TO pulled DH towards a hallway set off to the side. Pholi had suggested that there were private rooms, and from what TO could see, they seemed to be located down these hallways. Of course, they didn’t intend to use the rooms for the insinuated purpose, they just wanted to get somewhere quiet for a few minutes; somewhere where they and DH could regroup, and come up with better answers to future questions.
“I should have asked him some questions.” TO muttered as they rushed down the hall. They stopped at a door and listened for a moment with their ear pressed to it before they pulled away as though burned, their ears bright blue. “That one’s occupied.” TO said as they continued down.
“Why should we have asked Pholi questions?” DH answered with a backwards glance, “What would that have-”
“Civilians apparently love to talk about themselves. If we had gotten him to talk about himself, he wouldn’t have thought to question us.” They stopped at the next door, listened again, and pulled away again. “I can’t believe these people.” they muttered.
“I’m sorry I suggested this.” DH said, their ears down, “We should have gone right back to the ship-”
“No no, this is good.” TO said. There was a smaller hallway leading off the main one, and after a moment of debate TO rushed down, “If you hadn’t, we’d not have realized how badly we prepared for this.” Their ears flicked down, a mixture of shame and panic; They had prepared badly for this; they hadn’t expected such curiosity, and didn’t have answers that were quite detailed enough to satisfy some people.
“Well, we did the best we could!” DH insisted, “And we didn’t really have much opportunity to practice.”
“I suppose not.” TO said. They came to another door at the very end of the hallway. TO stopped and pressed their ear to it. Silence. Blissful silence. They pressed the button to the side, and the door slid open to allow DH and TO to scurry inside.
By their normal standards, the room they had found was luxurious, furnished with soft couches. It was absolutely excessive compared to synth accommodations, but compared to what they had already seen it was almost shabby; the furniture was older than the few chairs they had seen in the main room; the art was sparse and plain, and while there was a small collection of food on the table, it sat haphazardly as though someone had just thrown it down.
It occurred to TO that if the civilians used these rooms for fornication, then it made sense not to have anything fancy set out. With that in mind, TO leaned against the food-laden table instead of sitting on the couches. DH seemed to have the same idea.
“... Do you want to leave?” DH asked as they put a hand over TO’s hand. “We can just leave if you want and try again another time.”
TO shook their head, “No..” They said, “No, we need to figure this out. This is…” They hesitated, trying to beat back the panic that was rising in their throat, “This is just another skill we have to learn. Once we figure it out, we’ll be fine.”
DH sighed and looked at the food on the table. “Well, at least we can try some of this.” they said as they picked at the food. “It seems like a strange mix of stuff here though- Oh!” They picked up something that looked like a fruit, but had a strange, crystalline look. “I’ve seen pictures of this; Crystalized fruits!”
“Can you eat it?” TO asked. They reached out and tapped at one, feeling its hard exterior. DH smiled and pulled the one they had apart; on the inside it seemed soft and jiggly.
“Entirely edible.” DH said as they held it to TO’s mouth. TO backed up a little, then felt their ears flick back and flush as they opened their mouth and let DH pop the candy in.
Sweet. Crunchy. Chewy. TO’s eyes widened at the sudden variety of textures, their ears twitching at the overly sweet taste. Next to them, DH gave a low chuckle.
“What?” TO asked once they had swallowed the candy.
“Nothing.” DH said, smiling with their ears forward, “You’re just… adorable when you’re surprised.”
TO huffed and looked away, “We are still in public.” TO said, “Or did that drink actually influence-” Their voice caught in their throat as DH leaned over and kissed TO on the neck. They yelped, surprised as their ears burned. “DH! We’re in public-”
“Not really...” DH said, “and I just…” They looked away, their ears flicking down. “Sorry.” They muttered.
Guilt flooded TO’s stomach. DH had been working so hard to be more affectionate, especially since they were finally free of Kei. The last thing that they wanted to do was to make DH feel bad about it.
“It’s… You just surprised me.” TO said as they took DH’s hand.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” They said, “You’re right, we’re in public, and-”
TO leaned forward, turned DH’s head towards them, and gave them a quick, chaste kiss.
“We need to be careful.” TO said, “That’s all.”
“I know.” DH said, smiling despite their low ears.
“I love you.” TO said, and though they leaned against the table again, they held onto DH’s hand.
“...I love you too.” DH said. They gave a low laugh. “It’s funny though. We always loved each other, but now we say that, and we know we mean something different from what it meant before.”
TO smiled, their ears still warm, but they didn’t feel embarrassed. “It’s so much easier.” They whispered.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
This was so much nicer in TO’s opinion. The party outside was too noisy, too busy, too crowded. When they were out there as synths, they had to remember everyone they met, and keep in mind as many details as possible. They had to be careful of what they said, and they had to watch what everyone was doing. Everyone was so formal with them in their armor, and the helmets kept TO from being able to have a simple conversation with DH. As Civilians, they had to keep track of stories, had to meet people without the information given to them by the helmets, and had to maneuver a crowded, clustered room of inebriated civilians.
It was stressful, no matter what. They much preferred just being alone with DH. Maybe if they got better at just talking to civilians, everything else would be easier, too.
They were just considering this when they heard a door open; not the sliding doors that all modern buildings had, but an old-fashioned one with a doorknob which, according to TO’s keen hearing, was located further towards the back of the room. They heard a creak from deeper in the room behind some old screens that stood before a tapestry. The Tapestry shifted aside, and someone snuck out from behind the screen.
