The moment TO felt themself fall back in their own body they ripped off the helmet, flung it to the side, and tore off the wires that were stuck to them; it hurt, and if taken off quickly like that the wires could cause some lingering pain due to the way they linked into the nerves

 

TO didn’t care. They tore off the last of the wires and got out of their seat. DH had already gotten up and judging by the small round marks on their skin it was clear that they had done the same thing. Without looking at TO or saying anything at all they ran over to GiDi who was still in their seat next to TO, looking dazed while C12 gently removed their wires.

 

GiDi themself looked horrified. Their eyes were wide and their ears were pinned back and down. C12’s ears were also tilted down with sadness, but there was an intense focus to their work, to how deftly they removed the wires.

 

“You can’t take them.” TO said as they put a hand out to stop C12, “You can’t, they don’t-”

 

“I don’t have a choice.” C12 said, “They have to go now.” They took the last of the wires off and gently helped GiDi out of their seat. GiDi got up as though they were in a daze, their wings wrapped tightly around their arms, and their legs shaking under them.

 

“No… No you can’t have them corrected!” DH said. They slid their arm between GiDi and C12, “You can’t!”

 

C12 shook their head, “DH… Where do you see this going?”

 

“W-what?”

 

“You don’t want me to take them. Ok. What do you think you can do?” They tilted their head at DH, “If they don’t get corrected, then they can’t stay here.”

 

“We’ll leave then!” DH said, “We’ll-”

C12 gave a low hiss to silence DH, then pointed to the back of their hand, “You just passed your examination; barely, but you did. You don’t want to throw that away.”

 

C12 pushed DH out of the way and pulled GiDi behind them and towards the door. TO and DH followed them.

 

Not a word was spoken until they were out of the simulation room.

 

“You can’t take them away.” TO said, “There has to be another way.”

 

C12 looked TO in the eyes, and said very carefully, “I am taking GiDi to get corrected.”

 

They were lying. There was that twitch to their ears, the way the tips and outer edge seemed to shiver.

 

“You...You’re not-”

 

“Like I said, GiDi can’t stay here.” C12 said, “And I can’t do much else. Do you understand?” They looked back to DH, “Do you both understand?”

 

GiDi caught the way C12’s ears moved, and their expression of horror shifted to one of relief, then confusion. “Then what are we-“

 

“I’m taking you to get you corrected.” C12 said again, more firmly this time despite the twitching of their ears, “That’s all you need to know for now.” They looked back to TO, “That’s all you can know for now… I hope you understand that.”

 

TO nodded. “I do.” they said, “There... There’s some information I can’t have right now. Information that I shouldn’t have. Information that could be dangerous to have.” It made sense. C12 wasn’t taking GiDi to be corrected, but if TO knew what was going to happen and if they were questioned afterwards, then C12 could be in a lot of trouble. Such a situation could even put GiDi in danger.

 

“... Will they be ok?” DH asked.

 

C12 sighed, and finally let go of GiDi’s arm, “I can’t promise that.” they said, “But this is the only option. Look-” they looked down the hallway, their ears swiveling as they listened, “Look, I offered to take GiDi down to the correctional facilities so that their Overseer could just meet us there. If I don’t take GiDi soon, they’ll wonder where I am and start looking for me. We have to go.”

 

C12 reached out to take GiDi by the arm again, but GiDi pulled away.

 

“...Can I say goodbye?” they asked.

 

Their voice was so small, so scared that it nearly broke TO. They felt the tears start to well up in their eyes. They remembered that time when GiDi, DH, and themself had all relaxed in the hot tub so, so long ago. They remembered how GiDi had just fallen asleep while leaning against them. They remembered how they wanted to protect GiDi, to make sure nothing bad happened to them, to make sure they were with someone good for their placement when they were ultimately separated.

 

TO had failed. They felt like everything they had been trying to do had come to nothing.

