Goretta and Snout had a shared laboratory; a series of rooms renovated with limited materials, and supplied by ‘missing’ crates of product originally meant for the labs located deeper in the city.

It was a dramatic step down from the medical bay DH had once worked in, and certainly a step down from the giant lab that Snout had worked in back in the training center. 

“I’m surprised you could get all this equipment.” DH muttered as they entered. “I’m more amazed that you have the tech here to do something as complex as brain repairs.”

“Vik helped with that.” Goretta said. She pulled a large plastic tarp off a gurney and rolled it out to the center of the room. “Here.” She said, “Put Kei here.” 

Avery had carried Kei on their back from the little room to the laboratory. Though they seemed mostly asleep and couldn’t quite move, they opened their eyes from time to time, and they muttered occasionally.

“Will it be safe to do the procedure on them while they’re like this?” Avery asked as DH helped them get Kei onto the gurney. “They still seem kind of awake.”

“They are ‘kind of’ awake, but likely won’t remember any of this, and we’ll properly anesthetize them before we start.” She looked at DH. “Do you mind checking their vitals, though?” She asked.

DH nodded and started doing their checks. Kei grumbled something, their ears twitching back for half a second as DH touched them. “I’m surprised you have meds to work on us.” They said, “at least, ones that are safe.”

“Snout could make some.” She explained, “Or extracted it or something. I keep meaning to get them to explain what they did to me, but I’ve just not had the time.”

Where was Snout? TO frowned, remembering that they chased after Flit earlier. Were they still with them, or had they fought more when they were alone? TO never really saw them interact that much as a couple, and it was odd to think that they might disagree or fight over anything. As far as TO knew, the only troubles in their relationship were because of the Commander and because synths weren't supposed to have relationships like that. They never considered that Flit and Snout would be anything other than perfect together.

“Their vitals are good.” DH said, their voice taking on that clear, clinical tone it did when they were doing this kind of thing. “Heart rate is low, but not dangerously low-”

“And not surprising given that I’ve given them a heavy tranquilizer.” Goretta finished. “Hopefully Snout shows up before it wears off. I messaged them earlier- ah.” 

As she spoke, the door to the lab opened and Snout walked. TO had never realized how tired they looked before back when they were in the training center, and they hadn’t realized how much lighter they seemed here. As they entered the room, it was as though they brought the weight of a black hole in with them, weighing on them and sucking away some of their light.

TO hadn’t even noticed it. They hadn’t paid attention to how much happier Snout was here.

“Sorry.” They muttered as they put a small box on the table, “I have the anesthesia-”

“Excellent!” Goretta said, her eyes lighting up. “We’ll get to do this. We’ll actually get to do this!”

“Yes.” Snout said in a deep, breathy exhale. They looked at TO, “I hope you’re not helping.”

“I’m not.” TO said quickly, backing away as though Snout might insist even though they knew they wouldn’t. “I’m just going to wait for DH.”

“And I’ll keep them company.” Avery said, “I’m guessing it’s going to take a long time?”

“Oh, the actual repair of the brain is going to take days.” Goretta said. “The procedure is going to take a few hours, but we’re not fixing the brain ourselves.”

“It’d be too risky, and I dread to think how long it could take.”

“Oh.” DH’s ears fell a little, “I.. I was very curious about how you could fix a brain.”

“Minor brain repairs are already being done, but the issue with this is that we weren’t just looking at simple brain injuries being repaired; nor are we looking at degenerative mental diseases. We’re looking at a fully functioning brain with multiple tiny alterations done through the entire brain during development.” She leaned against the wall silent for a moment as she considered how to best describe it.

“The brain alterations we have today for basic repairs are like repairing a bridge in a city. You’re attaching the two road ends over a gap. With synth brains, it's like we have a city with areas of the roads removed, with no debris or buildings to suggest what might be there.”

“So.. that’s why having GiDi’s information helped.” TO said, their ears twitching as they frowned in concentration, “So.. you could compare more minds and make some kind of guide.”

“Exactly!” Goretta said, beaming. “We used comparative brain scans to map out the brain as best we could. Now we have to test it.”


“But you don’t fix it yourself, you just said that.” DH said, “So what do you do?”

“Basic brain repair is done with specialized nanobots.” She said, “We do a craniotomy, access the brain directly, and insert the nanobots. They do the work over time, and when the brain is complete, they shut down and dissolve to get filtered out through the blood.” She grinned at Snout, “Snout here came up with the solution to getting the bots through the blood-brain barrier. Doesn’t work to get them it, but it gets them out alright.”

