The Galactic Broadcast announcer took the form of a synth for TO, Kei, and Avery, even on Arkane. Of course, they were watching the newscast on the ship, so it only made sense.

“Recovery at the site of an insurgent attack on Thalassa continues today, with ‌235 people rescued from escape pods that arrived at the surface of the Thalassian sea last night.” The GBA said with their ears still with indifference. “It’s estimated that at least another 100 to 150 were in pods, but the insurgency interrupted rescue efforts and abducted the people inside. The motive for this attack, and the intention the insurgents have for their hostages, remains unclear. Experts theorize the insurgents may use their hostages to barter with the Arkanian Government, but Praetor Buteo - himself a survivor of the attack- has clarified that he will not negotiate with the Despair Insurgency.”

“… Apparently, it’s not actually called the ‘Despair insurgency.’” TO said, recalling their conversation with ‘Joe.’ “It comes from an old Arkanian word for ‘insurgency.’”

“I could not care what trivial naming conventions the insurgents choose to take.” Kei said. “They go against King Decon; that’s all we need to know.”

“Civilians do that a lot.” Avery said, their voice quiet as though they were trying not to disturb Kei by being too loud, “Asa Water is this fruit-flavored from the south part of the galaxy, but ‘Asa’ just means water in the language there.”

“Search and rescue teams are still looking for more survivors.” The GBA continued, “But judging by the remains found so far, it’s clear that many involved in the tragedy could not access the escape pods, despite the ‌time between the first alarm and the breaking of the dome, and the excessive number of pods available. While there are no straightforward answers as to why this happened, there is speculation that the insurgency disabled many pods in order to maximize the lethality of this attack.”

“Wait. That's not what happened!” TO snapped, their ears pinning back as they listened to the GBA go on, “That’s not at all what happened!”

“It’s not?” Avery’s ears flicked in confusion. “But you said that your communications went down, right? If the insurgency could do that, then couldn’t they deactivate some pods? Wasn’t that part of the insurgent attack?”

“No. I mean, maybe?” TO frowned, “Praetor Sally mentioned they had weaponry that could shut down communication and electrical devices, so it was likely a Thalassian weapon that shut down my armor… But the insurgents had control of the repair bots, so ‌they might have had control of the weaponry at that point too.”

“So… what’s wrong, then?” Avery asked.

“It’s the thing about the pods!” TO said as they snapped their eyes back to the screen. It unnerved them that a synth could speak a lie without it showing in their ears. Of course, it was just an AI translation program. “The insurgency didn’t deactivate the pods; anyone who had maintenance clearance could only access maintenance pods, and because they brought in so many indebted for the party, there weren’t enough pods for them all!”

“I’m more concerned that the insurgents would have so much control.” Kei said as they watched the screen, “How did that happen?”

TO froze and dashed to the consol. They still had the hard drive, which they saved from Thalassa. “I saved this.” They said as they pulled out DH’s tools, “I didn’t have time, so I pulled it from the machinery.” It took a moment to unscrew the casing, and then TO had to wire it manually to the console so they could read what was on it. They weren’t as good at reading through all the programming as DH was, of course, but they could at least make some sense of it.

“... That looks like synth authorization.” TO muttered. Their ears perked right up, “That’s right! The AI there said that they had to defer authorization to shut down the maintenance bots to a synth, but not myself or DH!”

Kei’s eyes narrowed. “A synth working with the Insurgency?”

“Impossible.” TO said, “I mentioned before, the insurgency must torture them. They used an N-code, so they must have gotten a synth with that designation.”

Kei’s ears twitched only slightly. “I am unsure what such a designation means, but regardless of a synth's position, our duty is clear.”

“N is a code for synths without a proper position.” TO said. It felt wrong to explain it the way they had heard it before: Nothing. Nobody. “If a synth were being taken to get corrected, for example, they’re designated as N.”

“I see. So, potentially, a synth that should have been corrected.”

TO frowned as all the coding came up. “Something like that, but there’s other reasons a synth would have that designation.” The ServAi said that the new orders had come in a patch update, so that’s where they had to look. TO went through the history for that very day… and froze. A patch update needed authorization to be installed, and that had to come from the system administrator, or someone with a higher authorization code. Any normal guest, even if granted access to the system, wouldn’t be able to change or upload anything. However, a synth’s access could override any such security measures, and indeed, it was a synth that had given access. The call number Ark-87 was clear on the screen.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Their own code. How was it their own code? They hadn’t accessed the system until the alarms went off!

It was then that they remembered minister Philo, who had been so keen to hang around them when they first entered the party. With everything that had been going on, TO had almost forgotten about them, but from the interaction at the party and his apparent comprehension of their language, TO was certain that had a link to the insurgents.

No, not just a link. TO was certain that he was one of them.

They opened up their own files on their communicator to check any orders or files sent from their chip. Sure enough, though TO couldn’t really understand the specifics, their chip sent something early in the evening, from about the time that they would have been speaking to Minister Pholi.

Explaining nothing, TO sent off a message to the Arkanian authorities, demanding Pholi’s arrest. They weren’t sure if Pholi was the insurgent hacker specifically, but it was the only link he had.

