The vehicle used to transport the indebted wasn’t just for those people working at the damaged holding facility, it traveled to other districts to pick up indebted people from other work areas. Four times on the way they stopped to pick up two or three people, all who found seats on the floor. Some of them immediately went to sleep; others spent their time rubbing their bloodied feet or their calloused hands.
“So did you three get the basic bunk, or one with a privacy curtain or a screen?”
“Basic.” Pearla said. “Hoping to be out of here in a year.”
“Or less.” Mira said.
“Right, same.” TO muttered. Mira and Pearla seemed to understand some of the strange questions that Beck was asking, but TO did not, so they just parroted whatever the others said.
“Right. So, you know most people break and upgrade by the end of the first month.” Beck said as she rolled up the little pieces of the napkin she had used to wipe down her feet. “You come in, and you’re like, I’m indebted, I should be working or sleeping. And maybe after the first week you’ll stick to that, and you’ll work and sleep because you’re exhausted. After that you’ll adjust, you won’t be as exhausted, and your heads gonna want to have some other stimulation. When that happens, you break and get a screen in your bed.” She leaned forward, whispering, “But look; I know someone with a private bed and a screen in their bunk.” She glanced at a male across the way, sitting under a vent. He looked a lot less tired than the others and lacked the hollow cheeks of the more experienced indebetted. “If you want to use a bed and a screen for a night, he’ll let you use his; you just gotta do his work when you’re on a job with him next.”
“He rents out his bed?” TO asked.
“Yup. There’s a few people like that, so if you want some private time with someone, or just want to sit and watch something, you can go to them.” She leaned forward, “Though… I have a screen in my bunk. I don’t rent out my bed, but if you want to want to share with me…” She held up the twisted remains of the napkin, “I’ll share; as thanks.” She then stuffed the napkin pieces between her pinky toes where, upon further examination, TO noticed the blood sticking to her scales.
“How long are you working for?” Pearla asked as she eyed Beck’s feet.
“Another two years if everything goes perfectly. Been here for five already.” She said, “Of course, if I get sick, well, a day’s a week, right?”
“It is?” TO asked as their ears flicked out.
“Ok, so you’ve never been in the system.” Beck said as she looked at TO, her eyes once more lingering on their wings. “If you’re sick for a day in here, that basically adds on an extra week to what you have to repay.” They glanced over To once, more, “How did you end up here again?”
TO floundered, but before their confusion got too clear, Pearl took over. “Bad business deals, too much borrowing, and didn’t have anyone to bail them out.” Pearla said. She leaned forward and spoke in a low whisper, “TO couldn’t rely on their family, since their family disowned them because of their partner, and they never got on well with any member of the Debt Offices.
“That’s it, more or less.” TO muttered. “Yourself?”
“Oh, my parents were indebted.” Beck said, “I got thrown into the childcare system when they went into the indebted system. Aged out of that, went into the workforce, had a string of bad luck-“ She held up her arm and showed a long scar distorting the blue-gray scales, “Broke my arm really badly. You could see the bone sticking out. Anyway, I had to take out loans when I couldn’t work and…” She shrugged, “Well, the rest is the normal story.”
The transport lunged and tilted upwards, making everyone inside scramble to hold themselves in place. Several people on the far end of the transport who had been sleeping suddenly woke up as their center of balance shifted and they fell over.
“Ah, here we go.” Beck said as she braced herself with her long tail against the floor, “We’re Heading back to the hovel now. Guess we’re not picking up anyone else.”
“They should have more transports for yo- us.” TO grumbled as they braced themself against the tilt of the vehicle.
“Yeah, no.” Beck said, “They do that, and they state ‘increased transport costs’ as an increased expense in our maintenance bills. No, thank you, I’m happy to be shoved in here with double what we have today if it means I get out a little earlier.”
Several minutes passed before the vehicle finally leveled out to the sound of relieved sighs from all around. Beck sighed and leaned against the legs of the sleeping person behind them.
“Not to be rude, But I'm gonna nap.” SHe said, “You should as well. This bit of downtime is almost worth the outside work detail on its own.” She settled herself in, making herself comfortable, “Though with the cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance added on, we pay enough for it.”
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TO had more questions, of course, but there were things they didn’t want to risk asking with everyone else around. Not only that, the transport had gone oddly quiet given just how many people were there. So many had fallen asleep already. With a raised brow ridge, they glanced at Pearla who just shrugged in response, and got as comfortable as she could with her tail wrapped around her.
With a sigh, TO settled in as well, breathing through their mouth for the rest of the trip.
======
Once the transport landed, its doors opened up to a long hallway which everyone simply trudged along. Pearla walked ahead with Beck, while TO and Mira followed closely behind.
