The door slammed shut behind them as DH pulled TO along the hallway, though they could still hear the civilians shouting inside. It was a relief that some of those shouts were in TO’s defense.
That helped, but not much. If people were arguing there now it was because of them.
“You shouldn’t have been alone in there.” DH said as they rushed down the hallway, “I knew you shouldn’t have been working alone, but I was so busy... People are nasty enough to me when Goretta is around!”
TO’s eyes widened, “Wait.. they’re nasty to you?” Their ears pinned back, “Who’s nasty to you!?” They stopped in their tracks, and turned around, heading back to the door.
“TO, no!” DH grabbed TO and spun them around, encircling them with their wings and arms, “TO… it’s fine. Just breathe.”
“Who was nasty to you?” TO growled, their ears pinning back.
“It’s fine.” DH said, their ears dipping slightly, “Just… relax.”
TO wanted to go back to find out who had been nasty to DH… but they listened to their mate. Once more, DH’s voice was like an anchor, holding TO in place. They could smell DH, and their touch against them was soothing, like it drained the anger from them.
Well deserved anger, TO thought, but it was hard to hold on to.
“It’s not fair.” TO muttered, finally calming down and relaxing against DH, their arms wrapping around their mate.
“I know…” DH muttered, gently scratching the back of TO’s neck. “… We should have you with someone in there. Someone to help.”
“If I'm supposed to be in charge, then I should be able to do this without help!” TO insisted. They wanted the work. Well, really they needed it. They needed to work themself hard enough so that they didn’t think about all the other problems.
“Well…” DH sighed, “It’s not that easy… If Only GiDi was here. They'd be able to help.” their mates ears flicked down, blushing. “But, they can’t be here.”
TO felt their ears pin back, and held DH closer so they wouldn’t see their ears, their scarcely hidden anger.
“I.. don’t think they could.” TO said, “some civilians in there didn’t even know GiDi.”
“OH.” DH’s voice was quiet as they held TO. “That’s odd.”
“Yes, it is.” TO said. They took a deep breath, dragging their mind away from thinking about GiDi. They weren’t ready to talk about that with DH yet… Now wasn’t the time.
Of course, when would be the time?
DH sighed and pulled away, “Look…” They said, “While you’ve been out there, I’ve been down here.” DH smiled at them, “I’ve been helping people… and I’ve told them I’m a synth!” they sighed, “I understand why you kept that quiet in the indebted center, but some people feel you tricked them…”
“Yes, I had little choice.” TO said, Of course, that was true… but they wondered if it was the same as them hiding this from Lendulin and Petra, or if it was the same as GiDi hiding the info about the failsafe from them!
No, it wasn’t. Those civilians weren’t their friends. It differed from how they tricked Lendulin and Petra, and it differed from how GiDi tricked them!
“So… it’s not your fault.” DH said. “Maybe we should get someone to help. Maybe Tham-”
“Tham is busy.” TO said, “The tunnel is so close to being finished…”
“I know.” DH said, sighing. “We have to think of something. You have work to do, and you can’t do it if everyone is being so aggressive with you…”
“Not everyone…” TO muttered, “Mark is good with me.”
DH beamed “That’s great!” They said, “Mark is a good fellow… But I’m worried about his arm…”
TO shrugged, “It’s bandaged,” They said, though as they recalled their conversation with Mark, their ears dipped. “Though… I need to tell you something.” They whispered.
“Oh?” DH asked, “What is it?”
TO told DH about what Mark said, and the promise they had made to take care of Constance if he didn’t get on the ship.
“I already had her listed with you, me, and Avery.” TO said, “I hope that’s ok… but it was just in case, you know? So she wouldn’t get left behind if we didn't find her dad. Now, Mark asked me to take care of her, but…” TO shook their head, “That won’t be a problem. I’ll make sure he’s on the ship and…” They trailed off, noticing DH’s ears dip down. “DH, what’s wrong?”
DH frowned as they looked back at the door to the room where the rest of the civilians were. The door was closed, and nobody was listening to them, but even so DH took TO’s hand once more and pulled them down the hallway and away from the door.
“... Mark’s not well.” They whispered once they had turned a corner.
“.. Of course he’s well.” TO said, “I just finished talking to him!”
DH shook their head, “I know.” They said, “But… they’re not well.” they pointed to their arm. “His wound got infected.”
TO frowned, “Ok?” They said, “He just needs antibiotics then, and he’ll be fine, right”
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“No…” DH said, “I mean, well, yes, but the problem is we have limited supplies here!” DH sighed. “And our antibiotics aren't working.”
TO frowned. An infection wasn’t a big problem, not really. Use antibiotics! If one didn’t work, there was an entire army of antibiotics that they could use! Medical science around the galaxy was always making more, always making them more potent!
TO hadn’t considered that here, in the underground, they would have limited variety.
“.... Can’t you try another.” TO asked.
“We only have three kinds.” DH said. “The first one they used at the center. The other one we use here, but it didn’t work.” They frowned, “The last one… if it doesn't work…” they trailed off.
“... What happens if antibiotics don’t work?” TO asked.
