TO always considered their memory to be excellent. An excellent memory wasn’t at all special as all synths underwent memory training; it was just expected of all Synths. Despite this, TO was glad that their helmet and the system would remember all the names and faces they were currently being presented with. There were too many people introducing themselves too quickly, and TO already felt disoriented by the opulence they had already experienced and the pure variety of people they were seeing. In the first few minutes in the party, they had seen people with anywhere from two to six legs, multiple arms, and a vast assortment of body shapes and sizes. There was even one civilian who had two heads - one of which was asleep. TO’s helmet informed them that with that species the heads took turns sleeping, and the body was never fully idle.
At least the variety, the pure mess of mixed limbs and body parts, had worked to ease some worry in TO’s mind. Before coming to the party, TO had worried about their wings; sure, they had the armor cloaking over their wings to hide the scars and make them look black, but they had been certain that the size and shape would give them away when they were in public. This would not be the case. Almost every other person there had wings of some sort- either wings they were born with, had gotten wings grafted on, or had mechanical wings that ranged from fully functional to simply cosmetic. It was actually when one civilian- a short male covered in scales- came up to introduce himself that TO was no longer in the least concerned about their wings; This civilian had a pair of functional, mechanical wings on his back, which looked like actual synth wings covered in black armor.
[https://i.imgur.com/qY2pxYz.png]
“I am entirely honored to meet you.” They said, bowing and taking a step back. TO had quickly realized that this was the normal greeting that civilians here gave to Synths; to everyone else, they seemed to do this thing where they gently bumped elbows together and formed a V with their arms. “Please let me formally introduce myself- my name is Pholi, Minister of Language and Translations. If you ever need assistance with any translations or local dialects- “
“We won’t need it.” DH said to TO through the helmets, “Our helmets do the job just fine.”
“I know.” TO said, “I guess it’s still good to have contact with him?”
“Why though?” DH said, and even without seeing DH’s ears, TO could sense their frustration through their tone in common, “Why are we meeting all these people? We have lists of names with contact information for all these people if we ever need them!”
“I’m sure there must be a reason.” TO said back. They switched back to speak to Pholi, “Minister Pholi, thank you for your support.”
The short man nodded, bowed again, and backed away before turning to a much taller, furry friend who was holding a drink for them. As soon as the two met up, they scurried away from TO and DH as though fleeing. Through their visor, they say the same thing that they saw on almost every civilian here; their ears down and twitching with fear and anxiety. It seemed suspicious to TO. Why would they be afraid of synths? Were they corrupt and worried about being found out? At least the civilian gestures for such feelings were starting to sink in for TO.
“I think the reason we’re meeting these people is just because the civilians want to have a fancy party.” DH grumbled, “and speaking of fancy, look at the ceiling; do you think those things are real?”
TO glanced up towards the ceiling of what they had been told was the Grand Ballroom; a room made with the specific purpose of holding parties. The ceiling was so high that TO couldn’t make out the details of the painting overhead, but they could see the glowing blue butterflies that lazily flapped about.
“Did you check your helmet?” TO asked as they saw a notification pop up, showing available information. They checked the data, “They’re called Glowing Zircon Butterflies, and I think they’re real.”
“They’re real, and not local to Arkane.” DH said, “Why have real butterflies here! Even if it was just for the look of things, they’ll die here, won’t they? Why have them here and not fake ones, or holograms? The civilians don’t even notice them!”
It was true; the civilians took as much note of the glowing butterflies overhead as they did the iridescent statues of beautiful people draped in gold which were positioned in even intervals around the room, the intricate relief mural carved into the wall, or even the civilians playing an assortment of real instruments while dressed in nothing but paint and gems despite Arkane’s nudity taboos. All the glamour and excess was just background noise to them. They didn’t even seem to enjoy the food that covered the large tables around the hall; they just ate mindlessly as they talked.
“I thought they ended kind of excess with once a civilization came into the galactic empire.” DH said.
“As far as I knew, it was.” TO said, “But… I suppose maybe this is normal for Arkane? Or at least normal for parties? This must just be how civilian parties are here.”
Yet another civilian came up and introduced themself - a bug- like person who gave TO chills because of all the extra limbs. They introduced themself as media minister, but kept nodding, bowing, and backing away as though they were expecting to be hit. They kept stammering over their words, and going off on tangents before laughing and apologizing over and over to TO and DH.
“Is this normal Civilian behaviour?” DH asked, “I don’t know if they’re scared or simpering, but either way we can hardly get any useful information out of them!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Maybe they’re just awed? We are direct servants of King Decon; that’s a highly respected position.”
“Well, it’s going to be a long placement if we have to deal with civilians acting like this all the time.”
After the bug person left, Noss came back up to them. “Everyone is so glad to have you here!” He said as he gave a bow, “And I must inform you, the quadrant leaders; the praetors, they’re here too, along with the Vassal! Of course, they all want to meet you as well! If you’ll come with me, we of course have a smaller, more intimate setting for you to meet them.”
“I really don’t want to meet them.” DH said as they followed Noss, “I don’t need to meet them; Four planetary quadrants, each one controlled by a Praetor. Oikia is in one place where all four quadrants meet, the seat of power, and is where a Vassal of King Decon lives to rule over the entire planet in His name. We have the names of all these people along with contact information if we need them, which we won’t! We’re here for security reasons, so really the only person we need contact with is Minister Noss.” Their wings puffed out slightly as they stalked alongside TO, “And honestly, I doubt that we’ll really need him!”
“I think it’s considered polite to meet with them.” TO said with a sigh, “Let’s just get this done.”
