STORYLINE

Da Kine Air Services Will be In Your Area, Bid For an Appointment Now!

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Over 60 years ago my grandfather Buddy began Da Kine Air to serve all of your ventilation and air conditioning needs. Through hard work and professional service Buddy turned Da Kine into the premiere HVAC service on the island. When the veils broke we all lost a lot: homes, family and friends, and hope. Buddy fought hard to save as much, and as many survivors as he could. He had some hard times but with the help of a bunch of the old-timers, he pulled through. We didn’t lose Buddy, the business, or Lahaina.

He passed on all his years of knowledge and gratitude to my father George, who many of you know. For the past couple decades George has been working tirelessly to live up to Buddy’s legacy. He has repaired hundreds of cooling units as we make our way around the island. It’s impossible to know how many of you are breathing contaminant free air thanks to his diligent work. That work has been our family’s way of thanking you and doing our part to keep hope alive. It has been an honor and our pleasure to serve you, but time keeps marching on, and nothing lasts forever.

This will be George’s last year working for Da Kine. He will be passing the reins over to me. I believe that I can continue to offer the kind of quality and professional work that you’ve all come to expect, but I will be implementing some important new changes.

Buddy said he could never pay the community back for all their support in his lifetime. My father selflessly carried on that work for the better part of his life as well. Now, I believe Buddy’s debt has been paid in full. I have watched my father circle this island throughout the years providing cool, clean air to anyone who needed it for virtually nothing. That is about to change.

I will continue to keep the same schedule around the island, which would place Da Kine in the Lahaina area in January, but our prices have changed. Unlike my father, I am not interested in cementing a legacy with a disheveled family in tow. I am interested in securing a better future for myself and my crew.

Beginning immediately all of our services will go through a bidding process. Da Kine will offer 3 services a week for 3 months in one area before we move on. These services will be available through an auction process, and will go to the highest bidder. In addition to rai and provisions, we will now also accept other trade goods as payment. Medicines, ammunition, art pieces, jewelry, and other creature comforts will all be considered as good tender.

If you don’t have a lot to offer in the way of items, but have other talents that Da Kine might find useful let us know. We could always use more security, cooks, people with medical training or other more interesting talents. If you’ve always dreamed of giving your mother the cool home she deserves, or your kids clean safe air, a year of service might just make your dreams come true.

In addition to the new bidding process, we have a job rider that lays out how you will house, protect, and feed my crew should you be lucky enough to hire us. I have a number of requirements as well. A complete list will be available for your perusal before bidding but some of the highlights include:

  • We require a Reality Machine II or newer nearby to synthesize parts.
  • I require a room on the top floor of any structure that Da Kine is working on. If at all possible that room will face the ocean.
  • I require all furniture be removed from the rooms and replaced with my own pieces.
  • There shall be no less that 8 clean mugs available to me at all times as well as an assortment of not less than 4 different teas.
  • I require at least one fresh fish or meat dish a day. A selection of fresh fruits (no mangos) and local honey shall be available should I choose to eat breakfast.
  • A warm, not hot, bath shall be offered not more than one hour after work each day. I require a selection of cotton cloths or natural sponges, no brushes. In addition, I will need a clean towel to stand on in a well ventilated area as I prefer to air dry.
  • A story, song, or selected reading will be offered nightly should I have trouble falling asleep…..

I know some of you will find our new policy changes troubling and accuse me of taking advantage of our unique situation. Let me assure you that we will continue to offer the expertise and honest work that you have come to expect from Da Kine. We will not cut corners, and we will not do anything other than our very best to make you happy. I am simply trying to let our prices and lifestyle properly reflect the demand for our work. Some would say you can’t put a price tag on the comfort and safety of your family, but we’re going to try.

