TO and DH didn’t go back to the main living area. Once the door to the elevator was closed, DH pressed the button to take them to the weapons bay. TO, shaking and struggling to control their breathing, didn’t even notice this until the door opened and they saw the expanse of space through the curved window before them. 

 

 How many times would they be able to view that with DH now? How much time would they have before Kei decided they wanted to report them and have them separated? The thought made TO clutch at DH. 

 

“Avery?” DH called out to the seemingly empty room.

 

“I’m over here.” Their voice came from the other side of the room. DH guided TO over to where Avery had set up a place for themself; they had used extra blankets and pillows that the civilians had given them to make what TO could only describe as a nest under the desks that circled the edge of the room. They reclined, reading something on their communicator. When they looked up and caught sight of DH and TO they immediately put their reading away and slid out from under the desk. They pushed some blankets out and gestured to them. 

 

“Sit down.” they said as panic entered their voice. DH guided TO over, helped them to the floor, then sat down next to them. TO leaned against DH, feeling like they weren’t really seeing anything before them, and as though anything being said was distantly far away.

 

Would Kei still report them? How much time did they have left? Normally they’d be a little more reserved even around Avery, but now that they didn’t know if they had hours or days or cycles, they didn’t care. They already got caught in the worst imaginable situation. What possible further harm could they cause?

 

“Alright… What happened.” Avery said, their voice as soft as TO had ever heard it before. 

 

“… Kei caught us.” TO muttered, “And they want to tell their supervisor.” 

 

Kei caught them and wanted to report them. The reality of it all caught up with TO and once the adrenaline and rage they had felt finally drained from them fully, they sobbed, clutching to DH as though their beloved partner might get ripped from them. 

 

======

 

DH told Avery everything that happened down in the emergency transport, all the while holding onto TO and letting them cry into their arms. TO didn’t know how DH could hold themself together like this, how they could just talk and recount what happened while every memory of those awful few minutes felt like it was tearing TO’s heart apart. The memory of Kei’s disgust, the look of shame on DH’s face, and TO’s own guilt over the situation was just too much. TO wasn’t even paying attention when DH got the part where TO had castigated Kei to keep them from running off and reporting them immediately. 

 

“It’s my fault.” DH muttered once they finished the story. Their ears were low in shame. “If we had been just sitting there and eating, we could have made up some excuse. Because we were-“ 

 

“Wait..no.” TO said, sniffling. “It’s my fault. If I had been more careful about where we went-“ 

 

“I’m hard pressed to say that it’s anyone’s fault.” Avery said, “It just happened.” Avery gave a deep sigh. “So… Kei is probably furious right now. Probably… probably a little upset too.” 

 

“They don’t get upset.” TO muttered.

 

“They do.” Avery assured them, “It’s different for them than it is for you, but I assure you they get upset.”

 

“Do you think they’ll report us?” DH asked.

 

Avery frowned, falling silent as they thought about it. “I don’t know.” They said, “They’re probably of two minds on it; Kei would probably think that it’s their duty to report you, but if you convinced them that a higher up knew about it then that, along with not wanting to bug Hur-1 over ‘insignificant’ things might hold them back.” They leaned forward, resting their arms on their knees. “You took a gamble… and honestly I think that what you said is probably the only thing you could have said to keep them from reporting you right away… Mind you, I think you should have been a little… gentler with them.” 

 

“They weren’t gentle with us.” DH said, “You should have seen them, have heard what they said-“ 

 

“That… that’s just the way most synths feel about romance. I mean, I don’t, but I also don’t really care about it for myself. Almost any other ‘normal’ synth would have acted the same.” 

 

“Doesn’t mean it’s right.” TO muttered. Still, at the same time they recalled what C12 had said about the commander, about how their former friend had looked at them with such awful disgust when they admitted how they felt. 

 

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

 

“I’ll talk to them.” Avery said after a moment. 

 

“And tell them what?” DH asked. 

 

“Well, I won’t tell them anything.” Avery gave a little smile. “I don’t tell Kei anything at all. I suggest, coax, guide them to their own conclusions. Kei only wants to do what they think is best for King Decon. For them, that involves some meddling; it involves rooting out who they consider weak synths, or synths that might harm King Decon. All I have to do is convince them it’s for the best for King Decon that they not report you.” 

 

TO took a long, shuddering breath as they finally sat up, wiping the dried tears from their face, “Do you think you can do that?” They asked, hating how quiet and scared their voice sounded. 

