes for the village if his drone got fixed. In addition, he would take Lilinoe as one of his private cooks. She would never want for anything again in her life. With a look of determination, Kopono took the drone into his room and shut the door. The chief left and the village waited.

After not coming out at all the first day people began to worry. Lilinoe knocked and asked if she could help. “No, don’t come in here. My helpers and I will have it fixed in time. Don’t worry,” clever Kopono answered. The tension around the village was almost unbearable by that evening. “Why did we agree to let an orphan boy hold our fate. Everyone knows he’s sick in the head,” shouted a man. “You need to make him let you in there so we know if we should leave before the chief comes back. He’s sure to be angry and punish us if his machine doesn’t work,” added a neighbor. Lilinoe didn’t know what to do. She loved and trusted Kopono but the villagers did have a point.

With only a few hours left until dawn the pressure was too much for her. Lilinoe quietly opened the door and went inside. She saw the little boy sitting with his back to her illuminated by an electric lamp. His backpack was open on the floor next to him and he was surrounded by screws, pins, and a variety of machine parts. The drone was almost completely rebuilt in front of him, and covered in rats poking out here and there. She let out a gasp and one of the rats stood on its hind legs looking at her. Clever Kopono spun around and stared at Lilinoe in shock. The rats all ran into his backpack.
He began to cry and started to attach the last piece of the drone. “You promised that you would always knock before you came in,” he said. Lilinoe asked him what the rats were doing and if he was alright. “I told you, they’re my helpers and no. I’m not alright,” he answered. He turned the last screw and stood up, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “The drone is done. I want you to know that I will always carry you in my heart, but you broke your promise so I must go.” Before the sun rose, clever Kopono was gone.

The drone worked like it was new and Ikaika kept his promise. The village prospered and Lilinoe was never hungry again. When people asked where clever Kopono had gone she told them that the Thrivers had let him attend one of their schools which seemed like a fitting lie to her. She never told anyone what she saw that night, but would often sit on the rocks where she had found him that day. She would listen to the music box and the waves. The rest of her life Lilinoe wondered what happened to her clever Kopono and wished that she had trusted him.

May 18, 2116

The History of the Regulators Part III

I’ve been highlighting the Regulators and it’s most important members this week. There have been a number of groups that shaped Lahaina after the fracture, but there’s no doubt that the Regulators have had a bigger impact than most. I’ve discussed the transportation obsessed Esther Hele, and the alarming queen of food safety Betsy KauKau. Today, I’ll cover the last and most well received co-founder of the group, Dan Kukulu, or as he’s better known, Dan The Building Man.

Little to nothing is known about Dan’s upbringing and early years. The first mention of Dan in any of the old documents is when he was first appointed as a building inspectors in Lahaina. Dan took to his post just a year before the municipal veil building was constructed. He served the county of Maui for a while, but eventually left to work for Veilcorp.

Dan excelled in his new role, and was soon the head of maintenance at the facility. Fate had different plans for Dan however, and just a few months into his new job the fracture happened. To the astonishment of the surrounding Kānaka, Dan walked away from the building seemingly unharmed days later, and began his work immediately.

Although people were falling victim to biohazards and toxic fumes all around him Dan seemed fine. His survival coupled with his quiet demeanor, and aversion to physical contact made fellow survivors nervous at first. Their worries were soon quashed when Dan began to inspect buildings in the area and started repairs.

It was not unusual in those first few years after the collapse to wake up and find new handrails, or a repaired access ramp outside of your building. He never asked for help, but would accept it silently and graciously. When people would inquire, the normally quiet Dan would respond that the fracture wouldn’t have happened if the proper codes were followed. He couldn’t undo the accident, but he could ensure that everyone had a safe and accessible place to live now. He saw it as his job to make sure that the old construction safeguards were upheld, so the future could be rebuilt to commonly accepted standards.

