Synth

“I want to say for the record that I didn’t think King Decon would kill anyone.” Noss said, dabbing his face with his handkerchief.

“Bullshit!” three voices spoke at once there, Mira, Vik, and Tham. As expected, Vik spoke without turning from his computer, but Mira give a sheepish shrug, and nodded at Tham.

“That’s absolute fucking bullshit.” Tham hissed, pressing the multi-gun to Noss’ head. TO wondered what mode it was on. A lethal mode would be quick and clean. If he set it to stun him, then at such a close range Tham could cause some brain damage. If he set it to the seldom used battering setting…

TO shuddered, and hoped it wasn’t. At least with a lethal shot, it would take a moment to wind up, and TO could do something.

“You knew he would kill Jason.” Tham said.

“Well, yes, obviously.” Noss said, “What I meant was that I didn’t think he’d kill the wife and kid too.”

“Wait.” TO said as their ears flicked down, “didn’t think ‘he’d’ kill the others? Are you saying that King Decon killed them Himself?”

Noss shuddered and shook his head, “No.. no no, he didn’t. It was a synth who did it. Well... two synths.” He dabbed at his face again. “King Decon wanted to be told as soon as we caught the leaders of the insurgency, and when we sent word, he had us summoned to his ship.”

Despite everything, TO couldn’t help but feel a pang of want, of envy for this small creature who got to see King Decon in person. The feeling was immediately replaced with disgust for themself, but somehow that desire to see King Decon, to actually be in His presence overwhelmed TO more practical knowledge of all the other horrible things He had done.”

“What synth did it?” Tham said, one hand clenching into a fist, the other tightening on the gun in his hands.

“Tham.” Flit said, their voice calm for the moment, “Please put down the multi-gun.”

“I’m not letting this asshole have any opportunity to escape!” Tham snapped.

“I won't escape. I won’t run. You can tie me up if you want.” Noss whispered, eying the gun, “Please… please put the weapon down.”

“I'm asking you to put the multi-fun down not for his sake, but for yours and mine.” Flit said, “Your arm is shaking, your eyes are twitching, and your tail is slamming against the floor. You could easily fire that multi-gun accidentally.”

“Would that be a problem?” Tham snapped.

“It would be if you shot someone accidentally.”

“I know I’m not as well trained as the lot of you, but I’m not that-”

“You’ve had your arm up for a while. You’re getting tired. It’d be easy enough for you to slip or misfire. Just put the gun down, we won’t let Noss get away.” Flit turned to TO, and simply nodded their head. TO immediately moved to stand behind Noss, watching him for any odd movements, ready to stop him if he tried anything.

Tham looked from Flit to TO, then to Noss. He sighed, and while he didn’t put the weapon away, he dropped his arm so it wasn’t pointing directly at Noss’ head.

“... And I don’t know what synths they were.” Noss said, “I went into the throne room, The two synths that were positioned here on Arkane originally let the prisoners-”

“Justin. Mel. Helen. They had names.” Mira said. “Mel enjoyed building miniature spaceships, Jason was a writer-”

“A poet.” Tham said, “Jason was a poet.”

“And Helen was just a kid, she was-”

“She was marked as highly intelligent for her age.” Noss said, his voice dull and monotone, his eyes fixed on the table before him as the sweat dripped down his face. “Her teachers recommended her at an early age for academic advancement, but her parents refused that. She was otherwise a normal child who seemed to enjoy school, and who had a healthy circle of friends. In the few months before she withdrew from classes, she became more secretive, and more withdrawn. Teachers were worried that she was depressed, and checked in with her parents to make sure that things were ok at home. After a few months of this, she stopped attending classes.” Noss’ hands gripped the table before him, “I know they’re more than just names.”

Flit eventually cleared their voice, breaking the awkward silence that followed. “You said they brought you to the throne room?” They asked.

“Well, it looked like a throne room to me.” Noss said. “King Decon was sitting in a chair. It was a circular room, with windows everywhere and no other furniture.”

“That’s odd.” Flit said, “For Decon to bring them directly to him.”

“Odder still for him to kill them without publicizing it.” Snout muttered.

“Not recently. Public civilian opinion turned against execution, and publically killing them would have generated sympathy and outrage; especially since it was a family with a kid.” Flit looked back to Noss, “How many synths were there?”

“I don’t know. A lot. Over twenty. They were all wearing that armor you all wear, but it was different-”

“The armor gold colored stripes on the helmets?” Flit asked. Noss nodded. “Then they were his vanguard. Highly trained synths who are supposed to guard and serve King Decon directly for life.”

“It’s supposed to be a high honor.” Snout added, “A higher honor than being a General or a Retiree.”

Noss shrugged, “I… I have no ideas about your internal hierarchy.” Noss said, “You’re all just synths to me, and we do what the synths tell us.”

“And we were synths.” Flit said, “We’re not anymore, so please don’t lump us in with them.

“A-apologies.” Noss said, dipping his head. “Anyway, King Decon sentenced them all, then told one synth… I think the one closest to him, to execute them.”

“And who was that synth?” Tham hissed.

“The higher ranked the synths are, the closer they stand to King Decon himself. If there was one standing right next to him, then it would be one of his ‘hands.’” Flit said. “They never leave His side, and do whatever he needs them to do.”

