Whoever had recorded the people coming to the underground from the indebted center had made a horrible mess of the task. They put names in the file, and thankfully whoever did it had thought to add any immediate medical concerns, but that was it. That tere had been no attempt to separate the names of people who had just come here, and no attempt to link the new names up with other families in the center. The names hadn’t even been alphabetized; they had just been thrown onto the bottom of the file like a pile of junk!
It was a mess, and TO’s priority was to clean it up. At the very least, they wanted to record families, to note which people should stay together.
As TO looked at their lists, they realized that there were still many people in the underground that they hadn’t yet seen, people whose names brought up no face in TO’s mind. It was problematic, especially if they were to organize everything for a few days.
With a sigh, they glanced over the long list again, and changed their original plan. Instead of going from one task to another in the indebted center, they would focus on meeting all the people on the list who they didn’t know yet. While they did that, they could compile needs for the trip, link people with families, ensure that people had the necessary medical treatments administered, and double check on any dietary needs.
Their recent time in the Indebted Center was hard, and they didn’t want anyone else suffering because they couldn’t get food they needed.
A quick skim of the immediate area, and they found one civilian that they rescued from the indebted center. He was a Piscijin by the name of Revmo, and had a tail longer than most, with a fin that had once been very large and flowy. When TO saw him in the indebted center they had noted right away how tattered his tail was, noted healed and fresh wounds in the membrane, and saw the strange discoloration in the scales that covered their entire body. Now, parts of his fin bore a series of stitches, and damp bandages covered part of his tail. He had bandages on other parts of his body as well, and occasionally he’d spray the bandages with water from a spray bottle they kept nearby. Revmo was with another Psicijin that TO hadn’t yet met who sat in an old office chair while Revmo laid on the bed. They were larger, but duller which made the tiny infant in their arms with the bright green scales stand out.
“Revmo, right?” TO said as they walked up to him. Revmo looked as TO spoke and while he was calm at first, he froze in place once he locked eyes with TO.
“Me?” he squeaked as nearly every muscle in his body tensed. “I… yes?”
TO frowned. Was he thrown because TO knew his name? Maybe. He hadn’t actually met this man before; he had only seen him briefly in the indebted center when he pointed him out to Mira.
“I’m a friend of Mira’s” They said, trying not to think too hard about the use of their word ‘friend.’ “I was in the Indebted center with her.”
They looked at TO for a moment longer, then their eyes widened, “OH! You! You were the one with the bot, you’re-” he paused, and glanced at the person next to him.
“Revy?” The other Piscijin drew close to him, pulling the chair to the bed as they held the child close to their chest, “Is something wrong.”
“No, not at all!” They said, looking from TO to the other, “Koralli, this is…” They paused and looked up at TO, meeting their eyes once more, “Uh… What should I call you?”
“TO. They/Them.” TO said, not bothering to pronounce the two syllables separately anymore. If someone wanted to spell their name as TO or Tio, they weren’t sure if it mattered except on paper.
“Tio.” Revmo said, “They helped us all get out of the Indebted center.” They gave a too-wide smile, revealing pointed teeth. While earless expressions were still a struggle for TO, they felt as though this smile wasn’t a cheerful smile. It felt forced, and didn’t hit the eyes like it tended to for many other civilians. “Mx. Tio, this is my partner, Koralli. She/her.”
TO looked again at Koralli, taking her in and committing her face to memory. Their gaze must have been too intense, or maybe they lasted too long, because suddenly she turned away just slightly, twisting her muscular body towards Revmo as a hand went protectively over the infant’s head.
“Apologies.” TO said, breaking off their gaze and making a show of looking over names. They found Koralli quickly and saw that she was listed with someone by the name of Kyma.
“And, this is Kyma, correct?” They asked, glancing at the baby.
“Yes.” Koralli’s voice was slow and unsure, and she didn’t move from her twisted position. “My child.”
TO linked Koralli and Kyma in their files, making a note of Kyma being her infant offspring.
“Thank you.” They said, making the note. They glanced at Revmo, “Do I assume you’re the other parent?”
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“I am.” His shoulders squared as he faced TO directly. What was this? The behavior was troublesome, and TO didn’t know exactly why they were acting like this. Had they done something wrong?