Dan’s tireless work and aloofness had a big impact on the Kānaka in particular. They began to whisper that Dan wasn’t human but a spirit of the land. They claimed that he never slept and could travel great distances through the air at night. They made lists of things such as: clearly marked exits, termite barriers, clear roof drains, and properly installed cladding systems that pleased The Building Man. Dan loved detailed maintenance logs above all else, and presenting a set to him was a sure way to keep him working in your village.

Dan hated inaccurate blueprints and rooms without proper egress above all else. The Kānaka devised complex ceremonies to ensure that Dan would grant them building permits. These ceremonies could last for days and involve multiple villages. The rituals surrounding grandfathering a surviving structure were especially elaborate.

It wasn’t long before The Building Man started attracting followers, but unlike his fellow Regulators he never seemed interested in leading a large group. If he felt that his work crew had become too large to be efficient, he would send them ahead to scout and start repairs in new areas. Many of the remaining structures in Lahaina are standing because of Dan’s work. It’s hard to estimate how many people he helped that first year, but they numbered in the hundreds at least.

However helpful some found Dan, he was not without his critics. The Building Man considered every structure on the island his domain. He did not wait for permission to inspect your dwelling. It was his job. He would make what repairs and alterations he deemed necessary without regard for the people inside. It was not unusual to be awoken in the night from the sound of Dan altering the size of your doorway to meet code or other adjustments. Worse still, if he found your structure uninhabitable he would demolish it without regard for the occupants inside. If he was met with resistance Dan could be a terrible opponent indeed.

It was this disregard for the wishes of a structure’s occupants, and heedless renovation that eventually drove Dan from Lahaina. He attempted to install emergency lighting with a small crew of followers inside a building that turned out to be a Tapper stronghold. A fight between the groups soon broke out. According to the stories, the battle was so large that almost all of Front street was covered in Tapper fog. For hours the sounds of screams and nailguns mixed with taps and explosions. The battle moved North into the old preserve and Dan was never seen in Lahaina again.

There are rumors that Dan survived his battle with the Tappers and simply relocated to Kapalua to work in peace around the golf course. The Kānaka claim that he was so troubled by the Tapper’s aggression that he traveled to another island to continue his work. Whatever the truth, there is no doubt that Lahaina is a better place because of Dan’s work.

April 16, 2116

The History of the Regulators Part II

There have been a number of groups and individuals who have impacted the day-to-day lives of survivors on the island. Few have had as big of an impact as the regulators, however. The collection of dedicated civil servants and like-minded individuals, strive to implement and enforce the rules and regulations that existed before the collapse of civilization. Many, including the Kānaka, see them as the last vestige of an old failed system. Still, others admire their perseverance.

Earlier this week we covered the group’s founder, Esther Hele, a former DMV worker striving to keep the roads safe and the drivers licensed. Today, we’ll cover the group’s most notorious member, Betsy Kaukau. The name alone is enough to make even the bravest Kānaka warrior nervous. Even amongst members of the Regulators, Betsy is considered misguided. Some say that her story is more fiction than fact and serves as a cautionary tale. Others disagree. Either way, her story is an important piece of island history.

Betsy was not born to love her job like many of the Regulators. She was led down the health inspector path through tragedy. Until her 12th year, the young lady was remarkable only in her unremarkability. She wasn’t interested in anything in particular, excelled in no sport or extracurricular activity. She wasn’t a gifted orator or artist and was an average student. Everything about Betsy was standard with no deviation, until that fateful day at her father’s company picnic.

The media at first didn’t fully appreciate how bad the tainted food was. By the end of the week, they would be calling it the worst case of food poisoning ever recorded. A CDC investigation found that a perfect storm of tainted lettuce, undercooked chicken, and spoiled cole slaw was responsible. There was a cobb salad that combined listeria, trichinosis, salmonella, and e-coli in one dish! There were a number of recalls and legal suits filed but it was too late for the 34 men, women, and children lost that day. It was too late for Betsy’s family.

The girl was sent to live with relatives in Lahaina where she began to finally show an interest in something, microbiology, and food safety. Betsy became obsessed with protecting others from the same fate as her family. As a teenager, she was banned from several local restaurants for barging into the kitchen and demanding to check food temperatures or test sanitizing solutions with her container of test strips. Nobody was surprised when she eventually became a health inspector.