 

C12 shook their head, “No, we can’t…” they stopped as they looked at GiDi, saw how low their ears were, saw the tears forming in their eyes. They sighed and turned away, “Go ahead.” they said, “But be quick… If we had time I’d give you as much as you wanted...”

 

“I know... I know, Thank you.” GiDi said. They ran up to DH first and pulled them into an embrace as their wings wrapped around their friend. DH circled their arms around GiDi, their shoulder’s starting to shake as they held back sobs.

 

GiDi whispered something in DH’s ear. DH just shook their head. GiDi gave them another quick squeeze before they let go and went TO. They pulled them into a hug, and TO wrapped their own wings around their smaller friend.

 

“I’m so sorry.” TO whispered, “For what happened in the simulation. I’m so sorry. I knew it was-” They lowered their voice to their faintest whisper they could manage, “I know it was a simulation, I just couldn’t tell you.”

 

“I know.” GiDi said, “As soon as I realized it was a simulation, I knew. You’d never hurt me otherwise.” They squeezed TO tightly, “Look after DH, ok?”

 

“Of course-”

 

“Look, you have to talk to them, ok?” they whispered. Their breathing suddenly became much shallower, and TO could feel GiDi’s tears falling onto their neck, “I… I’m not going to be here anymore to tell you that you’re being idiots-” they gave a quick bark of laughter that turned into ragged sobbing.

 

TO pulled them in tighter, Their own tears spilling out as they tried and failed to control their own sobs with deeper breathing. “I’m so sorry.” TO said over and over again, “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I wanted to help you. I wanted to… I just failed so badly.”

 

GiDi shook their head, “No.” they whispered, “No... You helped me. I promise.” They pulled away, and despite their tears and the way their ears were so low at the sides of their head, they gave a smile.

“You helped. I promise. I wish I could have helped you more.”

 

“I’m sorry.” C12 said, “We have to go.”

 

GiDi nodded, wiped away their tears, and turned away from their friends. C12 took them by the arm and hurried them away. TO followed them for only a few steps before realizing that they couldn’t follow them. They couldn’t help them now. They had to trust that C12 would help them.

 

They’d never see their friend again.

 

“Take care of each other!” GiDi called out as they were pulled away, “I love you both!”

 

They were pulled around a corner and out of sight. TO heard their footsteps recede, and then… silence.

 

They’d never see GiDi again. They’d never hear them. They’d never hold their small, sleeping form again.

 

TO felt like they were going to be sick. They felt like they were going to pass out. Their eyes burned, their throat hurt. They felt weak. They put their hand on the wall, just wanting to support themself for moment, but they slid to the ground.

 

GiDi was gone. They’d never see GiDi again. It was their fault. A loud sob escaped their mouth and they put their hand up to stifle it.

 

Their fault. They should have been better. They should have helped them more. They should have been more attentive to their friend. Even within the simulation, if they had just held onto their gun so that they could have shot GiDi before they had a chance to say anything then it would have been fine. If they had found a way to let them know that it was just a simulation, or at least if they had managed to convince them to shoot.

 

If they had told them what Avery said about their own examination, if GiDi had had a hint as to how bad the examination could be then maybe they’d have been prepared.

 

The tears came freely now, and TO couldn’t stop sobbing for several long, agonizing minutes. When they did finally stop it was simply because they felt worn out; numb. They felt like any feeling they might have had been wrung out of them like water from a rag. They took several gasping breaths and wiped away the tears that had yet to dry on their face.

 

It was only then that they realized that DH hadn’t said anything. They hadn’t heard DH crying, though they had seen them start to sob when GiDi hugged them.

 

The simulation. DH was probably so hurt, so confused, so sad right now, and TO was just sitting on the floor, crying. They got up, and turned around to rush to DH, to hold them, to tell them why they had attacked so viciously. TO wanted to just hold them, and let them be sad, to hold DH while they cried. There was no making this better, but if TO could help DH to hurt a little less...

 

When TO turned around, the hallway was empty. They hadn't noticed DH leave, and didn’t know how long they had been sitting on the floor alone.