Naomi

The episode starts up on a rainy day where Noel and Kanata are working seperatly. Noel cannot get the tank to work properly or even to boot up for starts, and Kanata’s praticing begins to take a toll on her as she’s unable to shake the sour notes. The two are assigned to go into town and pick up some extra provisions, Noel to drive and Kanata to assist. Kanata is rather impressed and excitable as it’s her first time into the city since she arrived, and Noel, while quiet, points out a few of the city’s points proving that while quiet she is rather smart. As the car comes to a halt the pair are met by the women who help Kanata clean up in the first episode, a shopkeeper named Naomi who invites them inside.

Naomi is one of the few people able to get old machine supplies and supplies the base with replacement parts for the tank. Kanata stares at the dolphin figurine she saw in the first episode and, with permission, strikes it gently allowing it’s sound to resonate. A-flat. Whatever future this is, we learn that while the dolphin is regoconized by some, it’s a fading memory as all life in the seas are now gone due to the war. Naomi tells Kanata the figures are made by a “romantic” who lives in the factory outside of town. Kanata says she’d love to meet him, and Noel reveals that the factory is one of the places they must visit today.

Yumina and The Orphen Girl

The pair leave and continue their rounds collecting their supplies until they bump into a pair of familiar faces when a young boy rushes into Noel. Yumina and the girl who splashed Kanata round the car and introductions are passed around. Noel tries to help the young boy up, but he slaps her hand away, calls her a murderer and runs off down the street. Yumina apologizes for him explaining the boy is a war orphen whose parents were killed by soldiers, and even though the two had nothing to do with it he hates soldiers all the same. Yumina and the girl pursue him and Noel and Kanata have a brief reflective moment remembering that in the end, they are soldiers.

So he would be the "Carl-Meister"?

Noel and Kanata drive out to the glass factory to pick up reflective lenses for the tank and we meet Carl, an expert and talented glass blower, a dilagent boss, a man who presented his works to the empire’s Archduke at one point, and one of five people in the empire appointed the title of ‘Meister’. Carl is also the man working on the optical lens for the tank, but work has come to a standstill as the lens is made out of a glass composite of not just sand, but magnesium and sodium in which the ratios of each needing to be perfect, but so far production has not gone well. While Carl works, Kanata and Noel sit and talk.

She's talking about the tank remember...

Noel tells how the factory used to be an art studio, but as the war rolled on, glass production was needed and the factory prospered in producing for the military. Noel also goes on thinking about the tank, about how it’s old, how it’s seen a lot action, and also how she likes machines, but is somewhat frightened by the thought that the tank has probably killed a lot of people. Kanata finds it a scary thought too, but is more scared of the people who used the machine than the machine itself. Kanata uses her trumpet as an example, about how she may not be able to play it well, but Rio is amazing, and she’s certain the tank is the same way. She also recalls listening to the music recorded in it, and knows that at the core it’s a good tank. Noel listens on as long as she can, but ends up falling asleep.

Let it be as it is

Carl tells Kanata to let her rest since Noel’s probably been up all night, and his assistant Maria brings over a blanket. Kanata lies Noel down and cover her, and she and Maria start talking about her trumpet playing. Kanata says she doesn’t understand why she can’t play like Rio and writes off herself as talentless, but Carl will hear no part of it saying talent is an excuse for the young to not try. He takes his pole and dips it into the molten glass asking Kanata is she tries to force the sound, then draws it out and blows a beautiful bulb. He explains, this is the way the glass wanted to be, and so it is, beautiful in it’s own way. Kanata has a burst of sudden understanding what Carl means and rushes off to the hilltops nearby with her trumpet. She whispers “the sound wants to play itself…” and raises the trumpet to her lips.

The sound comes quick and clear, and each note surpasses the last in it’s own tranquil manner. The foundry listens on to the bold trumpeteer as she proudly plays, and Carl smiles approvingly knowing that in her own way, Kanata is a craftman just like them. It way have been mid-day, but for Kanata, morning had finally arrived.

The Tank finally works

Noel wakes up slowly and the two leave, coming up with a great idea. Glass makes a different pitch based upon impurities in it, and though most people wouldn’t notice a change in sound, Kanata’s gift for pitch would allow them to replicate the lens’ construction once they find the right mix composite mixture. They arrive back at the base and Noel immediatly goes to work with the new lens’, and before any time passes she comes upon the right one. The tank boots up, and Kanata hugs Noel while congratulating her. Noel thanks Kanata, and for the first time, Noel smiles.