Before they could attempt to figure out who was actually in charge in the insurgency, they had to stop and see Kei. Well‌ Avery had to stop and see Kei. TO wasn’t entirely concerned with what happened to them, and though a part of them felt bad, and knew that if DH or GiDi or Avery were in Kei’s place, they’d be doing everything they could to get them out of isolation. 

 

But it wasn’t their friends. It was Kei. Kei had caused them enough trouble. Since the first day they met Kei way back when they were trainees, Kei had caused them trouble, had hurt their friends. 

 

 No, Kei had done enough. It was hard to feel ‌worried about the other synth. Still, Avery was worried about them. Flit and Snout also wanted to figure out what they were doing with them, but TO wasn’t in a mind to worry about what they wanted.

 

They simply didn’t want to worry about Flit and Snout. They didn’t want to think about them. The easiest thing to focus on was how they had meddled with their minds, disconnecting them from the programs that would have made them normal synths. That was what allowed them to love DH, and it was most likely what made them excel so much over other synths, despite all the other issues it had caused, but still…

 

They came from stolen DNA. Civilian DNA. Flit was a parent to them? Synths did not have parents. Synths did not come from Civilians… Yet Flit and Snout were so certain, and said they had proof. 

 

I was all too much to deal with right now, when they were out with others. It was far easier to just be angry. 

 

They approached yet another door, with the same little slot on the bottom for food. Flit activated their chip again and brought up the video feed from inside. There was Kei, sitting at a table in the center of the room. The stack of empty plates on the table made it clear that they were eating at least. 

 

“I’m surprised they’d take the food you offered them.” TO said. 

 

“I’m not.” Flit responded, “DH assured you that the food was safe, but if they can place you in a room alone, what would you have done when given food by the enemy?”

Their training had been clear. They’d wait a day to see if they could escape, or if help was coming. Once that failed, they’d eat, but they’d eat slowly; taking tiny bites of the strange food to see if it was poisoned, or to see if it would make them sick before increasing the amount they ate. 

 

If Kei found no adverse effects after a day or two of eating in this method, they’d have no issues with eating the food normally, ideally.

“Still, I thought he’d refuse based on principle.” TO muttered.

“That’s the difference.” Flit said, “between you and them, I mean. You’d consider principals. They’d just follow orders. Their orders told them to eat a certain way.” They sighed, “And their orders are also going to tell them not to speak with insurgents. No deals, no bargains.”

 

“... And you want me to convince them to go against their orders?” Avery asked, “I really don’t think I can.”

“I’d like you to convince them to not be violent.” Snout said, “If you could convince them to agree to being sent off somewhere, or to agree to having the procedure done-”

 

“They won’t agree to any of that.” Avery said. 

 

“Then just try to talk to them.” Flit said. They nodded to the slot in the door. “Through there. We can’t risk opening the door; they might get violent. I have no doubt that we could handle that, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt; us or them.” 

 

Avery sighed, but slid down to sit next to the door. They reached their hand down and opened up the slot.

“... Hur-13?”

It was odd hearing Avery call them Hur-13. They had gotten used to just ‘Kei.’

 

Flit gestured for them all to be quiet as they watched the recording on their chip. INside. Kei jolted, stared at the door for a moment, then got up and went over to the door. They crouched down, and when they did, TO could see their figure block out the light coming from inside the room.

“Hur-14.” they said, speaking common. They couldn't see each other's ears now, so normal synth-speak would be clumsy. “You’ve escaped?” 

 

“... No.” Avery said, “No. I’ve not escaped-”

“Then you’re still being held captive. I assume there are others out there as well, listening?” 

 

“..There is, but I’m not being held captive-”

“Are you allowed to leave, to go back to King Decon?” 

 

Avery’s ears dipped down. “I don’t think He would allow me to serve.” Avery said, the sadness clear even in their common, “I had an order, and I failed to follow it.” 

 

“That is not what I asked.” They responded, ignoring Avery's tone. Of course, maybe they never noticed it in the first place. “I asked if you can leave and go back. “

 

Avery turned to Flit, who only shook their head in response. 

