TO held on tightly to Tham’s shoulder as he dove into the water. Debris smacked against them both, and it took all their power to keep their wings closed against their back. If TO tried to get through that tiny tunnel with their wings out, they knew that they’d get badly hurt. 

Somehow, they remembered the synths from shipping and receiving, who ended up having their wings removed. A life without their wings wasn’t something TO thought they could manage.

While a synth’s eyes were sharp, they were not effective for seeing underwater. The water stung their large eyes and there was so much dirt and mud floating around that even if they could have seen perfectly through the water, they wouldn’t be able to see past the thick dirty fog. Still, Tham seemed to know where they were going. It wasn’t long before they got to the entrance to the submerged tunnel, something TO only realized because suddenly they kept bumping against the walls, receiving bruises all over.

It was fine. They wished they could use their echolocation, but of course, that wouldn’t work underwater. They couldn’t hear anything thanks to the water rushing past their ears, so even if they could make the necessary clicks, they’d never hear the sound echo back.

That’s ok. They didn’t need to use echolocation to find what they needed. They had one skill that would help them in this; their eyes' natural sensitivity to light. They looked up, squinting at the ceiling, looking for the faintest glimmer of light. At least, they hoped they’d see it. Tham had their little flashlight on, strapped to their shirt; it gave some diffused light in the murky water and TO could only hope it would be enough to help them.

It was. When their lungs felt like they might burst, TO saw a strange, reflective glimmer up ahead. They pulled on Tham’s shoulder, but he ignored TO. They pulled again, harder this time. When Tham ignored them again, and the glittering reflection was right above them, TO dug their claws into Tham’s shoulder. They tried to be gentle, but they had to stop Tham, and while they didn’t want to tear up his muscles, they would use pain to get his attention.

That worked. Bubbles of air escaped from Tham’s mouth, reflective and glittering light in the murk before them; just like the glittering reflection that was just overhead. TO grabbed Tham, and swam upwards, pulling him out of the water, and gasping for breath as they surfaced in a dark pocket of air trapped in one of the taller crevices of the tunnel. The water was still rushing forward, so they had to hold on to the wall to stay in place, but for the moment they could catch their breath.

“Did I hurt you badly?” they asked. They hoped not. They had tried their best to just prick him a little. 

“No.” Tham said, coughing and sputtering, He checked his shoulder, and TO was relieved to see that their efforts to be gentle as possible had succeeded, and they only left a few shallow holes in Tham’s shoulder, and if there was any blood, it had already washed away.

“There should be four more spaces like this.” TO said, straining their mind to remember. There were probably more, but TO wanted to keep their estimate conservative. If there were more before they exited the tunnel, it would be a pleasant surprise. “If we stop and breathe at each one, we should be fine.”

“How did you even know this was here?” Tham asked. His voice sounded ragged, his throat hurt from the water he had swallowed. Would the water make Tham sick? Would it make TO sick? The water came from around the island, and it was filthy, but it had also come through a few filters before falling into the cave.

They’d ask DH when they got back, or maybe that doctor, Goretta. 

“I saw the places where the ceiling went up higher. Either from old cave bins, or from stuff that had to be removed when the tunnel was being made. Some of the air would have been pushed out, but the highest caverns would have had some trapped air.”

“And you memorized where they were?”

TO shook their head. Their memory was excellent, but not that good. “Air bubbles under water look reflective.” They said, “it’s not as obvious with a surface reflection, but it’s there, and my eyes are made for seeing light.” They shrugged as their breathing slowed. “I relied on your little flashlight to give enough reflection for me to see it.”

“And if you couldn’t?”

TO’s ears dipped, “I... I suppose we would have drowned.” They said, “But we didn’t have many other options.” 

Tham was still taking deep, gasping breaths, “And you just went all in?” They said, “You just said, ‘Well, either this’ll work, or I’ll die.’”

“Hesitation would have left us dead.” TO said, one of the many lessons various trainers had hammered into them during training. Of course, putting this into practice in simulations had probably helped them take those risks with less fear, anyway. Only now, it occurred to them that if they had been wrong, they would have died.

Of course, if they had hesitated, Tham would have died. TO could have flown out of the hole overhead, but they didn’t know what obstacles faced them overhead. Without their armor, a few lucky shots would take them down. 

Tham’s breathing finally slowed, and he shook his head. “Fuck.” He muttered, “Fuck me. You synths, they really put you through it in training, don’t they?”

“Put us through it?” TO asked, their ears quivering in confusion.

“Yeah.” Tham said, his breathing slowing, “I mean, they drill this shit into you.” He shook his head. “You acted so fast back there. You didn’t even think about it…” He stopped and frowned at TO, watching them carefully as though looking for something.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He said, “How far until the next bubble?”

“No idea.” TO admitted, “But there were several areas like this, so it shouldn’t be too far.”

Tham gave a low chuckle. “Well, either we’ll die, or we won’t.” He muttered, “Would you be able to swim it on your own?”