Maybe it was just the fact that they came here out of nowhere and started asking questions. They gave a slight bow of their head, their ears lowered, “I’m just gathering some information.” They said, their tone slipping into the cold neutrality of their training.
“For what?”
Their ears flicked out as they peered at Revmo. “What do you mean, ‘for what’” TO said, their brows furrowed, “For leaving the planet.”
Silence fell between them for a moment before Revmo shrugged, “Alright, what questions.”
“Any dietary constraint-”
“None.” Revmo snapped.
“... Kyma will get a sore belly if they eat red seaweed.” Koralli said, though she didn’t move from her position.
“Alright…” TO made the note, “And any medical issues that need to be addressed?” They looked to Koralli this time, since Revmo would not talk to them.
“Revmo needs creams for his scales.” She said, ignoring the hard look Revmo gave her, And he’ll need fresh bandages.”
More notes, all easy enough as far as TO was concerned. “Right, and any accommodations you’ll need for the ship?”
“Well…” She glanced at Revmo, who shook their head quickly hoping TO didn’t see. They did.
“Anything at all?” TO pressed, then glancing down at the infant they added, “Anything the child might need?”
“... We could use salt water.” She said after a while. “Too long in water, and our lungs won’t be able to keep up. Too long out of water, and…” She glanced at the bandages on Revmo’s scales, “Well… there’s a bunch of issues that come about if we get too dry.”
Salt water. That might be an issue. “I see.” They said, taking a note. They’d have to figure that one out. TO presumed that there were many species here who would need some access to salt water. They’d have to figure out how to do that.
“Good, any more questions?” Revmo said, eying TO with pupils now so narrow they looked like lines in otherwise blue-gray eyes.
They closed the screen that hovered before them. “No, thank you.” TO said, “Just making sure we have everyone linked to their families, and that we can be prepared for the trip.”
“Well, I’m here with my family.”
“Right.” TO said, and as they glanced at them both they had the same feeling, they had back in the training center; Who are you? Why are you here? You don’t belong here. That was bad enough, but that look held a hint of fear. Why were they acting like that?
TO nodded once more, turned, and walked away. Why had they looked at TO as they did? Worry bloomed inside them, but they snuffed it out. While they had worked hard at understanding the subtleties of civilian expression, they weren’t an expert in any sense. Perhaps they had inadvertently intruded on a personal conversation?
It seemed likely for all of ten seconds. TO wasn’t too far away when they heard Koralli whisper to her partner, “Why were you like that? You made me nervous.”
“They’re a synth.” Revmo whispered back. “Mira told us on the way here-”
Koralli gave an exasperated sigh, “Yes, I know.” She whispered back, "They're not those kind of synths though.”
“How do you know?”
TO was getting far enough away that with all the background noise in the area, they wouldn’t be able to hear the two clearly anymore. They stopped and pulled up their list once more, scrolling through as though checking for names while they strained their ears to hear the conversation behind them.
“They’ve been helping for a while.” She said, “And that one helped a bunch of people in Thalassa, and they helped get us from the underground so I’m told.”
“So?” Revmo’s voice was shaking, “They’re a synth. They’re probably working to set us up or something, or get us all taken in. I can’t believe anyone down here would trust a synth!”
TO didn’t bother to listen to the protests of Koralli, who was now explaining that there were in fact several ‘former synths’ here helping. They closed the file, began scanning faces for the next person to check with. This time however, they weren’t just looking for an unfamiliar face in the crowd, they were looking at expressions; or trying to. Looking for people watching them and looking away as soon as their eyes met. TO looked for wide eyes, and stiff postures among the people in the makeshift dormitory.
They found all of it. There had been no such fear before they brought in the people from the indebted center… or, had there been, and TO just didn’t notice? Perhaps working alongside Pearla, who the civilians clearly liked and respected, had softened civilian opinion of them. Apparently, that effect hadn’t lingered. Or, maybe the addition of new people who hadn’t seen TO working with Pearla had turned opinion against them.
They spotted a group of unfamiliar faces and headed towards them. This wasn’t ideal, but TO could work through it. None of their tasks required anybody’s trust, just their information. That was fine, because right now TO didn’t trust any of the civilians, anyway.