Hank Alunu
Da Kine Air Services

STORYLINE

The Lahaina Merchants Association’s Roadmap for the future

For over almost 20 years I’ve proudly led this group. When I started, many of us were selling scrounged tools and cans of food in dark alleys. Under my leadership I’m proud to say that the consumers of Lahaina may now purchase a wide variety of newly smithed metal items, lifesaving medicines, and fresh foods. Your entrepreneurial spirit and hard work have been an inspiration to me and to our customers but times are changing. The markets are in fluctuation and we need to pivot or run the risk of losing the footholds we’ve fought so hard to carve out.

As many of you know, last month someone was able to restart the global backup connection, and people started pouring in. I understand why some of them have turned to hawking their items. They’re confused, scared, and in a world that is vastly different than the one they remember. I sympathize with them, but I do not condone their activity. We can’t afford to look weak.

If these new visitors are going to conduct business in our territory they should be informed of the rules. I can forgive one transgression especially if they haven’t been enlightened, that’s what penalty charges are for. However, if they continue to disregard the rules we must be ruthless. This only works if we all work together. They need to know how important it is to pay association fees in a timely manner, (a lesson some of you are still struggling to learn I might add).

This is a good start but let’s be honest, it won’t solve our problem. Too many of them are showing up to effectively monitor. The writing’s on the wall and we need to step up our game. We need to come together like never before and show the people of Lahaina that they can consistently get quality products at a reasonable price from any of our businesses. I have a plan in place, but again, it only works if if we all work together.

First and foremost we need to renew our focus on quality. In the past weeks, I’ve heard a number of complaints about the selling of tainted clams, especially along the beach. I’ve talked to a few of you individually about the issue but it has to stop. Worse yet, it’s come to my attention that a number of spears have made it out of shops without fire hardening. We need our customers to feel like they can count on a LMA spear in combat. Their trust in us breaks a little every time one of those spears does. We can’t afford to carry members who cut corners.

We also need to start specializing. With the increased flow of consumers coming from the station stores nearby are busier than ever, but they are also having trouble keeping inventory. I think becoming more specialized fixes both of those problems. If the vendors near the station specialize in food, they can send customers down the road for weapons. The weapons shop can send them to Front street for medicine…..on and on it goes. This will ensure that we all benefit from the new traffic and each business can maintain a proper inventory.

Before you start complaining, I’m not suggesting that you can’t sell ammunition or a dagger if you own a place near the station. I’m just saying it would be in your best interest to make a plan with the other merchants in your area to spread your resources. Let’s make sure everyone gets a piece of the action. As you know, I’ve been working very hard on getting the armory up and running and plan on using it as the go-to stop in Lahaina for all your combat and protection needs. If you haven’t contacted me personally yet about selling weapons in the armory, please do so soon, and I will pass on consignment agreements.

I know there has been a lot of concern about the loss of market share due to the increase of working Reality Machines around the island, but I don’t think we have anything to fear. First, there are only a couple up and running and it’s not like they’re making new parts anymore. Secondly, the products coming from these glorified vending machines lack the quality and character that our handmade items do. Quality will always be king as long as I’m in charge of the LMA. It would be foolish to completely brush-off the danger of these automated hucksters however, so any member caught providing plans to one will be treated as if they were caught stealing from the association. I don’t need to remind you of what the penalty for that offense is.

Finally, we need not only need to get the word out, but we need everyone from the Thrivers to the Kānaka to think of us as family. We need to become integral to the Lahaina way of life. I’ve heard suggestions ranging from a gun raffle, to complimentary canteen fill-ups on purchases over 100 rai, to a preferred customer program. All of these ideas are alright, but I think they miss the mark. We need to get back to what got us here, breadfruit and bodies. We never saw a year like we did when we swept the Menehune from around the train station back in 08. Our Breakfast-N-Bullets event was the largest single day promotion we ever pulled off.

Rounding up some bandits, or better yet a few Night Marchers, and stringing them up in front of some shops and high traffic areas will yield hug benefits to our bottom line. If we add a few strategic luau’s, I don’t see how we can lose. It’s time for us to focus on each other and what matters most, the rai.

