Synth

A sudden jolt of pain brought TO back to wakefulness, an awful explosion from their knee that made them cry out in agony. Their ears flicked down in panic, pinning against their head as they oriented themself. Had Kei returned to finish them off?

Almost immediately they felt familiar fingers at the back of their neck, and their ears relaxed Somewhat.

“Shh, it’s ok.” DH’s voice was a soothing balm for their mind, “We just hit a bump, that’s all. You’re ok. Go back to sleep.”

TO wanted to listen to DH, to go back to sleep and escape the pain that ran through their body. Their knee was the primary source of agony of course, but there were other spots of pain all over. Still, they couldn’t. They forced their eyes open and though it took a moment for them to orient themself, soon the world around them made sense.

GiDi was walking before them, rushing through the stone halls towards the ship, a multi-gun in one hand as they stopped at each corner or split in the tunnel to make sure the path ahead was safe. TO recognized it as one of the training exercises they ran back in the training center, and felt a surge of pride that GiDi seemed to remember it. TO themself sat in the wheelchair, their chest tied to the back of the chair. They struggled and writhed, trying to free themself from the rough rope.

“Shh.” DH said again, their hand once more scratching TO’s neck. They were pushing the chair, rushing ahead while trying to avoiding the worst of the bumps and cracks in the floor. “It’s just to keep you from moving around too much. You’re hurt. Please… TO, please be still.”

TO took several breaths, assuring themself that the ropes weren’t too tight around their chest. As they looked down, they saw that their hands weren’t bound to the chair, though a large part of their forearm, wrists, and hands were bandaged. They flexed their hands, making fists before drawing and relaxing their claws. Good; nothing seemed to be damaged at least. If Kei attacked them, then TO was certain they could free themself and help. They leaned back in the chair, breathing against the pain in their body, relaxing as much as they could until another realization hit him.

“Mark.” They said, surprised by how their voice croaked as they spoke. They cleared their voice and tried again. “Mark. This is his chair, where-“

“TO… don’t worry about that now,” DH said. TO turned so they could look at DH, to see their mate’s ears, but their shoulder and neck hurt too badly when they did.

This was Mark’s chair. Where was Mark?

TO’s mind played back the scene from the storage room; played back the fight, and Kei pinning TO down and holding the gun to their face. They were about to shoot, to kill TO.

The door opened. Kei shot. Mark got hit. They remembered the blood that poured from Mark’s body, bright red against the blue-

Blood. Bones cracking. There had been so much blood that day. Blood on their face, on their skin, on the floor. Synth blood. Chilacian blood. Nagarajin blood. They felt their claws slice through skin and dig into the muscles of Kei’s leg.

“Stop.” TO whimpered, “I… I’m going to be sick.”

They didn’t stop, instead DH held a bottle of water to TO’s lips. “Drink.” They said, “You’ll feel better.”

TO didn’t want to drink. They turned away, whimpering as they pressed their lips together. If they drank anything, they knew they’d throw up.

“TO. I love you, but if you don’t drink some of this, I’m going to pinch your nose and force you to drink some.”

Up ahead, GiDi gave a low chuckle as they checked a split in the hallway, but the mirth didn’t quite reach their ears. “You do what you need to do, DH.” They said, “We need to get to the ship.”

DH held the water bottle to TO’s lips again, and this time they took a drink. The water tasted funny, and their first instinct was to spit it out, but DH held it up in such a way that it was impossible. They felt the water run down their throat, and as soon as it hit their stomach it was like a soothing wave drowned their queasiness. They drank more then, seeing how it made their stomach feel better, but after a moment, DH pulled the water bottle away.

“I already mixed in some medication.” DH said, “pain meds, anti-nausea-“

“Mark.” TO said as they caught their breath, “Where is Mark?”

GiDi glanced back, their ears pinned back with concern as they looked over TO’s head at DH. A moment later, they shook their head and looked at TO.

“I’m sorry.” They said, “He was dead when we got there.”

