“I want to kill them.” TO said, their hands balled into fists. It had only been a few days, but they were already sick of Kei questioning how TO and DH worked on their ship! They questioned the wisdom of letting DH be the only one to work on the consoles, on the switch to Arkane time, on the habit of watching movies and shows from Arkane in the evening.
Kei even questioned the use of words like ‘morning’ and ‘evening’ since they were still technically in space. When they weren’t questioning every little thing, they were just sitting there at the table, reading articles off their chip. Avery - who actually liked TO and DH - would spend some time with them in the evenings, but kept to themself in the weapons bay most of the time. Why couldn’t Kei do that instead!?
TO planned to read up on the news while DH ran the checks on the console, but it seemed so unfair that the scarce moments of alone time they had with DH had to be spent working.
“You don’t want to kill Kei.” DH said without even turning from their screen, “That’s the pain talking.”
“I’m not in pain right now!” TO protested, “You still have me on painkillers, so-“
“Yeah, but your body is still in pain. Also, the painkillers I’m giving you can affect your ability to regulate emotions.” They finished typing something into the console before they turned back to TO, “That’s why you’re being more snappy lately.” They said with a smile.
“I’m not being snappy.” TO grumbled, but even they could hear the slight snap to their voice, and the petulant tone they had taken on.
DH grinned before pushing their chair towards TO and giving them a quick kiss. “You are, but that’s ok. Everyone gets like that when they’re injured.”
“Careful!” TO said, their ears flicking down and flushing, “Kei could-“
“Kei just went to deal with the engines less than a minute ago.” DH said, “And Avery… well, it’s not so much of an issue if they see us, right?” Still, DH pulled away with flushed ears.
“... it’d still be nice if we could have some time by ourselves.” TO muttered. “If it was just Avery, we could just tell them we want some privacy; they’d be happy for the time alone, and they’d understand.” They frowned as they glanced back at their own screen where the news from Arkane displayed before them, still unread, “Though, it’s different with Kei.”
“Kei isn’t used to being on their own.” DH pointed out. “I don’t like them, but they’re used to being in the training center, eating, training, and showering with hundreds of other synths. They never spent time on their own like we did, and they’re partnered up with Avery who likes to be on their own…”
“Still, they don’t even like us, so why do they hang around us? Every day they finish their chores, then they sit at the table there and just go through files and data about mining facilities.”
“I don’t think liking us has anything to do with it.” DH said, “It’s just what they’re used to.” They shrugged, “Maybe not being around other people makes them uncomfortable.”
TO shrugged; they really didn’t care what made Kei uncomfortable or not. “Kei didn’t care that they made you uncomfortable. They didn’t care that you were lonely when they went around telling people you were dangerous and strange, or that Q10 was suffering alone.”
The elevator door opened, and Avery stepped out; TO had placed them in charge of dealing with the training room and the weapons bay, neither of which took as much time as running the scans in the engine room.
“I needed to re-calibrate the weapons, but everything else was fine.” They said, They turned to DH, “Do you need to do anything with that now?”
“I’ll just run a scan to make sure what you changed synced up with the key systems.”
Avery nodded and headed to the showers; This was the routine that had come about in the last five days of travelling with Avery and Kei; Wake up; DH and TO eat first and go to the training room for exercise. While they were exercising, Avery and Kei would eat. After that, DH would start their system scans and TO started their research while Avery and Kei did their exercise. Avery and Kei would shower when they finished with their chores. After all the work for the day was complete, Avery went back to the weapons room to rest and read and work on their research while Kei stayed in the living area, sitting in silence as they did their own research.
TO and DH took their showers once Kei set up in the main room; they didn’t want to waste precious time together by taking showers, especially since they couldn’t shower together.
“Is Kei alright?” DH Asked.
Avery stopped and turned to face them. “Why do you ask?”
‘Well, they’re down here a lot.. I know they don’t like us, but…”
Avery sighed and leaned against the wall. “They’re… having difficulty adjusting, I think.”
TO scoffed as they turned to focus on their screen. We’re having difficulty adjusting to all this too. If it were just you, then it’d be fine, but-“
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Avery shook their head, leaning against the wall. “I don’t mean that they’re having issues adjusting to being here.” They said, “I mean I don’t think they’re doing well outside of the training center.”
“.. but aren’t they kind of ideal?” DH asked with a frown, “They never had issues in training, never needed discipline-“
“And they were always quick to point out when anyone else wasn’t acting ‘proper’ or doing well.”
Avery fell silent, their ears twitching as they tried to figure out how to explain things. “Look.” They said after a bit, “When we first took off, they spent the first entire day trying to find a schedule.”
“Schedule?” TO asked
“Yes; A schedule; something they could follow to do the tasks that were given to them. I said that maybe we just had to get our tasks done and make our own schedule, but they insisted. When they couldn’t find any kind of schedule, so they contacted Hur-1.”
TO’s ears flattened in disbelief, “They contacted their commanding officer… for a schedule?”
Avery nodded. “And Hur-1 just said that it didn’t matter when we did things; we just had to get our tasks done and that we shouldn’t need their help! But… even after that, they-” They sighed, shaking their head, “It was like they needed approval for every little thing, but of course I’m not a superior officer, so I couldn’t give it to them. In the end, I suggested an outline for a daily schedule, and presented it to them for approval. That worked at least.” They looked to TO, “They don’t like you, but you’re acting like a superior officer and I think they want that - someone to just tell them what to do- more than they dislike you. “
“Oh.” DH said, their ears dipping down, “That’s why you went to check on them after TO called them unnecessary.”