“Good to know.” Tham said, their tail lashing against the floor again. TO was almost certain they saw some stone shatter. “Because I’m going to murder his hands!”

“One is already dead.” Noss said. He paused, his hand clutching at the handkerchief. “I’d rather not talk about this anymore.” He said.

“Too fucking bad.” Tham snapped, “Which one died?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell them apart., They had the same armor-”

“Which one killed Jason!?” Tham shouted. His voice was so sharp and had such a growl of rage in it that even startled TO.

Noss cowered in his seat, “T-The one who died!” He said, “King Decon ordered their deaths, then the first synth came out and just…” Noss started shaking, his hands pressing against his pale, grayish cheeks.

“How.” Tham spoke with a shaking, thin voice.

“It.. it was like some kind of long needle.” Noss said. “They just put that in the back of his neck, and-” He stopped, and suddenly began retching. Goretta grabbed an old empty trash bucket for him to vomit in while TO and Mira stood around him to make sure he didn’t get away in the sudden commotion.

TO thought that Tham would be more attentive, would accuse Noss of faking the sudden nausea, but he wasn’t even looking at Noss; Tham was looking at Flit.

“A needle?” He asked, as though he hadn’t heard.

Flit sighed and slowly nodded their head, “Yes.” They said, “A needle. Well, it’s more like a surgical rapier I suppose. It’s a specialized weapon used for execution. Use it just right, and hit in just the right place for it to work as it should. It’s highly ineffective for combat, so only those Synths allowed to perform executions under King Decons orders are trained for it: Generals, higher level military officers, and the Vanguard.”

“We had something similar.” Snout said, their ears dropping and their face growing pale. “If we had to repurpose mostly developed synths.”

Mira frowned, “That seems a bit too fancy for King Decon.” She says, “He’s all about efficiency, isn’t he?”

“It’s actually perfect for King Decon.” Flit said, “For an execution, it’s a single stab to the base of the brain which shuts down everything. It’s low effort, takes few resources, and the needles are easy to make and maintain. They say it’s painless, that the needle is so sharp that the person hardly feels it.”

Noss shook his head, “It didn’t look painless.” He said, spitting up the last of the vomit, “He just started twitching and fell to the floor. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.”

TO hadn’t noticed how quiet and still Tham had grown until he made a sudden odd sound, and suddenly turned and left the room. Mira called after him, but after looking between Tham and Noss for a moment. As Tham disappeared out the door, she simply cursed and stayed where she was.

“I’ll find him later.” She muttered as she turned back to Noss.

“Do I have to go over the rest?” Noss asked as they looked at Flit. Their eyes were red, their skin damp and gray.

“No, not entirely.” Flit said after a moment of consideration. “But.. you said one vanguard died, one of his hands. How would you know that? They’re replaced as soon as their position is vacant.”

Noss shuddered, “I saw it happen.” He said. “The hand you’re talking about, well, they killed Jason, then Mel, then they went for Helen… but they stopped.”

Flit frowned, “What, you mean King Decon ordered them to stop?”

Noss shook his head, “No, they just stopped. They were about to do it, they stopped, and just asked King Decon if it was necessary.”

Flit and Snout both flinched at that, and while it didn’t have quite the same effect on TO and DH, they knew that asking King Decon if one of His orders was ‘necessary’ was not something any synth should do. That a synth in the Vanguard, apparently one of King Decon’s most trusted servants, had questioned King Decon was enough of a shock.

“And I suppose he then killed the hand.”

Noss nodded. “Immediately.” He said, “I didn’t even see King Decon move! Just… the synth stopped what they were doing, asked a question, then they just jolted, and King Decon ripped off the back of their helmet and-” they stopped, clutching the bucket again as though they might vomit once more.

“... King Decon killed them?” Flit asked. Noss only nodded.

“Did you know them?” TO asked as they looked at Flit. Their ears were a little lower than normal, but they seemed more thoughtful than anything else, more pensive than upset.

“No.” They said, “But… it’s odd that a synth would advance to the Vanguard, that He would appoint them as one of King Decon’s hands, and still question Him.”

“Is that good information?” Noss asked, “Can I go?”

“You can’t go.” Mira said with a frown, “We have to keep you here-”

“I mean, can I leave this seat? Are you done questioning me? Am I going to be killed?”

“... I think we can at least agree that Noss stay in one of the secure rooms for now?” Pholi asked, “I know we shouldn’t have people isolated like that, but it’ll be less than a day-”

“I don’t mind being isolated!” Noss said, “Give me something to watch, and you’ll forget I’m there! There’s a new reality series from Quadrant 3 about a woman looking for a parent for her 200 eggs, and-”

“I’ll figure out something for you to watch.” Pholi said, then glancing at TO, he added, “If.. If that’s alright?”

TO remembered the week they spent in isolation with DH all too well, and they knew how much worse it would have been if they didn’t have their mate with them. “Yes.” To said, looking towards the door that Tham had run out of, “Just so long as he can’t send messages on it.” They frowned, a small battle fighting in their head before they sighed, “Do you need me to escort him with you?” They asked Mira.

“It’d be preferred.” Mira said. “Why, you busy?”

TO shook their head, “it’s nothing.” They said. TO knew they had to deal with Noss first. Sure, he looked small and weak, but this close to getting off the planet, they didn’t want to risk any kind of carelessness.

They’d check on Tham when they were done.