It had never been harder for TO to simply walk, to restrain themself from bolting down the hallway. With their blackened wings draped tight around their body and their eyes at the ground, they hurried towards Pearla first; she was in the one in most danger; It was her communicator after all. If Gyrini tracked down the guard who confiscated the communicator, she’d get a description at least. Maybe she’d even get information on the chip, but that had already been disabled so it wasn’t as much of a concern as it might have been.
Still; a description of Pearla was enough.
Their eyes hurt as they kept straining to look up while keeping their face down. They didn’t want to risk being recognized, but they had to keep an eye out for Pearla; the constant muscle strain joined with the lights and the noise only worked to increase the throbbing in behind their eyes, but they had to keep going. They had to ignore the pain as best they could.
When they got back, DH would hold them, rub their head, and give them something for the pain. When they were home, in DH’s arms, they’d be ok.
As TO turned the corner they heard someone call out to them from the other end of the hallway. They glanced up and saw Pearla heading towards them.
“What are you doing over here?” She asked as she approached, “Do you-”
“I have information.” They hissed, “Go to the laundry room now if you can. Don’t follow me. It’s important. Keep your head down and hurry.” All this flooded out of their mouth as they passed her, and they continued walking down the hallway. They wanted to make it seem like they were simply passing her by chance, should anyone check the cameras.
If they were being watched; Particularly if Pearla was being watched, then TO had to keep their distance for now.
They silently willed her to continue down the other hallway, hoping she wouldn’t follow TO right away. It was hard to hear her moving as her scales against the floor were far more silent than one’s footsteps would normally be, but when they turned the next corner, they felt confident that she wasn’t following them.
Good. One message delivered. Now to do the same for Mira.
======
TO had to pass by the shops to get to the laundry. With work canceled for the day many people went to the shops to use their merger savings, which created an unexpected surge of people heading to the shops, and loitering about. It was a fortunate coincidence since the three of them heading up here wouldn’t have been suspicious should anyone check the cameras. Them going into the laundry room might be considered odd, but they had little choice, and it was a chance that they had to take.
Mira and Pearla were already there by the time TO entered; that didn’t surprise them. Once they passed Mira and gave her the warning, TO had made their way to a washroom on the other side of the indebted center and had lingered there for a few minutes before leaving. The two of them sat close together by the wall, whispering over Mira’s communicator. Mira’s antennae were down low atop her head, and the color had drained from Pearla’s face leaving her with a dull, nearly gray complexion.
“You read the message I sent then.” TO said as they let the door slide shut behind them.
Mira took a deep breath and ran her little hand over her antenna, “Yup.” she said, her voice strained. “Just… just one more thing to deal with.”
“One more thing?” Pearla said, her eyes wide. “It’s not one more thing. It’s the last thing! Gyrini is here! She’s here, she has my communicator, I’m chipped, and she’s going to know what I look like soon!” she gave a strangled whimper, and TO could notice that the very end of her tail was practically vibrating. “She’s going to get me. She’s going to get me, then us, and then-”
“Not necessarily.” Mira said, “That guard let you off, remember? He took the communicator, but said he wouldn’t write you up for it.”
“So?” Pearla asked, “I’m sure he remembered what I look like! There’s not many chubby purple Nagarajin in here!”
“He was supposed to report you.” Mira said, “If he didn’t, and if Gyrini is here now with that communicator, he’s going to do whatever he can to cover his tracks and not be on the receiving end of her anger when she finds out he fucked up and didn’t do his job right.” She put a hand on Pearla’s shoulder, “Honestly, If I was him? I’d deny I ever saw that communicator.” She grinned, “He might even try to mess with the security cameras… if Vik hasn’t done that for us already.”
“Wait.” TO said, their ears flicking down, “Vik can do that?”
“He can try.” Mira said as she held up her communicator, “He needs an access point into the center, and it just so happens that our communicators work as just that.” She shrugged, “It’s the same way he hacked into the system in Thalassa to bring down the dome.”
“I imagine security is going to be tighter here.” TO said, “Are you certain he can do it?”
“Let’s hope so.” Mira said, “Between him and DH, I imagine they could.”
Right, DH was with him. Well, if Vik couldn’t do it, then TO was certain that DH could. They suddenly brightened up as something occurred to them.
“They have synth levels of access!” They said, “Our chips! Mine, GiDi’s… They even have chips belonging to retirees!”
“They’ve been using those things for everything under the sun since Snout showed up here.” Mira muttered, “Seriously, I think he’s in love with synth levels of authorization.”
“But more than that.” TO said, “They have access to our ship! If I was on my ship, I could pull all the security records from any part of Arkane! I’m sure with all that access they can mess with some video files.”
“What if the guard comes clean though!?” Pearla asked as she clutched at the thin fabric of her uniform, “Gyrini tortures people! You think a guard can handle torture? Just to hide a single mistake?”
“No.” Mira said, “But if he says it wasn’t him, and they have no video evidence, then why would she suspect him?”
TO considered what they would do in such a situation, and their ears dropped with a sudden realization. “If she looks for the video evidence, and it’s just gone, then she’s going to be suspicious.” TO said. They sunk to the floor, crossing their legs as they sat, “If I were in her shoes, then yes, I’d ask to question the guard who brought the communicator in. If he denies it, or makes up some story why he didn’t report it, then I would check the cameras. And if all the video feed was gone…” They shrugged, “That tells me that someone in here is looking to hide something and until I get some answers, I don’t know that I’d end the lockdown on the center.”
