TO had been expecting the knock on the door, the soft tap from the diminutive bar owner, so they were right at the door waiting to open it when it came. Fengari slipped in with a plastic bag in each hand.
“Ready to go then?” She asked as she glanced over the room. Pearla had cleaned up as much as she could have given the circumstances, the food Fengari had left earlier was gone, and they had packed up all the supplies Fengari carried down and organized them neatly in the basket.
“Yes.” Pearla said, the word riding a big breath of air as it left her. She went over and gave Fengari a big hug, “Thank you so much for helping us here.”
Fengari laughed, a strange chittering audible between the syllables. “You know I’d help anyone.” She said, “And besides that, you guys have helped me a lot-”
“Please.” Pearla said as she pulled away, “Any favors you’ve asked for have been to help other people.”
“Well. it still counts as a favor in my eyes.” She said, grinning. She held up the bags, “It’s not much, but I packed some food for you.”
“Thank you.” Pearla said as she went forward to take the bags. TO intercepted her though, and carried the bags for her. Pearla just shook her head, and turned back to Fengari, “It helps a lot. Things are-”
“Rough right now.” Fengari said, “I know. It’s only been a few days but there are already shortages because of panic buying. Thankfully, I keep plenty of extra food on hand so we’re ok for now, but I’ve had to stop offering most of our menu items.”
“Wait… people are still trying to eat in restaurants?” TO asked.
“Oh, my yes.” Fengari said, “They go out so they don’t have to use their own supplies. Most of my competitors increased their prices and they’re already obsessed with how they’re going to spend their profits once this is all over.”
“You didn’t?” Pearla asked.
“Nah. I reduced the amount of food in each dish and stopped offering the more wasteful dishes. Food is more important than money now, and I’ll be able to feed more for longer.” She shrugged, “We always put too much food on the plates, anyway.” She stepped back into the hallway, “If you’re ready?”
They left the room, closing the door behind them and once more stepping into the dim of the secret staircase. They walked in relative silence as they followed Fengari, with Pearla walking behind TO. This arrangement had been TO’s idea, so that if Pearla stumbled in the dark, they could catch her.
“Watch out ahead, Tio.” Fengari said after a while, “There’s a beam up ahead, and I don’t want you to smack your head on it.”
“I see it.” TO said. For someone with normal day vision it would likely have been invisible, but for TO the metal beam was clear.
“Oh?” Fengari turned to look at them, focusing on their eyes, “low-light vision, I’m guessing?”
“Yes. This is perfect for me.”
“Same.” Fengari said, “I keep it dim in here just in case I ever get raided. Low-light vision is a little less common, so it might give me an edge.” She glanced around TO, “Pearla, you doing ok?”
“I can see TO ahead of me, and that’s it.” She said, “I’m just glad they’re so pale or I’d never see them.”
“Just be careful.” Fengari said, “Don't fall now.”
“I got my tail supporting me on about a dozen steps. I’ll be fine.”
“Good, good.” Fengari said as she continued down. A few more moments of silence passed before she spoke again, “So, all your preparation for the great escape going along good?”
Pearla gave a bitter laugh, “It’s going, that’s all I can say.” She said, “We were supposed to be out of the center days ago. It was supposed to be an overnight thing, and we weren’t supposed to end up here.”
“So, some problems came up?” Fengari asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Pearla said. “That Gyrini showed up.”
Fengari said something in a language that TO didn’t know, but given the tone they could tell it was a curse. “And you got away from her? She seems actually competent. She’s scary. There’s something about her… She almost feels like a synth, you know?” She glanced back past TO and to Pearla, “You don’t think she is one, do you?”
“Er, no.” Pearla said, “I’m fairly certain she’s not a synth.”
“How?”
“Her form.” TO said, their ears twitching as they suppressed a grin, “If you observe how synths look in their armor you can tell she’s not the same height, or the same size. She’s shorter, wider, and has no wings.”
“I suppose… but the right armor can make a person’s form look a lot different, and fake wings are easy enough to get.” Fengari said. “Anyway, she freaks me out.” She turned back to the stairs, “Is everything else going ok?”
“We still need to get and prepare supplies, but I think we have everyone that’s coming with us. Well, aside from one person.” She sighed, “Fengari, We can still get you off the planet.”
“Oh, so, she knows what’s happening?” TO asked, “She knows about everything?”
“That there’s a synth armada coming to Arkane, and they might just decide to kill us all to save themself the trouble of weeding out the insurgency? Yeah, I’m aware.”
“... And despite that, you’re not coming with us?” TO asked, their ears quirking forward. “You know about all the danger, and you’re choosing not to run?”
Fengari shrugged, “I considered it. Strongly.” She said, “But.. You guys can only take so many. I get that. And it’s important for you all to be away to keep on keeping on against King Decon, right? You can help people on other planets. Arkane isn’t the only planet that needs help; I get that.” she glanced back again, “But with the insurgency gone, there will not be a lot of help left for people stuck here, and there’s a chance that they’ll leave the general population alone-”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“And if they do that,” Pearla said, “Once we get the people with us to safety we’ll return.”
