As the lasers struck the inside of the dome, TO’s helmet flooded their senses with warnings. At the same time, the communicators of all those around them gave off loud, screeching alarms. Though TO couldn’t see their communicators, they were certain that the warning said the same thing as they saw on their own visor. 

 

==WARNING==
DOME INTEGRITY COMPROMISED

EVACUATION IN PROCESS

Buteo snapped something at Mustela while Sally nearby simply pressed something on her badge. A moment later, a force-field surrounded her. TO’s helmet said that it was a BCSS - Basic Civilian Safety Shield; often used for short bursts in space or underwater. 

 

“To the pods.” Sally said, her mandibles clicking, “We’ll deal with this when we’re at the surface.”

“But-” Mustela’s tail lashed against the chair, “We can just disable-”

Buteo turned to TO, “This N-94; is that a synth you know? Can you contact them?” Their tone was sharper than before, and To could see their taloned feed digging into the ground beneath them.

“No.” TO said, “I am unsure if they even exist.”

“I see.” He snapped as he turned back to the collector. “We can’t just disable it.” He said, “We need to get out.” He turned to Sally, “This is why Thalassa will never be the capital; it’s dangerous. I don’t know why you didn’t bother build atop the water”

“If we did, the city could sink!” She protested, “Come along. Activate your badges; should the dome collapse, that’ll give us time to get to a pod.” She started walking, then turned and pointed at Buteo, “And I’ll have you know, this wouldn’t happen in Thalassa proper; this is a residential dome!” She shot a furious look at Mustela. “One, apparently, with terrible security.”

“I have the best security money can buy!”

“Enough.” TO said. The dome was going to collapse, the area would flood, and they were arguing? “Get to the pods and get out.”

“Will you be coming with us, honored synth?” Sally asked, but TO didn’t bother to answer. They spread their wings, took to the air, identified one of the maintenance bots as a target, and then made their helmet locate others all around them. Even from where they were in the secluded area of the dome, their helmet identified the bots all over the place, their lights unnoticed mostly because of the strange bioluminescent fish on the outside, and the myriad of lights which hung overhead on the inside.

== Targets identified. Recommended course of action; Multi-gun rapid-fire mode in stun setting. Multi-gun not found.== 

 

Of course, they didn’t have their multi-gun with them. As synths, they could have brought them, of course, but as civilians, a multi-gun would have created too many problems.

They approached the first bot and pulled it from the interior of the dome, where water was already leaking around a seam on the barrier. Its laser was still active, so TO used it to get rid of a few more bots before its safety overrides finally kicked in and it deactivated. TO dropped the now inactive bot and looked around.

No, this wouldn’t work. There were too many bots. Even with their multi-gun, given how quickly the bots were getting through the dome, there would be no way two synths could get rid of them all before it collapsed.

An alarm echoed through the dome, loud and low and foreboding. As it did, two alerts went off on TO’s helmet; one stating that the suit was going to underwater mode and that the armor's minimal oxygen reserves were being activated.

==30 minutes of oxygen remains. Evacuation recommended==

So much for Thalassa being safe.

The other alert was a call from DH, which TO answered immediately.

“You should have a BCSS in your badge.” They said as soon as they answered, “Activate that, and get to an evacuation station.”

“What’s happening?” DH asked back. In the background, TO could hear Lendulin asking ‘are they alright?’

“Tell Lendulin I’m fine.” TO said as they looked around. Already, everyone from the VIP Section was heading towards a nearby pillar that had risen out of the ground, a red light flashing on top of it. 

 

Emergency pods, their helmet told them, to bring civilians to the surface. The architects who designed Mustela’s estate had probably hidden these things all around inside the dome, and when the evacuation orders went through, they came out of hiding.

 

“There are emergency pods coming out of the ground.” TO said, “Get to one.”

 

“And you?”

 

They had to escape as well, but the insurgents had manipulated the bots down here, the ServAi’s, and the maintenance bots. They also potentially used GiDi’s authentication to override a command to disable the bots.

 

N might stand for nothing and nobody, but it was still a synth designation, and it still could override any civilian commands.

 

They needed information, and while TO’s knowledge about the finer details of the bot’s operations was fuzzy, they knew basic information. There would be a central computer that managed the bots, and that would have a hard drive with all the information they could need on it.