 

“I believe I can make an argument.” They said, “… Actually, it’ll be an excellent test for me.” They gestured to their communicator, “You know I mostly like fiction.. but I’ve been reading on… well, working with people, I suppose, and tactics to convince people of a point of view. It all feels…” They frowned, “Honestly, to a point it feels manipulative to me, but I had to help Kei without them knowing I was helping them, to convince them to listen to me even though they’re technically my superior.” Their ears twitched as they gave a nervous smile. “If I can convince them to leave this alone, to leave you alone, then I can probably convince them of anything.” 

 

“It won’t work.” DH muttered, “They hate me. They always hated me-“ 

 

“They don’t hate. I don’t think they can hate, honestly.” Avery mused.

 

“But the entire time in training, and even now-“

 

“Like I said, they want to serve King Decon. If they see you as a threat to Him, then they’ll try to get rid of that threat.”

 

“They think I’m a threat?”

 

Avery shrugged. “More, I think they think of you as a weak link?” They waved the idea away, “At any rate, I know they’re wrong; I just have to convince them of that.” 

 

“I don’t know how you’ll do that though.” TO said, “And I won’t be able to rest until I know how it goes.” They felt like they might be sick. 

 

“… well, you can listen in, right?” They said, “I mean, you can know how it goes right as it’s happening?” 

 

“How?”

 

Avery gave DH an odd look. “Didn’t you go into the systems and find where the computer stores the recordings? Wouldn’t you be able to listen to a recording in real time?” 

 

“… You want us to spy on you?” DH asked. 

 

“Well, it’s not spying on me if I say to listen in, is it? That way, you’ll know how things are going right away.” 

 

DH still had an arm around TO. They gave them a quick squeeze as they looked at them. “Well?” They asked, their voice so gentle, as though TO might break, “Do you want to listen in, or would you rather wait?”

 

TO felt like no matter what they’d probably panic, but at least if they were listening in they would know what was happening instead of just waiting for the news and suffering in silence. 

 

“… I’d like to listen in.” TO said, “I want to know what happens.” 

 

======

 

The plan was simple. First, they had to go back to the main living area and act as though nothing was wrong. If they acted like they had done anything wrong, that would encourage Kei to report them. A shower helped, but not as much as the pills that DH took from their med kit. 

 

“I should say that this is not how these medications are to be used.” DH said as they passed TO a small white pill, “I feel awful for abusing them like this… but if we seem panicked, it’ll tell Kei that we believe we were doing something wrong. ” 

“What’s it for?” TO asked.

 

“It numbs you, essentially.” They said, “Normally we use it when injured synths panic.”

 

TO looked at the pill in their hand. They wondered if it was the same medication that was in Avery’s food back in training, and if they were still taking that. They took the medication and chased it with some water. 

 

“… We weren’t doing anything wrong.” TO said, though it was more for DH than for themself. DH nodded as they took the pill, but how their ears still tilted down told TO that their words didn’t convince them.

 

They sat down at their computers, doing their research as though nothing was wrong. The Medication that DH provided seemed to create a sort of barrier between TO and the chaos of panic in their head, but despite the strange separation they experienced, the worry was still there. Once more, TO found that they couldn’t focus on what they were reading, but this time it had nothing to do with excitement, and more to do with the swirling thoughts that dominated their mind. They hated that there was nothing else they could do for the time, that there were no other actions they could take to help the situation. Time dragged once more, but this time every second strengthened the feeling of doom and dread as anticipation’s double-edged sword stabbed at TO. 

The elevator whirred to life. TO froze. Behind them they could hear the constant clicking of keys suddenly fall silent. They listened, their ears twitching as they followed the sound up from the lower level, to their own, and then past them. 

“… They’re going right to the weapons bay?” DH asked. 

“Of course they are.” TO said, unsure if that made them feel better or worse, “They wouldn’t want to come right here and just sit quietly around us, would they?” 

DH’s fingers started flying over the keyboard once more and they worked, going into the various systems and looking for the audio feed. TO shifted, pushed their chair next to DH, and sat down just watching. Despite their dread, they couldn’t help but admire how fast DH could type, how deftly their long fingers moved across the keyboard. 

Another moment passed, and DH brought up the audio feed. 

“I can delete this when they’re done.” DH said, “Just in case.” 

“That’s best.” TO said. They shifted closer and took DH’s hand in theirs, squeezing their fingers gently as they both sat like convicts awaiting their sentencing.