“But until then, there’s people here who will need help. I can offer that.” She shrugged again and turned away, “I have no family. I have my business, I have my pets. If I had kids or something, it’d be different, but I don’t. So, I can afford to take the risk.”
“You’re one of us though.” Pearla said, “You’ve always been helpful to us.”
“I know.” Fengari said, “And that’s because I have my business. If I leave Arkane, I can’t help at all. So, I’d rather my seat be open to someone who could really use it. Someone with family, or a kid on their own.”
“But, if they do attack, then…” TO trailed off.
“Then I die.” She said, “I’m aware.”
How many people were like Fengari? The question planted itself in TO’s mind. How many people had been given the option to leave and choose to stay? How many choose to stay because they wanted to help here, or choose to stay because they felt they weren’t important enough?
Was that why GiDi and Pearla were insisting on staying at first?
“Maybe…. I should stay.” Pearla muttered, “I’d be useful.”
“You’d be useful wherever you go.” Fengari said before TO could even start an argument against that, “So, you’re going. You’ll help a lot more people if you survive.”
Well, that was better than TO’s argument. GiDi was coming with them, but if Pearla stayed, then GiDi would stay as well, and TO refused to let the smaller synth–the smaller Chilacian–come to harm again. They were together again, their little family, and TO wouldn’t let GiDi be separated from them again.
Thinking about all the people on the planet, knowing more and more people who were staying behind either by choice or simply because they couldn’t help everyone made TO’s stomach churn. A small part of them, a part that was weak, beaten, and still clinging to life, said that King Decon wouldn’t allow that. It said that King Decon was just, and wouldn’t kill off an entire planet in their search for the insurgency.
The rest of TO no longer believed that small part.
======
Eventually, they came to the end of the staircase. It looked like a storage area with a raw dirt floor and plastic panels for walls. Fengari went up to one wall, dug her nails into the groves at the end, and pulled it forward to reveal another tunnel leading further down.
“This will take you to the sewers.” She said, “The old ones. You’ll know your way from there?”
“I’m not familiar with the way…” Pearla admitted, “But we’ll get directions.”
“You’re sure?” Fengari asked, “Normally, someone’s here to lead anyone I bring here, but-”
“Look.” TO said as they took out their communicator. They showed it to Fengari so she could see the map of the underground. “Our friend is going to track us and give us directions. It’ll be fine.”
“Alright.” Fengari said, stepping aside to let them through, “If you’re sure.”
“We are.” Pearla said. She moved forward and gave Fengari a big hug, “And if you change your mind-”
“You’ll be the first to know.” Fengari said, “And if the odds of them killing us all goes to one hundred, you tell me and I promise I’ll change my mind then.”
“I’ll tell you right away.” Pearla said as she gave her one last squeeze. “Take care of yourself.” She whispered before slipping into the old tunnels.
“You too.” Fengari said before turning to TO, “And you. You take care. I know we only met but you seem decent, so you take care of yourself, alright?”
“I will.” TO said, “You too.”
Fengari lifted her arm, extending an elbow. TO returned the customary elbow bump before slipping into the shadows of the tunnels. They turned to ask her once more if she was certain that she didn’t want to go with them and get off the planet, but the door closed and they were alone in the tunnels.
“Alright.” Pearla said, “You got the communicator. Send off a message to Vik, and get him to track us so we can get back.” She sighed and rubbed her arms, “I need to see GiDi.”
TO frowned as they sent off the message. “Are you sure we can’t convince her?” TO asked, “Fengari, I mean-”
“I promise, we’ve tried.” Pearla said, “But she won’t go if she can be useful here. She’s like that. There’s a few business people we work with, and most do it for a profit. Fengari just helps, and because she just helps she’s always had her business on the knife’s edge, always struggled to pay the bills, and has lived in the attic of her business for years.” She sighed, “That woman deserves better. I think she only became a business owner to help more people.”
The communicator pinged, and Vik’s directions for them to get home were on their screen. TO turned once more to the closed door, their mind racing as they tried to think of how they could convince Fengari.
They couldn't. Fengari knew the risks and knew exactly what was happening. Unlike Beck, she also believed what they and Pearla were saying.
For now, there was nothing they could do.
TO sighed, and went ahead of Pearla, “Come on.” They said, “I can see better, so I’ll lead the way.”
“Thanks. I was going to suggest that.” Pearla said.
Every step they took away from the door was heavy with guilt for TO, but it wasn’t just because of Fengari. They felt for every civilian out there who didn’t know what was coming, and for every civilian who knew, but stayed for one reason or another.
King Decon would kill them all, blame the insurgency, and justify it to those in the know that it was “For the good of the greater Galaxy.”
It wasn’t right, and TO didn’t know what to do about it.