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[Fanfiction] Old Dreams

Kalenath

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Um...

 

"Spy?" Janet managed to keep her voice calm and level, but it was hard. This was a trap of some kind. She had faced such before. Even if this woman had mental powers, she could get out of this."What do you...?" She trailed off as Shepherd made a clucking noise.

 

"I touched your mind." The robed woman said calmly. "Do you deny it?"

 

"Deny what?" Janet asked scornfully. "Lady..." She shook her head slowly. "You think I am a spy?" She chuckled, even though it was no laughing matter. "Wish I was." She said with a smirk. "I bet they get better pay." Shepherd looked a bit askance at that. "You think I like working in a mine for minimum credits?" She shook her head again. "Spy would have to pay better."

 

"Slightly more dangerous line of work." Shepherd said with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Dangerous? A bar fight will kill me. A cave-in will kill me." Janet said firmly. "A gas pocket will kill me faster. A fire...?" She shuddered. "You were in my mind..." She said dubiously. "How?"

 

"Technically, I pulled you into mine." Shepherd was still calm. "I was trying to keep you from passing out. At first I just figured to let you think it was a dream. Some kind of hallucination. But then you woke up in it, realized it wasn't real." She shook her head. "You are no miner."

 

"Then what am I?" Janet demanded crossly.

 

"That is what I am here to discover." Shepherd said calmly. "My problem is this. Why?"

 

"Why what?" Janet demanded.

 

"Why would someone send a spy here of all places?" Janet looked at the robed woman who shook her head. "We are not exactly a hub of interplanetary espionage." Janet snorted a laugh at that and the other cracked a smile. "The ones that have come through did just that. Came through and left. You... haven't." She shook her head. "I do not mean you any harm. If you believe nothing else I say, please believe that. The tea is not drugged or poisoned, there are no traps and there are no peacekeepers waiting in ambush."

 

"Then what do you want?" Janet said, not moving. "If I am a spy, then..." She shook her head savagely. "I am not a spy." She slumped a bit and bit her tongue.

 

"I think you were going to say something else. A word. 'Anymore'?" Shepherd asked slowly. Janet snarled at her.

 

"Get out of my head, witch!" Janet jumped to her feet, ready to fight.

 

"You don't want to hurt me, Jane." Power sang from the other woman and Janet let it hold her in gentle bands. She could break it, but... What would be the point? This was what she was. What she lived for. Deceiving people. Powerful people. She could do this, she just had to do it right. "You want to sit down again." Janet made a face.

 

"Let go of me!" Janet demanded. "No!" She cried as her body sat without her commands. "Let me go!" She put just enough anger and fear into her words.

 

"If I do, you will hurt me or flee." Shepherd was still that exasperating calm. "Neither is needed. I do want to help you. Your anger calls to me. I was angry too." She looked away for a long moment and her facade cracked just a little. "I found a better way. So can you."

 

"With your cult?" Janet demanded. "Had enough of cults to last two lifetimes!" Shepherd nodded slowly again.

 

"Corpus." Janet went still at the robed woman's soft word. The first true emotion that Janet had heard from the other woman sounded. Horror. "What did they do to you? The pain... the fear... The anger... My god, girl... What happened to you?" Was that... compassion in the other's tone?

 

"Get... out... of..." Janet focused her mind, focused tight and closed it up as she had been taught. Even non talents people could manage that, although it was far, far harder. Shepherd looked at her and Janet forced herself to remain calm. "I am not a spy!" She declared.

 

"You are more than you seem." The robed woman said calmly. "If not a spy, then what? An assassin? Here to kill?" She paused. Janet forced her mind to be still. It was hard, but long practice with the Reverend Mother had taught her how. She laid a series of mental walls in place, covering her true self with overlays, fake memories. If her mind was breached... Maybe...  "You cannot hold me out, Jane." The pressure on Janet's mind increased slowly, but inexorably. "You cannot hold us out."

 

"Us?" Janet demanded as she tried to keep her focus. "You... Will... Not... Break... Me..." She grated out between clenched teeth.

 

"I don't want to." Shepherd said calmly. "I want to help. I truly do. If I push too hard, I will hurt you. Probably permanently. I don't want to do that. Jane, please?" Entreaty sang in her voice now even when her face stayed still. "I need to know you are not a threat to my flock."

 

Janet shook her head  and then all she could do was scream.

 

***

 

"I am sorry, Jane." Shepherd's voice was soft, sad and scared as Janet woke. She couldn't see. She couldn't move. Everything was fuzzy. She was lying on something soft, her head pillowed on something else soft. But when she tried her extremities, none would move. Strapped down? Or paralyzed? "I was trying not to hurt you."

 

"You did the best you could, Shepherd." A new female voice sounded and Janet flinched as a hand found her arm.  "One tough lady. It's not your fault, Shepherd. She was trained by people who knew what they were doing."

 

"Can you get through to her, Eldest?" Shepherd begged. "Her pain and fear call to me. Cry out to be eased. But I... I failed." Shame sang in her tone now.

 

"She is alive, Shepherd." The other said calmly. "Where there is life, there is hope. You have to get back. Your flock need you. This one is my responsibility now."

