TO didn’t want to leave the underground. Truthfully, they didn’t want to do much other than spend their time with DH in the underground talking Flit and Snout’s advice and savoring every single second of time they had between now and when they got off the planet.
Well, that or the synths came, whatever came first.
Regardless of what they wanted to do, What they didn’t want to do was spend their day infiltrating an indebted living area, but that’s what they were doing. GiDi’s simple plan to get some indebted people out of the network. Even after a long, dry meeting where TO tried their best to come up with a better plan, this was still the best they had mostly because of all the pre-planning that went into it.
After wandering through the sewers they found a place in the security district where they could sneak out and onto the streets above, Trailing behind Pearla and Mira. They hadn’t seen Mira in a while now as she stayed out on the streets looking for information, but with Tham injured as he was, the purple insectoid had been asked to come along. TO would have preferred if DH came with them, but because DH had some medical training, Goretta asked them to stay underground so they could help with Kei if something came up, and to help with the other civilians.
Maybe it was better anyway, since TO didn’t want DH to get involved in this mission. Of course, To was certain that DH would rather if TO had stayed behind.
“Are we sure this is going to work?” Pearla asked as they slipped through the alleyways. “I mean, security is so tight-”
“Oh yeah, getting in will be fine.” Mira said, “There’s so many new people in the system now that the guards won’t be entirely sure whose who. I’ve been watching, and they suck at it and they focused the facial recognition software on people leaving the area, not going in.”
“Which brings another question to mind.” TO said, “How do we get out?”
They had plenty of old uniforms normally worn by the indebetted that they easily found a size to fit the three of them. As an extra precaution, TO’s wings were colored with a muddy red paint, and the telltale scars now hid beneath a thick layer of wax. It wouldn’t do to have someone recognize the scars on TO’s wings as the same ones from the video taken in the tunnels.
“Well, we’re not tagged, so we can get out.” Mira said. “And hopefully so long as we have our communicators we can have Vik hack the tags, so we can get some others out.”
“Couldn’t we just remove the tags?” TO asked, “It’d be easier and probably faster than getting Vik to work on them.”
In response, Mira tapped on the back of her neck, “Not possible.” They said, “They insert the tags on the base of the skull, kinda like the control thingy for your chips.” Her eyes narrowed and the remains of her damaged and broken wings hummed in rapid fluttering. “In the odd case where someone gets out of the system, they don’t even remove the tags then. They say it’s because of the high rates of recidivism, but honestly someone who leaves the indebted system can only go back into debt!”
“Wait, why?” TO asked, their ears flicking out.
“It’s stupid.” Pearla said, “Say you’re indebted, and you get out, right? You get out with nothing; no place to live, no job, no food. So, you need these things to live, right? But you also need a home address to get a job, like I told you. Most places require a deposit on rent, so you need money first. You go to a lender, but because you were in the system, they charge you higher rates of interest on your loan. If you don’t get a job right away, borrow more-”
“Long story short.” Mira interrupted as she held up a hand to stop their movements as a vehicle passed through the road before them, “It’s hard to get a job if you were indebted. You borrow money at high interest just to live, and if you don’t get a job right away, you’re screwed. If you have a medical emergency, you’re screwed. The bills for living pile up while the interest increases, and when you hit enough debt, you go back into the system.”
“Oh, and the debt limit for the previously indebted is lower than for other citizens.” Pearla added before they slipped across the street and into another alley, “So, you hit that faster. Most people who leave the system end up back in there within a year. And like I said, most people don’t leave the system.”
TO felt their ears pin back as they followed the two, “You know.” They said, “After you told us all that, I actually tried to make some changes to the system.”
“And you couldn’t?” Mira asked, “I thought you synths had all the power here.”
“Well, over civilians, we did.” TO muttered, “And over civilian government, but it’s a course of action I’d have to get approved by Ark-1- sorry, they were our superior, and Ark-1 said that it wasn’t a big enough issue for us to pursue.”
“Not a big enough issue?” Pearla snapped, “The welfare of the benevolent King Decon’s citizens wasn’t a big issue?”
“Apparently, not.” TO muttered. “Apparently, keeping Arkane’s leadership loyal and content was more important in the wider view of things.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Oh yeah, that’s messed up.” Mira snapped, “The whole ‘small sacrifices’ for the greater good.” She snorted, “Funny how the people making these sacrifices are normally the people who got nothin’ left to- Oh, look.”
In the road before them, there was a relatively large group of people in similar beige uniforms as what the three of them wore, all of them shuffling towards a large van
“It’s like you said.” Pearla whispered, “Repair crews from the holding center. They must be heading back to the indebetted center.”
“... It’s noon.” TO whispered, “Why are they sending them back at noon?”