STORYLINE

How the Veilstorm changed Lahaina

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The topic of my report for Lahaina history week is the Veilstorm. Lots of people say that the Veilstorm was worse than the big accident, but I’m not sure. It made the island the place it is today and made it so that I got to meet Nana. She has protected us for a long time and always smiles and says “Be mindful little Akamai and stay on the trail.” whenever I leave Pu`u.

Nobody knows what made the big accident happen. Some people say it was a bomb. Some say it was because everyone there was lazy and didn’t fix things when they broke. My cousin says it was because we had gone against the laws of nature, but he’s weird and thinks lots of crazy things. What everyone seems to agree on is what made some of the animals mean and what turned some people into monsters, it was the Veilstorm.

The accident damaged lots of buildings and pushed some houses right over. The people who survived had to find places to go. Lots of people went to emergency shelters but many weren’t close enough and had to find someplace else to go. For many that meant going inside the lava tubes that Veilcorp was using to store the 127 they used to power the station. That was a big mistake.

What they didn’t know was that a really big storm was coming. It was the worst storm that anyone could remember. For 5 days the wind ripped through the trees and knocked down more buildings. It rained so much that parts of the island flooded and brought up some of the 127 from the tunnels. The wind spread it across the island and the rain turned orange. There wasn’t anyplace to go for lots of people. Some got sick and some didn’t make it. But some of the people who got sick started to change.

Nana and her brother Kino were teachers before the accident and they were the first to go out and look for people. They checked lots of different places like Front street, the radio tower, and Hahai Ranch. They were so busy trying to help people that they got caught in the orange rain for a long time and both got really sick. Because they helped so many people, everyone was really sad when they got sick. Kino got a bunch of weird bumps on his skin. Nana was lucky and only had a fever for a few days.

Some of the people in town were worried that Kino would make other people sick so Nana took him to their house to take care of him. She worked and worked to clean up the mess in town and take care of Kino. It wasn’t long before some people noticed that Nana never slept and she could work for hours and never get tired. A few other people began to say or do weird things too. Some of them said they could have conversations without talking or make things move by wishing they would. They were the lucky ones.

For every person who could do special things on the inside there were a bunch that just changed on the outside. Lots of them lost their hair or teeth some had even worse things happen. Nobody was sure what to do. Then people began to talk about how animals had started to change to. The really big boars began to show up and people had to be careful in the jungle. Everywhere on the island the animals and people who were outside during the Veilstorm started to change.

One day a bunch of the village went out to the lava tubes to look for food and they were attacked. All the people who had been staying there had changed. Their arms got longer and stronger. They got sharp teeth and they forgot who they were. They became the monsters that we now call the night marchers. Lots of villagers didn’t make it out of the tunnels, but some managed to. They ran as fast as they could back with the night marchers right behind. Nana was the first to spot them.

She sounded the alarm and everyone got weapons or went inside the old school. There wasn’t a gate back then so Nana knew she needed to slow them down somehow so people could get to safety. She ran to her house yelling Kino’s name. Nobody had seen her brother in weeks and when he came out they didn’t know what to think. The bumps on his skin were all over and he was so big he almost didn’t fit out the door. Nana pointed towards the people running up the hill and the monsters chasing them. That’s all Kino needed to see.

He charged down the hill screaming and waving a big pole over his head. It was so scary that some of the villagers stopped and ran back the other way towards the night marchers. Kino’s pole slammed into the first night marcher and sent it flying. The rest ignored the villagers and jumped on Kino. It was a long fight, but eventually all the night marchers gave up and ran away. Kino and Nana saved the village but Kino was hurt bad.

People couldn’t stop talking about the monsters and how Kino used one as a club after he lost his pole in the fight. They were scared about the monsters and that Kino might hurt someone in the village one day, so they decided he had to go. They gathered up everyone who looked sick and made them live someplace else. Lots of the people who had to leave got together for safety. Eventually they met other people who were sick and made their own villages. Some started to call themselves the Kānaka.