She attacked unsafe food handling practices with a vengeance that unnerved her co-workers and led to a number of official complaints. Betsy was particularly hard on the businesses that had banned her as a teenager. She became convinced that they were lying about their food handling practices and hiding something. When she publicly accused the owner of a popular beach bar of serving poisonous pina coladas, it was the transgression that her superiors had been waiting for. A disciplinary hearing was scheduled for the following Tuesday, September 27th, the same day that the veils fractured. Nobody knows what happened at that hearing or how Betsy survived. What is clear, is that the catastrophe had a profound effect on the already obsessed woman.

For a while, the islanders embraced her, and she was helpful. She taught safe food preservation and canning procedures. She explained to all who would listen that public health was more important than ever, and was the first to discover that the island’s white rats carried prions and shouldn’t be eaten. There can be no argument that for a time Betsy saved many lives, but as the Regulators grew in power so did her instability.

She began to preach about the pureness of food. Claiming that all food was flawless until tainted by mishandling and lies about its preparation. She believed that lies could taint people and spill over into their meals just as easily as bacteria, and it was her job to protect the public from both.

This is where the stories began to conflict and get a bit murky. There are claims that she believed that the entire summer harvest in a Thriver village had been tainted and had every plant dug up and destroyed. Still, others say that she thought the people had been tainted so she poisoned their food to stop the spread of the infection. Either way, many lives were lost and it was just the beginning.

The stories of her exploits for the next year range greatly from the bizarre and misguided to the horrific. What is certain, is that Betsy took complete control of the food and its distribution in Lahaina for a long time. She began to target specific people she felt did not take safe food handling seriously. They found no mercy at the bottom of her sanitizer vats, and no pity from her long probe thermometers. Finally, though, they had enough.

With her compatriot Esther run-off after a disagreement with the Kānaka chief Ikaika, Betsy didn’t have the manpower to hold off those who wanted her gone. She supposedly escaped her attackers and fled East to join up with Esther, but accounts of the assault vary. Some say she made it and plans on coming back with a whole new arsenal of twisted kitchen equipment and shutdown notices. Some say she is finally at peace somewhere in the rubble of her old headquarters. Whatever the truth, everyone who has ever accidentally dropped food on the floor can breathe easier since she’s been gone.

April 15, 2116

The History of the Regulators Part I

There have been a number of groups and individuals who have helped make the island livable since the fracture. From science fair kids joining forces with a dance troupe, to mysterious delivery men trying to keep Front street safe, many have dedicated their lives to making things better. Then there are those that are harder to quantify.

The Regulators are one such group. A collection of dedicated civil servants and like-minded individuals, the Regulators strive to implement and enforce the rules and regulations that existed before civilizations collapse. Most on the island views this as a preposterous endeavor at best. The Kānaka in particular, have a very dim view on rebuilding things in the image of what existed before. However, there are those that admire the tenacity of the Regulators and their resolve.
This is the first in a series explaining how the group got its start, and detailing their three most important members.

By all accounts Esther Hele was a miserable child. Born the daughter of a well-known Pali-ites instructor at the world famous Kokua Wellness Center and Spa here in Lahaina, Esther’s troubles began almost immediately. The carefree and self-regulated parenting style in her home did not fit Esther’s personality. Thriving on order and rules, she would routinely put her toys in long lines in order to listen to their concerns and give them daily direction.

This behavior spilled over into preschool, where young Esther took great delight in reporting any and all infractions, (especially line cutting), to the teachers. Elementary school was no better. She was picked last, if ever, for every game at recess. The other children made fun of her need for order and love of authority. Things finally came to a head when Esther presented a 10-page report on the short-counting issue running rampant during hide-N-seek to the Principal.

It troubled her greatly that others were routinely allowed to disregard the rules without consequence. It seemed unfair to her that many of the adults appeared not to care, or were unwilling to enforce mutually understood standards of conduct. The lunch line was haphazard and inefficient at best. Esther declared that she would be better equipped to run things than her classmates or teachers. It was her proposed punishments for them that drew the most concern. After some discussion with school officials, and a licensed counselor, it was agreed that Esther should attend a more structured private school on the mainland.

