When TO peeled off their clothes, they felt like they were peeling off a layer of scum. The stench and smoke that lingered in the streets and in the bar clung to them like a miasma that invoked bad singing and too-strong drinks. 

 

Clothes went directly into the small washer, and TO jumped right into the shower, which was still hot and steamy since DH had used it first. They used a lot of the plain liquid soap that came from the dispenser in the shower; it was the same as what they used back in the training center and somehow calmed TO. 

 

 That was good. They needed to calm down and work on their plan. The only ‘plan’ they had was a vague idea what their next step was; they would meet again with Lendulin, this time at her home so that she didn't have to worry about transportation with a bad wheelchair. The other part of the plan, the more important part, was getting Pearla to talk to them. 

 

Pearla; the actual target. They just had to get close enough to her friends to convince her to talk to them, and slip something that they could use, some hint that would lead them to someone else in the insurgency. Given that she knew they were synths, that would be very difficult. They had a week to do it before they went to another quadrant. If they didn't have Pearla’s contact information by then, then they didn’t know what they’d do.

 

Was there a point in going to the other quadrants now? TO’s original plan wouldn’t work anymore, so was there a point? Why couldn’t they just stay in Oikia?

 

Because there was an insurgent presence in other quadrants. Because the Praetors already requested their presence in each one. Because there was the chance that they wouldn’t be able to work with Pearla, and they couldn’t waste their time trying to get her to cooperate if she wouldn’t. Maybe they’d have to have her arrested and interrogate her if she wouldn’t cooperate in how they wanted. 

 

The idea made TO feel queasy. They had learned basic interrogation techniques in training and hated every second that they had to employ them in the simulations. 

 

The hot water poured over them until the heat made TO feel dizzy. They turned off the water and stood there, naked and dripping as steam rose gently from their skin. 

 

 Their plan was awful; they had only planned one step ahead and from there they were, and they were fishing for hints on what their next step should be. Their original plan had been perfect, but of course nobody wanted to cooperate with them! The higher authorities, King Decon, did not wish to push the civilians and risk needing to spend unneeded resources to keep a planet in line. The civilian leaders didn’t want to risk the state of their economy, even though all that would be torn apart should martial law take place. Now, because of all that, TO was just making things up as they went. 

 

They hated it. 

 

When they left the washroom, cooler air in the main room hit their skin, sending shivers through them, but leaving them feeling oddly refreshed as their wings wrapped around their naked, still damp shoulders. 

 

“Feel better?” DH asked from where they were lounging on their bed. 

 

“Much.” TO said. They grabbed their communicator and went to the bed, reclining next to DH. It only took a moment for DH to curl into them, resting their head on their shoulder and draping an arm and wing over them like a blanket. 

 

 This was perfect. This was all TO really wanted. They pressed their snout to the top of DH’s head, nuzzling them gently as they rubbed their mate’s ear, reveling in their warmth of DH’s skin against theirs. 

 

If they didn’t do this, if they didn’t fix the entire issue of the insurgency, then they’d be separated. No, if they didn’t fix the insurgency and do so in such a way that proved them both to be outstanding, then they’d be separated. They couldn’t just achieve, they had to excel. 

 

The idea of running flickered through their mind once more, igniting guilt and shame in them again. TO forced the idea away; they didn’t want to leave King Decon’s service; it was just a thought that had wormed its way into their head; once, which bothered them so much that it continued to poke and prod at them. 

 

Had DH ever considered running? Had that idea ever flickered into their head?

 

Before they could think about that too much, before the question could bubble up and out of their mouth, their communicator went off. Careful not to move too much and risk disturbing DH, they reached for their communicator to see who it was. They expected a message from Petra, or even Lendulin. 

 

It was neither of them. An alert showed a simple contact share request from Pearla with no notes or messages along with it. Petra had promised to pass on TO’s contact information to Pearla, but they hadn’t expected her to take it, let alone send a contact request. Maybe this was a sign, saying that despite TO’s worrying, things were going to work better and faster than they thought. Maybe everything would work out just fine. 

 

With a slight grin and upwards lifted ears, they accepted the request. 

 

======

 

Though TO didn’t want to go to the Outer Ring again, they had already made the arrangements to meet with Lendulin and so they had to meet her at her home on the outskirts of the Outer Ring. They took their vehicle, landing it at the only parking center in the Outer Ring, on the other side of the district from where Lendulin was. 

 

“It would have been faster to land a few distracts over and take the tube from there.” DH had muttered as they looked up how long it took for the one tube that went through the Outer Ring to get to where they needed to go. “The Inter-district tubs have an exit closer to Lendulin’s place than the local tube does.” 

 

They hadn’t even landed in the outer ring yet, and even from the inside of their vehicle they could feel the change in the atmosphere; the lighting was different here; the tall buildings were so crowded that even in the middle of the day the ground seemed to be covered in perpetual twilight. 

 

“Ideally, yes.” TO said, “But this time of day there’s too much congestion going out from the Outer Ring and since they only have one tube that circles from there to the interior, it would take us hours to get there. “

 

“That’s dumb.” DH grumbled as they glared out the window, “Why not have more?” 

