The alert from TO’s chip nagged at their consciousness, dragging them from their deep sleep. They turned over and curled into DH, snuggled into the warm body heat provided by their mate’s chest and their wings wrapped around them as TO relished the sound of DH’s soft, sleepy chirps. 

 

I don’t want to get up. They thought as their ears flicked in irritation. Getting up meant leaving the nice warm pod, going for the first meal, then training… they just didn’t want to do it today; somehow they felt so tired that they didn’t know if they could just get through the day.

 

Still, the alert was relentless, and echoed off the sides of the pod- 

 

Wait. No. This was different; the sound echoing back to them from the walls was bouncing back from a greater distance, becoming more distorted as it came back to them. It was only then that TO woke and realized that they were not in their pod back on the training ship. They were in their room; After hours talking to their new friends, they had come back to their room and collapsed onto their bed. They had spent the night answering questions about their training and how they got through it. At least the conversation had been lighter than earlier as they spoke of the many happy hours they spent flying or relaxing hidden on the observation deck. 

 

They sighed, checked their chip, and saw that it was only a few hours past midnight. Their dozy mind struggled to figure out how long they had actually been asleep; the answer was not nearly long enough. Why was their alarm going off?

 

Wait, it wasn’t their alarm; it was a call coming through their chip. 

 

Avery. 

 

Wasting no more time, they answered the call. “Avery, what’s -“ They started to ask what was wrong, but the sound that came from the other end of the line made TO’s blood freeze in their veins and woke DH from their deep, peaceful sleep with a startled cry of their own. It was a primal, wordless cry that instantly made TO understand that whatever was making that sound was in agonizing pain. Over that awful, paralyzing sound, they could just make out Avery’s voice. 

 

“Something’s wrong! I need help!” 

 

=====

 

A message to Vik, who was surprisingly - or perhaps unsurprisingly- still awake, provided them with the directions to the medical room. TO and DH ran the entire way there with TO leading the way as they checked their directions while DH followed, lugging their medkit behind them. Soon, the screaming was enough to guide them. They got to the room, threw the door open, and went inside. 

 

The room was sparse; a bed, a few chairs, and a handful of machines in the corner, all beeping erratically. Kei lay on the bed with a blanket hanging half off their naked, sweating body as they gripped at their head with tense, clenching hands. Wires from the machine were connected to Kei’s chest and back of their head. If there had been any wires on the front, Kei had already ripped them off. Kei’s claws must have come out, because long lines of-

 

-Blood. Bones. The smell of disinfectant-

 

-deep blue blood stained their scalp. Their ears contorted back, their eyes closed tight, as though trying to block out the pain as they screamed in wordless agony. 

 

“They just woke up and started screaming!” Avery cried over the feral howls that escaped from Kei. “I don’t know what to do-“ 

 

“Did you call for Goretta?” DH asked, matching the volume to be heard over Kei. 

 

“Yes, she was here, and she gave them something but it didn’t work!” Avery’s ears flicked down to protect their sensitive eardrums, but even so it seemed like the sensitive organs had suffered too much, and Avery suddenly put their hands to their ears. “She went to get something else, and she said she’d be back-“

 

DH set their bag on the bed. “How long ago?” They asked. 

 

“Just a few minutes ago. I called her first, but Kei won’t stop screaming and I don’t know what to do!” 

 

A howl from Kei faded dissolved into loud, violent sobs for mere moments before they started screaming again, fresh lines of blood appearing at their fingertips. TO felt their vision swim as they turned away, rubbing at their chest to try to life the awful weight and the nagging sickness that seemed to be growing in them. 

 

“TO, wait outside.” DH said, their tone turning into that sharp tone they took on when they did medical stuff. 

 

“No... no I’m good.” TO muttered as they made their way to a stray chair in the corner, watching DH while doing their best to avoid looking at Kei. 

 

“Alright, let’s get their hands away from their head.’ DH said, “See if you can find bandages in my bag - long cloth ones. They’re not helping themself by ripping at their head like this-” They took Kei’s arm and paused. TO followed DH’s gaze, and saw what they were looking at; There were cuffs around Kei’s wrists - leather, and seemingly very secure, with leather straps that disappeared under the bed.

 

“What are these?” DH hissed. 

 

“Goretta said they were to keep Kei safe.” Avery said as they passed DH the bandages they had asked for, “I don’t know anything about this, and I guess if they just got up and tried to wander off or something…” 

 

DH huffed as they wrestled Kei’s hand away from their head, ignoring the other synths’ curses and screams as they wrapped the bandages first over one hand, then the other. 

 

It was surreal to see Kei like this, to hear them scream and curse. The angriest, the most emotional TO had ever seen Kei before was back when they caught DH and TO in the emergency ship and even then they were limited to cold disgust. Of course, this wasn’t just anger or disgust, this was pain and agony that fueled their reactions. As soon as DH finished wrapping Kei’s hand, they let Kei continue to grip at their head, but at least now the claws could only tear at the fabric. 

