Synth

The last collection of civilians filtered past them in pairs as the stragglers rushed to the ship. As they made their way through the intersection, TO would message Vik that the civilians were on the way, and once Vik confirmed they were on the ship, TO mentally ticked them off of the list in their head.

“What if they leave without us?” Constance asked after about ten minutes of waiting and watching people rush by.

“They won’t.” TO said. “They’re waiting for us.” While that was true, TO had some concerns. What if something happened, and they had to take off right away? Kei knew they were using the synth ship and if they told the authorities and Gyrini, then TO would expect her to have forces surrounding the ship to stop their takeoff. If that happened, if they had mere moments to escape... Would they leave, even without them? No, they needed TO in order to do that. DH was too busy to trigger takeoff, and even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t leave TO alone.

Though, was Vik able to get into the systems and trigger takeoff themself?

“Vik, how are we doing on the count up there?” TO said, “Did you find anyone else?”

“I did.” Vik’s clipped voice came back quickly, and in seconds the new list came in on their communicator. “I just finished checking it over.”

TO scanned the list, mentally removing people they had already seen pass by until there were only four names left: TO. Constance Skimmer. Mark Skimmer. Lake 125 55 63. Lake was one of the species, much like TO themself, who had no last name and relied on a civilian identification number to differentiate them from other people named Lake.

As soon as TO saw Lake’s name, they froze. Avery was Lake’s partner, and much like how Mark no longer had Goretta to help them, Lake no longer had Avery. Of course, they hadn’t thought of that while they were rushing around and getting everyone ready to leave! Though Lake was able to move on their own, so why didn’t they go to the ship themself? why hadn’t they messaged anyone to ask where Avery was?

“Any word from Lake?” TO asked.

“Nope.” Vik said. “I tried to contact them, but they’re not answering their communicator. “

TO gave a low hiss of frustration. “Where are they?” They asked as they looked down the hallways as though they might see the arachnoid heading towards them, “Are they still in the kitchens, or their room?”

“Neither. They’re in a storage room down the hall from the kitchens. I figured they were grabbing a few last things. Maybe their communicator is on silent, and they don’t hear me while they’re looking for stuff.” There was a beat of silence over the line, and TO could hear chatter in the background. “Mira just pointed out that if they’re crawling around on the ceiling, their communicator could have fallen out of their pocket. That’s happened before.”

“Or they might be hurt.” TO said. “Send me directions. I’ll go fetch them.”

“Shit. I didn’t think they might be hurt.” Vik said as they sent the location to TO. “You... you don’t really think they’re hurt, do you?”

“It’s a possibility, no matter how unlikely,” TO said as they looked at their map. Good, it wasn’t too far from where they were. “Can you get a visual on them?”

“Nope. I told you half my cameras were offline, and that hallway is gone dark for me.”

“Right.” TO said. Apparently, Outis had been clever and disabled multiple cameras around the tunnels. If they had disabled only the ones along the path they needed, it’d be obvious where the two were going. It was a clever idea to be sure.

Maybe Outis hadn’t been clever. Maybe Kei told them what to do.

“I’m heading there now.” TO said. They turned to Mark and Constance, hesitating. They didn’t want to bring them along, but they also didn’t want to leave the two alone, given Mark’s physical health. Also, if they ran into trouble, it was better if Mark and Constance had TO with them.

“We’ll go with you.” Mark said, almost as though they could tell what TO was thinking. “If Lake is hurt, I can carry him in my chair, and you can carry Constance.”

TO knew they could probably carry Lake themself, but it wasn’t an issue of weight for TO, it was the issue of all those legs going all over the place. It would be cumbersome and take a lot longer than it needed to. There was also a much greater chance that they could hurt Lake further if they carried him improperly.

“Alright.” TO said as they got behind Mark and pushed them down the hallway, “That’s probably best, anyway.”

======

They rushed down the hallway as fast as they could, pushing Mark along and balancing their need for haste with the desire to keep Mark from being in more pain than they already were. Thankfully, Constance found it to be a wonderful ride, squealing with laughter as they sped around corners. At least she was distracted from her worry over her father, and the possibility of the ship leaving without them. As they approached the hall that housed the storage room where Lake was, they slowed down.