“What do you think of the stellar facilities so far?” Mira asked, her voice low as she leaned towards TO, “Is it everything you dreamed it would be?”
“... I have come to realize that many of you consider the conditions that I trained under to be cruel and inhumane.” TO said, “Medication allotted based on performance, constant surveillance, and of course-” They gestured to their head, “All that. But at least all our pods were, to a degree, private, had screens, and they did not cram us into a place that couldn’t hold us comfortably.” Well, that was mostly true. Their pod got cramped when they shared it, but that was voluntary. “And we never had to forgo necessary rest or medical care for the sake of profit.” They frowned at Beck, “How can civilians allow this?”
“What do you mean?” She glanced up at TO, “What do you mean allow it? It’s not really a choice. You need money to live, and if you go into too much debt and can’t survive and pay your bills, you end up here.”
TO was about to ask again how they allow it, how to let it happen to them, but then they realized they don’t. People like Petra had been protesting and had a record because of it. The insurgency had been getting people out of the indebted program for years, waiting for opportunities to, as the Anchor said, ‘kidnap’ the indebted for some nefarious purpose.
Lies. all lies. King Decon approved the Anchor, so it was almost as though King Decon was lying.
King Decon was lying to everyone.
They knew the Anchor was changing translation based on the audience, but it hadn’t hit them yet that all the news they had been hearing all their life was lies crafted to show events in the most convenient light. For the synths, the Anchor always told them that the insurgents did such things to create discord, and flaunt disrespect to King Decon. What did it say to civilians? To the higher classes, and to the indebted themselves?
They were so lost in thought that the alert nearby drew a yelp from them. They looked around, their ears swiveling to orient themself until they saw the source of the alert. The tunnel they had been walking through ended just a little ahead of TO, the exit marked by a metal arch with a light on top flashing in time with the klaxon and casting red and yellow light over the terrified form of Pearla underneath.
“You there!” a nearby guard came up to her, “You know the drill, against the wall.”
“Shit.” Mira muttered as she backed up, “Those are new.”
“What do you mean they’re new?” TO whispered back, but Mira was already dragging TO away from Pearla. Or rather, she was trying to. After getting only a few steps away TO dug their feet in and held fast.
“I’m not leaving her.” TO whispered.
“Obviously we’re not leaving her, dumbass.” Mira whispered. “We’re just getting some distance. Watch.”
“If they hurt her-”
“I don’t think they will.”
TO watched, ready to pounce and rip the guard off of Pearla if it seemed like she might be in pain, but as it was Pearla seemed relatively calm now and was doing what the guard told her. She caught TO’s eyes, nodded once, then looked away.
“Arms up.” The guard said, gesturing for Pearla to put her arms out.
“What is this?” Mira asked as she stood on her toes to look over the heads of those surrounding them.
“Extra security.” Beck said. She had followed Mira’s lead in getting some space between her and Pearla, “They haven't ruled out that an indebted had something to do with the attack on Thalassa, right? So they started doing scans when people came in from a job.”
“Scans for what?”
“Oh, anything.” She said, “Mostly communicators. Sometimes we find them when doing clean up jobs and…” She paused, perhaps taking in how Mira’s antenna started twitching like mad, or catching how TO’s eyes widened. “Shit.” She whispered, “You got something, don’t you.”
“Yes.” TO said, feeling the pocket of their uniform where the modified communicator hid. “We both do.”
“Shit.” She muttered. She looked around at the people around them; everyone else was watching as the guard pulled the communicator out of Pearla’s pocket. “Quick.” She said, “Give me your communicators now.”
“Why?” TO whispered.
“Because if the guard gets them, they’ll take it and add a hefty fine to your balance.”
They had little time to think of another plan, didn’t know the area, didn’t know the rules of this place, and while they didn’t much care about their nonexistent balance, but they cared about keeping their communicators. If the guards got them, TO was fairly certain that their chances to get it back would be limited.
They pulled out the small black communicator, a different kind from the one that was linked to their chip, and passed it over. Mira hesitated a moment longer, then did the same.
Beck nodded and slipped backwards through the crowds. TO turned, watching her disappear. They meant to go after her but Pearla’s sudden cry of pain caught their ear. They turned in time to see Pearla rubbing the back of her neck, her hands shaking as her face drained of color.
“Honestly, I can’t believe they missed another.” The guard said as he put some small rectangular device back in a holster against his hip. “They gotta be more careful when they’re chipping newcomers at intake.”
“Wh-what did you do?” pearla asked, her hand touching at the base of her skull.
“Just implanted a tracking chip.” The guard said, “You should have reported to someone that you had no chip, but since you’re cute,” He gave her a rough wink, “I’ll save you the fine, and let it slide.”