Despite the clear tension between the two synths and Pearla, they soon dropped formalities. The smell of the succulent meat TO and DH brought easily overpowered the smell of the nearby waterfront, as well as an herbal oil that Lendulin generously splashed over a porous rock. Conversation and questions between them turned ranting as Lendulin and Petra talked about the ‘shit they had to deal with’

When Petra mentioned transportation, TO remembered that along with the food, they brought a repair kit. Soon, To and DH were on the ground next to the water, flanking the chair and trying to figure out a long-term fix for it. They switched the tea out for ‘something stronger’ and they drank and talked and worked on the chair.

“And let’s just assume that there was no issue of physical mobility.” Lendulin said as she gnawed on the leftover bones, “The tube here is-”

“It’s the more idiotic system I’ve seen!” DH said, dropping their wrench. “If you want to go just a few districts in, it ends up taking a whole day unless you have a vehicle-”

“Exactly!” Petra said. She pulled the bone from her mouth and examined it before sucking on the end and drawing out a piece of marrow. “Nobody has vehicles around here!” 

“I know you’re enjoying those,” Lendulin said with a sideways glance at Petra, “But if you want me to make broth, you need to leave a little marrow behind.”

“The water situation is pretty bad too.” Pearla said; she didn't speak up often, normally just interjecting with small comments that set Petra off, “It’s hard to get clean water here, and many people come into the center with illnesses that could be easily avoided if their water was clean.”

“Yeah! Some of us have, like, mini water purification machines.” Petra said around her bone, “But if you don’t, you have to rig something up, like me with some old clear plastic tarp, a bucket, and the sun. I don’t have money to buy a water purifier outright, and the ‘Water and Wellness’ commission won’t offer their support to-” she waved at TO, “Come on, guess! Guess who they won’t provide support to!”

Despite Petra’s jovial tone, the entire conversation was profoundly depressing to TO. Maybe if the alcohol they were drinking influenced them, they find it just as darkly humorous as Petra seemed to.

“Would it be non-citizens, those with a criminal record, and the indebted?”

“Exactly!” Petra said, raising her thin, beaten tin cup in a mock toast. “Wouldn’t want to help the wrong people, would you?” 

“And the homeless. Don’t forget the homeless.” Lendulin said as she swam to the other side of the room to retrieve some, “It’s not necessarily a barrier to getting help, but unless you want to go to the center of the island, filling out the form though the network requires an address.” 

DH spat a curse that they had picked up from a movie long ago. It was neither common nor synth-speak, but the way their ears pinned back got the intention across as they threw down another tool. “I’m probably going to break this before I fix it.” DH hissed, their ears pinning back with frustration, “It’s rusted shut. How do you fix this yourself?” 

“Patience.” Lendulin said as she swam over to where DH was sitting. She eyed the bit that they were struggling with. “If I pick at this enough with a knife-”

TO sighed, “Are you certain that we can’t just give you a new chair?” They asked for the third time. They didn’t know if a wheelchair would be the thing they’d have to explain to Ark-1, but if it was, then they could easily say they used it as part of their research into the insurgency; it was perfectly true, even if it wasn’t the real reason TO wanted to give her a new chair. 

Lendulin flushed and shook her head, “No.. no no, I couldn't accept that. It’s too expensive. I’d never be able to pay you back-”

“Well, it’d be a gift-”

“I couldn’t accept that.”

Petra tossed her well gnawed bone into a nearby bowl, “Maybe you should.” She said with a sigh, “I mean, you got that thing you’re going to, right?” 

“What thing?” TO asked, looking up from the chair to Lendulin. 

“The party? The art show? You know, the one I was trying to get a dress for.” 

DH glanced up. “Did you get a dress in the end?”

“We got a friend who said she’d do it. She’s a better seamstress than that Celesto asshole. Biggest problem we have with her is getting the fabric, but we’ll make that work.” Petra said. She picked at the untouched bones, selected the one with the most meat still left on it, and jabbed the pointy end at Lendulin. “Doesn’t make a difference if you don’t have a proper chair though.”

“I couldn’t ever pay them back though.” She said, her face growing darker by the second. 

“... What about tickets?” Pearla said, suddenly perking up, her eyes alight as though she had a great idea. “Yeah! Those tickets you got for us!”

“I- I got them for you and Petra-” Lendulin said, “I’d feel bad if I gave them to someone else…”

“I can’t go.” Pearla said, “it’s in Thalassa.” She glanced at TO, “North-East quadrant-”

“Nobody calls it the North-East quadrant.” Petra said, 

“Well, they’re from off planet, and Thalassa is really a local name.” She looked back to TO, “Thalassa. North-East Quadrant. Most everything there is underwater save for shipping centers and some industrial stuff for energy production. Mostly, it’s rich people who live there, and indebted people who work there.”

TO remembered Sally having an issue with some of TO’s suggestions, and how she said that most of the people in her quadrant would want debt forgiveness; something which would affect her economy. 