“... Well, there’s few options after that.” DH said, “We considered doing an amputation-”
TO’s stomach clenched, their ears pinned down.
“-But, that’s risky. It was risky enough with doing the surgery on Kei, but this would be harder to keep clean afterwards. Also…” DH’s ears dipped, “Thanks to all the shots and medications they gave us before we left, and we’re resistant to a lot…”
TO’s stomach still churned at the thought of an amputation. “Good.” They muttered, their ears pinned down. “Those shots made us so sick, at least we got something from them.”
“So… we need to try one more antibacterial treatment on him.” DH said. “And hope that works.”
“There’s no other treatment?” TO asked, “I mean, in the movies, sometimes they had herbal remedies-”
DH snorted, “When's the last time you saw a herb on this planet.” DH said, bitterly. “There were herbs that we could have used, once, But you’ll only see them in old records now.”
“Ok…” TO frowned, “Then.. He’ll get sick, right? But he’ll get better! Bodie can fight off infections!” They gave a bitter, disbelieving laugh, “I mean, civilians don’t just die of infection!”
“Not when they get to a proper hospital.” DH says. “Not when they have money for the medical supplies they need.” Their ears pinned back. “Without that…”
TO felt their stomach churn “... I shouldn’t have brought him here.” TO said, their ears dropping. “If he was still in the indebted center, he’d have antibiotics…”
“And might die in a few days anyway if the synths really do attack, and if we can’t stop it.”
TO fell silent, thinking of what they could do. “... Can we get them to a hospital?” they asked, “A proper one?”
DH shook their head. “They wouldn't take him in.” they said, “they'd send him back to the indebted center.”
“And would his chances be better there?” TO asked.
“Unlikely.” DH said, “They have the meds, they have access… but he’d not get what he needed fast enough. They’d have to cycle through the medication we’ve already used and by that point…” they stopped and frowned, “Well, t’d be too late.”
“So… our options are-”
“Hope that the last antibacterial works, or hope that his body can fight off the infection.” DH said.
TO’s ears dipped. “And.. what are the chances of his body fighting off the infection on its own?” They asked.
DH’s ears dropped, and they looked away from TO.
“... Let’s hope that the antibiotic works.” They said after a long silence.
======
Goretta, of course, didn’t actually need ice, she just needed TO and DH to be out of the room for a time. They both knew this, and since they didn’t want to go back to the dormitories right away, they chose instead to go back to Flit and Snout’s room. The two had asked TO and DH to come back and help them figure out what to do about the coming synths.
TO still wasn’t sure they could do anything… but brainstorming and coming up with ideas was better than nothing.
When they got there, Avery was already in the room, waiting for them. They had brought meals for all of them, the warm food sitting in plastic containers on the table. They looked up as TO and DH came in, and smiled.
TO watched Avery closely. The smile lifted their ears a little, but not enough. They were still so low, and their eyes still seemed to look far away. That shatter-sickness the file spoke of, were there symptoms outside of just being sad?
They needed to finish reading that file. They had to get through it, to make sure Avery would be ok.
“We were worried you wouldn’t show up.” Flit said, still laying on the bed. A container of food sat next to them, already half eaten.
“Well, things didn’t go well in the dormitory…” DH muttered as they led TO to the table. TO sat down, sighing.
“Not well at all…” They said, “It was awful…”
“Well, they’re civilians.” Snout said, “There’s a reason we’re keeping away from them for now”
TO frowned, their ears pinning back “Is it the same reason GiDi keeps away?” They snapped, unable to keep the anger out of their voice. DH looked at TO, concern dipping their ears.
“... TO?” they whispered.
“I-I’m just saying, apparently the civilians don’t know who GiDi is!” TO said, “Not the new ones anyway, not the ones from the underground, or from the indebted center!”
“Wait.. I thought GiDi was basically in charge!” DH said.
Flit shrugged, “Mostly.” They said, “Not officially, and they stay away from civilians who aren’t involved with the insurgency…” Flit looked up at TO and DH, “But, you two have been doing well! Some of them like you!”
“At any rate.” Snout said, setting up the projector before them. “This is a working lunch.” They turned on the projector and displayed the star-map they saw earlier that day. “Now… let’s go over our options one by one.” They said, They looked at their list from earlier, and read off the first one.
“Cover the planet in a bubble.” They said, then looking at TO, grinning.
“Explain, exactly, how that would work.”
======
Thankfully, the humiliation of trying to explain all the stupid ideas they had earlier that day only lasted about twenty minutes. As DH was trying to explain to Flit how a “planet teleporter” would work over longer distances, there was a knock on the door. Flit got up and quickly hid all their work.
“Why are we hiding this?” DH asked as Snout rushed to put everything away.
“We don’t want the civilians to get to… distracted by this idea.” Snout said, hiding the projectors before they went to the door.
Distracted… or hopeful? TO didn’t know which they really meant and couldn’t ask before Snout opened the door.
TO looked at the doorway, their eyes widening. They didn’t know who they expected to see, but of all the people in the underground, it wasn’t Pearla.