The new school was exactly what she needed. While she still had trouble relating to her peers, Esther thrived under the strict new rules. She soon became a favorite of the staff and was allowed many special privileges. She reorganized the stanchions in the library, reducing the average check-out time by almost a minute. She added 30 pages to the school’s code of conduct packet to remove any ambiguities. Instances of students sneaking off campus dropped by a third under Esther’s diligent night watches. Not only did Esther like the strict rules, but she began to love the power as well.

Eventually she graduated and needed to find work. College seemed too chaotic for Esther and her teachers suggested a summer job while she worked on her plans for the future. On paper the DMV seemed liked the perfect fit for her, and as Esther would tell you, paper never lies. She did well at private school, but she was born to work at the DMV.

The lines were magnificent. If someone gave you trouble you could put them in another line, and watch the hope drain out of their eyes, by closing it minutes later. While the rules and organization inside seemed capricious or punitive to some, they made perfect sense to Esther. Still, she missed her family and longed to mold her hometown into a more efficient place to live. She was eventually granted a transfer.

Esther had just began to settle in at her new office. She wasn’t even supposed to start for another week, but she wanted to time the lines and look for any possible rule breaking from her co-workers before she started her next report. When the island started shaking she quickly led them to the designated emergency shelter and had the forethought to bring the water tanks from the lobby. Say what you will about her personality, but all the survivors inside that DMV office that day owe her their lives.

They stayed in the shelter for what seemed like forever. Finally, the water situation started to become dire. Esther knew she had to get out and survey the area, but she was not quite ready for what she saw. Everything was in ruins. She assumed there must be other survivors somewhere but she didn’t see any. Though she didn’t know what the problem was exactly, it was a safe bet that nobody would be veiling in with help anytime soon. It was clear what she had to do.

With the veils broken, organized roads and safe drivers were more important than ever. She couldn’t clean water but she could make sure the equipment needed would be delivered by licensed drivers. She didn’t have any medical equipment but she could ensure that it was distributed promptly through an orderly transportation system. She had the knowledge and skills. She understood how important her cog was in the wheel of civilization. She would continue the DMV’s work.

The rest is history. For years Esther could be found patrolling the roads and conducting driving tests around Lahaina. Some of the questions changed over the years. “What should you do first if you find a Menehune has cut your brake lines?” and “If you are trying to escape a Night Marcher who wants your skull, but the light is red, are you allowed to continue without coming to a complete stop,” are two of the most recent additions. Esther tried to keep the rest as close to the original as possible. Her staff grew from the initial survivors to a group of over 100, all looking for any bit of the old world they could find. Islanders started to call them “The Regulators” within a year, and the group flourished.

Esther and the rest of the Regulators bit off more than they could chew however, when they presented the great Kānaka chief Ikaika with a letter demanding he register his war canoe. The bill, which included 35-years worth of penalties, was considered a provocation by the chief. When Esther told him that if he didn’t like it he could move to the back of the line a short battle began.

Lives were lost on both sides but the Regulators tenacity was no match for the Kānaka’s numbers. In her younger days Esther might have fought to the end, but with years came some wisdom, and she retreated to reorganize her paperwork. Lahaina hasn’t seen any Regulator activity in decades now, but it is rumored that the group has never been stronger. Some say that they are simply adding fees and penalties to the Kānaka’s bill while continuing to license those not strong enough to fight back elsewhere on the island.

Love them or hate them, there’s no doubt that the Regulators hold an important place in the history of post-fracture Lahaina. If you manage to get a vehicle going make sure you follow the rules of the road and your paperwork is in order. The last thing you want is to see Esther in your rearview mirror.

April 13, 2116

The “Tappers” and what to do if you meet them

Lots of groups had a hand in rebuilding Lahaina and turning parts of it into the paradise it is today after the Veils fractured. Not many of those groups survived. The “Tappers” not only survived the accident and the years of chaos immediately after, but they are still going strong. Woe be to anyone with bad intentions on the island when a fog springs out of nowhere and their tapping begins.

