The reason I'm not posting is because I have no idea what's going on. And I don't know how to shove my character in. Help?

Nahla~

"You do know," I say. "You're an architect, and you're the one doing the most to help Citali. That's what we need to do -- build. Build more and more."

Holly chimes in. "So many people out there want to live in Citali. It's so much better here than there. Even with the energy and the crime. They'll take that risk to live here, where it can get so much better."

Lena exclaims, "The treehouse district! There are so many resources up there that we can use. It's high enough that there's sun and wind almost all the time, for solar and for turbines, and the trees can give chlorophyll for solar. And Citali can always plant more trees for more space."

Darius adds, "Near the warehouse, near the turbine wall. We can expand Citali itself, build out to the other side of the wall, and connect through the treehouse district!" He's scribbling wildly, adding to his map.

I make a time-out gesture. "We can solve the energy problem like this. How about the crime?"

Darius sighs. "Crime has never been a problem in Citali. Look at you -- most of the people here are young. They have no reason to be criminals. No one runs to Citali as a place to hide. And no one is hurt by Citali. The thieves down by the bridges..." he trails off. 

"Let's wait for Alarie and Ramae to get back. If they have the thief, we can go from his information."

Darius nods. "While we're waiting for them, Nahla, is there anyone else whom you can invite to help us?"

I grin, and without another word, start sending contacts to every artisan in Citali. 

Yeah, I see what you mean... Mel isn't exactly "into" this, is she?

I can see two ways you can get in now. Since Darius, Nadya, Lena, and Holly are at the house working on ideas, since Mel has experience with the crime and energy shortage, she can show up, protest innocence, and offer to help. OR, she can arrive at the scene, help Nahla, Alarie, and Ramae, and get inducted into the group because she helped.

I may go with the second one.

Also, a summary. 

Ramae's door gets stolen (by the attacker).

Mel steals Ramae's things, but Ramae and Alarie take the things back from the thief. 

Darius hires Nahla to convince Mr. Rhyker.

Alarie realizes the library's doors have been stolen. Ramae advises her to call Nahla.

Nahla arrives at the library and calls Darius.

Darius, Alarie, Ramae, and Nahla are at the library and working on Darius' plans for the door when Nadya arrives with some roses.

Darius sends Nahla to the warehouse. Ramae heads home. Nadya walks past Ramae's house.

Ramae got attacked on her porch and was found by Nahla. They head to the library.

Ramae figures out that the door stealers and her attacker are linked. She sends everyone else (Alarie, Darius, Nahla) to her house to discuss. 

When Ramae is heading home she runs into Holly, who also got attacked and has an injured leg.

Ramae brings Holly home with her. 

The group figures out Holly was attacked in the alleyway between the pottery shop and the apartment building.

Alarie and Ramae head to the pottery shop alleyway. 

Lena arrives at the house and joins Darius, Nahla, and Holly in brainstorming how to help Citali.

Nahla heads out to find Alarie and Ramae in the pottery shop alley. 

Nahla~

Ten minutes later, Nadya shows up at the door -- or rather, the canoe, since Ramae's house is missing a door. She's wearing her gardening gloves -- must have just come from the greenhouses. She and Lena hit it off right away, going into a discussion about genetic engineering. They sit on the couch together, chatting and admiring the roses Nadya brought. 

I check my phone's clock anxiously. Alarie and Ramae should be back by now. Something's wrong.

"I'm going out to look for Alarie and Ramae," I announce. Darius looks up from his paper, nods gravely, and tells me, "Text back in five minutes, okay?" I nod as well and set off, out the door.

I set my backpack in my bike's crate and bike as fast as I can. The pottery shop is downhill from Ramae's house -- it's the opposite side of the city center. The neighborhood is a bit shady -- literally. The buildings around it are really tall, with not too much solar -- just some windows and the dome on the shop. The shop is domed, with three stories. In front, under a green glass awning, piles of terracotta glazed pots for plants, for cooking, and just for decoration look as though they're about to tip. The shop looks cheery enough with the homey pots, even if the neighborhood doesn't. I park my bike in front of the shop and enter to see an old lady behind the counter, seated at a stool, molding a lump of terracotta. 