Nana stayed and still watches the trail from the front gate even though she’s old now. People say she still doesn’t sleep, but she never seems grumpy like my mom does when she’s tired. I guess that’s what makes her such a good gate guard. I’m sorry that her brother had to go live someplace else and that so many people got sick or died. Even though the Veilstorm turned some people into monsters it turned some people into heroes too.

Akamai Mahelona
4th Grade
Pu`u School Lahaina

STORYLINE

Veilad Wants to Help You Power Your Vehicle

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A popular program in Lahaina that offers charging credits for electric vehicles in exchange for advertising is set to expand to all of Hawaii. The expansion comes just one year before the state mandated goal of having all ground transportation use renewable energy sources. Started in early 2043, the plan is a joint venture between Veilcorp spinoff, Veilad, and Phxicom.

Veilad has helmed many successful campaigns over the years including branded Reality Machine merchandise, and ads while you travel through the veil, but it was their corporate sponsored animal campaign that served as inspiration for the charging program. “The safety of the Duracave elephant herd served as the impetus for our charging initiative. We thought that giving an owner the chance to brand their vehicle in exchange for Veilcorp charging credit was a win-win situation. However, it wasn’t until we learned about Phxicom’s amazing sprayable display technology that our plan really took off,” says Veilad’s president Brie Howard.

Phxicom spokesperson Scott Parata adds, “Veilcorp has more charging stations than any other company on the island, and with Hawaii’s push to expand the use of EVs, the program sounded like an amazing opportunity. We’re glad we get a chance to show off the capabilities of our sprayable display while doing something to help the environment.”

Owners simply bring their vehicles to a participating facility and have the sprayable display installed on part, or all of their vehicle, depending on which plan they choose. Veilad then runs various advertisements that change depending on location. At the end of the month enrollees get a charging credit usable at any Veilcorp charging station.

The basic program covers the doors and hood of a vehicle and displays a different ad a few times a day. Brie says that for the average driver, the basic program can cover about 25% of their monthly charging bill. The premium program covers the entire vehicle with the Phxicom technology, and offers a much bigger payout.

In addition to covering your whole vehicle, the premium program is much more advanced. Sensors in the display track where a driver is in real time, and displays ads for businesses nearby or of particular interests. For example, if you find yourself near Black Rock Beach, ads relating to swimming and snorkeling will display. Further, the technology will play an accompanying audio track to ads if it senses it is in a high traffic area, regardless of whether or not it is being driven. According to Howard, participants in the premium charging program can expect to never pay a charging bill again.

While the program is a popular one, it is not without its detractors. Many consider the branded vehicles an eyesore. Others complain that the audio ads amount to nothing more than noise pollution, and that they disturb the peace and tranquility of natural areas. Maui police say that complaints about loudly playing ads number in the thousands. There’s also the problem of inappropriate items slipping through. Veilad admits that “there were some kinks to work out at first” but emphasizes that complaints about questionable content have shrunk to almost zero.

However, local resident Elizabeth Stonegate says the problem has been an ongoing one for her.

“It’s to the point where I don’t dare drive the van anymore. The problem started when I took my son and some of his friends to soccer practice. I saw people staring as I drove in, and assumed that they were staring at me. As President of the Tanager Lane Home Owners Association I get recognized a lot, it’s actually a little tiring. Anyway, after we stopped and got out I saw what everyone was staring at. My entire van had been turned into a disgusting advertisement for a questionable dating site. Then the audio began and I was mortified. Since then many of my son’s friends have asked if they could start carpooling with us. Even worse, Shelby had the audacity to question my judgment and fitness as head of the HOA. Even though everyone knows she’s still upset about the whole cat carrier incident, she never dared test my authority before. I work hard on projecting a perfect image. I will not be brought down because some company thinks they can make a buck off of lonely soccer parents.”

