The tunnels that TO had seen thus far were neat. Despite its age, the ancient architecture was clean and sturdy because of the repairs the insurgents had made.

The same was not to be said for the smaller tunnels that linked the main tunnels to the active sewage network. Twisting, uneven tunnels made the trip difficult. In some places, there was hardly enough room for them to squeeze through, creating a terrifying, claustrophobic atmosphere that made TO certain that they’d get stuck and die underground. In places, this glorified cracks in the dirt opened up to wide caverns which should have given TO some temporary relief. It did not. Cave-ins had obviously caused the caverns, a fact that made TO more certain of their imminent death.

And, of course, the bugs scurrying around them didn’t help. TO could hear things crunching away in the dirt. They wouldn’t have minded so much if they had their armor, but they didn’t. They only had the plain, basic clothing that the insurgents had given them; shirts with the backs cut so their wings could fit through, and plain denim pants. They cringed every time they brushed up against something. At one point, when they set their hand on the dirt wall, they touched something slimy that moved, drawing a brief yelp from them as they pressed their back to the opposite side.

“What?” GiDi turned around, their multi-gun out, ready to attack anything that threatened them. Instead, all they saw was TO, their ears bright blue as their unsoiled hand covered their mouth. Behind them, Tham simply glared, while Pearla looked on in scarcely concealed amusement.

“It’s nothing.” TO muttered, rubbing their hand on their pants, “nothing. Sorry. Let’s go.”

“Honestly.” Tham muttered as he waited for TO to move on. “You’re supposed to be a synth; you’re supposed to be one of these awful, terrifying, heartless soldiers… And you’re afraid of bugs.”

“Well, I’m none of these things.” TO said, their ears still blue as they trudged on, “I was just startled.”

“You can always go back.” Tham snapped, “Don’t know why we let you come with us, anyway.”

“Because we need all the extra hands we can get.” GiDi said from the front of the line. The hallway was so narrow that they had to travel single file for now. GiDi led the way, but Tham insisted ‌he travel behind TO, just in case they tried anything. “And you said no armor, and no weapon for TO-”

“You have built-in weapons.” Tham said, “Those claws. You showed me how strong those are; I didn’t forget.”

“And you also didn’t want DH to come with us, too.” GiDi said, “Though the extra hands would have been useful.”

“Is the other one afraid of bugs?”

“DH; and no, they’re not.” GiDi said.

“I’m not afraid of insects.” TO said, “Again, they startled me.” They huffed, wishing they could wrap their wings around them for some protection. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough space for them to move their wings around them, so they stayed pinned to their back. “Besides, insects can be dangerous. They can carry disease, they can bite, some are poisonous, and some can just burrow into your skin!”

“... Why didn’t we take the other one again?” Tham said with a sigh.

“DH. their name is DH.” Pearla said from behind her brother, “And TO came with us because they're better at hand to hand combat than DH is. DH is a better shot, but that’s pointless since they don’t have guns.” She looked over Tham’s shoulder, trying to see GiDi, “Is that right, darlin’?”

“Yes.” GiDi said, the tips of their ears flushing, “You listened.”

It was odd hearing GiDi referred to by such a pet name… but it was good to see it as well. Whenever TO saw GiDi and Pearla interact, saw GiDi’s wing drape over her shoulders or saw the end of her tail twist around GiDi’s leg, they could only be glad that GiDi had a mate that cared about that, that loved them, that made their ears blue and called them sweet names. They were just happy that GiDi hadn’t been alone all this time.

GiDi suddenly stopped before them, a hand held out to signal for the others to wait. TO watched as their ears twitched, listening. When TO stopped and listened, they could hear what GiDi was listening to.

Footsteps nearby, people running along somewhere, and commands shouted with an accent that TO couldn’t place.

“Police officers. No, probably Arkanian special operations.” GiDi said as they listened, “The boots are heavier than what the police wear, I think.”

Behind them, Tham cursed, “Fully armored?”

“Likely.” GiDi said, “They’re pretty far in. Do you think they’ve cleared everyone out?”

“Lendulin is much closer to the entrance than I am, and closer than Petra. She would have escaped through the waterway that runs through her place. She would have contacted Petra and-” She stopped, and suddenly floundered to find something in her dress. After a moment, she pulled out her communicator.

“I had this off.” She said as she pressed a button, “I always do when I go into the old tunnels, just to make sure I’m not tracked-”

“You should keep it off.” GiDi said, “If they’re looking for you, and you are missing right now, then if they are tracking you, they’ll note your location.”

“Which means we can’t just message Lendulin and Petra and tell them to meet us somewhere.”

Activated their chip, and started sending off a message. “I’ll get Vik to run interference.” They said, “They can start messaging people, and contact us.” They’ll forward all the messages to us, no problem.

“Won’t that give away your hiding spot?” TO asked.

