Synth

DH quickly passed breakfast around to everyone, including Goretta. They also found an old box for her to sit on while she ate.

“Thank you.” She said, an expression of pure bliss on her face as she sat, her tentacles hanging over the side of the box. “I don’t think I’ve sat down in days.”

“I don’t think you ate much yesterday.” DH added as they passed her a bottle of water.

“Hmm.. I had breakfast… and I’m sure I snacked on something.”

“That’s not enough.” DH said, then they paused, “Is it?”

“It’s less than I should have.” She admitted, “Anyway, I did a quick scan of Kei’s brain while they were tranquilized. I was specifically looking for irregular swelling or anything that might put pressure on certain parts of the brain.” She glanced up, “Finding something like that might prove that their actions weren’t necessarily their fault. Pressure on the wrong part of their brain could make them more aggressive, or lower their inhibitions.”

“And did you find anything?” Avery asked as they sat down on the edge of the bed to eat.

“I did not.” Goretta said, sighing, “They’re still rather lacking in the self control and emotional regulation department though. It hasn’t been that long since their procedure and their brain is still rewiring itself…However, there are no big issues in terms of unexpected side effects. Their brain looks as it should.”

Flit gave a deep hum, a low clicking escaping from the back of their throat. “Even if we take that into account though, If their self control is lacking then that just means we’re seeing how they really feel now.”

Snout sighed, “Of course this is how they really feel.” They said, “They went through their training with an altered brain. It’s more than just mind alteration that goes into training a synth.” They looked to TO, “You had the same training, and you were loyal to King Decon. You just weren’t as loyal because you could think and reason, and because you had your friends. You had a purpose outside of serving King Decon, and you had others who were important to you.”

“Why does that make a difference?” DH asked.

“Because you three found fulfillment outside of serving King Decon. Most synths, being unable to form friendships and being isolated by the alterations to their mind can only find comfort and solace in serving King Decon. Their only reason for living is to serve King Decon, they have nothing else.

“… So you mean if Kei had had a friend, they’d be different?” DH asked.

Snout shook their head, “Kei couldn’t have had a friend. Their in-tank development altered their mind in such a way that they couldn’t form friendships or have connections with people. But, we are social creatures, apparently. We need people, we need connection. If the only connection a synth can feel is from servitude to King Decon, then they’re going to cling to that.”

Flit huffed, “It’s like water.” They grumbled, “And Decon ensured he seemed like the only source.”

Snout nodded. “Right.” They said, “Once Kei realizes that there are other sources, other people then hopefully they should calm down.”

TO, who had been during the conversation up to this point as DH was making sure they ate their breakfast, suddenly had to speak up. “They won’t.” TO said. “Kei hates me, hates us-“

“Kei doesn’t hate me.” Avery muttered.

“-and won’t work with us.” TO tried their best to ignore what Avery said.

Flit glanced at TO. “Speaking of, we need to know what happened in the holding cell..” They said, “You had your chip disconnected, so there’s no recording, and the video we have doesn’t provide any sound.”

TO frowned, “You saw what happened; they bit their finger off and spat it at me!” They felt their ears flick down as the scene replayed itself in their head, as they saw in their mind’s eye that wet bit of flesh on the floor.

DH’s hand slipped into their own, giving them a gentle squeeze. TO took a deep breath, trying to ignore the scene replaying in their head.

“Yes, but did you get to talk to them before that?” Flit asked. “Did you figure out if they’d at least cooperate with us for the sake of their life? They should have some survival instinct now at least.”

TO relaxed as they remembered the actual reason they had gone there in the first place, to see what Kei would say about being transported.

“I didn’t get to question them as much as I’d have liked.” TO said, “But I can tell you they’re not particularly happy about the situation.”

“To be fair, they have been in isolation, operated on and locked up.” Snout said, “I doubt anyone would be happy about that.”

“Well, they’re especially not happy about the operation.” TO said. “They were exceedingly clear on that.”

“TO also told them about Decon.” Avery said, “About the whole Chilacian thing.” They glanced at TO, “Did you really think they were ready for that?”

“Yes, well.” TO said as they felt a slight heat rise to their ears.. They didn’t look at Avery, choosing instead to look at their food “Maybe not, but they didn’t know. I told them because they called Goretta a ‘mad doctor’, and said that we forced them to get the procedure done. They said they were ‘pressed’ to ‘mutilate their mind.’” They looked up at Flit, “So, I had no issues telling them the truth.”

Snout sighed, “That might have been a bit much.” They said, “I mean, Kei is unstable as it is-”

“But I got my answer!” TO said. “They lunged at me when I told them about King Decon! Right now, they’re still loyal to King Decon, still a proper synth!” They leaned back in the bed, “We can’t take them with us.”

