As soon as TO entered the room which GiDi led them to, they were attacked immediately. Well, perhaps ‘attacked’ wasn’t quite the right word, but the sudden tackle and the arms around their chest felt like an attack. A jolt of fear ran through them until they realized it was just Petra, hugging them firmly. Constance didn’t wake, but she did murmur in discontent as she shifted to get comfortable once more.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you again!” she said, “You dumbass, I knew you were sick, but I thought you were better, and then I got your room number but you weren’t there-“
“She’s been beside herself.” Lendulin said as she wheeled herself forward. She had a new chair now, one with a customized section around the bottom which held her tail comfortably. Much like the chair TO and DH had given her back on Arkane, this one was motorized.
“You like my new wheels?” She said, grinning as she made the chair spin, “Donated by the good people of Scraprock, and altered by a lovely, tech savvy NuChilacian to be far more comfortable than any chair I’ve ever had.”
“Tech savvy? do you mean DH?” TO asked, looking around as though DH might be in the room.
“Oh, no no,” she said, “I mean, I don’t know who would be more tech savvy, but this was another one. In one of the lower levels, there’s a tech recycling section, and the NuChilacian who runs it fiddles with the tech. It didn’t take them any time at all to alter my chair to fit my tail.”
“They said their name was Gear.” Petra said, finally pulling away from TO. “Er, sorry, no, he said his name was gear.”
“He? none of us have-“
“This one introduced himself as ‘he/him’ so, he’s he/him.”
TO nodded slowly. Well, it made sense; if freed synths could choose their own name, choose their own clothes, and their professions, then why couldn’t they choose their own gender? “I’ll have to introduce DH.” They said, “Maybe they’d want to meet him.”
Pearla, after taking a moment to smooch GiDi properly, made her way over to see TO and Constance. “She ok?” she asked. “Odd for her to be asleep-“
“She got all her essential vaccinations.” TO said, “She’ll be a bit sleepy for the rest of the day.”
Pearla nodded. “Ah, yeah, those accelerated schedules can be a pain. Still, better than the alternative.” She says, “I’ve heard of diseases out there that just make me want to vomit.”
“Agreed.” TO said, their expression darkening, “And I promise you, you’ve only seen a fraction of what’s actually out there.” They gently lifted Constance, “Do you have a bed or a cot here for-“
Before TO could finish what they were saying, Constance stirred to wakefulness. “Hmm, what?” she looked around, and saw TO in the process of lifting her off the chair, “What, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.” TO said, letting her rest in their lap once more, “I wondered if Pearla had a bed where you could-“
“No no, I’m fine.” She said with a yawn, “I’m awake. I want to stay here.”
Pearla smiled and straightened up. “That’s fine.” She said as she leaned in to get a better look at her, “How are you doing, sweetie?”
“Good.” she said, yawning again, “Can I go swimming now?”
A low, clicking chuckle ran through TO’s chest, causing Constance to look at them in defiance. “That’s not funny! I haven’t been able to swim in-“
“I didn’t think it was funny,” they said with a smile, “Just... Honestly, I feel the same way about flying.”
“You can really fly?” she asked, looking at their wings. “I never saw you fly before, though. I never saw a Synth flying, not for real. Some people have wings just to look pretty, so that’s what I thought yours were.”
“I don’t know if they’re pretty.” TO said, stretching their scarred wing out so she could see the long, silvery gashes against the otherwise light-blue membrane. “See this? When this happened, it took ages for my wings to heal up enough for me to fly. I hated it. I was checking every day to see if I could fly, but I was told I’d only hurt myself if I flew too soon.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Constance pouted, giving TO as much of a glare as she could. “My tail isn’t hurt, though.”
“No, it’s not, but you’re sleepy and tired, and need to rest. If you swim when you’re tired, you could hurt yourself.”
“I can’t drown.” She huffed.
“Well, that’s good.” TO said, “But what if you hit your tail off something and injured it? Then you wouldn’t be able to swim at all for weeks.”
“Tell you what,” Lendulin said. “You rest up for one more day and tomorrow, I’ll take you to the swimming tank and we can swim as long as we want.” She leaned in, as though sharing a secret, “I heard they have hunting tanks too. They’ll release fish we can hunt down and chomp on. Would you like that?”
She tried to maintain her pout, but the promise of swimming and hunting in the water seemed to interest her “... Yeah.”
“Then promise me you’ll rest up today so we can spend the whole day together tomorrow!”