“Vik can make it seem like the messages are coming from inside the government building itself.” GiDi said, “That's not a worry. The real worry is making sure Petra is ok. She can’t swim like Lendulin can.

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“Do you have any ideas?” Pearla asked, her tail curling on itself as she leaned over her brother's shoulder. “Anything at all?”

“I could lead them away.” Tham said, “I’m still a wanted criminal. They’ll chase after me-”

“No.” GiDi said, “They won’t all chase after you, they’ll split up. Also, if you ‌get caught, they’ll execute you right away instead of just jailing you.”

“No executions.” TO said, their wings pinning to their back as they recalled the execution back in Thalassa. “No, please.”

Tham did a double take, staring at TO in silence for a moment.

“Alright.” He finally said, “Do you have a better idea?”

To was about to say no, of course they didn’t. They didn’t know these tunnels as well as GiDi, Tham, and Pearla did. They didn’t know the local authorities like they did.

However, they had a plan, one that glided into their mind quickly and easily.

“A cave in.” They said, thinking back to the caverns they had passed earlier.

“What?” Tham said.

“A cave in.” TO said, “If we can force one, we can at least keep them from getting to the tunnels further back, right?”

“Yeah, and trap everyone else inside.” Tham snapped.

“But you’ve got tunnels further in too, don't you?” TO asked. “We could go through there, and get people out.”

“The tunnels up here are too sturdy.” Tham said, “We don’t have the explosives to do that kind of damage on hand-”

“... We don’t.” GiDi said, “But my multi-gun might take out a tunnel under the sewer.” they activated their chip, and pulled up the map of the sewers and the old tunnels. “Look.” They said, pointing to parts of the hologram, “If we can do enough damage to the tunnel underneath, the sewer here might collapse. I think there was some leaking back that way, so the sewer there might need repairs. It might work!”

Tham nodded. “It’ll take out one of our tunnels, but fuck it; we can manage. It’s not like we don’t have a bunch more.” They frowned. “But… that’ll expose one of our tunnels. If they follow it-”

“It’s one of the old tunnels.” GiDi said, “The original ones, now our carved out ones. They’ll think it was a fault in the tunnels, and that the bunch of them marching over it triggered the collapse. We can seal off our entrances, and the water should cause enough damage that we won’t have to worry about that. We can fake cave-ins to important locations if we need to.”

Tham listened, then finally nodded, “Alright.” They said, “How are we doing this?”

“I’m going to find Petra.” Pearla said, squeezing past TO and Tham to get to GiDi. “I know some ‌places she might go to hide, so I’m going.”

“And I’m going with you.” GiDi said, taking Pearla’s hand. They glanced at TO, and winced, their ears dipping down.

“... I don’t ‌feel comfortable with you going alone…” GiDi said, “But I don’t think you want to go with TO, so-”

“No no, it’s fine.” Tham said, taking on a sudden, strange air of calm, “It’s not a single person job, anyway. TO will go with me. “They held out their hand, “Give me your multi-gun.”

GiDi eyed Tham’s hand, their eyes flicking from Tham to TO.

“Come on.” Tham said, “We don’t have time. I need your gun to trigger the collapse.”

“... And you won’t shoot TO?”

“Not unless I have to.” he said with a narrowed glare at TO, “Not unless they try to stop me, or try to hurt me.”

“I won’t!” TO said, “If I would, I wouldn't’ be here-”

“I don't know that.” Tham hissed.

“I do.” GiDi said, “I can tell they’re not lying.” They took a step forward, “TO is my family, Tham. They’re as important to me as Pearla is to you. If you let anything happen to them, or if you hurt them-”

“I think I’ve placed a lot of trust in you, and in your ‘friends’ so far.” Tham said, “I don’t agree with having them here, but I even helped you get them to safety. Why would I ‌hurt them now?”

GiDi frowned and then passed over the multi-gun. As TO watched the weapon change hands, they wondered how fast they were compared to Tham. TO could fly, but that wouldn’t mean much in the tunnels. They were potentially faster though, and they had claws.

If Tham attacked them, what kind of chance would TO have?

GiDi pulled TO into a quick embrace. “Be careful. I’m sorry you’re going with them but-”

“It’s ok.” TO said. They said it was ok, but once the words left their mouth, propelled by the desire to make GiDi feel better about the situation, the worry started. What if Tham used this opportunity to kill them, and make it seem like an accident? Of course, it also stung that GiDi had decided so quickly to go with Pearla, and to leave TO with Tham.

Guilt shot through them like lightning. Was this how GiDi had felt all the times TO went after DH, leaving them behind alone?

They had little time to think about it. GiDi let go, nodded to Pearla, and chased her down the tunnel, turning into the shadows up ahead and disappearing.

“Come on.” Tham grumbled, pressing themself to the wall so TO could go ahead of them, “After you.”