“Fourteen hour shifts.” Mira whispered back, “I’ve been watching. One crew starts at midnight, the other starts at noon. Twenty-eight hours of repair work at low cost to the city. For them though-” She gestured to the indebted trudging alone, “The time it takes to gather everyone up to come out here, and brief them on what they’re doing before they even start working, that’s a solid hour. It takes an hour for them to get gathered up and organized to go back too. So, really it’s fourteen hours for them. Come on, let’s go!”
There were drones and guards watching the indebted, but the drones lingered near the back of the line, and the guards didn’t seem too attentive so it was no problem for the three to slip into the line. TO expected someone to question their sudden appearance, if not the guards then the people they were sneaking in with at least! But everyone seemed to trudge along in a near lifeless state, with their eyes down.
“I hope Vik was right.” Pearla muttered as they walked along towards the transport, “If they try to scan us-“
“The scans happen at the transport.” Mira said, “And they’re more concerned about numbers than individuals.If fifty people come out, then fifty people back in. They won’t be worried unless they're missing someone once everyone is in the transport.” She gave a quick smile, her antenna flicking in the air, “Come on, when has Vik been wrong?”
“Oh, plenty of times.” Pearla whispered back, “Remember the antibiotic heist last year?”
“They got the wrong mediation. That’s different. When has he ever been wrong about computer stuff? Besides, when have I been wrong? I’ve been observing them and I know how they act.”
TO knew nothing about the medication heist, but even so they didn’t enjoy relying on just the expertise of one civilian. They set their fingers against the cool metal of their bracelet, as though confirming it was still there. If everything fell apart they could probably get away and Mira could probably manage on her own, but what about Pearla? A Nagarajin was too heavy for them to fly with, that they already knew.
They glanced over at one guard, an insectoid with front facing eyes, short legs, and a wide frame. They had a limited range of vision so TO was certain if it came to it they could sneak up on them. There was a civilian gun at their waist and while the sound of it still rang through their ears, and the sight of blood from Tham’s arm still lingered in their head, they figured they could probably use that to get away.
TO didn't want to do that. They really didn’t want to use one of those civilian guns. They held their breath as they passed the guards, their red painted wings tightening against their back as TO resisted the urge to wrap them around their arms.
The guards took no note of the extra passengers and the drones were much further back, monitoring the back of the line. The only thing counting the people entering the transport was a security gate that surrounded the door. It beeped green each time one of the indebted passed through it. TO felt certain that it would give off some alarm as they passed through it; maybe Vik was mostly right, but what if that gate picked up their own chip, and sensed something wrong?
They held their breath as their fingers hovered over their bracelet, ready to turn on their armor. Using their armor here would mean that their cover as loyal synths would be ruined, and it would limit their ability to get back to the ship. Still, if it came down to it…
They passed through the gate. The green light did not flash as they did, but no alarms went off and nobody seemed to notice that the gate didn’t register them.
“And we’re in.” Mira said as they made their way to the back of the transport.
The held breath rushed out of TO as they followed Mira and Pearla to the back of the transport. A narrow bench wrapped around the inside of the transport but although only about half the indebted were in, there was no sitting space left and many chose to sit on the floor. Some were sleeping against the legs of the person sitting on the bench behind them. Already, the smell was getting unbearable here as the stench of bodies worked for fourteen hours in the heat and grime lingered even with the door open. Though most of the people in with them were legless, sitting next to them was one short, four-legged reptile-person who was in the middle of prying off their shoes. At first TO thought that others would get angry at them, the smell was awful enough in here, but when TO saw the blood caked around their feet, any anger they had would have melted away.
“Here.” Pearla whispered as she passed the poor civilian a small packet. The person jumped, eyed Pearla, then the packet which was simply a basic antibacterial wipe, made for cleaning blood from skin. They reached their hand out tentatively, then hesitated.
“How much.” They asked.
“Free.” Pearla said.
“Well, we could use some information…” Mira muttered. Pearla slapped her arm with her tail and gave the purple insectoid a sharp glare.
“We could.” She admitted, “But that’s not part of a trade; this is free.”
The indebted civilian glanced from Mira, to Pearla, then to TO, let their eyes linger on TO’s wings, then took the packet.
“Thanks” They muttered as they opened it up, ripped the cloth inside in half, and wiped down their feet.
“There’s an ointment in it as well that’ll take the sting out of your wounds.” Pearla said with a smile.
“Are you sure it’s ok?” they asked, as they stilled their hand, the already bloodied scrap of napkin hovering over torn skin.
“Of course.” Pearla said.
They continued to wipe at their bloody feet, trying to make one half of the cloth last as long as they could before they relented and used the other half. “Haven’t seen you around before.”
“Yeah, we’re just visiting.” Mira muttered. TO felt their ears flick back in horror at the prospect of Mira giving them away, but the other indebted just gave a low snort of laughter.
“New then.” They said after a minute. “I’m Beck. She/her. My condolences for ending up here.”
“Pearla, She/her. This is Mira, she/her, and Tio, They/them.” She grinned, “And don’t worry, we don't plan on staying too long.”