 

“I don’t think we can go back.” Avery said, “But they don’t want to hurt us. They’re going to-”

“If I cannot go back to serve King Decon, then I am unconcerned with what they wish to do.” Kei said, “We have one duty and one purpose in life. If we cannot follow our purpose, then we have no right to the lives given to us by King Decon.”

The shadow disappeared, and on the screen TO could see Kei getting up and heading back to the table. Avery looked frantically at TO, then Flit. When neither of them said anything, they turned back to the slot.

“They want to help us!” They said, “You can get out of this room, and they’ll send us somewhere to just live, and -”

“I have no intention of living in any situation except for one where I am serving King Decon. If you are so corrupted by your deviant friends, then I cannot help you nor convince you otherwise.” 

 

“Kei they-” They stopped, looked at Flit, then with their ears pinned back, they went back to the slot, “They say there’s something wrong with your brain.” They said quickly, “Damage done during development or something. They want to fix it-” 

Kei turned suddenly, moving almost too fast for the footage to follow as they delivered a powerful kick to the inside of the metal door. Avery yelped and pushed away from the door.

“I do not need to be fixed.” They said, and though they had difficulty getting the tone to come across in their common most of the time, they made their anger clear at this moment.

Of course, even without the kick to the door did the job. 

 

“I passed all my examinations, just as you and your disgusting, deviant friends did.” Kei snapped, “And unlike you, I can follow orders. Unlike them, I can focus on my task and not get distracted by the urge to copulate!” They turned and went back to the table. The anger that Kei had invoked now melted away. “Perhaps you need to be corrected, if you’re considering the words of the insurgents, and if you think you can simply leave your duty behind.”

“Kei, you should at least-”

“Go away. I have no interest in speaking to you, nor any other insurgent. Keep me locked up. Torture me. Starve me. I no longer care.” 

 

Avery was about to say something more, but Flit leaned over and put a hand on their shoulder as they shook their head. Avery just looked at the former retiree for a moment, then with their wings around their arms and their ears down.

Finally, they let go of the flap. It hit the door with a loud clunk that echoed through the hallway, ringing off the walls and hurting their ears. Still, Avery got up and nodded to Flit.

Wordlessly, they made their way down the hall and back towards the common room. 

 

======

 

“I should have warned you not to mention the brain thing.” Flit muttered once they were out of earshot.

“I’m sorry…” they muttered, their ears low and their wings tightly around their arms, “I thought if I just.. I just wanted them to know what was happening.” they said, “I thought if they knew, they’d be curious at least-”

“Most synths with the typical alterations done have minimal curiosity.” Snout said with a sigh, “Even the ones that aren’t entirely typical have much of their curiosity conditioned out of them before they even leave the tanks.”

 

“And of course, you suggested they’re broken.” Flit added, “The implication that a thing needs to be fixed implies that it’s broken‌.”

 

“... Do you think ‌they might be different if you fix them?” Avery asked. “Would they still be themself, just not so-”

“We have no idea.” Snout admitted as they approached the door to the commons, “we haven’t done this before, so we don’t know how someone would change if we restored the original neural pathways, or how other experiences or conditioning during training would affect things. Even if a perfectly in-tact mind… Some of that stays with you.” Their own ears dipped back, their wings tightened around them. 

 

They felt DH’s hand slip into their own once more. They turned, gave a quick smile to their mate, who rewarded them with a smile of their own, a beautiful lift of the ears and a brief flash of fang, before refocusing on the others. 

 

“In the long run, it’s nothing you have to worry about.” Flit said, “You three will be off planet sooner than later-”

“Us four.” TO said, looking at GiDi, “You’re coming with us, aren’t you?”

GiDi had said little during the whole situation and now looked like they wanted to say even less. Their ears were down, and they looked away.

“... No, I won’t be coming with you.” They whispered.

Their words hit TO like a knife, slicing through them. All they could do was hold DH’s hand tighter. 

 

“But… We just found you again-”

“I found you.” GiDi muttered. “And I don’t want to be away from you again…. But I can’t leave.”

It dawned on TO the obvious reason‌, and their ears flicked back up in relief.

“Of course!” They said, “Pearla!”

