There weren’t many places on the ship for a person to hide, and though Pearla told them that Tham had a tendency to disappear after taking care of the kids TO was certain that they could find him. There were only so many places he could go after all: it wasn’t as though he could have gone outside for a walk. A quick search around the weapons bay proved to TO that Tham wasn’t there. They called down to Vik.
“I need to know where Tham is.” They said as soon as Vik answered their call. “He ran off as soon as he was done with his lesson for the kids.”
Vik was silent for a moment, the faint static on the line and slight shuffling in the background the only noise TO could hear for a long time. “Well.” Vik said when he finally decided to break the silence, “I can tell you that he’s on the ship.”
TO’s ears flattened parallel to the ground. “No, really?” They said, “I thought he had gone for a stroll around the ship.”
“... I don’t think I’ve ever heard you be sarcastic before.” Vik said, “I figured synths didn’t do sarcasm.”
“Well, surprise, now you know,” TO said. “Now do you know where Tham is?”
“Look, I wasn’t trying to be funny. Well, ok, maybe a little...” Vik cleared his throat, “But honestly, all I can tell you is that Tham is on the ship.”
“You were able to give me perfect direction to a person’s location back on Arkane.” TO said.
“Well, yes, but for a good reason.” Vik said, “First, back on Arkane, I was mostly tracking people for you in the tunnels. If I have the ability to track someone within a certain radius, it’s easy enough for me to tell you they’re in a certain tunnel. Closer to the main areas, I had sensors set up to make my readings more accurate. You’re asking me to determine exactly where Tham is within that radius, which covers about 90 percent of your ship. I can tell you he’s not in the engine room, and he’s not out in the weird tentacle-jets your ship has. What’s up with those things, anyway? They don’t look very sturdy. But hey, I don’t know much about ships, so I don’t really know.”
In the background, TO could hear DH explain briefly how it improved maneuverability in space, and how they could retract for landing and takeoff from planets.
“Alright.” TO said, considering their options, “What floors do you have the elevator set to go to?”
“All of them, except the engine room.” Vik said, “The others are all being used in some way, right? Privacy room, and med room. The bit with the emergency ship has extra chemical toilets set up there, the exercise-“
“Alright.” TO said, sighing, “I’ll go take a look.”
“Right.” Vik said, “Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I don’t have surveillance set up yet. There’s been more important-“
“Do not set up surveillance on my ship!” TO said, their ears suddenly pinning back. They had been so pleased when they first settled in on the ship that DH could cut off the Officer’s ability to monitor them. Once DH turned their little ship into a haven for the two of them where they could speak their mind and act as they wanted, TO had relaxed in a way they never had before. Being under observation in the underground was something they managed decently, but the idea of their ship, their home suddenly being set up to observe them? No, they wouldn’t allow it.
“Alright, Alright!” Vik said quickly, “Shit, it was only to help keep track of people.”
“... Apologies.” TO said after a moment, lowering their voice as they looked around the weapons bay. Though most of their conversation was obscured by the noise, their sudden shouting had drawn a few eyes to them. “Just, please, don’t set up cameras around here. I’m sure I can find Tham.”
TO heard DH saying something to Vik in the background, but this time their mate was speaking so softly that they couldn’t make out the words. TO could only hear the cadence of their voice, the flow of the sentence.
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“Alright, no cameras.” Vik said, “And... it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Sure.” TO said as guilt over their snapping at Vik crawled into their stomach, “Look, I need to go find Tham. I’ll be back later.”
They cut the line before Vik could say anything else in response, and made their way to the elevator to start their search. Any guilt that began spreading roots in their stomach could wait for now; Pearla asked them to spend time with her brother–specifically, to attempt to befriend him. If Pearla wanted them to do something, they’d do it. She deserved that much for standing up for TO about the whole fail safe thing.
If Pearla needed something, TO would do it.
