Synth

As the elevator door opened up the next day on its normal schedule, it was the slight cough that alerted TO to the fact that someone was there. A moment later, Tham pushed aside the makeshift curtain and stood before TO, one hand on his hip, the other against the wall as he leaned, looking at TO.

Tham. That would explain why it was the cough and not footsteps that alerted them to his presence.

“Yes?” TO asked, their ears drooping slightly. The only thing that kept them from feeling sick with anxiety at this moment was the knowledge that Tham had stayed with at night while GiDi and Pearla had hidden themselves somewhere else at night and they had no doubt that GiDi and Pearla had told them everything.

“Wanna play that thing again?” They asked, holding up their tablet, “That game where we have to build up our resources and grow shit?”

It only took a moment for TO to realize that Tham was talking about the resource management game that they had played a while ago when TO found Tham in the downstairs hall.

“I would.” TO said, ”But Lendulin, Petra, and Constance will be here soon, so-“

“Ah, that’s the other reason I’m here.” He said with a sniff. “The three of them caught the cold going around upstairs.”

TO’s ears flicked down suddenly, their eyes widening in worry and fear, “Are they ok!?” They asked, “How bad is it? Does DH know? Does Goretta-“

Tham held a hand up to stop TO’s onslaught of questions, “They’re fine, more or less.” he said. “It’s just a cold.”

“It’s *sickness*.” TO said. “It might be a cold today, but aren’t there all kinds of awful things that can happen even from a seemingly minor illness like a cold? Secondary infections and the like?” TO would be the first to admit that their medical knowledge was limited, and what they knew mostly came from this one medical show that DH sometimes watched.

“Well, yeah, but-“

“And didn’t DH say that the sickness was getting worse?” They asked. “Spreading more. People could get really sick, and if we run out of supplies-“

“We’ll be at Scraprock soon.” Tham said, “DH, Goretta, and Snout are doing what they can to keep things from getting worse.”

“… has anyone died?” They asked. When Tham didn’t respond right away, TO’s eyes narrowed and their ears pinned back, “Someone did.”

“Yes.” Tham said, “Someone died.”

“From the cold, right?”

Tham sighed, “Not from the cold, not really.” They said, “Look, the cold is normal. Heck, it’s called ‘the common cold’ and most people I know will still go to work when they’re sick like that!”

“Stupid.” TO muttered, “If you’re sick, you shouldn’t be around anyone.”

Tham huffed, giving TO a smirk, “Oh that’s rich.” They said, “I’ve heard about you lot going into training sessions with stitches on your wings and dislocated arms-“

“Those aren’t contagious!” TO snapped, “Nobody got sick in training: it was a closed system and there was no way for infection to get on the ship. If it did, then I promise the infected synth would be immediately quarantined until they showed no symptoms.”

“Or they’d just get… oh, what *was* the word they used for murdering synths they didn’t think were useful, and harvesting their bodies?” Their glib expression faltered when they saw TOs face pale, “Shit. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” They said quickly. “You said someone died?”

“Yeah.” Tham said, “She was an older person, and Goretta said her lungs were damaged before she got sick. She came from the indebted center, and you already know what working conditions are like there.”

“And having damaged lungs made the cold kill her?”

“Goretta said that the damage to the lungs meant that she already had a constant cough, and couldn’t breath well on the best of days. They got a secondary infection-“

“Which I just said could happen!”

“-Because of the damage already done to her, and she died because of that.” Tham looked away, “There’s gonna be deaths, Goretta says. Half the people here came from the indebted center, and everyone else grew up in urban poverty and have health issues because of that. Constance is pretty healthy, all things considered, so she should be ok. Lendulin is fairly healthy because she’s spent most of her life painting, not diving. As for Petra-“

“Will she be ok?”

“Goretta says that the way her body and lungs work make the cold a mild inconvenience at it’s worst. Apparently, her species aren’t prone to lung infections like others are, and bacteria and virus’ don’t grow the same way.” He shrugged, “Same with me and Pearla, apparently. We’re cold blooded, so apparently that makes it harder for bacteria and virus to grow or something. I don’t know. I’m no doctor, I’m just repeating what she said.” They raised a brow, “What about you lot. I figured you’d be more worried about this hitting DH.”

TO shook their head, “Synths don’t get sick-“

“Well, you just said you were in a closed system. I’m surprised you don’t get sick the moment you leave the centre.”

“Once we’re confirmed for our placement, we undergo as series of inoculations and injections to strengthen our bodies against sickness.” They said. It was only thanks to those inoculations that being on this ship wasn’t driving them into a mad, paranoid frenzy and isolating themself somewhere. “The sickest I’ve been was from side effects of those shots. The same is true for DH…” They paused, their ears flicking with worry. “But… not GiDi.”

