Mafaton by day puts Alan in mind of an empty courtroom, the stillness that's somehow expectant, that comes of the suspension of activity rather than its absence. Of course, the streets aren't entirely devoid of life (a word that's a bit more elastic in Baedal than it was in Boston), and he covers the distance from the El to Ki's apartment at a leisurely pace, stopping every so often for a look into a shop window.

He's dressed, as ever, in a suit; today his tie is pink.