“What? No!” TO struggled against the ropes, “He came in, he ran his chair into Kei-“

“He got shot in the stomach, TO.” DH said from behind them, their fingertips never ceasing their gentle scratching at the back of TO’s neck. “Even if he was still alive when I got there, I don’t think I could have saved him! He was sick and weak and struggling with that infection… Even if I had been there when he got shot, I don’t think I could have helped. He wouldn’t have survived all the way to the ship.” They sighed, “And… honestly, even if he had been shot on the ship, I don’t think he would have survived. It would have just been too much of a shock to his system, and there’s so many complications with that kind of injury.”

Mark rolled in, got shot, and then slammed against Kei. TO tried to remember anything else they could, but all that came to mind was how, once Kei was off of them, they had gone right for the welder. They remembered shouting at Mark, telling him to knock Kei over, to stop Kei as they ran from the room. Had been alive then? Were the last works he heard a barked order from TO?

“What about Constance?” TO asked. “She was with Mark. I didn’t see her, but-“

“Lake brought her back to the ship.” GiDi said, “Apparently, Kei told them if we weren’t there in fifteen minutes, they’d kill you.” They scoffed, “Likely, they just wanted Lake to get away so the two of you couldn’t fight them together. Lake passed Mark on the way, and Mark asked him to bring Constance to the ship.”

That was a relief, at least, knowing that Constance was safe. Still, now TO would have to explain to her that her father was dead. If they hadn’t brought Mark with them to check on Lake, he’d still be alive. Maybe if they had been more alert after the fight, they could have done something. Perhaps there was some kind of first aid they could have done. DH said that there was nothing they could have done, but how could they know unless they tried?

And of course, even if there was nothing they could have done, Mark died there while TO was entirely and fully focused on Kei. Shouldn’t people dying like that have last words? Something TO could pass on to Constance, or some dying wish? If Mark had last words, they went unheard. If he had hoped for words of comfort in his dying moments, he was disappointed. All Mark got was shouting, and an order to stop Kei from running over him.

======

The only person outside the ship was Tham, who stood before the entrance with a multi-gun pointed at the entrance. With a word from GiDi, he relaxed, but he didn’t entirely lower the gun. “Did you get them?” He asked, “Lake’s mostly fine, but he said that Kei shot TO, and-“ he paused, his eyes growing wide as TO came into view. “Fuck.” He whispered. “I know Lake looked worse than he was, but-“

“TO needs immediate medical assistance.” DH said, pushing TO up towards the door, “Goretta said she has Avery stabilized, so I can handle this. We’ll get through takeoff, but then I’ll need everyone cleared out of the main deck while I work on TO.”

“Yeah, sure.” Tham as he stepped aside for DH to get TO into the ship, “You’re sure Kei is gone? You don’t think they followed you here?”

“If they hadn’t run, then I’m sure they would have killed TO while they were unconscious.” GiDi said.

“Alright.” Tham said as he lowered the gun. “...But, where’s Mark?”

“Tham.” GiDi said as they helped DH get TO’s chair over the threshold of the ship, “Aside from Mark and Kei, do we have everyone?”

“I’ll double check.” Tham said, “But-“

“You have everyone.” TO said, grateful that whatever medication was in that water left them feeling mostly numb, “Lake, Constance, Mark, and myself were the last ones. Kei ran off, Constance came here with Lake.. and Mark-“

“Get TO in and secure for takeoff.” GiDi said, cutting TO off, “You’ll need to take extra care for that leg-“

“I know.” DH said as they quickly pushed TO further into the ship.

“We lost Mark.” GiDi said, their voice as soft as they could make it, but not soft enough to keep their words from reaching TO’s ears. “Did anyone else leave the ship after DH and I?”

“Nobody.”

“Alright.” GiDi said. TO heard the door behind them close, and heard the big security lock fall into place. Once they powered the ship up that lock until they were able to land once more. “Go up to the weapons bay and make sure everyone is in place for leaving orbit. Send me a message when you’re in place, and then we’ll take off.”

“On it.” Tham said. They slipped by DH and TO, putting their hand gently on TO’s shoulder for a brief moment before they went to the elevator, heading off to prepare for liftoff and to escape from the awful civilian planet.