TO stood unmoving, their eyes wide, their ears pinned down. Even as their gun shook in their hands, they felt the sting of tears in their eyes.

GiDi. It was GiDi. Their friend who seemed so small and scared at first, and who stood up to not just their overseer, but to the Commander of their training center.

“I am not a tool.”

GiDi, who was taken away to be corrected, disappeared with C12. TO had been so certain that the insurgents got them and tortured them.

“GiDi.” Their gun stayed up as they blinked back tears. GiDi, who was now standing alongside insurgents. A failed synth. A disgrace to King Decon. Their friend. Family, if a synth could have family.

“TO.” GiDi took a step forward. “Come on. We need to talk.” Despite their low, calm voice, their ears twitched and flicked to give away their nervousness, their fear, their worry. “Please.”

Behind them, TO could hear the low growl from Kei. “You traitor.” They hissed, “You disgusting, abhorrent, broken thing.”

The sound of the multi-gun charging for a lethal shot filled TO’s ear.

How often had they wondered what they’d do if they found GiDi? They knew what King Decon expected of them, of course; retrieval. They’d have to bring GiDi back to the training center where the higher ups would deal with them. Either the laser would carve into their mind and cut out the distracting, problematic thoughts, or the knife would separate the parts, and give them to synths that deserved them. At this point, since GiDi seemed to work with the insurgents, repurposing them was the only path that lay open now.

TO hoped never to see them again, so they wouldn’t have to choose between helping their friend, or obedience to King Decon. As they agonized about it at night, it seemed to be a near impossible decision.

Apparently, it wasn’t.

The moment they heard the multi-gun charging behind them, it was like a part of their brain switched off. Or maybe it switched on. It was hard to tell, but suddenly they weren’t thinking, they were acting. Someone screamed, “No, don’t.” And it took a few moments for TO to realize that they themself had yelled it as they spun on their heel and pointed the multi-gun at Kei and loosed a volley of shots at the other synth. Their aim had never been great, so DH had taught them to fire a lot at close range. There was no worry about ammo; their multi-guns had full charges, so they could fire and fire and fire at the enemy until they fell.

The first few shots missed entirely, the next three hit Kei’s armor. The other synth might have still shot GiDi, but they were so surprised, so shocked by TOs’ sudden attack they took their eyes off GiDi, and simply stared at TO.

Eyes locked in a strange inverse of the slow, drawn out gaze that TO and DH shared so long ago. It was like all they could see was Kei. All they could think was that they were going to kill GiDi, and they had to stop them!

The next three shots hit first Kei’s neck, then their face. The paralyzing tremor that ran through Kei’s body drew a pained scream from them; their ears flicked down, vibrating with agony before they fell, twitching and shaking to the ground, curling up in pain.

TO still had the multi gun before them, shaking, staring at Kei on the ground. Their blood rushed through their ears, so they couldn’t hear whatever Avery was saying, but when they looked up, Avery had their own multi-gun pointed at TO. Their ears were down, flat, their eyes were wide, their hands were shaking.

Was this what TO had looked like? No, TO was certain that they didn’t look so scared, so confused, so sad as they shot Kei.

They shot Kei. They attacked another synth. Was using a multi-gun worse than using their claws? They didn’t think it mattered at this point; at least, the rising sickness in this stomach told them ‌it didn’t matter.

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They attacked another synth while on active duty, before a group of insurgents. Their mind spun at just how bad that was.

Avery’s hands shook as they muttered silently to themself, their aim wavering. Did they have the gun on stun, or a more lethal setting? Was Avery going to kill them?

Avery had every right to. They attacked another synth. Though, they did it to protect another synth. Did it matter? Was GiDi an insurgent now? If they weren’t, why were they with the other insurgents, ‌unbound, uninjured, and seemingly on very good terms with them? Had they kept Kei from attacking another synth, or had they kept them from attacking an insurgent?

Had time slowed that much, or was Avery hesitating? Were they simply perfecting their aim, or were they shaking too much to take proper aim? They had to be careful with this shot; they had to hit TO in the head.

TO still had their own gun in their hand, still pointed at the fallen form of Kei. Should they turn their gun on Avery? Should they kill their friend? Why? Even if they got DH back now, what would happen to them?