The Tappers were formed from an unlikely alliance of highschool kids on the big day itself. Legend says that it was a clerical error that brought them together. Even though the two events weren’t expected to bring in large crowds, the scheduling of the regional science fair on the same day as the all-island tap and dance competition was a mistake. We can all be thankful that sometimes mistakes happen.

Rachel Driscol was easily the smartest student in Lahaina, maybe in all of Hawaii. Driscol’s passion was acoustics. Her successful projects won her many awards and assured her acceptance to the college of her choice. Her mistakes were painful for anyone in earshot. Luckily for Rachel and her neighbors, she rarely made mistakes. Everyone knew that she’d get a PhD in 5 years and get a job in one of Veilcorp’s advanced divisions like her mom. She had brought her greatest invention yet to the fair that day, a wearable echolocation system.

Kaholo Mae on the other hand hated school. He maintained grades just good enough to keep him eligible for his true passion, the school’s dance troupe. Anyone who had the pleasure of watching Kaholo take a rhythm or beat inside of himself and express it perfectly through his movement and grace was lucky indeed. He loved tap above all else. His Bandy Twist was amazing. His Chug, divine. Everyone, including Mae, knew that he was not long for the island. He would soon be showing off his skills on the mainland. Winning this competition was just the next step in what was going to be a fabulous career on stage. Fate can be cruel but it can also be kind. Many of the kids there that day owed their survival to the fact that the pair were in the same hallway together when the accident happened.

Rachel didn’t know how bad it was going to be, but she knew immediately that the rumblings were not good. Something about the way the air became charged let her know that something terrible was about to happen. She told Kaholo and he sprang into action. Most of the students made it into the locker room when the explosions began. Nobody knows for sure what saved those huddled kids that day, but soon they weren’t just surviving, they were thriving.

The intelligence of the science fair kids was the perfect compliment to the physical endurance of the dance students. Rachel’s ingenuity and practicality the perfect pairing to Kaholo’s charisma and motivational skills. That’s not to say that luck didn’t play a part of course. It turned out that some of the chemicals used in the making of the dance kids’ outfits had amazing antimicrobial properties. Between those that didn’t make it and trunks of extra costumes for changes, there was enough clothing for everyone. The students didn’t suffer through the diseases that afflicted many during those first few years.

Despite all odds, the kids started to become a force on the island. It turned out that the survival skills you learn as a high school outcast were just as useful in some ways as those you’d learn in the military. Over the next 10 years the teenagers did what teenagers have done throughout history and soon their numbers swelled. In 20 years everyone started calling them the Tappers. The Night Walkers and anyone who threatened the group, or tried to take their gear, learned to fear them.

They are a secretive group who usually leave others alone. They rarely trade and you have to be born a Tapper, they don’t take new members from the outside. If you find yourself in Tapper territory you are safe as long you don’t take anything and you leave in a reasonably quick manner. The last place you want to be, is inside a building or in the forest with a pack full of Tapper food when their artificial fog rolls in. They have created a number of unique items and tactics over the years that you can use to identify them besides their sparkling clothing.

One of the most frequently used pieces of Tapper equipment is the [REDACTED] are all but impossible to find. These are one of the few items that they trade freely with others, although they appear to have an advanced [REDACTED] that they keep for themselves. They will often leave a food item out with one of these for a Night Marcher patrol. A few days later a group of Tappers with [REDACTED] clear the menace out and retrieve their Judas food.

The most common thing associated with the group, and the tactic for which they are named, is their specialized acoustic visualization system. Although they have never been recovered, it is theorized that the system is a smaller, more advanced version of Rachel’s science fair project. By tapping the ground with their shoes or nearby objects with a cane, a Tapper can “see” in complete darkness out to 60 feet. This ability works in thick fog or mist as well, and it is common for at least a couple Tappers in a group to carry some sort of fog making device. These machines can fill any space with a cloud of confusion in a few seconds. This ability to operate freely while others are blind make the Tappers feared adversaries. In some areas you can actually scare away a pack of bandits by just lightly knocking on a tree.