“Lockdown?” Mira asked, “You mean, on the planet-”
“No, the center.” TO said. They told Mira and Pearla about what they had been told earlier, about everyone being sent away and about work being canceled for the time being. When they were done, Mira gave a long, shuddering sigh as she leaned forward, her head in her hands.
“Alright.” She said, “So. Gyrini, the minister of security for this quadrant of the galaxy, is in here right now because she may or may not have gotten information from that communicator.”
“Correct.” TO said.
“And that guard may, or may not, lie about how he came across that communicator, thus making Pearla a person of interest.”
“A person they’d want to lock up and torture, yes.” Pearla said, her voice shaking.
“As well, there’s still a chance, however slim, that TO might be recognized.”
“I’ve done what I can with my wings-”
“And to top everything off, this entire building is on lockdown which probably won’t be lifted until Gyrini either gets someone, or until she’s satisfied that there’s no threat.”
“Exactly.” TO said. “At least, that’s what I’d do.”
Mira shook her head, “And we still don’t know where Mark is-”
“Oh, I know where Mark is.” TO said, “Or, I know where he might be.”
Mira froze, suddenly becoming very still and very silent for several minutes before she slowly lifted her head from her hands, and glared at TO.
“... And you didn’t think to mention that first?” She said in a cold, quiet whisper. TO just shrugged.
“To be entirely fair, I think that all the other stuff was more important.” They said.
“Ok.” Mira said. “New plans. Find Mark first, and tell him the plan. Get his chip information to Vik, along with the other people on our list.” She took out the paper that Outis, Leanaran’s delivery person, had sent to them. “We give Vik these names first, then Mark’s information, then as many of the others as we can get.” She looked at Pearla. “You can stay here and look over the information; choose the ones that are most vital.”
“I’ll check for overlap.” She said as she took the paper from Mira, “Hopefully there’s a few people that we both want out of here.”
“Good.” She said, “TO and I are going to find Mark.” She looked over TO, her eyes running from the tips of their ears to the shoes that their long toes were folded into. “Are you really worried about her recognizing you?” She asked.
“I am.” TO said, “She’s clever. I think if she saw my face, she’d at least try to question me.”
“Alright.” Mira said as she eyed their wings, “I think I have a solution.”
======
The black stuff on TO’s wings were not waterproof. Or, at least they weren't spit proof. All it took was some of Mira’s saliva to get a good amount off from the crevice of TO’s wing; right where the membrane connected to their back. Once she had a good bit of black off, it only took her a few minutes to rub it into various parts of TO’s face; Around their eyes, their chin, around their ears, snout, and under their well-hidden cheekbones.
“Ok..” She said as she held up the darkened screen of her communicator, “What do you think?”
The difference was startling. They seemed so much more angular; TO’s eyes were still large, but now they seemed deeper set, and angled at the edges. Their once rounded features were now sharp and narrow, with a sharp jawline and sunken cheeks. Their snout seemed far more pronounced, as though they had some kind of nose instead of the softer snout that merged with their cheeks. At their temples, the black paint created indents and further narrowed their face.
“Now that’s more like what I used to think a synth looked like.” Mira said, beaming. She turned to Pearla, “What do you think? Does this look more like a ruthless, heartless synth?”
“... You look like your head’s bulging out.” Pearla said, staring at TO. “I mean, your face looks so narrow, so your head-”
“That works.” Mira said, “They don’t look like a Chilacian though, do they?”
“They don’t.” Pearla agreed.
TO could only stare at the image reflected to them. Makeup had made DH shine; had made them seem almost ethereal, and more beautiful than they already were. This…
“I look monstrous.” TO said. A part of them hated it, but the important thing was that they didn’t look like themself. With their wings, the work Mira did on their face, and the uniform they were wearing, they doubted that Gyrini would recognize them at a glance. Maybe if she sat down and really stared at them she would, but with just at a glance?
They didn't even recognize themself at a glance. They raised their fingers up to touch their snout, to test the newly created ridge.
“Don’t touch.” Mira said, pushing TO’s hand away from their face. “Nobody’s going to notice a smudge on your wings, but if you smudge up your face, they will.”
“Right.” TO said. They satisfied themself with looking at their reflection once more before nodding and standing up. They fished their communicator out of their pocket and gave it to Pearla.
“Here.” They said, “in case of emergency. We’ll head to a washroom as soon as you message us-”
“And you might want to hide in the laundry.” Mira said. She gave an apologetic shrug, “Sorry, but if someone comes in-”
“No, you’re right.” She said, “I’ll hide away in the back… And hope I don’t die of the smell of it.” She sighed. “I think I’m getting used to it, which might be worse.”
“Tell me about it.” Mira muttered, “When this is done–all done, I mean; once we’re off Arkane–I’m going to find the biggest tub I can, and I'm going to soak for an hour in essential oils. Away from the sewers, from the Outer Ring... just somewhere relatively clean.” She looked at TO, “I don’t suppose you have a bath on that ship of yours?”
“I wish.” TO sighed, “But there is a shower.” A shower that ran hot, and which TO was going to stand under for an hour once they were on that ship and heading off the planet.
“Better than nothing.” She muttered. “Come on, let’s go.”
