Synth

TO figured that they’d speak with their Overseer alone when they were called for their briefing on Arkane; that was not the case. When they arrived at their Overseers office they were immediately led out of the office and towards one of the lower levels of the training center. They met up with DH and DH’s Overseer at the elevator, and realized that obviously they’d be in the same briefing if they would be on the same assignment. Though DH and TO couldn’t talk, it was enough to just see their friend and have them close.

Still, the silence as they headed down somehow made TO nervous.

Standing behind their Overseers in the elevator, TO risked a glance at DH. DH looked tired and pale, but still managed to give TO a quick smile as their ears perked up slowly. They had both had their inoculations the day before and had been quite sick afterwards due to the side effects. The whole of yesterday had been spent sleeping, but even so they were both still exhausted today.

Still, soon they would be able to rest. The day was nearly over. When they were done with their briefing, they’d be able to go to sleep once more and hopefully wake up well rested and feeling better tomorrow. They had to feel better Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow they’d leave the training center.

The elevator door opened, and they all stepped out onto a new level of the training center. Many synths were walking about here - some Officers, some trainees, and some synths wearing odd black uniforms with no numbers on them.

The two Overseers left the elevator, followed by TO and DH, and headed through the halls and to a door with ARK-1 written on the front. DH’s overseer scanned their chip, and the door opened allowing the four of them to enter.

Inside was an office much like the office of an Overseer. The only difference was that there was another door on the other side of the office leading off somewhere deeper into the center. An officer sat at the desk before them, wearing a uniform that TO had never seen before; a blue and purple uniform with ARK-1 pinned over the center of their chest. Just over the assignment number was a flag showing three purple circles over a blue background.

The Officer glanced up from their work as the Overseers led TO and DH into the office. “These are the new assignments?” They asked.

“Yes, Ark-1” The Overseers said in unison.

“Very good.” The Officer said, “You two may leave.”

The Overseers nodded, turned, and left without another word to DH and TO who were left standing on the spot, confused.

Ark-1 gestured with their chipped hand, and a device rose up from the surface of their desk. They glanced up at DH and TO. “The two of you may sit.” they said.

TO sat down, still confused as to why their Overseer had left them here with this strange Officer. They felt their wings tighten around them as they glanced at DH.

Their ears were back and their wings were tightened around them; DH was frightened as well.

“Is there a problem?” The Officer asked as they regarded them both.

“N-no, Officer.” TO said after a moment of silence where it became clear that DH wasn’t going to say something, “Just… Confused. I thought we were having our briefing with our Overseers.”

“I see.” The Officer said, “Well, as of now, you’re not trainees anymore. Trainees have Overseers; Soldiers do not.”

Soldiers. Was that what they were now?

Ark-1 gestured to the device on the desks before them, “Set your chipped hands on the device one at a time” they ordered.

DH looked at the device like it might bite them. TO took a breath and set their hand where they were told. There was a buzz, and though TO expected there to be pain, there was none. Just under their skin, TO could see a series of lights starting to blink. They realized that they had seen this before a long time ago, back when they were fresh out of the tank and first had the chip implanted.

After a minute, the lights stopped blinking and a code glowed under their skin before fading off; Ark-87

“You are no longer 09T07.” Ark-1 explained, “Your new assignment is Ark-87. Ark is the shorthand for Arkane. The numbers cycle from 1 to 99. The Officer in charge of placements for Arkane is Ark-1; that’s myself.” They looked to DH. “Your turn.” they said.

DH nodded, and did the same. When the lights finished syncing on DH’s chip the code came up as Ark-88

“Ark-87, Ark-88; you’re the newest assignments to Arkane.” Ark-1 said, “After this meeting is complete you will be sent to temporary sleeping quarters to prepare for your departure tomorrow.” They pulled up new files –blank ones– and started typing on the desk, and information started to fill the files; thus far it seemed like there were only times and dates.