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asks. She looks a little crazy -- her white hair flies out in all directions, and her hands, face, clothes, hair, and the entire area around her are splattered with water, clay, and paint streaks.

"Um... I'm looking for some of my friends."

"Buy something, and I'll talk."

Um... I look around at the shop, as crowded with pots as the exterior. The greenish-tinted light from the solar glass in the ceiling gives everything a cool glow. I browse the shelves, looking for something small that maybe could be a little useful. "Hm... how about..." I take a small glazed vase off the shelf and bring it up.

"Five steels."

I slide five steel coins across the counter and slide the vase into my backpack. "Now. I'm looking for two girls. A blonde with teal eyes and one with black hair and green eyes."

"Hm..." The old lady taps a finger thoughtfully on the counter, getting paint on it. "They passed by about fifteen minutes ago. They went through here and asked about some of the--"

BAM! A terracotta pot, thrown from outside, goes through the window and shatters on the floor of the shop.

"I--oh--!" The old lady shrinks behind her desk, clutching a wet lump of clay. I whirl around to see who threw the pot. A girl's silhouette stands in the doorway.  

*This could be Alarie, Mel, or Ramae. You choose!* 

Darius~

As I scribble down more artichectural designs that could benefit Citali, a sudden loud noise makes me jump and accidentally draw a straight line right across the blueprints. 

Lena springs up. "What is that?" she exclaims.

I listen closely. The sound is a blaring wail, like a cat whose tail has been stepped on. "Emergency Siren," I say. "This is not good. They only sound that when something bad's happened. Really bad."

I start to pack up my drawing supplies into my backpack. "What are you doing?" Holly asks nervously.

"Leaving." I swing the bag over my shoulder. "We need to find the others. Make sure that whatever this is, they're not involved in it."

"But-" Lena protests.

"This could be something terrible," I say, cutting her off. "A murder, a terrorist attack. I know it sounds crazy, but those things can still happen here. Now, I'm going to find the others." I walk about the door.

I grab a bike leaning against Ramae's house, and peddle quickly through the street, already filled with panicking pedestrians.

Ramae~
"Hey, I know you!"
Mel and I speak at the same time. Mel looks annoyed. I'm just upset.

"Allarie," I say, "Mel's that thief from earlier. Remember?"
"Of course I do," she replies.

Then Lena steps up. "Do you know anything about the attacks and robberies that have been going on right now?"

It isn't a light chat.

"'Course I do," replies Mel. "I'm the one that steals stuff!"
"You don't seem to steal doors," I point out. Mel nods.

"Well, Mel can't be the one that we're looking for, then," I say. Allarie shakes her head.

"Do you know anything about the robberies or attacks? Are you in cahoots with the attackers? Have you been attacking citizens?"
"No, no, and no," says Mel.

Then the emergency alarm goes off.

"What's going on?" Lena shouts.

"No idea!" I scream back. "But we should find Darius and Holly!"

*Okay, continuity issue! I think I'm going to go with Danie's thing... or actually, it kind of goes together with J.B.E's, now that I think about it. They hear the siren, run to the shop, realize the siren was wrong (IDK, maybe some false alarm...), and find Mel. Now everyone's together! Yaysies!*

Nahla~

I straighten up and put my hands on my hips. "Well, guys?"

Alarie frowns. "This girl is a thief, that's for sure. I think we should take the criminal to jail."

Darius nods. "We can't be lenient with crime."

Holly bites her lip, unsure. "I think... I don't know. I don't think she's that bad of a person." 

Lena says, "She can help us. Mel, do you know who has been stealing doors?"

Mel thinks for a moment. I can tell she's not stalling, that she is really willing to help. "I don't know -- for sure," she adds. "But I'm one of the best thieves and spies in Citali."

Alarie mutters, "That's for sure."

"I can help you find this person," Mel says. She really does look willing. "Please," she adds.