TO shook their head, “Not at all.” They admitted.

“You can swim, though, right?”

“Of course, just not as fast as someone without wings could.” 

“Fair enough.” Tham said, “Alright. Hold on, and just tap on me when we get to the next one. I didn’t even see that first bubble.”

TO nodded, took a breath, and grabbed Tham’s shoulder as he dove under the water once more. 

======

TO never minded swimming until now. Well, correction; they never minded swimming in simulations. Unlike flying, they never got to swim in reality during training. The simulations were supposed to be realistic, but they didn’t capture every aspect of the awful experience, and missed the sensation of water up TO’s nose and in their ears, the awful taste, and the drag of their soaking wet clothes. It was harder and harder to keep their wings against their back as well, and they ended up with several bruises because of it.

Maybe if they had gone swimming in the simulations without their armor, it would be the same. The only time they had been in water without armor before was when they bathed or showered. TO decided that they were not a fan or swimming, and didn’t understand why civilians did this for fun.

When they rose from the water and saw not a simple bubble but the rest of the tunnel before them, dark and cramped, but dry, TO simply threw themself to the ground, taking big, gasping breaths of air.

“I hate swimming.” TO gasped, “Never again.”

“It’s not so bad, normally.” Tham said, likewise laying on the ground and sputtering between words, “Normally I have a better idea of when I can take my next breath though.” He moved ahead of TO, “Come on.” He said, “I want to get out of this cramped space-”

Finally out of water, TO used their echolocation to check the area ahead. Thankfully, the tunnel expanded out just a little way ahead. They told Tham, and the two of them made their way out of the narrow tunnel and to the small cavern where they could at least lean against the wall.

The first thing TO did once they were there was check their chip. They had several messages from GiDi which they hadn’t noticed under water, each one getting more and more frantic as time went on.

- We’re fine. Had some trouble. We’ll meet up soon.- TO messaged back. 

“Good thing that Vik made these things waterproof.” Tham muttered as he looked at his own communicator. “The water would have fucked this otherwise.” He apparently had messages of his own, and after reading one, he gave a relieved sigh.

“It worked.” He said, “The authorities got over the gap, but by the time they did, we had everyone else evacuated from the tunnels; Petra included. Lendulin is still missing, but apparently they’re certain that she’s just hiding. They’ll find her later.”

“Good.” TO said, though they felt odd, like they were hearing Tham from very far away. They were safe. They had completed their task, and they could go back to DH now… But they didn’t feel relieved. Their insides shook, and their mind refused to hold on to anything for more than a second. They couldn’t even focus on what they were seeing before them.

What was wrong with them?

There was a hiss of pain from next to them. TO turned, their focus suddenly and inexplicably sharpening again, only for what they saw to dig into their mind like claws.

Tham had pulled off the shirt that TO gave him, exposing the bleeding wound underneath his arm.

Blood. Bones. The smell of disinfectant. The feel of plastic gloves. Their mind tried to find something else to latch onto, their heart racing like they were in combat, but there was nothing there.

“This is going to suck.” Tham said, examining his wound.

Blood. Bones. Bones cracking.

TO could see how the one police officer twisted when they fell. That officer never came back out of the water. In fact, when TO was dealing with the special agent, none of the officers-

“It’s probably infected. I’ll have to get Goretta to look at it-”

-came up to help. None of them moved. Looking back, TO realized that they only saw the officers floating limply in the water, ignored while they dealt with the special agent-

“That’ll mean a big ass needle though.” He hissed. “Maybe I can convince her to just clean it well? We were pretty far in. The water couldn’t -”

-No, they didn’t deal with the special agent. They way they twisted when TO blasted them, they way their armor cracked in places, the way they just fell limp on the platform after TO threw them-

“-Be that dirty, right?” A low hiss escaped from Tham’s teeth. “Though she’s going to want to give me antibiotics just to be safe. She might make you get a shot too… Oi, what’s wrong with you?”

- their limbs twisting unnaturally. Their strange, broken movements, which had been so easily ignored in the moment, came back to TO so vividly. How many police officers had fallen? They couldn't all be dead. Well, even if they weren’t when they fell, they were now that the water filled that cavern. They were unconscious, at least.

“Hey, got water in your ears? What’s up with you?”

Blood, bones cracking. Limbs flailing about, bending in unnatural ways. The smell of disinfectant. Plastic gloves.

“Oi, TO?!”

Six? Seven by their own hands? By the blasts that hit the cavern ceiling.

They killed. They killed civilians. Not even insurgents, innocent civilians. No, not just civilians; law enforcement.

They killed-

Blood, bone, disinfectant.

-murdered-

Elbows bending backwards.

A hand on their arm, shaking them. Words spoken, but unheard. They looked, saw the hand, covered in blood. On the other arm, blood trailed down the flesh, leading up to a vivid, gory, bloody wound; mangled flesh, oozing blood.

The world grayed out, then went black.