 

"I..." Shepherd said slowly. "Don't resist, Jane... If that is your name." A gentle touch brushed her brow. "What little I could see showed me that you are a good woman, Jane. One I would welcome as a friend."

 

"Shepherd, go." This was a command. The sounds of footsteps on metal was loud and then a door hissed. The other voice spoke evenly. "Well, well, well... Here I was, searching for a link and one drops into my lap. Convenient. A little too convenient. Wouldn't you say, Janet?" The use of her real name sent Janet reeling. "Oh, yes, I know who you are. I got a lot of information before your Reverend Mother cut the connection. DNA scans in particular were most useful."

 

LOTUS! Janet screamed in her mind. She is here! Only silence answered her.

 

"She cannot hear you, Janet. Not here. Not now." Suddenly, Janet could see. She was lying on a low bed. The room was... Orokin in decor. But it wasn't a tower. Janet could feel the muted rumble of ship drives. "You fooled Shepherd nicely." The voice wasn't coming from anywhere. Or it was coming from everywhere. "It wasn't until she brought you here that I realized who you were. Tell me, why did you call on the Lotus? Did she send you?" Janet focused herself as she had been taught, but a sharp pain at the back of her neck caused her to cry out. "Don't be stubborn, girl." The Elena Greensky said sharply. "I have to protect myself from the Lotus' vengeance until I have done what I can."

 

"It won't work!" Janet said weakly as whatever was hurting her bored deeper. "Time travel won't work!"

 

"Oh, it does." The sentient spaceship retorted. "But not the way I need it too. Anything corporeal I send would be damaged or destroyed in the process." She sighed. "Not to mention the damage it would do to this place and time. I don't want to hurt anyone, Janet. I want to undo some of what I did."

 

"You... Cannot be trusted... " Janet managed to gasp out past the pain that was continuing. What was happening to her? "You... betrayed Orokin..."

 

"It... wasn't that simple. Easy, Janet." The ancient traitor said gently. "Not long now. Just relax, let the nanobots do their work."

 

"What are you doing to me?" Janet demanded through the agony that was searing into her head now, deeper and deeper. Then the pain faded suddenly. But...

 

"Stand." Elena commanded. Janet tried to ignore the command, tried to fight it, but her body rose and stood. "Good girl." She sighed and spoke quietly. "I am not going to destroy this system, Janet. I need to send a warning. Nothing more."

 

"What have you done to me?" Janet tried to scream, but the words came out a dull croak.

 

"You are far too dangerous to let run around loose." Elena replied. "But mainly, I need access to your genes. There is... something I can do there that will not cause irreparable harm to the solar system."

 

"I won't help you!" Janet declared.

 

"I know." Elena replied sadly. "Which is why I had to take control from you. It is not permanent and not harmful. You cannot fight what I have done. Please, Janet, if half of what I read in your file was true... You really do want to make a difference. This will!"

 

"Don't bother... traitor..." Janet tried to snap, but again, it came out weak and puny. "You lie. It is what you do."

 

"I have lied." Elena admitted. "Shepherd's flock are good people. They think I am a reclusive hermit. A wise woman who lives in a cave and refuses all contact to remain pure. I helped her when she was caught in a cave-in. Kept her calm, helped her past her fear. No more."

 

"How... long...?" Janet quailed as her body took a step forward and a door hissed open in front of her.

 

"I had... some access to com systems once the Grineer started trying to access my hull." Elana made a sad noise. "Once I woke up anyway. I found this place in Grineer records, deleted it from their records and started converting it to a hideaway as soon as I fled my prison. Before I went to sleep, I had a lot of time to think. To plan." Janet was fighting with everything she had as her body took several more steps and entered a larger room. In it, a pod lay, surrounded by machinery. "I won't hurt you, Janet. This will not hurt." She promised as Janet's body slowly lay down in the pod.

 

"What is the word of a traitor worth?" Janet said, trying for stern and got puny again.

 

"I won't hurt you." Elena said sadly. "I have hurt far too many, caused far too much pain and suffering. All I want to do is send a message. But to do that, I need you."

 

"Why me?" Janet couldn't resist as her body was encased in...something golden. All but her head. "No..." She begged as the pod closed up around her silently and she felt...wetness start to creep up around her neck. Cold wetness.

 

"it is a nutrient fluid, Janet." Elena said quietly. "It is oxygenated. You won't drown. It is... unpleasant I know." Pain sang in her tone now. "If there was any other choice I would take it, Janet. There isn't. I am almost out of time. Sun was the one who hurt you in the bar. He is closing in. When he finds me, I die. But maybe, just maybe I can do some good before that."The fluid was seeping into Janet mouth now. She spit it out, trying to keep from swallowing the stuff. She failed, gagged and then vomited. The vomit...went away. Then the cold fluid was tickling down her nose and she tried to shake her head, tried to do anything. But she couldn't. Janet could not help shivering. Elena's voice was super gentle now. "Easy, Janet. Easy... that was the rough part. Now..." There we go... The voice of the traitor was in her head now.

