Unlike most places in the indebted center, the infirmary was easy enough to find. Of course, TO had already been told about where it was; down in the third sub-basement, so it was only a matter of making their way to the staircase and heading down. A few people passed on their way, and TO expected them to stare at the cosmetic alterations made to their face. They vividly remembered how everyone had stared at the beautiful, blue-silver scars on DH’s face, and not just when they were fresh angry wounds either! Once healed, the stark difference between DH’s face and the face of any other synth had drawn eyes most everywhere.

Here, it was entirely different. Nobody seemed to even notice. TO mentioned it to Mira, but Mira just shrugged.

“Well, yeah?” She said, her voice low and quiet, “You’re not anyone of importance here, right? I very much doubt anyone paid much attention to what you looked like before.”

She was right, of course. TO wasn’t anyone important now, and most of the people they were passing had never seen TO before. Still, they could feel the paint on their face, and they knew how different they looked because of it. It felt like someone should have been able to see through it. 

They got to the third sub-basement, and as soon as they left the stairwell there were signs on the wall, with arrows pointing in two different directions. One read infirmary, and the other read morgue. 

“Do they really need a morgue here?” TO asked as they hurried down the hallway towards the infirmary.

“Well, yeah.” Mira said, “All the people in here, you think they don’t have a few bodies a day at least? They basically work people to death here.”

Without the paperwork on hand, TO wasn’t certain what the death rate was in the indebted center. Maybe they’d look into that later.

They got to the infirmary; the doors sliding open before them as they approached. TO was grateful for that as they had been so worried that it wouldn’t open for them without a proper chip. The laundry room door and the washroom doors wouldn’t have needed security, and most everywhere else they went, they moved with a larger group so the doors were always open. Thankfully, those in charge didn’t seem to think that the infirmary needed any special security. 

Once inside, the reason for that was clear. The doctor was a shorter creature, perhaps four feet high, with wings connected to their hands and the outside of their legs; much like Petra, except this one had ears that rivaled the size of TO’s own ears, and soft red fur all over. Standing by the door was a larger, reptile person wearing a guard’s uniform and a sneer on their face and a civilian gun at his hip. With the large, armed, grumpy looking guard there, nobody would be very interested in causing any problems.

TO wondered idly if they could deal with this guard should things take an unfortunate turn at any point. He was only a civilian guard, and civilian training didn’t come close to a synth’s training… However, TO just wasn’t sure. The infirmary was still a large, echoey room, and all the patients there didn’t have their own private rooms like they had in the medical bay in training; here there were beds, surrounded with thin white sheets. Every moan and groan and mutter echoed back to TO, adding to their discomfort and distortion. 

They could only just manage to get around the center, and even then they had to contend with a near constant headache and the throbbing pain behind their eyes. How much would that affect them in a fight? Not to mention the fact that unlike TO, the guard was armed. What would the odds be?

They didn’t know, and they weren’t interested in finding out. 

The doctor glanced up, looked at Mira and TO, then glanced back down at their computer. “New?” They asked, irritation lacing their words. “Dr. Nycht. He, Him. If you're looking for something for aching muscles, my best advice is to just deal with it. Give it a week, and you’ll stop hurting.”

“We’re here to visit someone, actually.” Mira said, stepping forward only slightly. “Uh, Mark? Here’s in here right?”

Dr. Nycht stopped what they were doing, and glanced up, fixing their eyes on Mira, “Shouldn’t you be on an assignment?” They asked.

“Lockdown.” TO said, “We were told we can’t work today.”

“Exactly.” Mira said, “So we thought we’d visit Mark.” 

The doctor frowned, before checking his communicator. “Huh.” He said, “Lockdown. Odd.” He tossed it back on the table, “Alright. Go ahead.” He pointed to the back of the room, “Fifth bed on the left.” 

“Hey, doc.” The guard said, their icy voice like a large rock being thrown into a pond, “You got the good meds locked up?”

“Always.”

“Good.” The guard gave TO and Mira a hard look, smirking as they did, “Just in case.” 

Mira took TO by the arm and pulled them forward towards the bed that Doctor Nycht pointed out. “Don’t worry, we don’t wanna steal your drugs.”

Well, she didn’t, but now that she had mentioned such a thing TO was thinking about it. They had limited medical supplies underground, so even if they could grab a handful of painkillers and some fresh bandages for Goretta, that would be good, right?