TO expected her to promise right away, but instead, she looked up at TO, “Is that ok?” she asked, “May I?”
TO blinked in response. “I.. sure?” They said, uncertain why she was asking them. “So long as you feel up to it-“
Before they could finish, Constance wrapped her small arms around TO’s neck. “Thank you.” She said.
“That means you have to rest,” Lendulin said, suppressing a grin. “Now, I know you want to say here with TO, but will you try to rest?”
She nodded. “I can rest here.”
Still somewhat confused over what had just happened, TO shrugged and turned back to Petra and Lendulin. “Are you two staying here?” They asked, “Or are you leaving?”
“You wanna get rid of us that fast?” Petra said, sticking her pointed tongue out at TO.
“That’s not what I mean!” TO said, their ears flicking down instantly.
“I know, I know,” Petra said with a laugh. “And... we don’t know, honestly.”
“We can’t really go back to Arkane.” Lendulin said. “We’re both on lists now. If we went back, it wouldn’t be long before the authorities grabbed us, questioned us, and then-“
“And then they’d deport us to one of the lunar mines.” Petra snapped. “That’s what they do with problems, and we’re problems now.”
“Yeah, and I suppose that after the whole thing in Thalassia, I wouldn’t be able to get my old job back, anyway.” Lendulin said. “Though, if I stay, I suppose I don’t really need it.” She grinned at TO, taking in their confused expression. “If I stay here, I can help out by doing repairs on the water systems-“
“Or by painting.” Petra said, “She’s being modest, but a few of the residents here saw some stuff she was working on, and already asked her if she’d do work for them if she decided to stay. Of course, they said her work reminded them of a *certain painter’s* work, and when I told them that she was actually something of his ghost painter, they offered her more work!”
“You didn’t have to say that, though.” Lendulin said, “I’d rather just move on, do my own work if I’m able.”
“And let that asshole take credit for what you already did!?” she rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s not like anyone will believe us anyway, and we can’t really do an interview.”
“Well, won’t people think something is up when he’s not painting anymore?” TO asked, “If he’s not producing anything-“
“She’s stated in recent interviews that his ‘traumatic’ experience in Thalassia, followed by the horrid conditions he’s had to endure in lockdown, has thrown him into a state of artist’s block.” She scoffed, “He was on one of the first emergency pods out of Thalassia, and his hardships probably involve not being able to get the imported deserts he likes.”
“... All that to say that staying here is honestly kind of appealing to me,” Lendulin finally said. “I just don’t know how I like being on a spaceship all the time, but the idea of a clean place to swim every day, decent food, and the ability to paint and sign my own name on my work is tempting.”
“And if she stays, I’ll likely stay.” Petra said. “What about the rest of you?”
TO shook their head, “We’re going to Apoikia as soon as I’m ready.” They said, “DH is working on a prosthetic leg for me, and it’ll take some healing time after that, and then I’ll have to learn how to walk on it, and fly... “
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.” Petra said, “But I also expected you’d go off there. Honestly, if I found out that what I knew about my race was all a lie, I’d want to go learn more, too.” She turned to Pearla. “What about you? Gonna try to go back to Arkane?”
“Depends.” She said, looking at GiDi, “Where are you going? We were going to go back to Arkane, but we talked about that -“
“And it’s not a good idea right now,” GiDi said, sighing. “I don’t know what I want to do now, long term. But, I’ll go to Apoikia If you’ll go with me.”
“Would they welcome me there?” She asked. “I’m not a Chilacian.”
“Constance is coming with us,” TO said. “So, we already have one non-Chilacian coming.”
“I think Goretta is going there, too.” Tham said. Tham had been quiet all this time, sitting in the corner, just watching what was going on. “So, I’d assume so.”
Pearla nodded, then turned to GiDi, “And If I’m going, Tham is going-“
“What?!” Tham said, rising up from where he leaned against the wall, his skin darkening. “Me? but, I’m not-“
“You’re family.” Pearla said, “If you’re family, you’re going. Unless you got somewhere else to be?”
Tham muttered angrily for a moment, then shrugged. “Fine, fine. Better than being stuck here, anyway...”
“There.” Pearla said, “I won’t be the only non-Chilacian there.” She grinned at TO, “So, sorry, but the ship is going to be a little crowded on the way there.”
TO could only grin. After the trip to Scraprock, TO was certain they could handle a few extra people on board. Of course, even if they had to get to Apoikia in their little emergency ship, TO would have been happy to have all of them crowded into the tiny vehicle, so long as they stayed together.