Brie reiterates that such issues are the exception rather than the rule and says that Veilad continues to work hard to screen their ad inventory. “For most people it’s an easy way to drive without paying for fuel. It offers valuable information to potential consumers, and is the best way available for a business to communicate its message. If you can live with driving a theme car, we’ll pay for the fuel,” she says.

STORYLINE

Supplemental Interview covering the Incident on 6/6/2043

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I understand that the events on 6/6/2043 are incredible, that why I put “wrong side of probability/fate” into box 13 when asked for the underlying cause of the accident. I continue to stand by that assessment.

My foreman Frank and I were the only ones scheduled to work the night shift leaving me to move the latest shipment of 127 to the second floor storage area myself. As usual Frank put on his noise dampeners, and was pretending that he wasn’t listening to music.

I hooked into the first pallet and drove to the freight elevator only to discover that it was not working. I thought I’d try to raise the forks as high as I could, and see if it cleared the balcony railing. About 8 feet from the height I needed the lift started to tip. I decided my best bet would be to grab a length of carbon cord and a pulley from the maintenance room. I attached the pulley to the balcony railing, and lowered the rope. Then, I got a medium sized plastic trash can, and one of the promotional Nuuskin thermoses that were accidently delivered to act as a scoop. With can and thermos in hand, I climbed up my lift to the pallet. Frank sat with his back to me nodding his head in time to his music.

I attached one end of the cord to the trash can and opened the container of 127. Balancing on a fork, I began to fill the can with 127 using the thermos as a scoop. I now know that 127 is a very dense material, and that it has been estimated that I had scooped around 195kg into the can. It is important to remember that I weigh between 68-70kg on any given day. My legs trembled as I strained to pull the trash can up to the balcony. Then I slipped.

I kicked the can hard, and watched it head to the floor. I noticed that I had wrapped the cord around my hand too late to undo it, and found myself heading up towards the railing. My hand met the bottom of the pulley and the trash can hit the floor. My fingers snapped. The can broke apart spilling 127 everywhere.

Now lighter than me, the barrel shot past as I began my quick descent leaving a trail of 127 in the air. I passed by the cloud as the AC kicked in, blowing it into my face. I landed hard on a fork and heard a snap in my ankle. My now bloody fingers slipped from the cord, and I tumbled backwards. Without being tied to my hand, the trash can came down again.

I landed folded up between the seat and the controls pressing on the accelerator with the now almost empty can on top of me spilling the remaining 127 over my head. The lift lurched backwards and I was off heading straight towards Frank. I screamed at him, but he remained ignorant of the fact that a co-worker wedged in a lift was flying towards him with a cracked and mostly empty barrel of 127. It’s strange but right before I hit him I could swear I heard his music and stranger still, I saw him both get hit, not get hit, fall down, and not fall down. I seemed to simultaneously hear Aloha Oe, Robert Johnson, and Iz not as a mashup, but as simultaneous individual soundtracks to my failure. I watched him go flying onto the board in my side mirror before passing out.

Yesterday I told my story to the Department of Energy investigators numerous times. I told it to a room full of people 8 times in fact. The last time they brought in all the interns and the secretaries before I complained. You’ll have to excuse me if I seem a little tired of explaining the events that led to the worst day of my life for the amusement of others. This better not end up on YouTube.

You asked specifically why I believe “wrong side of probability/fate” was the cause of the accident, and not gross negligence or incompetence. That is hard to explain, but I’ll do my best. Since that Saturday I can see how actions are connected. Every action produces something like probability string art that I can follow. You’ll have to trust me, there was no decision that I could have made that day that would have led to a substantially different outcome. All the strings led to this place. I was the good person due for a bad thing to happen to him.

Sam Pilikia
Lift Operator

STORYLINE

Testimony ends in Veilcorp Cube Theft Trial

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Testimony ended today in the case of 2 men accused of stealing the first object to be transported through the veil via gateway technology, a 1 kg tungsten cube. Those assembled in the King County Superior Court heard the last witness in the case this afternoon. Closing arguments and final jury instructions are set to begin in the morning.