A new file; a fresh start. TO glanced at DH, caught their eye, and gave a nod. They had a fresh start now, and they had to work hard to make sure that the files didn't have anything problematic on it.

“Your training should be complete.” Ark-1 said, “I assume you know what’s expected of you between now and the time you land on Arkane?”

“Yes, Officer-“

“Ark-1.”

“Yes… Ark-1” TO said, “We are to spend our time researching the cultural aspects of Arkane so that we encounter little trouble and confusion once we land. As well, we are expected to maintain our physical health using the equipment provided on the ship. During this time, we will also be expected to deal with any maintance issues that might arise with the ship.”

“Correct. And when you land on Arkane?”

TO kept silent this time, waiting for DH to answer instead. Thankfully, DH realized what TO wanted them to do quickly, “Once we arrive on Arkane, the ship will convert into our living quarters to provide us with a safe place to rest, away from potential surveillance by the civilian governments. We will be greeted by delegates from the planet and introduced to our main points of contact and the leadership of the planet. “

“Correct. What are the rules?”

“First, we are ‘synths’ when we are wearing our uniforms.” TO said, “Ideally, the civilians have no idea what we look like without our uniforms on. This is useful for when we must infiltrate civilian situations for information. When we are among the public without our armor on, then we must do our best to intergrate with the locals, so as not to draw attention.”

“Second,“ DH said, “we are the authority on that planet. We’re working with the planet’s leadership, but they must defer to us. Third, we must make daily short-reports and weekly detailed reports. Fourth-“

Ark-1 waved DH into silence, “That is fine; you seem to know what you need to do.” They put notes into both of their files, and then shifted to a hologram of a large planet that seeemd speckled with purple islands over a deep blue ocean. Three large moons circled the planet.

“This is Arkane.” Ark-1 said. They gestured with their hand, and the hologram zoomed in to show TO and DH a larger island in the Southern Hemisphere, “And this island is Okoia; the capital. This is where you’ll be stationed. Most of the smaller islands are populated, but Okoia has the highest population density. It’s the center of commerce and politics. It is also thought to be where the main core of the Despair Insurgence hides.”

“And… we will be going after them, correct?” TO asked.

“Correct.” Ark-1 said, “You will.” They gestured again and a series of pictures came up before them; some pictures were in color, some were grayed out, and some had only silhouettes with names. One or two were silhouettes without names.

“The greyed out pictures are people who have been caught, and executed.” Ark-1 explained. There were a lot of them, and as TO glanced over them, they even caught sight of a child; a young girl among them with the name “Helen Orno” written underneath .

“There’s...children involved?”

“Yes; the insurgency seems to have no issues with involving children in their activities.” Ark-1 said, “Those in color are identified, wanted members of the insurgency. Those without pictures are people who we know exist, but have limited information on.” They gestured to a blanked out picture near the top, “for example, according to our information the insurgency has new leadership. However, we have no information on who might be leading them.”

“So, our assignment is to find out who that is?” TO asked

“Simplified, but yes.” Ark-1 said, “Apprehending any of these targets is useful, but they are not to be executed on site; we wish to question as many of them as we can to find out who else is involved.” They gestured once more to the blanked out picture on top, “Capturing the leader would be ideal so that they may stand trial before King Decon.”

“Understood.” DH and TO said in unison.

“This assignment may well take more than a year.” Ark-1 continued, “You will be placed on Arkane until the assignment is complete.” They stopped, and looked over TO and DH, “The last four groups of synths I have sent to Arkane have failed, either disappearing altogether, or being eliminated. King Decon grows irritated with the issue of Arkane. Should the situation not be resolved in three universal cycles, then martial law will be established on Arkane. Should that happen, you will be in charge of implementing that… Provided that your actions up to that point are exemplary. The issue seems to be more a civilian one, and King Decon is giving them this time to try to fix things before martial law is needed.

