The once empty and almost peaceful weapons bay which took up an entire level of the ship was now packed with civilians and engulfed in a cacophony of noise. It was so loud and chaotic that as soon as TO got off the elevator the next day they immediately set the specialized translators in their ears to a filtering mode, turning it up higher than normal so that the surrounding din faded to a distant roar. A part of them hated using this as it would prevent them from using their echolocation, but it wasn’t as though they’d be able to use it here, anyway. Besides that, why would they need to use echolocation up here?

As the elevator and the doors closed behind them, TO felt the oddest thrill of fear run through their spine; a fear for which they had no explanation. They kept thinking that if they got attacked up here that they were alone, injured, and in a wheelchair. They wouldn’t be able to defend themself, and they weren’t even armed! In this state, it would be relatively easy for a civilian to attack them and really hurt them.

in this state, a civilian could probably kill them.

The civilians here didn’t want to kill them, TO knew that, but it did little for the fear that someone might take this opportunity to do just that. The image of Beck stalking towards them in the dorms back on Arkane, the flash of her claws in the light, came back to them, and TO’s wings tightened around their shoulders.

is everything alright?

The voice in their ear made them jump at first, and they stifled a yelp as they put a hand to their ear where DH’s voice had echoed, though. Right, they had nearly forgotten the modifications done to the translators. TO took a moment to calm themself before reaching to their wrist and pressing the bracelet there. The bracelet had also been modified. It held their armor, yes, but it but it also held their chip in place. It could still be removed, of course, but it required a special password which TO would have to subvocalize to a specific communication channel accessed through the chip.

‘I’m fine.‘ TO sent back, subvocalizing to send the message to DH. That had been an alteration that DH and Kei had come up with together, apparently. It made it easier for them to talk to one another without the need for a communicator, and without needing their helmets. The only issue is that it didn’t work with Synth speak due to the necessity of seeing the ears, so they had to speak Galactic Common just like they had with their helmets. All in all, it was very useful and TO only wished they could offer up some lenses to provide the same information their helmets did.

‘Are you sure?‘ DH asked back ‘Your heart rate spiked for a second.’

Heat coloured TO’s ears as they awkwardly clutched at their arms under their wings. Now that they had their chip back, there was no doubt in their mind that DH was watching their heart rate, or at least had an alert set up to warn them of any sudden changes to their vital signs. TO figured that were the situation reversed, they’d do the same.

‘I’m fine, I promise.‘ TO said, ‘It’s just a lot more chaotic up here than I expected.‘

‘You can come back down here if you like. Another day won’t hurt, and-‘

‘No, I’ll be fine!‘ their response came out a lot sharper and quicker than they intended, but TO just couldn’t stand another day of doing nothing.

‘Alright, but I’m going to ask the others to keep an eye on you.‘

‘That’s fair.‘ Again, TO would have done the same thing in DH’s position. ’The others’ simply referred to Flit, Snout, and GiDi. The three of them were up here somewhere and, as TO scanned the crowd, they located Flit sitting on a mat nearby. Flit looked up a moment later, likely having received the request from DH, and likewise looked around the crowd as though searching. They locked eyes with TO, and gave them a quick nod as their ears flicked back momentarily, neutral enough to be friendly but tensed enough to show their attention.

TO nodded back at them before looking around for Tham.

Tham was thankfully easy to find since he was sitting in the middle of a circle of kids, holding up a larger tablet. TO couldn’t see what was on the tablet, but it was clear from the way the children were listening and the way he was talking that he was in the middle of teaching them something. TO quickly glanced over the children that sat about him and saw Constance sitting with the other children, listening with rapt attention. Her friends who sat closest to her and most of the others gathered around TO had, of course, seen at some point in the underground, but hadn’t really met. There was one child that caught their attention simply because they looked oddly familiar to TO, but they couldn’t quite place why. They were one of the Cephaloids, their skin holding a dull grey color, which occasionally shifted into blues and greens. It wasn’t the coloration or the tentacles that made them think of anyone; it was the child’s facial features which seemed familiar; the shape of the face and the curve of the brow.

They placed it after a moment more and looked around for the child’s parent. A moment later they locked eyes with Leanaran, who was sitting nearby and watching the lesson Tham was giving. He gave TO a quick wave before whispering something to the much larger adult cephaloid was with them. The two got up and headed towards TO with three other children in tow. The Children all seemed too young to be learning much of anything, the presumed eldest twisting about in the tentacles of the larger one, and the youngest was sleeping in a sling which Leanaran had draped over his shoulders.

“And the hero arises.” Leanaran said as they approached. “I heard you got injured while we were escaping, but details have been kept pretty secret.” He grinned as he leaned against TO’s wheelchair. His whole posture and general demeanor might have come off as sly, but the adorable baby who slept at his chest detracted from that effect. “Maybe now that you’re here, I might get more details?”

The larger Cephaloid made a strange clicking noise as and shifted the largest of the children from one tentacle to another, “Lea, love, the poor thing is injured. Don’t go pressing them for information right away.” She looked at TO, approaching with a bent elbow. “Apologies, my partner is always digging for information, even when he shouldn’t. Even when he should be introducing me to the person who reunited and saved my family.” She bent down so that TO could easily bump their elbow against hers without having to reach too far. “I am Halarana; She/her.” She held up the eldest of the children she had with her. “This is my daughter, Magarana. And this-“ She held up another child who was a lot more energetic, and which she seemed to hold a little more firmly in her tentacles, “Is Saranaran, our eldest son.” She gestured to Leanaran, “That’s Laranaran, our youngest son.” she then pointed to the circle of children around Tham, “And our eldest daughter is there, Leanrana.”