TO sighed and put their head in their hands, “I should apologize.”
“I explained that you just meant that we didn’t need over three people.” Avery said, “And they weren’t happy about it, but they accepted it.”
Maybe this was why the officers at the training center allowed a certain amount of oddness, of discrepancy among synths; Kei was basically the ideal synth, but they apparently needed an order for every little thing. TO and DH; they were strange, but at least they had some initiative.
“Just give them work to do.” Avery said, “If you want them out of your way, give them work to do, and they’ll be content for the time. Tell them they did good, tell them when they can rest, tell them-“
“Did you have to tell them all this?” TO asked, their eyes going wide, “Do they need to be told every little-“
“I made a schedule, and asked them to approve it.” Avery said, “I suggested courses of action, and asked them if they were alright. So yes, I told them every little thing, but I had to be subtle about it; they’re technically my superior in our ship. You? You convinced them when you said that you had more authority because of your posting.“
DH pursed their lips, then turned back to their screen. “That’s easy enough then.” DH said, “A way to fix nearly all of our problems. If I look up extra maintenance work; deep cleaning, extra checks, oil changes, then we can give Kei daily lists of things to do- “
“- And that might keep them away from us for a little.” TO said. A smile formed over their face, “If we plan it right, we might get some time by ourselves-“
“Planning a date already?” Avery said, chuckling. They ignored TO and DH’s flushed ears and sudden stuttering as they headed to the shower, “That might be a good idea though; go somewhere out of the way while you send them off to another part of the ship to do other things. If you want some private time, that might be your best option.”
They went into the washroom, leaving DH and TO flushed and staring. After a moment, they looked at one another.
“... Date tomorrow?” DH said, a sheepish grin flicking over their face.
TO nodded, their own smile growing wide, “Date tomorrow” They agreed.
======
When Kei came back from their chores, TO was waiting for them, sitting at the table with their screen up, trying to imitate how they had seen their officers in the past behave.
They glanced up as Kei exited the elevator. They had developed a little of sympathy for them since Avery spoke about their troubles, but now that they were face to face, they felt their anger rise again.
They had hurt DH. It was because of them that DH and Q10 stopped being friends in the first place, and it was their fault that Q10 had been repurposed. Sure, a lot of other things led up to that… but it never would have if Kei hadn’t interfered.
Still… They wanted Kei out of the way. They had to live with Kei for a little while longer. They had to act like they really were a superior officer, and that Kei was their underling.
“Kei.” TO said as they glanced back at their screen; they weren’t looking for anything, but it felt like they had seen so many officers do that same thing; focus on the screen, glance up, glance back to the screen. “Would you sit down with me?”
There was a moment of surprise, but that was all. They nodded and sat down across from TO.
TO took a deep breath and went over the little speech they had prepared in their head; it reminded them of when they were working in efficiency back in training. They could do this; they HAD done this before! Of course, back then they had an actual officer with them, and acted in an actual position of authority instead of this tenuous one that they had argued for.
“I have not been employing you to the best of your abilities,” TO said, thinking that admitting that might be the best place to start. They waited for Kei to say something, and when they didn’t TO continued, “If we’re to share this ship and deal with the downfalls of having four synths to a two-synth ship, then we might as well use that to our advantage.”
“Yes.”
TO cleared their throat. They had really thought that Kei would speak more in this. “DH looked up some tasks that aren’t done as often as the daily ones, and which the ship won’t instruct; checking expiry dates on rations, deep cleaning the engine room; that sort of thing.” They glanced up at Kei, who was looking at them with a cold but focused look. “I figured that given your… fastidious nature, you might be ideal to do some of these things.” They suddenly felt panicked; what if Kei got angry at them for this? They didn’t care, but they also just didn't want to deal with that. What if they had been wrong in their assessment of their authority, and Kei contacted Hur-1 about it?
They didn’t get mad. They nodded. “I would be more than happy to do extra work to keep King Decon’s ships in exceptional condition.”
TO gave a sigh of relief, but quickly stifled it and hoped that Kei didn’t notice, “Good.” TO said. “Tomorrow, after chores and ‘lunch’ I’ll have a list of things for you to start on. ‘
‘Yes. Understood.”
“In the meantime, rest for now.” TO said, “Tomorrow will have more work so you should prepare for that.”
“Yes. I understand. I will do that.” They didn’t seem happy, but they didn’t seem as irritated or tense as they normally did, either. They got up without another word and went to the washroom for their shower.
As soon as the door to the washroom closed, TO gave another deep sigh of relief and leaned over, resting their head on the table. Behind them, DH laughed from the console.
“Well, you played the role of commanding officer well.” DH said, “I was surprised-“
“I was nervous. They probably noticed-“
“They probably didn’t.” DH said, “If they did, they would have called you out on it. I’m surprised they didn’t make comments about needless busy work.
TO shrugged, “I guess it’s just as Avery said; they want orders from a superior officer. I’m not officially a superior anything, but I suppose I’m close enough.” They sat up again and went back to their screen to continue their work.
“Well, I believed it.” DH said, “And you had training for it too-“
“Sort of…”
“It’s obvious where they want you when we’re done on Arkane.” DH said as they turned back to their own work. “I just hope I get to work with you.”
“I’m sure you will, or at least I’m sure I can make the argument.” TO said. They turned back to their own work, but they couldn’t focus on the news now; they were too excited and distracted for tomorrow.
It had been five days since they and DH had any real time alone, and TO couldn’t wait.