I turn to Alarie. "Lena's right. Mel can help."

Alarie frowns, but doesn't argue. "Okay. Let's head back to Ramae's, and we can all talk."

Soon, we're back at Ramae's house, seated on the floor around her low dining table/bench.  

"What do you know?" Alarie asks. Her hands are clenching her cup of tea fiercely. 

Mel looks relaxed, which I'm pretty impressed with. Alarie questioning you isn't something you really want. "I'm a thief, not an attacker, so I'm not sure. However, I think I've seen the person you're looking for. His name is... Rhyker?" 

We are going to disregard the emergency siren event for now because in Danie's post, everyone was already there, if you didn't notice. Therefore, there was an emergency siren but Darius, Lena, and Holly eventually found the pottery shop. Then they all headed back to Ramae's house. 

Nahla~

I take my phone out of my pocket and search my Citali database for "Rhyker". I have the names of every person in Citali and their appearance -- messenger status perk, you might say. But when I search...

"Mr. Rhyker doesn't exist," I say.  

Darius almost spits out his coffee -- again. "What?!"

"Look," I say, showing him the screen. "Unless he moved here within the last day, which is impossible because he had a house by yesterday, and a really old house, so he didn't just buy it. There are no Rhykers in Citali -- the one Holly and Ramae described as well as the old one you and I met, Darius."

Alarie raises one eyebrow. "Are you sure you are up to this investigation? This is getting complicated." 

Holly looks at the head librarian. "Please, Alarie, we can work this out. We can't get the police involved, we have all the evidence right here." Her eyes cut to Mel.

"Okay," says Mel unexpectedly. She pushes away her cup of tea. "Look, I know how you are treating me. I know I'm not a scientist or a writer or an architect. But I know Citali better than most of you, and the criminals better than all of you. You can trust me, really. Now can you stop thinking about me like I'm lower, and start thinking about Rhyker? I really do care about Citali, same as all you."

"Well said," nods Darius, raising his mug for a moment. "Now. This is really getting messed up. We have two Rhykers, an old one and a young one, one house, no profile in Citali -- so. Now what?"

Holly tilts her head to one side. "We don't know the person, so we can't really track him--them-- down based on appearance or Citali card swipes. But... the house. We know his house, right?"

"Yes," I say, "but how will that help? Darius is right, he's probably moving the doors right now--"

Holly interrupts. "Yes, that's it. He's moving the doors right now. We can catch him in the act..."

"Let's do this," Lena says, grinning. "We can take the treetop district routes -- he probably doesn't have accomplices watching there, if anywhere."

"Let's go."

Everyone grabs their various backpacks and messenger bags. Alarie takes a small visi-audirecorder to cover whatever we find. Lena leads us out of the house as Ramae chains the canoe shut.  

Nahla~

Lena takes us to the end of the street, where a large mangrove tree has a ramp carved into its massive trunk. As we climb, we can see how smooth the wood is, even though this entrance to the treehouse district is almost new. From the staircase a walkway crosses the street to a platform where Lena straps us all into seats that slide down the zipline. We zipline down, climb another ramp up, use a gondola pod to ascend to a platform from which we slide down in a chute carved into a tree, walk from that tree to the next, still about one hundred feet above the ground, and finally arrive at another zipline that takes us over Mr. Rhyker's house. 

"Look, we can see his house from here!" says Darius, looking back at all of us -- he was strapped in first, and all of us are in our seats behind him. I look down at his house -- light blue, three stories, no solar yet. Darius lands on the platform and unstraps himself as he says, "Nahla, how much did you see of his house?"

I think for a moment as I unhook myself from my seat. "He took me up the stairs and into his study. The only parts of the house I actually saw was the front hall, the stairs, and his study. He can't be hiding doors in any of those places, so it's got to be..." I look down at the house in front of us and try to visualize how much space is in there that I didn't see. 

Holly lands behind me. "Wow, his house still has a garage? I haven't seen one of those in Citali until now!"

Alarie narrows her eyes. "That's just where they've got to be. The doors, the Codex."