Upon reaching Heramu, the civilians that still lived on the mining colony sent several up ships to assist Kei and Avery get their ship safely to the ground. There were several civilian ships that brought ships stuck in orbit down to the surface, and a small transport ship that Kei and Avery would board from outside.
“Be very careful once you’re outside.” TO said as they followed Avery into the elevator. Kei and Avery would have to leave the ship from the emergency exit, and TO and DH wanted to see their friend off. “Even though you won’t be out there for a long time, a lot can happen in just a moment, so be very careful!”
“TO hates going out into space.” DH explained as they pressed the buttons to take them down to the emergency hatch, where Kei was already waiting for them. “It won’t be that bad.”
“Given what TO’s gone though half the time, they end up in space, I’d say they have every right to be a little anxious about it.” Avery said, “But… I will take your advice, and be very cautious.”
“And tell us about the planet!” DH said, “Tell us everything, tell us all about the civilians-”
“Another day and you’ll be on Arkane anyway, so you hardly need me to tell you what they’re like.” Avery said, but still a smile flickered over their lips, “I’ll let you know how things went as soon as I have a chance.”
“And remember, if anything happens, you can contact us; Emergency protocol states that in dire situations, contact the closest synths to your position, and-”
“It’s a mining colony; I very much doubt we’ll have problems.” Avery said, “But the same goes for you two; if you need help, contact us.” They shot TO a serious look, “Even if you think it might reduce your chances of becoming a retiree; call us. If the civilians catch you or kill you, you can’t retire, regardless.” Their ears flicked back as their eyes narrowed, “And on that note.” They said, “Rest up today.”
“Rest up?” TO asked, “I’m not tired, I-”
“TO, you’ve been working nonstop since… Well, for the last few periods.” DH said, “You stay up later, and even when you go to bed you’re reading something.”
It was true. Since that day that Kei caught them in the transport, TO had fully thrown themself into their studies. Not only had they been looking for patterns in the news, but they had also been looking up and studying how other planets or ancient cultures dealt with civilian uprisings, how various leaders had gotten the masses to follow them happily. They had learned about combat, about war tactics. They had researched and studied almost everything they could find; every history was a case study, Every fallen empire was a lesson. Sure, Synths had their own training on how to deal with civilians, But clearly that had failed. If they wanted to succeed where so many other synths had failed in the past, they had to do something different.
“Rest up.” Avery said, “And promise me that when you’re on Arkane, you’ll take some time to rest as well.”
“We’ll have too much work to-”
“Other synths might rest when they’re tired, but you’ll push through it and burn out. That’s one thing I will say about Kei. At least they have the sense to rest when they’re tired, if only to make sure they still stay Efficient.”
TO and DH’s ears flicked back at the mention of Kei, but they said nothing more. At least Kei had done their best to just avoid the two for the rest of the trip. They saw Kei only when it was time to eat, and when Kei asked for their special task. Aside from that, they stayed in the weapons bay.
The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Kei was standing along the far wall a short way away from the entrance to the emergency ship.
“I assure you, we did not need an audience while leaving.” Kei said as they gave TO and DH icy stares. At least that was better than the glares they had been shooting. At least now, their ears only flicked slightly with restrained disgust when they set their eyes on the two. It made TO wonder if the Commander had been like this with C12, back when they were still in training. How long had the Commander glared at C12 with disgust? How had C12 dealt with that when they had, at one point, loved them?
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“They’re seeing me off and making sure we properly shut everything before we leave.” Avery said. “Come, the ship will be here any moment to bring us to Heramu.”
Kei nodded, activated their armor, and turned to the emergency exit. Avery turned back to DH and TO and gave a slight, apologetic smile, then activated their own armor. Farewells had already been said up in the living area and hugs exchanged. Oddly, TO didn’t feel as sad this time; they had thought that upon leaving the training center they’d never see Avery again, but in the end they had come across their friend before even getting to Arkane. Given that, they couldn't believe that their parting would be permanent this time.
Kei and Avery went to the first door, which TO then opened with their chip, and then went into the airlock to prepare. The door closed, and once more DH and TO were alone. They didn’t have any time to appreciate that, though; The two went back up to their living area and activated the screen and external cameras so that they could watch the work happening outside. They wanted to make sure Avery was safe, and they wanted to make sure that the ship took no more damage.