“And then we have to meet the rest of the ministers?” DH asked, “And the random merchants that got invited here?”
The idea of it made TO’s head swim; they didn’t want to be at this party either! Well, that wasn’t entirely true; they were curious about all the art and the food that the civilians were displaying, but of course they couldn’t enjoy any of that while they were acting as synths. If they couldn’t enjoy themselves, then at the very least they just wanted to go back to their ship, eat, and get started on their work. If they were working on the ship, then they’d be able to relax with DH at the same time.
“Maybe after we’ve met the Praetors and the Vassel, we can leave.” TO said, “We can say we’re busy; it’s not false-”
“Even if it was, they can’t see our ears so they wouldn’t know.”
This was very true, but TO wasn’t entirely comfortable with it; they still remembered that one time they had been caught in a lie, and even though their lie had worked out better for everyone, they still had suffered awful punishment.
At least they hadn’t been corrected for it.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to lie to them.” TO said, “We’ll meet them, and leave. We’re really their superiors in all this; all the politicians and rulers of this planet answer to the Vassal, and the Vassal answers to King Decon. We represent King Decon here, so they have to do what we tell them, regardless. They can’t really keep us here.”
“Good.” DH said, “I’m sick of all these civilians already; let’s meet these rulers, and go back to the ship.”
======
Noss led TO and DH to another room that was just as excessive as the last, though it was a smaller. Intricate relief carvings covered the wall, but the ceiling caught TO’s eyes right away; It was aglow with shimmering, bioluminescent stones set into the architecture. A long carpet lead from the entrance to a pedestal that held five chairs, each one carved from stone. The chair in the center was larger than the others and sat a little higher. It was something like the throne rooms that TO had seen in the simulations, and TO assumed that the people sitting in the chairs were the Praetors and the Vassal. A bird-like person with giant feathered wings and a strong, hooked beak on their bird-like face occupied the chair in the center; TO assumed this to be the Vassal and that the other four chairs were for the Praetors. Two of the supposed Praetors were also birdlike, one even possessing a long narrow beak. The last two were a little more unique, one looking something like a crab, and the last one was much larger than the others, with rosy-colored, scaly skin.
“This is very reminiscent of a throne room.” TO said, and this time the helmet let their words filter through, “I was under the impression that there were no kings or queens save for King Decon.”
Noss paled, “Of course.” He said, “There are no kings save for King Decon. This… well, it’s a relic from when Arkane had kings and queens! We’ve long since reformatted this room, removing old family heirlooms of the former royal family and adding extra chairs to accommodate the far more organized method of planetary divisions that King Decon has imposed, but it’s only used for such honored, special occasions such as meeting our honored synths!” He laughed, and backed away from TO and DH. “They do not do such things as take audiences here, I assure you!” They hurried forward, and gestured to the chairs, “This is Praetor Martha, of the North-West Quadrant.” Noss said as he gestured to the rosy colored lizard person; she had long red braided hair which framed the rounded features on her scaled face. Praetor Martha stood up, gave a slight bow, and sat back down. “Next to her is Praetor Mimu of the South-West Quadrant.” Praetor Mimu, who had very long legs and the straight beak that TO had noticed at first, stood, bowed, and sat back down. “Then over here is Praetor Sally; She rules the North-East quadrant which has the fewest islands but is home to a lovely underwater city.” The brightly colored woman with the pincers and exoskeleton stood and bowed, clicking her pincers together as she did before sitting.
[https://i.imgur.com/sWSRTnX.png]
“And the last Praetor is Praetor Arde, they are in charge of the South-East quadrant.” The last praetor was another bird-like civilian who had wings and talons, and a smooth face with human-like features. He stood up and bowed as well.
After Noss finished introducing the Praetors, they went to the seat in the center, huffing and sweating as though they had been doing intense physical work. “And finally, our beloved Vassal to King Decon; Vassal Buteo.”
Vassal Buteo, another very bird-like species, stood and bowed, but the bow he gave was much shorter, less elegant than that of the praetors. He was covered in feathers, and had a strong, vicious looking beak. From the knees down his legs were very birdlike, and his wings were attached to his arms. Like the ministers, he wore a garland made of some waxy- looking plant bearing waxy red flowers, but they also had a pendant with King Decon's symbol on it; the spiral galaxy; it was exactly like what TO and DH wore on their armor. Buteo also didn’t seem to shrink away from TO and DH, an action TO only noticed because of its absence in Buteo’s movements. Out of curiosity, TO brought up the information on Buteo through their helmet.
[https://i.imgur.com/c0OdhE2.png]
“Former royalty.” DH said; apparently they had done the same thing, “Or… they would have been; Arkane became part of the empire before they were born.”
“It doesn’t seem wise to have such a person in charge…” TO said.
“No, it doesn’t… a planet where the Vassal is from a line of royalty is the planet where the insurgency started. Wouldn’t you think that’s a little suspicious?”
TO did. They paid close attention to Buteo, who hadn’t yet sat down. They stood tall and proud as they regarded TO and DH.
“I speak for all of us,” they said, a faint clicking from their beak cutting through their words, “When I say that we are honored that King Decon would give us this one last chance to prove our loyalty, and devotion to Him. We are prepared to do whatever work we must, and rid our planet of the insurgency once and for all.”
TO gave a brief nod in acknowledgement, and Buteo sat down. Noss started talking again, but TO wasn’t listening to them.
“Do you think he’s involved with the insurgency?” DH asked as they watched Buteo, “This would-be royalty?”
“Probably.” TO said, “Most likely… we’ll have to watch this one.”