At first, the names felt confusing to TO as they sounded so similar, but it only took a moment for TO to notice a pattern, “I’m guessing ‘-rana’ is put at the end of names for females... and ‘’-naran” is for males?"

Halarana smiled at TO, then looked to Leanaran. “I like this one.” She said before looking back to TO, “In a sense. That is how it is for our family. in Leanaran’s family, -naran was for males, and -taka was for females. In mine, -rana for females, and -roto for males."

“Surnames, of types.” TO mused.

“Of a type.” She agreed, “More like a naming tradition rather than a formal naming rule.”

“Now that you’re all introduced... Maybe you can tell us what happened,” Leanaran said as he gently patted the baby’s back. “You’re clearly injured, and badly. All we were told was that there had been an incident with a different synth.” They frowned, suddenly giving TO a sharp look, “Which one? I’ve met most of them, I believe. Not the one that was cooking, but-“

“It wasn’t one you would have met,” TO said quickly. They were grateful that the actual story hadn’t been spread too far and that the identity of most people involved had been kept quiet. It was essential in their mind that Avery wasn’t linked to the incident in any way. “The one who caused a problem... they weren’t a friend of mine. They were...” They frowned as they considered their next words, “They are still loyal to King Decon. I suppose that makes them a synth, and not a Chilacian.”

“I still can’t believe that you lot are the synths.” Halarana said, “When Leanaran and I first reunited, they told me that someone by the name of Tio had been working to with Pearl and Mira to help get people out, but he didn’t know you were a synth until... Oh, that other one.” She frowned and looked at Leanaran. “The medic.”

“DH.” TO said.

“Right! your mate! Well, they mentioned you, said you were their mate, and then after that someone told us that you were all synths!” She gave TO a careful look, scanning them up and down. “Honestly, you look a lot less intimidating without that awful armor on. But, your voice still has a…“ She gestured to her throat, “Take no offense, but you all have a twang in your voice. It makes your voices seem almost mechanical.”

Subconsciously, TO put their own hand to their throat, “We have three sets of vocal chords.” TO explained. “That’s why we sound like this.”

If TO hadn’t had the noise filtering active on their translator, they would have heard someone sneaking up behind them. Even when they heard something, it was so muffled that they overlooked it, assuming it was part of the overall background din of the area. When Petra finally wrapped her arms firmly but gently around TO’s shoulders and pulled them into a backwards hug, the three sets of vocal chords which they had just explained suddenly all gave a startled cry.

“TO!” Petra ignored the cry and hugged TO a little tighter. “We were worried about you! Lendulin and I wanted to visit, and we asked DH about you all the time, but they wouldn’t let us come see you!”

As the sudden shock of being grabbed from behind faded, TO realized then that they had never been hugged by a non-synth before. Petra and Lendulin had been there for TO when they were upset, and they had gently placed their hands on their shoulders and let them cry, but they hadn’t been embraced by civilian species before.

TO remembered the information about that family bond in the file about Chilacian family life and remembered wondering if that could happen between different species. They figured it could since GiDi had been able to bond with Pearla… But was it different for a non-romantic pack bond? They didn’t know. It if wasn’t any different, was it a problem?

Petra let go and came around to look at TO from the front, “We didn’t know you were so badly injured though! what happened?”

“TO was just going to tell us that.” Leanaran said, but Halarana wrapped a tentacle around his waist and pulled him away from TO and towards her.

“Actually, we were just going to let TO catch up with their friends who have been exceedingly worried about them over the last few days, right?”

“Ah... yes, I suppose that would be the… polite thing to do.” Leanaran said, the color shifting to a slightly pinkish hue. “Sorry, I’ve been in the center for so long... I’m used to getting information.”

Halarana pulled him tighter and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek as the two children in her tentacles pretended to gag. “You’re not there anymore, Love.” She said, “You can relax and let TO come to you when they’re ready.”

“Yes... yes, you’re right.” He said. He let one of his tentacles twine with hers and let her lead him away. Halarana turned around to face TO once more before leaving, “Thank you again.” she said, “We’ve already thanked the others, but wanted to thank you in person as well.”

“It’s nothing.” TO mumbled, “Just doing my task.”

“Yes, yes,” she said, “But you didn’t need to do it. So, thank you.”

TO didn’t agree with what she said, of course. Yes, they didn’t need to do it, not technically, but working with the insurgency was the thing which would get them and their own family to safety. In their own view, what they did was entirely motivated by self-interest. Still, Leanaran and his family had left too quickly for TO to really make that argument. They could still see them, and watched as they melted into the crowd. Leanaran himself seemed so much different now, so much warmer and more relaxed, and his face seemed so much brighter than it did back in the indebted center. If they had known Leanaran before meeting them in the indebted center, then they’d have noticed how much duller he seemed in there, how empty and grey. The shift in his demeanor reminded them briefly of how Flit seemed so different when he thought he was alone with Snout.

Did TO appear differently when they were separated from DH? Had anyone noticed? The panic that sparked inside them as they wondered this made them feel almost sick, and it took them a while to calm themself. Even if someone had noticed they had to remind themself that it was ok. Though the idea made their ears burn, they told themself that it would be perfectly safe for DH to come up here right now and kiss their ears if they wanted to! That would be far too intimate for such a public place, and far too embarrassing… but it would be safe.

It was safe to love DH, and it was safe for people to know that.