“I’m really grateful.” Lendulin said as DH carried her along to the tube, “And… Honestly, a little surprised. I warned you I’m kinda heavy; most people don’t think so but the tail is pure muscle, but you still lifted me like I was nothing!”
“We’re stronger than we look.” TO said, walking beside DH with the damaged wheelchair over their shoulders. “This is no problem.”
Lendulin’s communicator beeped, and she pulled it out to read the new message, giving a sigh of relief as she did.
“I have a friend who found someone who can lend me their chair so I can get home. I have more tools at home so I can probably fix it up there.”
“You might just need a new one.” DH said, “The rust on this one is terrible.”
“I’ll get a new one… Eventually.” She said, “I can’t afford one right now; they’re expensive. I was hoping to save up for a waterproof one, but that’s not going to happen, not if I need one now.”
“Under King Decon, they should provide you with essential medical care. I mean, you may not get a motorized chair, or a waterproof one, but a wheelchair is a necessary medical-” “It’s not a medical need though.” Lendulin said, giving him a knowing, sarcastic smile, “According to the compensation office, my need isn’t a medical one.” She patted her tail. “It’s just how I am.”
TO frowned, “You still need it.” They said,
“Yup! But it’s not medical, so I get no help.” She put her communicator away. “That’s just how it works.”
“I don’t think King Decon would allow that…” DH said.
She looked away. “If he even knows. It’s a big galaxy, and he can’t pay attention to everything all at once. Let’s be honest; he doesn’t make the decisions for Arkane, the Praetors and his Vassal does. King Decon probably hasn’t gotten directly involved with Arkane in centuries.”
TO wanted to tell her they knew that there had been a decision made recently, but how would they know that as a civilian?
“You’re not fond of King Decon, then?” DH asked. Their tone was normal, perhaps even flat, but their ears pinned back.
“Honestly, I have no opinion… Like I said, he doesn’t really make the laws on Arkane-”
“There're galactic standards.” DH said, “There're things that King Decon demands-”
“Well, yeah, but he doesn’t enforce them, right? So long as we follow the letter of His law, Arkane leadership can do as they like. I mean, maybe if he himself knew what it was like, then maybe he’d do something about it, but he’s busy; he’s unifying a galaxy and doesn’t need to worry about me and my chair.”
Was that feeling prevalent? TO wasn’t sure. They mentally tucked that question away, planning to look into it more later on. Maybe this was something that helped the insurgency along.
They went down a sidestreet and found the entrance to the underground tube platforms. Stairs led deep underground, but right next to them was an elevator, which they took instead.
“Black for District 10, please.” Lendulin said.
They pressed the button, and the elevator took them down through several levels and opened to reveal a platform bathed in purple light. A platform stood in the center, alongside a glowing purple tube. The tube was empty save for the magnetic rail that ran along the bottom and top of the tube. The station was empty, save for an android that stood off to the side. It looked up, regarded them, then went back to simply standing in place.
“You can leave me here.” She said, “I can get on the tube myself…”
“It’s really no problem for us to bring you to your friend.” TO said, “Right DH?”
Lendulin blinked, then flushed, “Oh. I didn’t even ask your names!” She looked up at DH, “DH, I’m guessing.” She said sheepishly.
“Yes, and this is Tio.”
“Lendulin.” She said. Of course, she had no way of knowing that they already knew her name.
“Now... You said you need your chair, right?” TO asked. Lendulin nodded. “Well, how will you get yourself and your chair to your friend?”
She huffed, crossing her arms, “I admit.” She said after a few minutes, “While I could manage, it’d be an absolute pain.”
“So we’ll get you to your friend and you’ll be fine.” TO said. “It’ll be faster and easier.”
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“Are you sure though…” she said quietly, “This tube goes to District Ten. You know, The Outer Ring?”
The memories of Celesto’s comments about squatters in the Outer Ring came to mind, but TO didn’t care about that. “It’s no problem.”
“It’s a long tube ride.” She said, “And I’m guessing a bit out of your way.”
“A bit.” DH said. The way their ears pinned back, and the very subtle bite to their tone, surprised TO, but they ignored it for the moment.
“We have no plans for the rest of the evening, anyway.” TO said, “And it’d be good to get to know the city.”
“No plans?” DH asked, their ears sinking down as they looked at TO. “Do we really have no plans?”
Lendulin gave TO a smile. “If you have plans you should go and-”
“We don’t have plans though?” TO said. They looked at DH, pure confusion showing in the way their ears flicked forward. “What plans do we have?”