“What happened, TO?” Avery asked, watching their friend with careful eyes.

“The insurgents circumvented the security by accessing my chip.” TO said, their ears pinning back as they spoke. “And I know who did it; A local minister by the name of Pholi. I’ve just called for his arrest.”

“And when you get him, what’s your plan, then?” Kei asked.

TO’s first instinct was to hurt him. To take their claws to Pholi’s face and rip him apart until they got DH back. They wanted to beat him until he revealed DH’s location, then beat him more until the sharp pain of DH’s absence faded away.

“Interrogation.” was TO’s only response.

“And is that a good idea?” Avery asked, their ears dipping back. “You’re going to meet the insurgents, meet a higher up, and take them, right? What if getting Pholi ruins that chance, or what if they hurt someone else as revenge?”

If they hurt DH was what Avery meant.

“They’ve already hurt so many civilians and synths.” TO said, “I very much doubt that my actions would change their plans in this.” Even as they spoke, they wondered if Avery was right. Would they hurt DH if Pholi were arrested? That wasn’t part of the conditions they sent when they contacted TO, so would it matter? Did they want to take that chance?

Their chip went off again with a message from the head of the Arkanian Authorities. ‘That was fast.’ TO thought as they opened it up, fully expecting simply a confirmation of their orders.

===Honored Synth

Minister Pholi is among those still missing in the Thalassian tragedy. We will arrest him at once if he’s found alive, but at this point he’s listed among the dead, missing, and abducted. I will send more information as soon as I receive it myself. ===

Of course. If the insurgents were abducting the indebted, then it’s likely that Pholi would have snuck into a service escape pod with them, so the insurgents would take him as well. Either that, or he drowned. He’d deserve it if he drowned, but TO was only concerned about the fact that, at this moment, Pholi was out of their grasp.

“Pholi is apparently still missing.” TO said, their hand tightening around the communicator. “So I won’t be getting him ‌soon.”

“Oddly, I think that might be best.” Kei said, “Avery is correct; his arrest might alert the insurgents, and put them on higher alert. Hopefully, the captures we make tonight will prove to be a better prize.”

Kei was right. If they were lucky, they’d get someone of importance ‌among the insurgents. Maybe someone who had even more information than Pholi. Maybe someone who was involved in the torture of synths; of GiDi and DH.

They’d capture them, interrogate them, beat them, and then bring them before King Decon for their final justice. Even as the thought of blood turned their stomach, they could feel themself shaking with rage.

The insurgents had DH. They had likely hurt GiDi.

TO had never wanted to hurt someone so much in their short life.

======

Construction at the holding facility was ongoing, and the Okoian authorities had moved the remaining prisoners either off planet or to other locations on Arkane. The civilian authorities blocked off all air traffic around the area, but of course that meant nothing to a synth. As they passed over the blockade, the authorities scanned their vehicle only once, and then ignored them.

“So this is the damage that the insurgents did while you were on your little date.” Kei said, their voice filtering through their helmets.

“That’s not important now.” Avery said. Then, in a private channel, they said to TO “Are you alright?”

“No.” TO said back, “I’m not. They took DH.” They knew that the venom in their own voice wouldn’t really capture what they felt, not in the same way their ears could show that. Maybe that was for the best.

“… When you capture them, I don’t think you should interrogate them.” Avery said, “You’re angry. I think you might hurt them more than you intend to, and I know you won’t want to do that.”

“Oh, but I do.” TO could feel their claws itching to be drawn, “I want to hurt them. Don’t you understand? There’s every reason to believe that they hurt GiDi, and now they have DH. I will hurt them. I will rip them apart, and I’ll do so with a smile on my face-“

“And you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” Avery said. “I know I'm not as close to you as they were, but I know that much about you, at least. I know you’ll wake up dreaming about it every night if you do that… So when we get them, let me or Kei deal with them.”

“I want to-“

“Please?”

Maybe if they were talking with their helmets off, then maybe it’d be harder to argue with Avery. Maybe Avery would see TO’s own ears twitching with worry. Blood, bones, the smell of disinfectant. Yes, if TO ripped them apart, then their massacred bodies probably would become a part of their dreams from then on.

“No.” They said. They didn’t care if they dreamed of blood every night for the rest of their life. Whoever was involved in hurting GiDi and taking DH, TO would make sure they suffered.

The vehicle slowed, and the map showed TO that they were at the location. “We’re here.” TO said as they opened the door. “Let’s go.”

“Understood, and ready.” Kei said, “Order?”

It felt so odd to be a part of an operation like this again, ordering around other synths. “I’ll go first.” TO said, “I know the way. Which of you is a better shot?”

“Hur-14 is.” Kei said, “My hand to hand combat skills are better.”

“Kei, you go after me and stay close. Avery, you come after, and keep watch. Gun out, fire at anything suspicious.”

“Understood.”

Orders given, TO looked down at the ruined street below. Even from here, they could see the entrance to the sewers; plastic barriers stood around it, but the entrance itself still sat in a state of disrepair.

Even if the civilians fixed the entrance, TO would have just shot through it.

They jumped and soared down to the streets below.