Deadly opponents and useful allies if left alone, the Tappers are one of the most important groups on the island. It’s best to mind your manners and take a “live and let live” attitude if you find yourself in Tapper territory.

April 6, 2116

Pana and the Lahaina Armory

The Kanaka believe that everyone is given the same two things when they are born. The world gives you a purpose and your ancestors give you a special skill. As you work your way through life, it is your job to discover your purpose and to cultivate your skill. It is not easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest parts of life. Often your purpose and your skill don’t have anything to do with one another. Many lose their way while trying to find their purpose. Some never get a chance to practice their skill before it is time to rejoin their ancestors, leading to much anger and discontent. However, A rare few seem to have a special insight and know from an early age what their life should look like and what they should do. Auntie Pana is one such person. Her purpose in life is to provide those around her with the tools necessary to protect themselves and the ones they love, and her skill is gunsmithing.

Before the fracture the building we all know now as The Armory was a museum. There people could look at ancient artifacts and learn not just the history of the islands but of other places and cultures as well. It is where Pana’s parents met, worked, and fell in love. It was also their sanctuary after the accident. The Armory’s strong walls and roof allowed it to survive the chaos while other structures were laid to waste. Being a museum, it was not at the top of the list for looting, so Pana’s parents didn’t have to worry about bandits or desperate survivors. There probably isn’t a perfect place to try and ride out the end of a civilization, but her mother thought this was as close as they were going to get. Her parents gathered all their surviving extended family and tried to make new lives for themselves.

Pana was different from other children, her sister Oki included. While her sister delighted in picking flowers to decorate the halls, and hearing tales of great battles and heroes, before going to the beach to look for shark teeth, Pana was more reserved. She would spend her days inside learning how things worked and building herself toys from broken or discarded gear. Above all, she loved her grandfather’s old revolver and was never found without it. Her father worried that such an item was inappropriate or dangerous for someone so young, but her mother reassured him that it hadn’t worked since she herself was a little girl and they didn’t have any bullets. Since it seemed to give her so much comfort they agreed to let her have it. While most girls her age had a favorite blanket or doll to help them go to sleep, Pana tucked the revolver beneath her pillow every night before drifting off. It was one such night that Pana’s skill first revealed itself.

Her father was awoken by a noise coming from outside. A team of deadly forest boars were rooting and tearing through the family garden. Her father ran to awaken the rest of the family to try and drive the beasts off and save their food. Just as he was gathering the spears they would need he heard a gunshot. Fearing that bandits were attacking he began to barricade the front door when he noticed little Pana slip through a window. In her hand she held her grandfather’s smoking revolver, “I topped da boes fum eating our food daddy,” she proudly proclaimed.

The adults cautiously went to the garden only to find a large boar with one clean hole directly in the shoulder; the perfect place to drop the creature. At barely 4, Pana had not only fixed the gun but had made a handful of cartridges. At her father’s urging, Pana showed him the tools she had made including a reloading press constructed from a bike pump and an old waffle iron. Amazed at her ingenuity and talent, the family began to indulge the girl’s desire to learn and innovate. Not to be outdone by her sister, Oki proved to be remarkable in her own right, becoming a master of the more traditional arms of the islands.

While her sister’s creations are full of flourish and intricate designs, Auntie Pana has become a master of no frills precision and dependable mechanics. In contrast to the well kept and immaculately decorated rooms of The Armory run by her sister, Pana’s workshop in a hodgepodge of tools, partially completed projects, and “items of promise”. Oki often quips that her sister is “a ballistic goddess, not a domestic one.” But her abilities and skill are no joke. Her tree cannons are well known on the island and feared by bandits and creatures of the fracture alike. Her internalized cocking mechanisms are ingenious. Her automatic ejector systems are divine. Pana learned her purpose at a very young age and has been honing her skills for over 50 years now. There is no better place to buy a weapon on the island than The Armory, and there is no better gunsmith than Auntie Pana.