“They’ll be fine.” DH promised.”
“Will they be?” TO asked.
DH nodded. “Doesn’t it seem like Avery gets on better with Kei than we thought? I don’t mean that they particularly like them, but it’s as though they have more patience for them?”
“They do.” TO said. “They know how to handle them better.”
“... Honestly, I think they’re better at handling people.” DH said after a few moments of pensive silence, “They can talk to us and get us to do what they think we should do, and they could keep Kei from reporting us…”
TO smiled, their ears flicking up, “I wish we could have taken them to Arkane.” they said, “They’d be useful in dealing with civilians.”
The smaller transport ship came up to Kei and Avery, who were using their smaller thrusters to get closer to it. They watched as the back opened up and the two disappeared inside. It was only then that TO’s shoulders and wings relaxed.
“You were really nervous.” DH said. They reached up and put their hand over TO’s, which was resting on the console, “They’re fine now.”
TO nodded, smiled, and shifted their hand so that they could hold DH’s as they watched, making sure Kei and Avery were on the planet safely, making sure that the ship was safe, making sure that their friend would be ok and that Kei would be far away.
======
TO and DH had to wait for the other ships to get back safely on the planet’s surface before they could leave; apparently navigating several ships in orbit around a planet was harder than dealing with hundreds of ships around a training center in the middle of space. Once they were able, DH guided their ship out of orbit and headed to Arkane. Once they hit their base speed, DH ran a program on the computers to see how long it would take them to get to Arkane.
“About 30 Galactic hours.” They said, “We’ll be landing at about hour 20, Arkane Time.” DH said, “still relatively early in the evening.” They typed quickly, then sent off a message. “Just sending word ahead of our landing time.”
TO nodded, and got up, “Great.” They said as they stretched, their wings as much as they could in the small ship, “I really want to get some flying in when we land.” They headed to their desk. “Meantime, I found a simulation that might be useful for training, and there’s a documentary about-“
DH spun around in their chair and grabbed TO by the shoulders, turning them so that they were looking each other in the eyes.
“No.” DH said, “Avery said you should take a break.”
“But… but it’s just a simulation-“
“You’ve been working too hard.” DH said. They pulled TO closer, hesitated for just a moment as their eyes flicked to the elevator, then they leaned over and kissed TO gently just at the corner of their mouth, “You need a break.”
“There’s too much work to do.” TO protested, even though it was nice that DH was already pulling them forward, kissing them. In truth, TO had expected that DH would still be hesitant, even after Kei left.
Apparently, they were wrong. DH reached up, gently setting their hand on TO’s ear as they kissed them again, “You’ve worked too hard.” They whispered, “Wouldn’t you rather take a break? We can watch some historical documentaries, but we should still take a break. Wouldn’t it be nice to relax during our last night before we’re on Arkane?”
TO didn’t respond. They leaned into DH’s hand, their ears twitching at the contact. There was so much work to do, and so little time now to pursue uninterrupted research… But there was also so little time now to enjoy uninterrupted quality time with DH. Besides that, they had been so careful in the last few periods! had been keeping their distance from one another, stealing only kisses at night before they slept as opposed to the frequent contact and more intimate touches they had been enjoying. Maybe it was because of all that which made it so hard to pull away when DH was so gently rubbing at the lower part of TO’s ear.
“So much work to do…” TO whispered, “But… maybe if it’s a… a good historical film?” They closed their eyes and leaned into DH’s hand, “Maybe it’d be fine.”
DH kissed TO quickly before pulling their hand away, and the whimper of disappointment came out of TO before they could stop it. DH’s ears twitched with amusement as they got up.
“I’ll throw some pillows against the wall and find a good movie then.” They said with a grin, “We’ll have a nice relaxing night before we go to Arkane.”
TO sat there, now able to think without DH’s hand on their ear. They had so much work to do, and they had to get so much done when they landed on Arkane. If they wanted to make this work, then there was no room for mistakes when they landed. If TO and DH worked hard, then when this was over, they could enjoy all the time together they wanted! They just had to sacrifice a little more, just work hard for a little while longer.
Still… DH looked so excited to have a nice relaxing nice with TO, and Avery did say they should rest. Besides, how much more could TO really accomplish in a single day?
They got up and made their way to the beds to help DH set things up.