DH’s ears sunk down, almost falling limp as they looked at TO with a heartbroken expression.
“DH!” TO said, reaching out to touch their arm with their free hand, “What is it?”
They looked away, flushing, then muttered, “You promised that we’d go to a fancy restaurant.” “I did?” TO said, “I... I didn’t think we had plans to eat out today. We went to that one stand, but-”
“No, you promised on the way here! Remember!?” They looked back at TO, desperation in their eyes as their ears pinned back, “We were talking about restaurants here on the ship during the ride here, and you promised that we’d go for a date at a proper, fancy restaurant.”
Finally, TO remembered. That had happened back before TO had even told DH how they felt! They had been so worried at first, unsure if DH even knew that those fancy restaurants were normally for romantic dates! Apparently, they had been looking forward to it! TO had forgotten about it once they admitted to one another how they felt.
“I’m so sorry!” TO said, their ears flushing and twitching in panic, “I… I’m so sorry! No, of course we’ll go to a fancy restaurant! I just-”
“You forgot!” DH said. “I thought we’d go out first thing. You said we’d go the first chance we got!”
“I’m really sorry.” TO said, their ears sinking lower, “You’re right; I forgot. I’m sorry.”
Lendulin watched the two, then cleared her voice. “Most restaurants in the entertainment district require, like, a week at least for a reservation.” She said, “You’d have to make the reservation first, and -”
TO didn’t even finish listening to her; they took out their communicator and started looking up fancy restaurants. “I’ll find the best rated restaurant!” TO said, “I’ll take you on the nicest, most romantic date you’ve ever been on!”
After watching TO’s panic for a moment, DH gave a low chuckle as they shook their head. “It’s fine.” They said, “If you forgot, then I guess you weren’t interested in it. I don’t want you to do this if you don’t want to.”
“No! I am interested! I just forgot because we had a lot going on!” TO protested, “I want to go! I want to make it a fantastic date!”
“But you don’t have to…”
“I’m going to!”
Lendulin giggled, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “I don’t think I’ve seen a couple argue about trying to accommodate one another before.” She said, “You two are practically wholesome.”
They weren’t sure why, but TO felt their ears burn as she said that; it was such an odd thing to have a stranger who knew they were a couple watch them interact.
TO focused ahead as they headed to the platform to wait for the tube. Only a moment passed until it showed up; an empty, transparent carriage with lights overhead and seats lining either side. They filed in and settled into the closest seats, setting Lendulin down on a seat and her chair down in front of them. The Android that was waiting on the platform filed in after them and stiffly took a seat at the far end.
“Are they allowed to wander around here on their own?” DH asked, “I thought most AI’s had to be under some kind of sentient supervision.”
“There're some exceptions.” TO said as they glanced at the android, “Some service AI can be out on their own if given a certain task; like if they belong to someone who’s sick and can’t leave their house, then they might go to pick up food or medication.”
“I don’t normally see ‘em on this tube.” Lendulin said, “Maybe they gotta pick up something from the docks. I don’t know anyone who lives there that has one.”
The tub started moving, pulling them into a darkened tunnel as they headed up towards the surface again. There was darkness all around them and TO felt like someone trapped them inside a glowing purple bubble that held the darkness at bay, and somehow it made them feel safe. Soon, they rose out into the city, past the streets and shops, until they were gliding past towers and skyscrapers towards the Outer Ring. TO looked up, wondering idly if they’d be able to see the stars now that they had a little distance between them and the lights below, but of course they couldn’t. Even if the stars were visible from here, they’d never have seen them from within the glowing tube.
“TO, look!”
The awe in DH’s voice drew TO’s gaze away from the sky and out towards the city.
The city spread before them, illuminated with neon lights that made everything glow with reflected light, all of it seeming somewhat purple thanks to the light of the tube. Other tubes with different colors twisted through the city like glowing snakes, while window lights and signs illuminated the otherwise dark city like moons and stars in the night sky.
In a tiny ship in space, TO had never felt so small before. How many people lived on Arkane? As far as TO knew, it was just over three billion. Three billion individual people are just living their lives. As vast as it was, the city before them held only a small percentage of that. How many synths had been in the training center with them? They weren’t sure, but they knew it wasn’t close to that number.
Arkane was just one planet with a mid-range population level. There were many other planets that held vastly more people.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” DH said as they looked over it.
“I always think that too.” Lendulin said, “An ocean of lights.”
It was beautiful, but it made TO feel too small. They reached over and took DH’s hand, squeezing them gently to help themself feel better.