March 10, 2116

Lono Hahai and the Lahaina Wolves

There are a bunch of animals on the island that aren’t native to the land. The first people brought some of them here on purpose like pigs, dogs, and chickens. Some like rats, were accidentally dropped off here by explorers. Still others like the mongoose, were brought in because people thought they could kill other animals that were eating too many crops, or destroying the forest. But the wolves fit into a special category of their own.

For many years, hunting the deer on the island was a popular pastime. Hunters from all over would come to the island to bring down a trophy buck. It wasn’t long before a number of hunting lodges and ranches sprang up. The biggest and best-known by far was the Hahai Ranch. If you wanted to hunt anything on Maui, your best bet was to hire a guide from Hahai.

There were a lot of good hunters and a few great ones at the ranch, but the best by far was the owner’s daughter Lono. Even though she was still a teenager, Lono seemed much older and was wise in the ways of the forest. She could track any animal and seemed to be able to tell what the boar or deer would do before they did. She soon became the most sought out hunting guide at the ranch, but Lono had very strict rules and ideas about how to hunt.

She never used guns when she went hunting and refused to guide anyone who did. After a while she even started to refuse bow hunts, insisting that using a spear was the best way to truly appreciate the primal nature of hunting. If it hadn’t been for a chance encounter with a wolf expert during a trip, Lono might only be remembered as a great guide.

The young woman became obsessed with how wolves took down their prey and the plight of pups orphaned by nuisance hunts. She turned part of the ranch into a wolf sanctuary, and 3 years after taking in her first pup, Lono began hunting with them. Soon she opened the hunts up to the public and the waiting list to go with one of the packs became huge. Hand-raised by the young woman and trained to hunt in combination with guests, the wolves made the ranch and Lono famous.

Armed only with a spear, knife, or club, hunters would join a pack, led by Lono, for up to 3 days. The wolves would track game, and run it until it was exhausted. When Lono was sure the target animal was tired and careless enough, she would have the pack steer the prey towards guests who lay in ambush.

Eventually, the hunts got more and more elaborate with technical upgrades. Each of the wolves were fitted with Ceremplants so hunters could see their quarry through the pack’s eyes, and Lono could better communicate with the wolves during the hunt. An entire pack was upgraded with bioluminescent fur for special night hunts. Nobody knows what Lono had planned next for her pack because the great accident happened.

One of the first places the people on the hill checked after the fracture was the ranch. They were hoping to find other survivors, food, or weapons but they didn’t find much. The entire ranch had been cleaned out by the time they arrived, and fresh graves had been dug in the back. Almost nothing remained but one half-starved wolf buried in the rubble. The beast snarled at first, but seemed to understand that the people meant no harm and let them help. Once free, the wolf let out a howl and ran into the forest. Almost a week later the survivors started to find deer left outside of the village.

Nobody saw who was leaving them, and at first, some people thought it was a trick. It wasn’t long until hunger beat out their caution, and they started eating the venison. For a little over a year, the people on the hill would find a deer left at the gate every week. They began to hear wolves howl during the night and while they were hunting, but nobody ever saw one. Everyone thought that the wolf they saved was just thanking them in the way he had been trained, then the mutants came, and they learned the truth.

One night scouts ran through the gates followed by a group of those monsters. Soon the village was surrounded. People fought as hard as they could, but back then the wall wasn’t very high so the mutants just climbed over it. All night long the people fought but it was no use, there were too many of them. Almost everyone was killed and the survivors barricaded themselves inside the school. They knew it was just a matter of time before the monsters found a way in. Everyone had lost hope, and they were sure they’d be eaten. Then, just as the sun was coming up one of the remaining guards looked out the window and saw a woman standing by the gate with a deer thrown over her shoulders. It was Lono!

She dropped the deer, threw her head back, and let out a howl. From every direction, wolves howled back. From inside the school the people watched as streaks of fur slammed into the mutants, knocking them to the ground and tearing them apart. A few of the monsters tried to run but they weren’t fast enough to escape the fury of Lono’s spear and her pack.