“And following the train of conversation we’ve been on, that means it’s mostly legless.” DH said as they struggled with the bolt they had been fighting with. In a sudden, unexpected movement it came loose, causing DH’s hand to slip. They smacked it against the wheel before grasping their hand and clutching it, their teeth grit against the pain. TO jumped up and scurried to DH’s side to make sure they were ok; all the different diseases they could get from an infection raced through their mind, but thankfully DH only had a red spot on their hand that looked like it was going to bruise. 

“Shit, you two are cute.” Petra said, “Seriously thought Tio was going to scoop DH up there. You looked so worried about a tiny little bump.”

“Petra-” Pearla said, her voice suddenly tense.

“What? They are cute? Cutest damn couple I’ve seen in a while.” She gave Pearla a grin, “Unless you want to introduce me to your partner-”

“Drop it.”

“Fine, fine.” Petra said. She turned back to Lendulin. “And I’d love to go, but I can’t. They screen at the border, and I have a criminal record.” 

Pearla tightened her grip on her cup. “You really shouldn’t just tell people about that.”

Petra shrugged, and tossed the next bone into the bowl, “It’s not my fault!” She said, “Protesting is legal, but rioting isn’t. The difference between a protest and a riot is subjective.” She picked up her drink. “Besides,” She said, her eyes flashing with hate, “Praetor Sally always invites the fuckin’ synths-” Pearla dropped her cup here, spilling her drink everywhere, “-to the biggest parties in Thalassa, so they’ll probably get an invitation to this one. I don’t want to be around them if I can help it. Going to the local party… That was enough.” 

“You need to watch your language!” Pearla said, glancing between Petra, DH, and TO.

“What? These two are cool. They caught me taking the food from the party and all.”

“About that.” TO said, suddenly realizing they had a chance to get more answers now that Petra considered them ‘cool’, “Why did you steal all that food?” 

Pearla paled again, but Petra just laughed. “You have to ask that after everything we’ve told you?” She said, “We have limited food here; cheap stuff we make tasty. Shit, we can take bugs and make them delicious, as you well saw! They’re nutritious too. Same with seafood. But we need other stuff too. Candied fruits last forever. Fresh fruits can be pickled, or dried, or steeped in sugar, and they still have-” she looked at Pearla, “You use it all. What do they have?”

Still pale, Pearla turned to a nearby box and started digging for something. “I’m not getting into the medical stuff now.” She said, “I don’t have it memorized, but we have people going into the center with diseases that shouldn’t be a problem on a developed planet. It’s because fruits and vegetables are expensive; all imported. Someone goes long enough without the right nutrients, and they get sick. Sometimes it just takes a few good meals to set someone right again, but we need the food for that.”

“Right, I was helping.” She glared at her cup. “And where it was local, I could wait until the synths left, and then go in. Down there, I’m trapped in there with them.” She sneered, “Not worth it.”

“Why not?” TO asked. 

“Because fuck synths.” She spat. 

TO’s ears flicked out in confusion, their hands freezing in midair. Fuck synths? Why? What did synths do to them? Of course… if  Petra didn’t like King Decon, then she wouldn’t like synths, would she?

 Rather than feeling offended, TO felt oddly sad. DH clearly wasn’t sad though; TO could hear the low growl that echoed in their throat. It was thankfully too low for anyone else to hear. They took DH’s injured hand and gently stroked it to calm them down.

“Petra!” Pearla was very pale at this point and dropped the cloth that she had just pulled from the box. “Watch what you say!”

“I mean it though!” Petra said, “I mean, best case, they’re robots. Robots, I can get it. Robots just do what they’re told-”

“The AI they’d need to do the things they do isn’t allowed though.” Lendulin said, “We’ve had that discussion, remember?” 

“Yeah, well, if King Dick wanted to break his own rules, I’m sure he would. But yes; best case they’re robots, and just following their programming. Worst case, they’re actual flesh and blood people and I shudder to think that a person, that a living person with a heart and a mind, could be as cold and brutal as those assholes are. King Decon is bad enough, but the synths are the ones that carry out the dirty work. You’d think they’d have some compassion here and there.” She glanced at Lendulin, “Remember Helen?” 

Lendulin fell quiet, “I remember, yes.”

“We shouldn’t talk about that.” Pearla said, “I-I’m sure that they don't want to hear about that mess.” 

Helen. They remembered that name; the girl that was on their list of confirmed insurgents; deceased. She had looked so young, and even now as they thought about it, a spark of anger flickered in TO’s head. How dare the insurgency endanger such a young child? 

Still… maybe this would give them more information. Maybe they’d get more names.

“Whose Helen?” DH asked, as though reading TO’s mind. “I’m curious now.”

Petra looked at Pearla, “Go on; you know more about it than I do.”

Pearla looked between them, then stopped. Her hand gripped the rag that she was using to wipe up the drink she had spilled as she stared at the table, her eyes narrowed. 

“...Fine.” she said as she cleaned up the table, “Fine… you want to hear about that?” She looked at Petra, “I don't like talking about it, you know.”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing. It’s not a fun story to remember.” She tossed the rag in a bucket in the corner when she finished cleaning, went to the counter, and poured a fresh cup of ‘something stronger’ for herself. She drank the entire glass right there, then poured another for herself. In less than a minute, she had drunk more than she had touched the entire afternoon.

“Fine. You want to hear about Helen? I’ll tell you about Helen.”