“That seems overly generous of Him.” DH hissed, “If they are causing King Decon so much trouble, shouldn’t martial law be enacted immediately?”

“I wont say I agree or disagree with you, Ark-88, but King Decon is merciful and generous to His people and we must respect that. I will admit that I find their actions against King Decon and His kingdom to be disgusting at best.”

Like with most normal synths, there was very little change in Ark-1’s ears as they spoke. Despite that though, there was the slightest pinning back of the ears in disgust as they spoke of the insurgency.

“We’ll go over the information we have now.” Ark-1 continued, “And I’ll go over some techniques that others before you have used, and some ideas that higher ups have devised. However, you’re not trainees anymore; it will ultimately be up to you to choose how to accomplish your goals here.” They let their gaze flick from TO, to DH, and back.“I assume you were given this assignment for a reason. It will be difficult and you will be expected to act on your own frequently and to use your own judgement. However, if you manage to deal with the insurgency before the issue of martial law come about, then it will show well on you, and influence your assignments after your placement is done. Understood?”

“Understood.” TO and DH said in unison.

“Good. Now let’s go over the details.”

======

TO’s head was swimming with names and people and places by the time they were finally dismissed from Ark-1’s office. They were ushered through the other door in the office, down a hall, and to a small room of their own. It was slightly smaller than C12’s room had been, but despite that it had two narrow beds on opposite sides of the wall, and a food dispenser on the far end. On their beds were thin pillows, thin blankets, and the same black uniforms that they had seen other synths wearing earlier; basic uniforms to be worn under the armor, and which wouldn’t stand out too much in most environments in their part of the galaxy. It was just a plain black tunic with a back flap that tied just under their wings, and loose fitting black pants. There was also a pair of shoes with a firmer bottom than TO was used to.

Shoes made for walking outside, on the surface of a planet.

TO sat on the bed and pulled off their uniform. It would be the last time they’d wear the light blue trainee’s uniform. The last time the slept in the training center. So many last times.

“What do you think of the new uniform?” DH asked as they sat on their bed. They hadn’t changed out of their trainee’s uniform yet; they were taking their time looking over the new one, “It feels lighter than the trainee uniform does.”

“Probably becuase we’ll be wearing it under our armor most of the time.” TO muttered as they slipped under the blankets. “Once we get to Arkane, we’ll have to get some basic civilian clothes for when we want to be undercover.”

“Yeah… I’m looking forward to that!” DH said.

TO raised their hand and tapped at their chip to remind DH that they might be overheard. They had no way to listen to music here, and no way to know if they were being carefully observed or not.

DH nodded, and pulled off their uniform. When they were done, they took their uniform and TO’s, and threw them both down the laundry chute in the wall.

“That’s that.” They muttered.

“Mmmhmm.” TO hummed as they turned over on their side and started falling asleep. They were still unwell from their inoculations, and the day had been full of fittings and meetings and last minute training. Now, TO just wanted to sleep. They were so tired that they hardly even stirred when DH crawled in their bunk and curled up next to them. It was crowded, and TO was worried that there would be issues if Ark-1 saw them so close together. Still, TO was too tired to care, and there were so many changes that had happened in the last few days, so many things that had happened for the last time that it left TO feeling disoriented and… somehow not right. Having DH so close to them as they slept eased their mind.

“Hey… TO?”

“Mmhmm?”

“You’re not 09T07 anymore.”

“Nope.” TO said quietly, “Ark-87.”

“....Can I still call you TO?” DH asked carefully, their voice a whisper so as not to get picked up by the chips, “I can’t imagine you being anything other than TO.”

The idea of not being TO was almost frightening. They had lost their pod, their uniform, and their call number. They felt like they had had everything that was them stripped away.

Except for their bond with DH. Except for that nickname, TO.

“I’d like that.” TO murmured just before they fell asleep. They tried to say that they couldn’t call DH anything but DH, but exhaustion stilled their tongue and they spoke the words only in the mind.