Apparently, when a bomb goes off — the huge kind that carries drop as they skim a planet's orbit — there’s a moment of silence when it hits. It’s as though reality itself is so surprised, so shocked at what’s happening that it falls silent for a split second. After that, though, there’s a roar of noise, of screams, of fire and air rushing about, of destruction and chaos.
Well, at least that’s what it was like in the simulations that TO had experienced, and that’s what it was like now in the mostly empty common room. A moment of silence was the response at TO’s statement, followed by everyone else trying to speak at the same time; their voices clashing, echoing off the concrete walls and confusing TO’s sense of hearing.
“Stop, Stop!” GiDi said, their own hands to their ears. When the others stopped talking, they leaned over from the opposite side of the table, looked at TO, watching their ears.
“You meant it?” They said, “You want to help us?”
They were watching TO’s ears. They were watching them in the same way that their higher ups used to watch them, to ensure that they weren’t lying. That GiDi thought they had to do such a thing left a sick feeling in their stomach. It reminded them of how the other synths used to look at them after they got caught for lying in a simulation once.
“Want is a strong word.” They said, “We want to get off the planet. You offered us the ability to stay together; me and DH. That’s what we want, and to get that, we have to get off the planet.” They shrugged. “The only way to do that is to get around the blockade, so yes; we’re helping.”
GiDi looked at Avery, “And… you?” They asked, “Do you want to go?”
Avery had just been staring at the food before them, and didn’t take their eyes off the syrup covered fruits as they spoke. “... I don’t know.” They said, “I know nothing. I failed in my duty. King Decon lies. I’m not made like other synths.” They shook their head, “I probably couldn't be a real synth if I tried. I Don’t know what to do, what I should do, or what I can do, but…” They looked at TO, “I’ll help TO and DH. I just need time to figure out what I want to do-”
“Then we can’t trust you.” Tham said, setting his cup down heavily on the table, “If you don’t know, then you might decide suddenly that you don’t want to work with us, and you might turn on us-”
“I’d not hurt my friends.” They said, finally looking up from their food and staring Tham in the face, “TO, DH, GiDi or even Kei. I don’t want to hurt any of them.”
Kei? Avery considered Kei a friend, even after how they had spoken to them?
“And we’re supposed to trust you based on that?” Tham snapped. They looked at GiDi. “You can’t let them help us; they’ll try to sabotage us, or get us killed, or-”
“You seem to forget the ear thing.” GiDi said, “They’re not lying.”
“Maybe not, but they could well be subverting the truth here.”
GiDi’s ears pinned back as they stared Tham down for several long, agonizing seconds. They spun around to face TO and watched their ears carefully.
“Do you have any thoughts about sabotaging us?” GiDi asked. Again, that they were watching them so carefully, that they were asking their questions so directly made them feel sick.
Of course, they knew it was only for Tham’s sake. At least, that’s what they hoped.
“No.” They said, They hadn’t thought about doing that at all; it hadn’t occurred to them. Even now that the thought was in their head, they knew they couldn’t do it. Between GiDi, Flit, and Snout, they’d never get away with it. Even if they could, they knew they wouldn’t risk GiDi getting hurt. If the synths caught them, then they’d be repurposed for sure.
Caught by the synths. It confused TO that suddenly thinking of ‘the synths’ felt like thinking of an entirely different kind of person, separate from them. Of course, if their brain wasn’t molded and shaped like a proper synth, then it made sense that they were different. Synths had perfectly formed synth brains. DH, GiDi, Avery and themself had unaltered, raw civilian brains.
GiDi nodded, and turned to DH, asking the same question of them.
“Of course not.” DH said, “You’re going to let me and TO stay together. Why would I risk that?”
“Avery?” GiDi turned to them, and TO saw a small flicker of worry cause their ears to twitch, “You have no interest in betraying us, do you?”
“They have no interest in helping us.” Tham said, “They said themself they don’t know what they’re doing. You can’t get them to help us.”
“I’ll help.” Avery said, their ears flicking down and twitching rapidly as the color drained from their face, “I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t lock me up again.”
GiDi glared at Tham, then sat down across from Avery. They reached across the table, putting their hand out for one of theirs. After a moment of hesitation, Avery put their hands in GiDi’s.
“You’re not getting locked up again.” They said, “No matter what.” They glanced over at Tham. “Right?”
Tham grunted and looked away. Pearla cleared her throat loudly, and Tham sighed and turned back.
“No. they’re not going to get locked up again. Provided they don’t kill one of us.”
GiDi turned back to Avery. “See? And you don’t want to hurt us, right?”
Avery shook their head, their ears down and twitching. In almost a pained, plaintive voice, they said, “I don’t want to hurt anybody. I never did.” They looked down at their hands in GiDi’s. “... but I might have already hurt people. I don't want to hurt anyone else.”
“You don’t have to.” GiDi said, “You don't even have to help if you don’t want to.”
“And they won’t sabotage us?” Tham asked. When they got glares from Pearla and GiDi, they only shrugged. “What? They never answered directly.”
GiDi sighed. “Avery. You’re not going to sabotage us, are you?”
“No.” they whispered, “I don’t want you to get hurt. Or TO, DH, or Kei.”
GiDi looked back to Tham. “Good enough for you?” they asked. Tham just grunted and went back to their drink. With a sigh, GiDi got up and went to a small table in the corner, where an electric kettle ran from a generator. It was very similar to the setup that TO and DH had set up for Lendulin.
“Tham’s like that; don’t mind him.” GiDi said as they poured steaming water into five cups. They put homemade tea bags in each, and brought them to the table in two trips, “Don’t let him get to you.”
“That’s just how he is.” Pearla said as she sat down across from TO. “He’s always trying to appear all grumpy all the time.”