“Well…” GiDi’s ears flushed slightly, “She is part-”

“She can come with us?” DH offered, “That’s fine.. Right?” They looked at TO, “GiDi is family, and if Pearla is their mate, then she’s family too, right?” 

 

How could DH be so quick to accept? How could they say that so cheerfully? TO didn’t understand, but they knew that if it made GiDi happy, they’d call Pearla family. “I wouldn’t dream of trying to separate you from your mate.” They said to GiDi, “She can come too, of course-”

“No… no, because even if she could, I’d want to stay.” 

 

“Why?” DH and TO asked at basically the same time. “It’s dangerous to be here.” TO said. They frowned, their ears flicking back as they debated revealing more information than they needed… but they had to in order to keep GiDi safe. “You’ve captured us. We were the last chance that Arkane had before going into martial law. That means more synths are going to come here on King Decon’s orders, and they’ll be here looking for the insurgency. They will find you.”

“... And even if they do.” GiDi said, “I’d still have to-” They stopped and shook their head, “No. I want to stay here.” They swallowed, and then stood upright as much as they could, “I.. I want to help the insurgency.”

The silence that met their proclamation drew out like an eternity. “... Is it because you were taken away?” They asked, thinking that maybe that was the reason, “Because of your examination-”

“It’s because they believe ‌the insurgency is doing the right thing here.” Flit said, “..it’s the same reason Snout and I are still here. We could have gone off the planet, just like they’re planning to do with you.”

“Thought I admit, a life of peace with you is… tempting.” Snout said, grinning, “But… I'd not be able to leave now. I’m involved now. Besides.” Their ears pinned back, “Decon lied to us. To all of us. I have trouble letting that go.”

 

“I’m sorry.” GiDi said, “but.. I really ‌think they’re doing the right thing here. Everything we’ve done since I got here, at least, has been just rescuing people. Getting people out of custody, or getting them out of the indebted system and onto a planet where they can be free again. We’ve been helping people get food and medicine-”

“And sending drones to a portal, killing several civilians in an attempt to capture us?” TO said as their ears pinned back.

“We didn’t want to kill anyone!” GiDi said-”

“We planned to just take control of the port and release it when you were safe.” Flit said, “From what I figured, it should have been easy. The main thing was to keep the portal safe, and we said so long as nobody attacked us, we wouldn’t risk damaging it. Of course, some civilians tried to take matters into their own hands…. And you two damaged the black hole, anyway.” They narrowed their eyes. “Very dangerous. Brillant, and effective, but dangerous.”

 

“And people died.”

“TO.” Flit took a deep breath, “yes.. They died.” They rubbed at the spot between their eyes, pinching the bridge of the nose as they did. “People die. Synths die. This is a war, a rebellion, and neither side has their hands clean. We can only hope that we’re doing the right thing as we’re doing terrible things, and we can only answer to ourselves in the end.” they narrowed their eyes, “I assure you ‌I have killed more civilians in my time in active combat than I’ve seen killed here.

“But that’s different!” TO said, “They didn’t count, they were-”

“Insurgents?” GiDi asked, “like me and Pearla?” they looked seriously at TO, “I know you think I still matter at least… otherwise you wouldn’t have shot Kei.”

“Look.” Snout said, “This isn't important right now… GiDi is staying unless they decide otherwise.” They looked at TO, “You’ll be in touch regardless, and GiDi will visit you, eventually. But no matter what happens here, you and DH can go. You can leave Arkane and be free. That’s all you really want, isn’t it?”

TO huffed, and refused to admit that Snout was right. Still, they were. Being with DH was really all TO cared about now.

“That’s all I want.” DH said, squeezing TO’s hand. “I want me and TO to be safe, and together.”

“Then let’s go in and get your escape plan started.” Flit said as they opened the door to the commons, “It’ll take some prep, but in a few days you’ll be…”

They stopped as they entered the commons. The noise from earlier had stopped, and now most people sat clustered near Pholi as he scanned over something on the screen before him. As the synths entered, Pholi looked up, frowning as his tail lashed at the chair, leaving gashes in the already patched up fabric.

“We have a problem.” They said, “You better come see this.”