They attacked another synth. Their service was over.

“Shoot them!” Kei cried out, their voice still shaking as they gasped with pain. TO took a step back from Avery, watching them as they licked their lips as they adjusted their aim. They still didn’t shoot. Their ears were down, and tears were streaming from their eyes even as their finger twitched around the trigger.

A low hum surrounded them, building with a horrible vibration until it hurt TO from the inside with a sudden ferocity that made TO double over, dropping the gun and pressing their hands to their ears to keep some of the awful noise out. Their efforts were in vain. It wasn’t the sound; it was the vibration, going through them, hitting their inner-ear and sending shock waves through them, making them feel uneasy and dizzy and sick all at once, making the world spin around them as they stumbled backwards. They couldn’t focus, couldn’t make their body move like they wanted it too. They tripped over themself, and fell to the ground before curling up, much like Kei had, as they tried to protect themself from that low, awful sound.

Had Avery shot them? They hadn’t seen it, but they were so disoriented now, they weren’t sure.

They realized that even if Avery had shot them, they wouldn't be angry. Avery was just doing what they were supposed to.

They had shot Kei. TO was a traitor. Avery, if they had shot them, was just doing what was right.

That was their last thought before the world slipped away.

======

It was; a sharp, awful pain in their hand that woke them up an unknown amount of time later. They cried out as they twisted to ‌see what was happening, but someone had tied their arms and feet together, leaving them unable to move.

“It’s ok TO.” GiDi said. They had TO’s head on their lap, holding them as someone else worked behind them. “I’m sorry. It hurts, but it’ll be over soon.”

Where were they? They could hear water, and the way the world moved around them told them ‌they must be on a boat going over a placid water mass. They could hear breathing - shallow and weak, but there. Avery and Kei? It had to be. There were others there too, at least three more people, but their breathing lacked the low, distinctive click that a synth had. It was so dark, darker than it had ever been on Arkane before. If they were outside, most every building had some light to it. Outside the circle of light given off by a nearby lantern, everything was a black void. They used their echolocation to orient themself, and found they were in some kind of tunnel or cave, one that was half full of water at least.

“We’re underground.” GiDi said in response to TO’s echolocation, “It’s a cave system that-”

“Don’t tell them anything until I get this sorted out.” Another voice - small and pitched- said from behind them. “I don’t know what they're recording or sending, and I won’t until I get this chip out and into my computer.” There was a huff, and the sharp pain worsened. “You’re lucky I don’t have to rip out the one in their brain.”

“I owe you-”

“You owe me several times!” The voice came back, “He’s going to kill us for doing this. He said it was too risky!”

It took a moment for TO to realize what they were doing. They tried to move, struggling against the ropes to get away from whoever was behind them, from the sharp implements that were digging at their hand.

“We have to get the chip out.” GiDi said, their arms around TO, “If we don’t, then they’ll find us.”

“I need it.” They croaked out, still trying to get away from the person behind them. GiDi held them tightly so they couldn’t, and TO had to lie there and have a part of them ripped out.

They looked up at GiDi’s. GiDi, their small friend. Daydreaming, overthinking GiDi, who they had worried about so much. They hadn’t passed their examination. They had gone against their direct orders, and refused to shoot.

“GiDi…” TO’s voice was dry and hoarse. “Are you… are you an insurgent?”

GiDi’s ears dipped down in a deep sadness that TO had never seen in their friend before.

“… I suppose I am.” they whispered.

TO could feel the chip come loose behind them, and a strange feeling, like a sudden jolt of static, washed over their mind and when it passed, they felt a part that was missing. It was like there was an entire section of their mind which was just gone.

They didn’t understand it. They understood nothing. TO didn't know what happened, how they were here, how GiDi was working with the insurgency, or how they could have attacked Kei. They had so many questions, but really, only one was the important one.

“Is DH really safe?” They muttered.

“Yes.” GiDi said, “They’re safe, and you’ll see them really soon. I promise.”

They lay back down, and let GiDi hold on to them. They didn’t understand what was happening, but GiDi was safe, and DH was safe. Everything else they’d worry about later.