“We’re there already?” Constance asked, clearly disappointed now.

“I thought you were worried we were taking too long,” TO said as they stepped around Mark’s chair. “You two stay here while I check on Lake.”

“Aww. why? I wanna see the storage room.” Constance said.

Because what if Lake’s hurt? What if it’s an awful sight, and there’s blood everywhere?

Their own heart rate quickened at the thought. What would they do if that was the case? Would they be able to handle it on their own? “We don’t have time.” TO said as they headed forward, grateful that Mark at least would listen to him, and Constance wouldn’t be able to make her way over on her own.

They walked over with a clipped pace, straining their ears to hear on the other side of the door. Though they were hoping to hear breathing on the other but the fact that they couldn’t hear them didn’t necessarily surprise them; even with their keen hearing, Lake would have to be breathing pretty loudly for TO to hear them through the door from this distance. Still, they couldn’t hear any movement on the other side either, and that worried them.

“Pardon me, Lake?” TO said as they grasped the door and pulled it open a crack, “Are you-“

Click

It was a simple sound that sent electric terror through TO’s heart. It was the simple click of a civilian gun; the click that came seconds before Tham got shot in his arm and all that blood spilled everywhere.

They pulled back just as the shot fired, and the bullet went through the old door in a shower of splinters and debris before breaking through the surface of the stone wall and lodging itself inside. TO’s translators blissfully muffled the sound of the shot, as it did Constance’s pitched scream behind them.

TO turned and gestured for Mark go to back down the hallway, though TO didn’t think that they had TO. He was already pushing his chair back down where they had come from, quietly whispering to Constance as he did. When he wheeled himself around the corner with his good arm, TO breathed a low sign of relief.

Now they could deal with whatever this was.

They activated their helmet, and the helmet instantly formed around their head. They switched to heat vision and through the wall, they could faintly pick up heat signatures from two individuals. A quick shot of echolocation confirmed what their helmet was showing them; that there were two people standing very close together in the storage room.

This would be fine. They weren’t as good a shot as DH was, but they could fire a volley of stun shots inside. TO was certain Lake would understand if he got caught in the crossfire, especially if TO was able to protect them from further injury.

As they reached for their multi-gun, they realized with a jolt that they didn’t have it. Of course they didn’t: they hadn’t needed it! They had given it to DH back when they went to the outer ring for food, and Tham must have taken it after that! Their holster wasn’t empty, though. Tucked inside, where their multi-gun should have been, was the small pocket welder the children in the Outer Ring had traded to TO in exchange for some of the Cocopods. As their heart thrummed with a thunderous hum, they pressed the power button, hoping to see the little light over the power button turn to green. It did, but it flickered slightly, showing that while the small hand welder was working, it needed a charge and wouldn’t be good for long. Still, they could handle civilians in one-on-one combat, even if they were armed. They had handled the authorities in the tunnels, so they were confidence they could handle a single authority. The main issue would be getting through the chokepoint of the storage room door without injury.

they had their armor, so that would protect them from penetration, but the mere force of the bullet could still cause injury.

“Whose there?” TO demanded, pressing their back against the wall, trying to make their voice as loud and sharp as possible in collaboration with the naturally sharp tone given off by their helmet. “I am-“ They paused. The proper way to do this would be to identify themself by their code, and as an agent of King Decon before demanding the culprit drop their weapon. They were not any such thing though, not anymore. Still, identifying themself as a synth would likely make any civilian back down, or at least rethink their actions. “I am a synth, and I am armed. Drop your weapon and kick it out the door, then put your hands on your head and get on your knees.”

“You are no synth, TO.” Kei’s voice came back to them. The galactic common which they spoke came out cold and sharp. “I am Hur-13, an Agent of King Decon. Drop your weapon and slide it into the room before surrendering. I have your associate who calls themself Lake. If you do not comply, I will shoot him.”