 

TO didn’t have an answer for DH, but they agreed; the tube from the Outer Ring seemed to run on a five-hour cycle, hitting each stop once every five hours. The interior districts had more frequent runs, though the further in you got, the more likely people were to have their own vehicles. 

 

It made little sense to TO. They’d have to ask about it. At least the local tube circled the entire Outer Ring every three hours. Unfortunately, the hour they spent on the tube wasn’t as pleasant as their previous tube ride; they didn’t go high enough to see the ocean, so all they could see was the blurred form of the clustered buildings as they rushed by. 

 

The stop closest to Lendulin was right in front of a large warehouse next to the sea, giving them a good view of the workers unloading imports from other planets. Their synth vessel had been the exception, but most ships - especially cargo ships- that landed on Arkane landed in the water. Sometimes it wasn’t even ships that landed in the water; landing and taking off again took a lot of fuel, so sometimes the ship itself would just pass by the atmosphere and send a shipping container through the atmosphere and to the water below. Containers similar to those that TO had worked with back in training crowded the shoreline. The entire warehouse reminded TO of the work that they had done back in training; They plucked a crate from the water, set on a trolley, and pushed into the warehouse where they assumed it would be unloaded and directed to the necessary locations. 

 

It was odd that there was a job that civilians did, which Synths also did. Of course, were there not civilian medics as well? Civilian maintenance crews? 

 

It still felt odd. 

 

They stepped out of the tube, and while TO was grateful for the sunglasses that protected them from the awful glare of the sun, the sun's effects in this area were still obvious; there was a stink that rose from the water, salty, sickly sweet, and foul all at once. The Outer Ring was just as unpleasant at night as it was during the day; the only difference was that there were more people moving about; a cacophony of different species rushing about, or sitting on street corners, or leaning against scum covered walls drinking from green-tinted bottles that held a drink so strong that TO could smell the alcohol as they passed by. 

 

Maybe it was worse in the daytime; the sun made all the smells so much more vivid.

 

“Why can’t civilians manage the stink around them?” DH muttered as they wrinkled their snout. 

 

“Come on.” TO said as they took DH’s hand and led them down the street, “Maybe it’ll be better once we get to Lendulin’s place.”

“I thought the sea smelled fresh and salty. It smells like sewage and rot here.” 

 

They didn’t have to get too far to realize why it smelled so foul. Along the edge of the water, various pieces of garbage clung to the rocks. There was an iridescent glow of oil on the surface that reflected the light, and a slime that coated the shore. 

 

“Exhaust.” TO said, “Garbage, sewage, that’s why it smells bad.” They remembered something that Celesto had said, “... There’s waste all in the water on the shoreline. There’s a bit of an exposed river in the residential district of the island that’s cleaned and purified, but-”

“Then why is she living here!?” DH said, “It’s awful here, and there’s a better place for her to live!”

 

Why was she living here? It was a good question. “We can ask her.” TO said, their ears perking up.

DH frowned, “Wouldn’t that be rude?”

“Not if we’re asking about making the planet better, right? We’re asking her about problems that legless people suffer here, and if a lot of legless people live here, and the water is dirty, then that’s a problem we can ask about!” They were excited, and even happy until one of those awful, multi-legged insects ran out from the shadows, darting past TO and heading to the water. A violent shudder ran through them, a strangled cry that was half scream, half squawk escaped their throat as they clutched at DH’s arm, shaking.

 

DH stopped, holding TO as they struggled to calm themself. “Are you going to be ok?” they asked.

“I hate those things.” TO muttered, trying to get their heart to calm down, “I hate them. I can feel it on me. I wish I had my armor on-”

“... I admit.” DH said, “I’m glad I didn't wear a dress today.” When they dressed to leave, DH had worn a pair of plain denim pants, a rose-colored cotton shirt with holes in the back to accommodate their wings, and, of course, the plainest boots they had bought. There was some disappointment on TO’s part that they dressed so simply; they looked lovely in their dresses, the ones that hugged their sides and flowed out from their thighs. Somehow, DH had an almost ethereal look about them when they wore any kind of dress or skirt, and it made TO’s heart swell, and made them so insanely happy thinking about how they could hold DH, and kiss them and rub their ears if they wanted. Now, among the garbage and stink and insects, TO understand fully well why they had not worn a dress.

TO was glad that they wore pants as normal, but they desperately wanted their armor to protect them from the bugs and the stench. OF course, they couldn’t really pick up on the stench now. All they could smell was DH. DH still smelled of perfume, specifically lavender according to the bottle they had found. For a moment it seemed to block out everything else and TO could feel their muscles relax. They took a deep breath as they pressed their forehead to DH’s shoulder.

“Yeah man, that one just like, SCREAMED at bugs.”

The sound came from nearby, followed by laughter. TO pulled away from DH and looked around, their ears swiveling until they located where it was coming from. Atop a nearby storage building, a group of five children were watching them, laughing at TO for their reaction to the awful insect.

The heat rose to their ears, and they took DH’s hand once more, and pulled them along. The sooner they spoke to Lendulin, the sooner they could get out of the Outer Ring and go back home.