“Well, I’ve always been interested in neurology-”

“Wait.” Avery said, their ears flicking back, “You haven’t tested this on anyone yet?”

“We couldn’t.” Goretta said, “We haven’t had a typical synth mind to work from. Now we do.”

“Ok, but you don't know it’ll work, right?” Avery’s wings tightened around them. “It might hurt them-”

“It might.” Snout said, “We’re confident that it’ll work, though. The bots are in use frequently, I’m confidant in the mapping, and we’ve run so many computer tests-”

“A computer’s not a synth!” Avery said. “That’s not Kei. You don’t know if it will work on a living synth-”

“We’re confident enough to risk it.” Goretta said, “And as you know, we don’t have many options here. This could help a lot of synths, and it might help your friend.”

Avery looked at her, their eyes wide and staring. With their ears down, twitching in panic, they looked at DH, at Snout, then at TO with big, pleading eyes. ‘Say something. Please say something.’ the eyes screamed, but TO couldn’t think of anything to say. No matter what happened, Kei couldn’t possibly be any worse than they were already. Anything had to be an improvement.

“... Alright.” Avery said, their ears dropping as they broke eye contact with TO, “I get it.”

Snout turned to Goretta, giving her a meaningful look. It only took her a second to notice it, but when she did, she turned to DH.

“Come on.” She said, “Let’s make sure your scrubs fit.” She said as she guided DH towards another door at the back of the lab.

“A-alright.” They said, turning to Avery. They gave a smile that faked all the confidence that their ears failed to show. “I’ll take good care of them, Avery; I promise!” Avery just gave a quick, jerky nod in response before DH disappeared behind the door.

“Avery, I get your concerns.” Snout said as they turned to Avery, a hand on their shoulder, “I really do. But this is the only way to make them better.” Snout said, though they softened their tone from before when they were just explaining how things would work. “You want that, right?”

“... Yes.” Avery said.

“Then you have to trust us, and let us do this.”

“... Alright.” Avery said. They stood there for a moment with their wings wrapped tightly around their shoulders, then turned and headed to the door. “... I’ll be back, TO.” They said, “I’m going to get some food.”

“I’ll go with-” TO started, suddenly worried for their troubled friend, but Snout put a hand on their shoulders to stop them, and shook their head when TO shot them a questioning, confused look.

“... You should talk to Flit.” They said once Avery was gone. “Alone.”

“Why should-”

“Because they’re upset. Because they already feel terrible enough about everything that happened. And because of everything, they haven’t stopped trying to help who they could. This was the best they could do for GiDi, for DH, and for you.” Snout lowered their voice. “Flit does actually care about you, you know.” They whispered, “You’re a lot like they were back when they were in training, and they just want things to be better for you.”

“What am I even supposed to say to them!” TO snapped. “It’s fine that they feel bad now, but they still-”

“Gave you, DH, GiDi, and your friend Avery the ability to do more than just exist.” They said, “They gave you the chance to love. They wanted more for their offspring than a life without Love or friendship.”

All the suffering TO had endured, all the pain and anxiety, all the corrected or repurposed synths just so they could have friends and love?

So they could have DH, who in their mind was worth every single awful thing to have happened to them.

Even so, thinking about the whole situation sent rage and fire through their blood.

“I don’t think I’ll make things better.” They hissed.

“Just talk to them.” Snout said, “Please.” They took out their communicator and sent something to TO. “I’m sending you the directions to our room. Please. Just talk to them.”

“... Fine.” TO snapped after a long pause, “Fine. I’ll go to them, and I’ll talk to them. I don’t think it’ll make anything better.”

“Thank you.” They whispered before heading to the door themself. It felt so odd for doors of an important laboratory to have basic, old-fashioned doors instead of sleek sliding doors that TO was used to. They decided at that moment that they didn’t like the old-fashioned doors. The noise it made when Snout closed the door seemed so final to TO, and the silence left in the wake of that sound, the contact, the click of the mechanism and the turn of the lock, made everything else seem so much quieter, and made TO feel so alone.

They hadn’t been alone since they came here, they realized, and the sensation stung more than they thought. In the silence, they could hear their thoughts better, the anchor talking about how brutal the attack was. Seven dead. They could still see the bodies in their mind, the unnatural way that they twisted, but the memory didn’t seem to hit them the same way as it normally did. It was as though there was a layer between them and the memory.

The drugs that DH gave them really worked. Still, they had to deal with those thoughts, to think when they wanted to do anything else. Thankfully, Flit had given them something to do, and something which might consume their attention. They checked their communicator, read the directions, and headed out of the lab and down the hall to find Flit.