 

“Can’t you give them something?” Avery asked, “Some medicine or painkillers-“ 

 

“I can’t.” DH said, their ears sinking down, “I don’t know what Goretta gave them already.” 

 

As they said that, Goretta entered the room once more. She had a case in her hand and stilled only for a moment when they saw TO and DH there. She quickly slipped back into her normal, fast pace as she approached the bed. 

 

“Good call on the bandages.” She said as she set her case down. She opened it up and took out a full syringe. “It wasn’t my priority, but it’s a good call.”

 

“Well, I wished to keep them from scalping themself.” DH hissed, their ears pinning back, “Why are they bound?” 

 

Goretta was very careful not to look at DH as she pulled the blanket back to expose Kei’s leg. Without a word of explanation, she pushed the needle into the skin and administered the dose. Kei didn’t even seem to notice the injection, but moments later their arms relaxed, and ultimately fell limp at their side. It was only now that TO noticed how tense their entire body had been, as they now seemed to melt into the mattress as the drug took effect. 

 

“There.” Goretta said with a sigh. She took out her communicator and started to input some notes. “Regular painkillers weren’t working, so I put them into a medically induced coma. This must be some neurological pain their brain is creating while their brain is stitching back together.” She glanced at Kei, watching them as though to make sure they were still asleep. “I’ll let them wake up and then check again.” 

 

“Very good.” DH said, “Now, why are they bound up like that!?” 

 

Goretta let her eyes flick to the straps on Kei’s wrists before she turned to look at the machines that Kei was hooked up to, all of them beeping more slowly now in a pitched rhythm. 

 

“It’s keeping them from hurting anyone, of course.” She said as she took more notes. “Their brain is being pieced back together. The nanobots are creating new neural paths that the rest of their brain is entirely and wholly unfamiliar with. They’re going to be a little confused when they wake up and it’s not out of the question that they may grow violent.” 

 

That made sense to TO, and judging by how DH’s ears relaxed, it made sense to them as well. 

 

“But when they’re healed, they’ll be released, right?” Avery asked. “They won’t have to be isolated again?”

 

“Well, my primary concern is to see that the procedure went well.” Goretta said, “Outside of that, I suppose the question of what happens after goes to GiDi and the others.” 

 

Avery nodded. “GiDi won’t let them get isolated again.” They said. 

 

“And what about the pain?” DH asked, “Are they going to be in pain like that again?” 

 

“Likely.” Goretta said. “Though hopefully it slacks off sooner than later when their brain figures out what paths do what.” She finished taking whatever notes she wanted and put her communicator away. At the same time, she pulled the blankets up with her tentacles and tucked Kei in up to their neck. “I’ll check every six hours, track their pain, and check their vitals. I didn’t expect things to be this bad, to be honest, and I hoped that perhaps basic painkillers would help. Clearly they didn’t.” 

 

“And if it was a possibility that the basic painkillers wouldn’t work, then why didn’t you have whatever you just gave them with you when you came in the first time!?” DH snapped. TO felt their ears pin as they got up from their chair. Of course, they caught a glimpse of the blood on Kei’s head and immediately sat down again. 

 

“I’m going to pin that on being dead asleep when the alarms went off.” She said, “Followed by the frantic call from Avery-“ 

 

“You had alarms?” Avery asked. 

 

“Of course I did!” Goretta responded, her tentacles twisting, “I’m a responsible doctor here! I have alarms that wake me up the second the readings here-“ A tentacle jabbed at the machines “-surpasses certain levels. What, did you think I just left them here with no way of monitoring them?” 

 

DH’s ears dipped slightly. “Well… when Avery called us-“ 

 

“I’m sorry.” Avery said, and when TO looked at them, they could see their friends’ ears dipped back as well, “I was worried. Kei was screaming so much..” 

 

“It’s fine. I’m just saying I was a little flustered when I left my room, and I forgot I kept the more potent drugs in my bag.” She went back to her bag and started pulling out antiseptic cleaners and smaller bandages. “Anyway, they’re asleep. I estimate that the drugs will wear off in about six hours. You’re all welcome to come back if you want.” She turned to Avery. “And you should really go get some sleep; you have a good six hours before they wake.” 

 

“Come with us, Avery.” TO said. “Stay with us for now, and we’ll wake you in time to come back in six hours.” 

 

With the panic and screaming over, the signs of exhaustion were starting to show on Avery; their ears moved more slowly than they should have, their half-closed eyes seemed oddly unfocused, and as they were about to respond they suddenly gave a big yawn. 

 

“Go get some sleep.” She said, “I’ll clean up the wounds, and then go back to bed. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow, so you’re all best getting more sleep, and I won’t be able to fit another bed in here even if I wanted to.” 

 

With a murmur, Avery nodded. TO got up, took Avery’s arm on their own, and let them out of the room. 

 

TO just wanted to get out of the room, and away from the smells of disinfectant and blood.