======
It took longer to find Tham than TO would have liked, and they nearly missed him altogether. They gave a more thorough search of the weapons bay, and asked if anyone had seen Tham, but nobody had seen him since he finished helping with the kids. TO themself had a hard time looking for him as they were stuck in their chair and for the first time in their life they experienced what it was like to be short.
They didn’t recommend it, at least not for finding people in a crowd.
Petra helped them look, climbing up on an old chair and looking out over everyone’s head to find the red Nagarajin, but after checking from four different angles she had to report to TO that she couldn’t find him and that she was fairly certain he wasn’t here.
The exercise was the next place they checked, and it was full as well. A few people were using the adjustable weights while a handful of kids chased each other around to get rid of pent up energy. TO looked around quickly but didn’t want to stay in the room as it reeked of sweat and body odor. They were used to that from training, but this was different: it was as though it had ripened. Maybe the air filters weren’t working as effectively as they should, given how many people were using it each day. They sent off a note about the issue to DH, then continued their search.
The next place they checked was the hall that led to the ground floor entrance hall. The Privacy room wasn’t in use, and TO could hear the whirr of machines from Avery’s room. They didn’t linger long, and went down to the next floor to check if maybe he had used one of the extra washrooms set up there. When the elevator opened, it took TO by surprise how narrow the room seemed now: The chemical toilets, which were blissfully effective as TO couldn’t smell anything aside from the almost sickly sweet smell of the chemical itself, lined the wall between the maintenance closets. . They didn’t know who was cleaning the toilets every day, and honestly, they didn’t want to know. It was a job that they couldn’t do until they had a new knee; a lucky situation in their mind as they had dealt with enough sewage for their entire life. They waited around for a while, listening to the idle chatter of the dozen people waiting around to use one of the toilets, until someone came out of each small closet-like structure. Tham wasn’t among them. A quick glance into the emergency ship proved that it, too, was empty.
With a sigh, they went back to the elevator. Tham had to be in here somewhere, so what did they miss? Vik said that he couldn’t have been in the engine room, but what if Vik was wrong about that? What if Tham had gotten up there? TO looked around the elevator, ignoring the door as it opened on the ‘ground’ floor as they looked for any sign of tampering.
What they couldn’t ignore was the sound. They had somehow missed it earlier: maybe it hadn’t been there when TO checked, maybe they were distracted by the sound of the systems which currently kept Avery alive, or maybe they were in such a rush to get away that they didn’t pay enough attention. Still, this time they heard ragged, hard breathing from deeper in the hallways.
The elevator doors began to close, but TO quickly wheeled themself in the way and they retracted. The sound of their chair moving and the sudden beep the elevator gave as it detected someone in the way of its doors seemed to cut though the sound, and when TO listened again, they didn’t hear anything. Well, it didn’t matter that they didn’t hear it now: they had heard something before. They pushed themself out, and the elevator doors closed behind them. They’d be here for a while now until the elevator came back.
Slowly, TO maneuvered themself to each door, first the privacy room which was thankfully quiet, and then to Avery’s which continued with the rhythmic, steady hum that tracked Avery’s heart. Nothing unusual there.
They heard another sound, as though someone had been holding their breath, and suddenly gasped for a quick gulp. Yes, someone was there, and clearly they were hiding. Their ears pinned back as they looked around and rolled further down the hallway. Was Tham here? If he was, what was he hiding? Was he plotting something?
They rolled into the main foyer, which was meant to be a type of waiting room for civilians who wished to speak to the emissaries of King Decon. They were fairly certain that the plastic padded seats had never been used before, though.
Well, not until now.
In the wall closest to the hall from which TO had entered, tucked away in the corner, was Tham. The puffy, blood-shot eyes and shaking shoulders told TO immediately that while Tham was hiding, it wasn’t because he was plotting anything. He looked at TO, his coloration darkening, his eyes opening to a kind of panic. Around him on the floor were empty jars, all dry and empty. Next to him on the seat were a few bottles of what TO recognized immediately as the compressed air they used to clean, delicate equipment.
Pearla had been right to be worried.