They had a lithe, lizard like appearance, big green eyes, and wings that connected to their backs of their arms, their sides, and to the tip of their long, powerful looking tail; They were, in fact, holding onto their tail with their clawed hands so that it didn’t whip around and knock anything over. Their skin was a mixture of greens, magentas, and blues. They wore an apron-like outfit that had the look of a simple uniform; it wrapped around their neck and their legs to keep it in place. Without their helmet TO wasn’t sure what species they were exactly, and the sudden lack of knowledge worried TO; what if this person was dangerous? What if they were a known criminal?
They froze as soon as they set eyes on TO and DH.
“I’m so sorry!” they said, backing up, “I didn’t mean to disrupt, I just-”
“You weren’t disrupting anything!” TO said, their ears blue with the idea of what she must have thought, “Really, you weren’t, we were just resting in here for a moment.”
“Exactly.” DH said. They glanced at the food, and moved aside, “We were enjoying some of the food.”
They looked from the food on the table to TO and DH, and then nodded, “Right.”
They looked scared and confused, and a little thrown off; far more than Pholi had been. Maybe this would be an excellent opportunity to practice their conversational skills with someone who wasn’t as confident as they had been? If they were a criminal, TO very much doubted they would have apologized. “I’m Tio.” They said, taking a step forward and presenting their elbow as they had seen other civilians doing. “They, them. This is Dee, also They, them.”
They hesitated, then took tentative steps forward as though unsure if TO would attack or not. “Petra. She, her.” She said as she reached out and tapped her elbow to TO’s, pulling away immediately after as though worried the touch might burn her. “You... you wandered quite a way away from the party just for some food.” She said.
“Well, it was noisy and crowded. We’re not used to parties like this.” DH said. “And all the other rooms we found were, Uh, occupied.”
“Not used to parties like this?” Petra asked, taking yet another step away, clutching at her tail as though they might try to take it from her, “But I thought all the politicians-”
“We’re not politicians.” TO said, “Merchants.”
“I thought all the wealthy Merchants attended more parties than even the politicians did.” she said, and though she was still acting so very skittish, there was a bite to her tone that even TO could pick up on.
TO gave what they hoped was a wide enough smile, “I suppose we’re not wealthy then.” They said, “What about you?”
“Oh… oh just, uh... Extra staff.” She gestured to the uniform she was wearing. “They hired me for the party.”
“I thought they had mostly servAis for that?” DH asked.
She scoffed and crossed her arms; a gesture that even without the helmet TO could pick up on as annoyance. “They would have only servAis for it if they could.” She snapped, “They’re a one time investment for unlimited work.” The tip of her tail squished about as though trying to escape, and TO could understand why she was holding it so tightly. “But no, they can’t have servAis for anything more than handling a few drinks and clearing away the mess. Anything more complicated than learning how to mix a cocktail and they overheat and shut down.”
“Overheat?” DH asked.
“Well, it’s a failsafe.” TO explained, “If an Ai starts to… well, for a better word, think too hard, then they overhead and go into a cooling period. It’s one of the Artificial Intelligence conditions, to keep them from becoming dangerous.”
“And good for that too.” Petra said. “If they didn’t have that, then I’m sure they’d be happy enough to just let them replace all of us.” She shook her head, “Of course, they’d say that I’m being short-sighted, and that we can always get jobs in manufacturing AIs… But that requires education, doesn’t it? Education that most of us can’t afford.”
“Education under King Decon is free.” DH said.
“Basic education is.” Preta scoffed, “But anything more than that and you have to pay… Or go into debt, and at that point if you get a job then you’re just working to pay off what you owe.” She huffed again, “Not that these bastards-” She stopped, freezing in place. She suddenly backed away from the two again, but she still had this angry look on her face, “But… I guess you’re both perfectly fine with that.”
“We are?” TO asked.
“As Merchants, I imagine you have all the servAis you could need in your residence.”
“Not quite.” TO said, confused; why would she hate the merchants? “You’re not fond of the merchants here?”
She pursed her lips, eying them carefully. “I’m not a fan of people overlooking other people.” She said after a long pause. “That’s all.”
“TO, do you think she could be an insurgent?” DH asked in Synth Speak.
TO shook their head, “Apologies, Dee forgot that it’s rude to speak an unknown language in front of others.”
“But we did that out in the ballroom…” DH said, switching back to common.
“That’s different; we weren’t speaking with anyone then.” TO said. They gave Petra a smile. “Did you get to see the Synths, by the way?”
She shook her head, her pupils going small as her tail thrashed in her hands. “No. No, I stayed far away from the main floor while they were here.” She said,
“You weren’t interested in seeing them?” DH asked, seeming to pick up on what TO was trying to do.
“No.” she hissed, “Why, were you?”
“Well…. Curious, of course. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Well, I don’t-”
The door behind the tapestry rattled, and Petra froze like a wild animal in a trap.
“Who’s in there! Why is this door barred?” A commanding voice from the other side of the tapestry demanded. .
Petra moved fast. She leapt to the table, grabbed a large satchel from underneath, and hung it over her neck. She then pushed all the food on the table into the satchel before rushing off to the side, pushing away an old curtain to reveal a window with laser bars crisscrossing over it. From a pocket in her outfit, she pulled out a box-like device and held it to a box next to the window. The bars dissolved away, and she could push the window opened.
Petra turned back to TO and DH, “If you’ve any kindness, you’ll tell them you were alone in here.” She said. She pulled the curtains back across to hide the window. With their sensitive ears, TO could hear her jump, and hear the flap of wings as she disappeared into the night, leaving TO and DH behind, confused and alone. They exchanged glances before leaving the room themself.
They had just witnessed their first Arkanian robbery, it seemed, and they didn’t want to stick around to answer questions.