TO watched her carefully as she sat, ignoring the drinks that GiDi had set down on the table for them, ignoring the food.
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After sitting under their staring eyes for a few seconds, Pearla sighed, “Look.” She said, “I’m sorry for lying to you, but what was I supposed to do?” They glanced at GiDi. “They wanted me to keep an eye on you two so they could get you away from Decon. I couldn’t just tell you, I was worried that if you found GiDi, you’d take them away, and arrest me too!” She sipped her tea. “What would you have done? I’m sure that to protect your partner-”
“Mate.” GiDi said, their ears tinged with blue.
“-Mate, you’d do whatever you had to. So, I did what I had to do so I could help them and keep them safe. Also, you lied to Lendulin and Petra, so…” She shrugged, “I don’t think they’d take it very well if they found out that you’re synths.”
TO’s ears dipped, “No… she didn’t.” TO said, “Lendulin found out.”
Pearla suddenly choked on her drink. “What?” She sputtered, “She didn’t tell me about that!”
TO shrugged, “When we escaped from Thalassa, we ended up in the same escape pod, and I had to remove my helmet to breathe.” They glanced over at Vik. “Someone forced my suit to power down, and I couldn’t breathe with it on.”
“.... Sorry about that.” Vik said, “To be fair, Pholi said that you were both there as civilians, so we thought you’d get out with the rest of the civilians.”
“And not all the civilians got out.” TO snapped.
“I’m aware.” Vik hissed back, “I didn’t realize they had the fucking pods locked based on status levels.” They looked back at TO, “And in my defense, I was trying to bypass those rules from here once I found out. It just so happens that you fixed the issue before I did.”
“OK, stop.” Pearla got up. “Is Lendulin going to be alright? She never told me anything, but-”
“I asked her not to.” TO said, “I told her there’d be trouble if she did. For me, and for her.”
GiDi frowned, “Vik, what’s the chances of someone finding out she knows what a synth looks like?”
“I fried all the surveillance, so the odds are good that nobody will know… so long as she doesn’t say anything.” Vik said.
Pearla sighed. “She never mentioned you. Never said she saw you in the pods. She acted like she thought you drowned-”
“The authorities listed their civilian IDs as among the missing.” Vik said, “And if they don’t find them - which they won’t- then they’ll say that they’re among the dead.”
“Petra’s worried too, but she doesn’t know anything about them being synths, not like Lendulin and myself.”
“I can monitor them.” Mira said, “Just watch her for a bit, and see if anyone’s trailing her.”
“You will?” Pearla perked up. “You’ll watch her?”
“Sure. I’ll just take a nap first, and I’ll follow her around for a bit when I wake up-”
“And I’ll add her to my daily checks.” Vik said, “If I see anything strange, we’ll bring her in.”
“What do you mean, bring her in?” TO asked, “What will you do to her?”
“Nothing.” GiDi said, “If she’s being followed, or she’s suspected of some wrongdoing…” They shrugged, “She’s legless. They could easily arrest her just because, or have her sent away to a colony.”
“But she didn’t do anything!” DH said. “She’s just an artist. A painter!”
“She was the only legless person in Thalassa.” Vik said, “That showed up here in security notes. If they’ll looking for suspects on what happened, she’d probably be on the list.”
“But she doesn’t have a record!” TO said, “I know; I checked.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s legless.” Tham hissed, “That makes her suspicious to the assholes in charge here.”
“We’ll keep an eye out, and make sure she’s safe if it comes to it.” Vik said.
TO heard someone coming in through the door, and as they glanced over they saw a large-set lady approach. Her long, blue hair was in a very large bun, and instead of legs she had eight twisting tentacles.
“I’m sure we can get her out of danger if something comes up, right?” Pearla asked, not having noticed the new person.
“If there’s someone you want to make disappear, then you’re best doing it right away.” The woman said. That’s when everyone else turned to see her.
“Goretta! You’re back early.” Tham said, their tail twisting as their hands tightened on their cup, “What happened?”
“Well, the authorities grabbed half my patients today. They’re grabbing anyone they think is even tangentially related to the insurgency.” She headed over to the table with the kettle and poured herself some tea. “On that note, Pearla, you’d best stay here for now, you and GiDi. They’re heading into the old tunnels and arresting people.”
“But I didn’t do anything!” Pearla said, “I meant… not really. I didn’t do anything technically illegal.”
“You’re on their list.” Vik said, “That might be enough to question you, but to arrest you?”
“Living in the tunnels is technically illegal.” Goretta said, “I overheard them as they were arresting my last patient. It’s under some unlawful residence law or something. They could waltz in and arrest anyone living in the tunnels. They don’t normally, but they’re on a rampage now. This new security director is a monster, apparently.”
Pearla's eyes went wide as she slammed her hands down on the table.
“Petra.” She said, “They’ll arrest her for sure. She’s got a record.”
Tham finished their drink, and got up, “Well, time to go then,.” They said, “we’ll grab her, Pearla, and come back-”
“On your own? Maybe we should wait until some others come back-”
“We can’t really wait. Even if you message them now, we have to act fast.”
“I’ll come with you.” GiDi said, suddenly chugging the rest of their drink.
TO didn’t like the idea of GiDi going out alone, when the authorities might grab them. Eventually, the authorities would process GiDi in the network, their image would go through the synth systems, and the synths that were coming to Arkane would grab GiDi, and take them away to be reprocessed.
TO couldn’t let that happen.
“We’re coming too.” TO said as they stood up, “We want to help GiDi.”
They wanted to help GiDi, that was true, but the thought of Lendulin or Petra getting arrested over all this when TO knew full well that they did nothing wrong also bothered TO more than they expected.
Petra and Lendulin were friends, and TO couldn’t let their friends get hurt.