 

“I’m going to see if I can get a backup from the central computer.” They said, “Don’t wait for me. Just let me know when you’re safe.”

 

They cut the call, then looked around. Beneath them, they saw a ServAi heading to the escape pod. They dove from their perch and landed feet first on the bot.

 

“Pardon me, honored synth.” It said in its normal, placid tone, “But everyone must evacuate.”

 

TO ignored them, and used their helmet to pick up the wireless signal being transmitted to the bot. Though it only took thirty seconds, TO could feel every instant pass them with painful slowness until, finally, they traced the signal. The central computer was in the house itself, in the basement.

 

They spread their wings and took off.

 

======

 

The fastest way to get to the central computer was through the service door at the back of the house, so that’s where TO headed. They intended to just fly down, use their Synth access to get through, get to the computer, then use that same access to use the nearest escape pod. Though they had some oxygen reserves, it wasn’t enough to get them to the surface. They weren’t even sure how well their suit would hold up under the water pressure. 

 

As soon as they approached the door, there was a problem. A herd of civilians, most of them legless, crowded around the door. Some were trying to leave, some were trying to get in, and some simply sat on the nearby rocks, staring blankly.

 

TO landed in front of them, ignoring their sudden terrified faces and the screams that a scattered handful of them gave.

 

“The system has sent an evacuation alarm.” they said, “Get to the nearest escape pod-”

 

“We can’t!” one of them said, tears streaming down their face. This one had legs, fur, and a basic uniform. TO’s helmet said they were part of the full-time maintenance crew in Mustela’s estate.

 

“Why not?”

 

“It’s our fault.” One of the legless - this one fully scaled and with writhing tendrils instead of hair- said. “They called in extra work for the party. They got a lot more indebted in here-”

 

“And the pods for maintenance people reached capacity and launched already!” The legged one said. “There’s none left for us!”

 

“All the pods?” TO asked, their ears pinning back, “There must be more-”

 

“Not for us.” another civilian said; this one legless as well, but it felt like more of a technicality to TO as they moved about on twelve tentacles. “There're pods left, but they all have access limitations; no maintenance staff allowed.”

 

TO could feel the hum of their heart in their ears as their lips pulled back. Why would there be any reason to limit who can enter an escape pod? They pushed past the civilians as they tapped into the wireless system of the house again and pulled up a floor plan.

 

“Follow me.” They said, “All of you. There’s an escape pod two floors up. We have limited time before the dome entirely breaks. Activate your Basic Civilian Safety -”

 

“We don’t have them.” The one with the tentacles said, “us indebted, I mean. We only have temporary passes for here, and they don’t have-”

 

“Then hurry.” TO snapped. That would be something for them to deal with later, but there just wasn’t time now. They ran down the hallway, but when they turned to look, they saw that almost none of the civilians were running with them. “What did I say? Move!”

 

One civilian started crying, but it didn’t matter as they all started moving, following TO as quickly as they could through the maintenance hallways until they got to a small exit off what their helmet identified as a ballroom; one that had several escape pods attached. They had clearly hidden in the walls, but when evacuation started, the walls slid open to reveal them.

 

There were some gasps from the civilians, and as TO looked up, they understood why. The ballroom had a glass ceiling, and through that, they could see a large crack forming on the surface of the dome.

 

It wouldn’t last much longer. 

 

TO went up to the first escape pod, and pressed their hand to it. It beeped, and their helmet lit up with text.

 

=Activate pod? Y/N=

=pod set for level 3 access and above.=

 

They sent a command to edit access and set it to open. The pod door slid open, showing a large, comfortable looking pod from which music was playing. Comfortable padded seats lined the circular wall of the pod, each one carefully spaced out for comfort. 

 

“Get in.” TO said as they moved to the next one. They checked their time; already, ten minutes had passed, and they still had to get to the computer. If DH had been with them, then TO knew that their mate - their brilliant mate- could get all these pods open and working in moments, but they didn't have DH with them. DH was in line to get into a pod, likely with Lendulin. DH would be perfectly safe.

 

There were ten pods, but thankfully, they only had to open up six of them to fit all the maintenance people. The doors closed, and the pods pulled away to bring the civilians to the surface.