It was then that the people knew that it was Lono leaving the deer to thank them for saving one of her wolves. She must have thought they were even after that because the deer stopped being delivered. It’s been a long time since that day and there are a lot more wolves on the island now, but nobody ever saw Lono again. I like to think that she’s still running with her pack somewhere on the island protecting people from mutants, but who knows. The only thing that’s certain is that there’d be no wolves on the island if it wasn’t for my hero, Lono Hahai.

Akamai Mahelona
5th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina

September 7, 2099

How Coffee and Can Openers Helped Restart Thanksgiving

For a long time people celebrated Thanksgiving every year because they didn’t have to worry about having enough food. The first Thanksgiving happened a long, long time ago before people knew about vending machines or how to put food in cans. A group of people called the Pilgrims had a feast with people called the Indians in order to thank them for teaching them how to grow food. Over the years, other people heard about the Pilgrims, moved to where they lived and killed almost all the Indians. After that, Thanksgiving was mostly about eating with relatives and trying to be nice to them. Everyone’s family would travel from far and wide to eat together, catch up on each other’s lives, and talk about what things used to be better. The kids would sit at a different table than the adults so they could be loud and everyone ate a type of bird called a turkey. A turkey was like a giant chicken but it was almost always dry when you cooked it and nobody ate the eggs.

After things stopped working, people had to worry about getting enough food to eat everyday so they stopped having Thanksgiving. There weren’t any turkeys on the island anyway. Nobody seemed to care because they were busy trying to live. For lots of years people like my Grandpa Pa’ani worked hard up on the hill to make sure everyone there had enough to eat, and that the ugly people down below didn’t steal anything. Even though the people on the hill were smart and they worked hard some of their plants started to get sick. The macadamia trees stopped making nuts and the taro plants started turning brown and dying. Everyone was really scared because they didn’t know where they were going to get food.

They were so worried that a bunch of them went out the gate and down below to try and trade for some food. After looking around for awhile they found a hunting party. The ugly hunters saw that one of the traders was drinking coffee and asked if they could taste some. They hadn’t had good coffee in a really long time because their roasters were broken and they’re not very good at fixing things. They really liked the coffee so they invited them back to their village.The people on the hill noticed there was a lot of broken stuff in the village. Almost all of their machines didn’t work and their plates and glasses were chipped and dirty. Most of their stuff was rusty and all of them had to share a can opener. They noticed something else too, lots of healthy plants.

The people from the hill told them about how their plants were dying and the Kanaka knew what to do. They gave them a different kind of taro plant that was stronger than the old kind but tasted just the same. They showed the hill people how to bury the purple fish next to the macadamia trees so they would get better and make nuts again. The people on the hill were happy that they didn’t have to worry about starving anymore. They decided to have Thanksgiving again and invite the Kanaka.

Even though the people down below don’t smell very good and are messy when they eat, the hill people opened the gates to share a feast . They laid out blankets and brought out tables so that their houses wouldn’t get messy. The Kanaka brought lots of fish, meat, and vegetables. The hardworking people made lots of coffee and brought out clean plates and glasses for them to use. Everyone was really happy and best of all nobody tried to steal anything. To show their appreciation for the good manners and the healthy plants, the people on the hill gave them bags of roasted coffee, new glasses and plates, and some new can openers. The people down below loved the gifts, especially the can openers. After that the Kanaka and the people like my grandpa started trading things more often. They still do today.

The people up here had such a good time that they decided to start having Thanksgiving every year again. We don’t eat with the people down below anymore because we have enough food for our families now. Grandfathers can talk about how lazy everyone is compared to them, aunts can ask your older sister why they aren’t married, and your cousin can talk about how important Kanaka integration is to a vibrant culture again, all thanks to coffee and can openers. I’m glad that the Kanaka helped us but I’m more glad that I don’t have to eat with them. My weird cousin is bad enough!

Akamai Mahelona
4th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina

November 24, 2098

Tag: History