“As far as I knew, you couldn’t get a shot to stop the cold.”

TO shrugged, “I don’t know much about how it works.” They said, “but we have specialized vaccinations which are supposed to protect us from the cold. I don’t know if it strengthens our immune system, or other systems to make it ineffective. DH might know.”

“Right.” Tham said, “Well, I wouldn’t be worried about GiDi regardless. I’m sure they and Goretta figured out something. I mean, They’ve been on Arkane in the Outer Ring for over a year, got sick a few times, but got better. I think they’ll be ok.” They shrugged, “Besides, everyone up there is wearing a mask now, so-“

“Nobody wears them down here.”

Tham reached into his pocket, and pulled out a crumbled fabric mask that seemed to have been made from old shirts. “Honestly, I take it off as soon as I can. It’s an absolute pain to wear, and you’re all inoculated, so it doesn’t matter, right?” He huffed and shoved it back into his pocket, “Besides, I don’t know that they’re going to do much. We have to take them off to drink and eat, and we don’t have space to be really careful with it. GiDi goes off to eat on their own - I think up in some engine room?”

So that’s one of the places GiDi had been hiding. Maybe they were even doing the tasks that TO did themself on their first journey. Was GiDi sleeping up there as well? They hoped not: It was easily the dirtiest part of the ship.

“Look, It’s a cold, and it’s very sad that someone died from it, but for the most part it’s not going to hurt people. that’s what Goretta says anyway.” He sat down next to TO with his tablet. “So, as I said, Constance, Petra, and Lendulin are sick. They’re resting. I’m fine, and I wanted to know if you’d like to play that game you showed me a few days ago.” They shrugged and glanced over at Vic’s spot, taking in how focused he was on his work, completely deaf to their conversation thanks to the headphones he wore. “I know DH is busy, and Snout’s busy as well, which means Flit is up there with Snout trying to help. So, I figured you’d probably be alone for the day.”

“…Well, yes.” TO said, their ears dipping, “But that’s fine. I can manage a day on my own-“

Tham was quiet for a moment as his brows furrowed in through, then he finally gave a heavy sigh, “Look.” He said, “ Subtly isn’t my strong point.”

“… I’ve noticed.” TO’s ears flicked parallel to the ground as they looked at Tham.

“Right. So I’m not great with the whole tip-toeing around shit.” They frowned at TO, “So, look. You’re probably upset, right? Nah, you are upset.”

“I’m fine, I-“

“I hear what’s going on around here. DH is worried about you, GiDi is pissed, and Pearla, to use her phrasing, ‘had words’ with you and I know that when she does that, she can hit harder I figured you likely felt low.”

TO shrugged and looked away, not responding either way to Tham’s observations.

“And I probably owe you anyway for distracting me the other day.” He said, “And especially so for not telling Pearla what you saw.”

“That’s not a big deal.” TO said quickly, “I just-“ they paused. They weren’t supposed to tell Tham that Pearla asked them to spend time with her brother. They wondered for a moment if they should tell Tham anyway but then a thought came to their head; Had DH asked Tham to do the same, to come check on them and spend time with them?

“Well, it was a big deal to me.” Tham huffed again. “So, yeah. I’m *grateful* for that.” Their colour darkened slightly, “And I feel like I owe you.”

“You don’t.”

“But I feel like I do, and I know you’re upset. So, it works. Also, the game you showed me was fun, I had a good time, and I’m so fucking bored up there. While this cold is going around we’re not doing any of the group learning things with the kids so I have nothing to do.” He shrugged, “So, I’m also being greedy, looking for a way to pass the time.”

“Ah.” Was all TO said. Maybe Tham had been asked by DH to check on them, and maybe Tham was here of his own will. TO wasn’t certain, didn’t know if they wanted to be certain, and didn’t even know if it mattered.

“So.” Tham said. “I warn, I do suck at this kind of thing.” They said. “So, do you want to rant about what’s going on, do you want advice, or do you just want a distraction?”

“I think a distraction…” TO paused, the words falling silent on their lips. They wanted a distraction primarily because they didn’t want to tell anyone what happened, because what they did made them feel so sick to their stomach and they knew that others would be properly disgusted with them if they knew.

But not Tham; that was what they realized in that moment. Of everyone on that ship, Tham was the one least likely to be disgusted with them. Tham was the one who pushed a civilian security guard into a water cleaning system, killing them to throw their pursuers off their trail and buy everyone who escaped from that prison time to escape into the underground.

“…I don’t know about advice.” They finally said, “Maybe just your opinion. And, yes-“ they picked up their own tablet, “I’ll tell you about it while we play that game.”