 

Fifteen minutes to go. The computer was only a few minutes away.

 

TO ran.

 

======

 

The computer was back in the maintenance levels of the house, behind several security doors. Thankfully, those proved no problem to TO thanks to their synth access, but it cost them precious seconds each time they had to stop for the door to recognize them. As they opened the last door, they heard a horrible creak from outside.

==WARNING==

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF DOME COMPROMISED

MULTIPLE BREACHES DETECTED

DOME COLLAPSE IMMINENT

 

They didn’t know how much longer they had until the dome broke. In the worst scenario, they could get to a pod with the last few minutes of their suit’s oxygen. The barrier should protect them somewhat from the pressure and provide a little oxygen after that; maybe they’d be ok for a few minutes. They wished they could disable the underwater mode for their suit until the dome actually broke, but if they got caught in water and the suit wasn’t in underwater mode, they’d lose their emergency oxygen. 

 

They ran into the room and stood before the intimidating computer; it was massive, with all kinds of programs running at once, with so much information displayed on screens in the walls about the maintenance bots - apparently they were trying to fix the dome even as they were destroying it- and servAis who were in recovery mode; set to direct civilians to pods, or carry those who could no longer walk on their own because of injury.

 

With ten minutes left, TO had no intention of trying to figure out the programming. They pulled open the side panel, pulled the main power, then ripped the hard drive from its place. There was a mechanical kit nearby, and they thankfully found a bag in that for storage. They hoped the bag would be enough to protect the hard drive from water damage, and they hoped it had some level of water resistance to it already.

 

They turned and rushed back to the ballroom.

======

 

“DH, are you in a pod?”

 

“Not yet.” DH said back. There was a lot of screaming from their side of the communicator, “There’s been a few injuries, and I’ve been carrying people to the-”

 

“The ServAi’s are doing that.” TO said back, “Get into a pod, or get your armor on.”

 

“Lendulin is with me.” DH said, “There’s flooding, and she’s swimming out to help people who got caught in the water.”

 

Flooding? How bad was it out there? Once they reached the ballroom, their question was answered. Their helmet's noise filtering dimmed the roar of water against the glass ceiling, but even so TO could guess at how loud it was, and how forceful the water was.

 

“DH, get out.”

 

“I’ve got my safety shield on-”

 

“Doesn’t matter. Get out now, or put on your armor-”

 

Another alarm sounded. But this one didn’t automatically give TO any information. It was very low, and very distant; probably coming from outside the dome. Maybe this was an alarm to warn nearby subaquatic vehicles to move away.

 

They were halfway across the ballroom when a loud groan came from overhead, followed by a horrific snapping. The ceiling overhead shattered from the force of the water that fell upon it, sending glass shards raining down with the fierce waterfall, pushing TO back. They grabbed their badge and activated their safety shield, just to ensure that they had a little more protection. 

 

“DH, go now.” they snapped into their helmet. Even once they were in the pod, they knew they wouldn’t relax until they knew DH was safe.

 

“Alright, I’m going, I-”

 

There was a sound, another loud, low hum. The lights flickered overhead, the sound from TO’s helmet whined in protest, growing louder in the seconds before the sound disappeared altogether, along with the data the helmet fed to them and their augmented visor view. Their helmet shut down entirely, leaving TO blind and deaf.  They tried to activate the night-vision setting, hoping that the dome had just gone dark, but their helmet was entirely non-responsive. Their visor, which normally  showed a live-recording of what was before them with all the information superimposed over it in an augmented reality view, was entirely powered down. When they attempted echolocation,  the high pitched chirps that  they gave off simply rang around in their helmet, leaving TO dizzy and disorientated.

 

They reached for the bracelet on their arm, trying to deactivate the armor. As they pressed on the edge of the bracelet, they expected their armor to dissolve away from them, and at least then they’d be able  to see and get to the pod.

 

Nothing happened.

 

It was then that they remembered Sally talking about weaponry that disabled all the systems of nearby subaquatic vehicles defenseless as they floated around the city. Something that would leave them disconnected and defenseless.

 

Apparently, it was a weapon that could do the same to Synth armor.

 

Though they couldn’t see or hear anything, they could feel it when the protective dome finally gave way and the water descended upon them.