Before they could consider that further, Mira pushed aside curtains that led to Mark’s bed and slipped in, pulling TO behind her, and getting them both out of sight of the doctor and the guard.

There wasn’t a lot of space behind the curtain; there was enough room for a person to stand next to the bed, but not much else. Mark had no table nearby to hold medication, no screens to watch shows on, and no chairs for anyone else to sit oon. Even the bed was too small for Mark; his long, green tail hung off the foot of the bed, his injured fin waving about idly. On the bed itself was a bit of plastic, about the size and shape as the other half of Mark’s fin but instead of holding a faint blue iridescence over green scales, it was just made of unpainted plastic scrap. He had pushed the blanket to the side, and Mark lay in his crumpled and dingy uniform with his injured arm set on his chest. He glanced away from the seemingly very interesting spot on the ceiling when Mira and TO came in, and gave them a quick, unfeeling smile.

Unfeeling or no, TO could still get a glimpse of the rows of teeth that he shared with his daughter.

“Hi?” He said, his voice unsure as he propped himself up on his elbows. “Do I know-”

“Mark!” Mira said, increasing the volume of her voice, “I’ve missed you!” Mark seemed entirely confused at her words, but then the movements of her hands caught his attention. She was signing in universal common as she pretended to give him a warm welcome. Though her signing was anything other than warm and friendly. At least it was basic, devoid of accent or strange flourish, so TO could understand. “We’re here to help. Your daughter is safe.” 

“She-I…” They stiffened for a moment before looking around their little curtained off area. Though there were cameras outside, from the inside it would be impossible to see them signing. “I’m glad you came to visit!” He said, taking on the same over-excited tone that Mira had feigned before signing again. Their signing also had no accent or flourish, and they signed even slower than Mira did. “Who are you? How do you know she’s ok?”

“Well, we figured you’d be bored.” She said while at the same time signing, “Your daughter is with us. I’m here to help. We’re going to get you out of here if you want to come with us.”

“A bit.” Mark said as they attempted to sign again, but they were stumbling over their signing, and even a two-word sentence sounded forced even to TO. 

“I’ll talk.” TO signed, “You two can have the proper conversation.” They cleared their throat, and though their ears twitched with their lies, they spoke clearly and forced a pleasant, excited tone. “We thought you’d be bored.” They said, “So, we came to offer entertainment.”

“Entertainment?” Mira and Mark both spoke, their hands stilling.

“Yes.” TO said, “We watched that show in Beck’s bunk, remember? I paid attention, so I can tell you what happened.” The ‘show in Beck’s bunk’ was actually something that TO and DH had watched a handful of times already; a story TO knew by heart.

Mira’s eyes lit up, “Yes.” She breathed, “They’ve been dying to tell you about this show they saw; they really thought you’d like it.”

“Thank you.” Mark said, giving a genuine smile this time. Of course, as was the case for their unfeeling smile, all TO could see was teeth. “Yes, please, I’d love to hear about it. Take your time telling it; I’m not going anywhere.”

TO started rambling idly about something they had watched with DH recently. Unlike Mark, TO was more than capable of splitting their attention, and focusing on two things at once… So long as one of those things took little critical thought.

“Constance is hidden with some mutual friends.” Mira signed, “She’s safe.”

“Good.” Mark signed back, “Just take care of her.” he looked away, but TO glimpsed the tears starting in the corner of his eyes, “So long as she’s safe and happy, I will be ok.”

Mira nodded, but kept signing. “I’m also a friend of Pearla’s. She wants to help. If an opportunity arose, would you be able to leave this place?”

Mark’s hands fell still as he stared at Mira. “... Are you serious?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke.

“... I am.” TO said, “Yes, the main character quit their job to chase after this stranger they just met.” TO said, weaving ends of what they had been saying to create some reasonable response to Mark’s out-of-nowhere question. “I know it’s derivative at first glance, but they really didn’t have any other option.”

“Nice save.” Mira signed to TO. She turned back to Mark. “We’re very serious. We can get you with your daughter. You can be together, and safe. Do you want that?” 

Mark signed yes while nodding rapidly.

“Good.” Mira signed back, “Just do what we say when the time comes, and we’ll get you out of here.” She glanced at TO, “Do you have more story to tell?” She signed.

“Yes, I can continue for a while.” TO signed back, all the while never once messing up their retelling of the show.

“Good.” Mira signed back, “Here’s the plan.”