“… I’m not offering an opinion on this here.” Goretta said, “But fixing their mind wouldn’t have changed their loyalties in the first place, It would have just restored the emotional and cognitive abilities locked off to them previously. It wouldn’t have changed who they are, wouldn’t have made them suddenly friendly in the first place.”

Avery looked up, eyes big and ears down. “Then why did we do it?”

“It’s a vital procedure.” She said, “One we hope to use to help other synths who have broken away from King Decon, and who do not have full mental capabilities.”

“I thought we were doing it to help them!” Avery said as their ears pinned back.

“Well, yes, it would have helped them.” She frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped.

“What is it?” Flit asked.

“No… it’s nothing, I don’t have a place in deciding-”

“We appreciate that, but we still want your opinion.” Flit said.

She sighed, “Well, ideally I’d like to have them under observation for a while longer. There’s more I could learn as their mind heals. I wonder if we couldn’t have them under observation on the ship… there is a secure place there, right?”

“There is…” Flit said, “But if they are still loyal to King Decon, then it’s too dangerous.”

“Why?” Goretta’s tentacles twisted about, slow and exhausted.

“A synth loyal to King Decon will do whatever they can in his service, even if it means their own death.” Flit said, “A ship full of insurgent leaders and colluders hurtling through space would be a tempting target for them.”

“But if we keep them under observation, keep them in a secure place-”

“All they need to do is get away once.” Flit said. “All they need is a single chance. If there’s a way to stop the ship, to make it crash or explode or worse-”

“What’s worse?” Goretta asked, a frown on their face as they stopped eating their food and just listened to Flit.

“Doing something to the water, perhaps.” Flit said, “If they broke the filtration system, we’d essentially have no water, and we’d all die of dehydration. If they ruined our food supplies, we’d starve. There are millions of horrible ways to die in a spaceship, and they could do many things to kill everyone.”

Goretta frowned “You think they’d do that? They’d die too. You said you hoped they’d have a self preservation instinct-”

“I did.” Flit said, “And, I hope that, but if they’re still fully loyal to King Decon, then that instinct might not do it.” They looked at her steadily, their ears flicking down, “If they’re still loyal to King Decon, then they would consider their own death a worthy sacrifice, I assure you.”

“Look, they’re here because of us.” Snout said. “They were developed in a production lab, we let the computers alter their mind, and then we took them with us when we grabbed Avery and TO. Kei is here because of us, so that makes them our responsibility.” They shook their head, “We can’t send them back to Decon, not with what we’ve done to their head. The moment they acted differently, they’d be examined and repurposed-“

“Killed.” Goretta said.

“Very well.” Snout said, their ears dipping, “Killed. They’d be killed.”

“But if we leave them here, they’ll be killed too!” Avery said, “if we leave them here, either they’ll die if King Decon ends all life on the planet, or they’ll starve with nobody to give them food and water.”

TO’s ears flicked back. “Hey….” They said, “They weren’t eating when they were first in isolation, right?” They frowned at Flit, “How did they survive that? DH and we were in isolation for a week, but we ate. How did Kei not die of dehydration?”

Goretta sighed, looking away, her color shifting slightly to a pinker hue. “Well…” She said, the word slinking out of their mouth, “When they were sleeping, we may have ensured they’d stay asleep with gas, and then used some intravenous nutrition. It’s the same thing we do if someone is unconscious and cannot eat.”

Avery’s ears pinned back once more. “You knocked them out and gave them intravenous food without their consent!?”

“It was that or let them die!” Goretta said. “Or tie them down and force feed them, but that seemed just cruel. And I assure you, there were people who thought we should just let them starve, who felt that we’d have no blame in their death if they starved themself.” She huffed, “So, yes, I waited until they were asleep, knocked them out, and fed them intravenously.” She glared at Avery, “And If I let them die, I’m sure you’d be twice as angry as you are now.”

“At any rate.” Flit said, their eyes roaming around at everyone around them, “Talking about this, about why they’re here and of what was done to them, isn’t the point at this moment.” They sat up straight in their chair, their wings straightening behind them, their ears taking on an authoritative slant. “Being able to discuss the ethics of a situation is a privilege that we don’t have right now.”

“Then what are we doing?” Avery snapped, “If we’re not talking about ethics, then why are we here?”

Flit sighed and gave Avery a long, hard look.

“We need to look at this objectively, practically. We need an answer to the very simple question of if we can take them with us, regardless of how we do it, and how we feel about it.”