For many, the cube’s journey on February 12, 2026 was one of those “I remember where I was” moments. News that a teleportation-like system had been created, a fixture in many sci-fi stories, swept the globe, and amazed the scientific community. The cube made around a dozen additional journeys over the next year, and was subjected to a number of tests before finding a home in Veilcorp’s Seattle facility.

The well-traveled tungsten had been on display to the public, with a handful of other items, in Seattle for years. Field trips to look at the cube were common for area school children, and it became one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city. An estimated 4 million people visited the cube in 2030. 2 of those people were 30-year-old Matt Broder and 27-year-old Jamie Tillson.

Broder and Tillson belong to a radical environmental group called, Gaia Guard. The group has a long history of conflict with a number of corporations, but have targeted Veilcorp in particular for several years. According to prosecutors, the popularity of the cube had caught the attention of the pair, and a plan to steal the cube was soon hatched. Officials allege that the men posed as cleaning crew and stole the cube the night of February 12, 2031, the 5th anniversary of its journey.

The incredible theft made headlines and began one of the strangest criminal investigations in history according to police. Investigators have testified over the past weeks that Broder and Tillson initially planned on ransoming the cube, but quickly decided to try and sell it instead. Tips began to come in almost immediately as the pair seemed shockingly open about their involvement in the crime. “At one point they listed the cube for sale on a social media site,” testified one investigator.

A sting operation was soon set up, with an undercover law enforcement official posing as a high-powered fence. Over the next 2 months, officials met with Broder and Tillson a number of times to discuss terms. Recordings of those meetings show that the pair seemed to be surprised at how much attention the theft was getting, and were unsure on exactly how much to ask for the cube. “They were completely out of their depth. I was, and still am amazed that they managed to steal the thing in the first place,” an agent told the court.

The tapes show a pair of men who were incredibly misinformed about the legal peril they were in, and the law itself. At the beginning of the second meeting, Broder told the agent that they wanted to be paid in trade instead of money so they “wouldn’t get in as much trouble as they would if they took cash and got caught.” The list of items the pair allegedly wanted in trade, a frozen yogurt machine in particular, has become the focus of a lot of attention in the media.

A luxury motorhome featuring slide-out rooms, quartz countertops, pearlized italian leather seats, and touch screen walls, valued at $2.5 million topped the list, but it was the pair’s love of frozen dessert that seemed to be their main focus. “We agreed to the small stuff and haggled over the motorhome for a while, but came to an agreement eventually. The biggest point of contentions was the yogurt machine. They really had their hearts set on getting this one specific model. It ended up working out really well for us. We told them that we were having a hard time getting the exact model they wanted, and used the delay to keep them talking. We learned a lot about their organization. I guess they were sick of sleeping in wet tents and really wanted frozen desserts.” testified an agent.

The Froyo Felons, as they’ve been dubbed by the press, didn’t dispute many facts during the case, but argue that they acted simply as middlemen for the cubes sale. They further claim that the State had not proven the value of the cube. Jury deliberation is not expected to take long, and a verdict is likely before the end of the week.

“We are eager to have the cube back in its proper place after the trial,” says Veilcorp spokeswoman Lisa Hunt. She adds,

“It’s a shame that these individuals were so easily sucked into believing Gaia Guard propaganda. We don’t think of the cube as ours. It belongs to the people, and to history. We are just acting as stewards. We promise to do a better job from now on at protecting all of the artifacts in our exhibits, we owe it to the public. I personally feel terrible that these two were led down such a dark path. I wonder how things might have been different for them had they come here earlier, and heard Dr. Oeming’s vision of the future instead of radical disinformation. Our snack bar offers 4 different flavors of frozen yogurt. I can only imagine how different things might have been for them had they visited our cafeteria.”