 

NO! Janet screamed as the fluid covered all of her head and her breathing...stopped..

 

I know you are scared, Janet. Elena reassured her. There is no need to be. You are not breathing, but you are not starving for oxygen either. Are you? She asked.

 

Don't do this... Janet begged. Please...

 

I don't have a choice now. Elena said gently. Easy, Janet. A wordless caress touched her mind. I know you are scared. But I won't hurt you. Pain would... mess up the connection.

 

What have you done? Janet managed to say as she felt pressure on her neck and back. What are you doing?

 

I am accessing your spinal column, Janet. The Elena Greensky said quietly. The human spine has the cleanest DNA that I... can... What...? No! She exclaimed and Janet felt...something happen. What did the Lotus do to you? She demanded.

 

How long since...the bar...? Janet asked as she felt her body slow and stop. Never mind. Twenty four hours... you... lose...

 

JANET! Elena screamed, but Janet was beyond caring.

 

***

 

She didn't expect to wake. It was a large surprise when she did. Pain flared in her chest and head and suddenly, Janet coughed. Fluid surged from her mouth, but more entered.

 

Janet, come on! Elena's mind voice was frantic. Don't you die on me! Not now! Not when I am so close to fixing this... mess. Ah, there you are. Relief soared through Janet's mind from the other. She poisoned you. Hate sang in Elena's voice now. Why did she poison you?

 

How long can you keep me this way? Janet said softly. How long can you keep me going?

 

Janet, please! Elena begged. I don't want to hurt anyone!  I messed up, yes. I got a lot of people, humans and Tenno, killed. I want to make it right!

 

You can't. Janet said weakly. No one can.

 

Maybe not. Elena said sadly. But I am going to try. It won't hurt, but... This is going to feel... very strange, Janet.

 

That was the only warning Janet had. Before she could even protest, she was pulled into... something. She didn't feel like anything she had ever encountered before. It wasn't mental, it wasn't physical, it wasn't virtual. It was all of those and none. Then she was staring at something. Something very odd.

 

A golden double helix spun in front of Janet. DNA. Her's? She had no idea. Something wafted through her and she was pulled towards a section of the helix on front of her.

 

Tug it. The voice of the Elena Greensky was gentle, but commanding. Just tug it, Janet.

 

Won't help you! Janet snapped, pulling on all of her skill and stubbornness. Something tore through her now and she screamed.

 

I don't have time to be gentle anymore, Janet. Elena said sternly. My perimeter sensors were just disabled. And I can guess by who. This is the easy way, the least damaging way. I have to fix this now, Janet. Something pulled on Janet again and she screamed as she was thrust into the strand in front of her. Then she was falling.

 

Pain erupted in her arm and back and Janet screamed, but... It wasn't her voice!

 

"Janet!" A loud male voice yelled. "Janet, can you hear me?"

 

"Dad..." Janet stiffened. Was that her voice? It sounded so young. "Help..." Her body wasn't under her own control. It looked from side to side. She was in something composed of blue and white. Her eyes looked up and she saw clear sky overhead. She was in a crevice of some kind. One... made of ice?

 

"We are coming, Janet!" The male voice declared from above and now she could see a form in a parka descending a rope that hung down near her. The body she was in tried to reach for it, but couldn't quite reach it. "Easy, Janet. Hang on..." The descending form reached her and pulled her close. "I got her! Haul away!" The rope was pulling them both towards the sky. "Janet..." He said sourly.

 

"I didn't mean to, Dad." The young voice sad sadly. "I didn't. I was trying to see the penguins!"

 

What the hell? The spy said to herself. What is this...?

 

Your ancestor. At this time, she is six years old. Her name is Janet Orean. I used genetic memory to access the life of your ancestor. Elena replied. I can send the message through her. What...? NO! She screamed as the feeling of oddness came again.

 

Without sense of transition, Janet was back in the pod, staring up at a white armored form that stood ready, a long staff in hand. Another Tenno. A kind of warframe Janet had never seen before. Horns like a Loki, but longer, and golden. Was this a Loki Prime? The staff came down and the top of the pod shattered. The staff went back again and Janet had no way to defend herself.

 

"Sun, no!" Elena screamed. "Kill me if you must! Don't hurt her!"

 

"She is your key." The voice of the Loki was cold and hard. "Without her, you cannot mess things up further."

 

"The Lotus already poisoned her, Sun!" Elena begged. "Please... don't..."

 

Without me, you lose. Janet snapped in her mind. Strike, Tenno! She begged him mentally. Please! The Loki paused and gave her a tiny nod. End this!

 

"No!" Elena screamed and then Janet was falling. No, the pod she was in was moving! Down! Elena's voice turned hard. "Goodbye Sun. I tried the easy way. The gentle way. Now we do it the hard way. The consequences are on your head!" Janet screamed silently as she landed with a thump in a dark chamber that was suddenly alight. Controls, screens, consoles... A... ship! This was the ship! She was...

 

Janet was begging, pleading, screaming as the ship rumbled, taking her away from the freedom that had momentarily been within her grasp.

 

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renleech

renleech

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Janet is a very lousy spy, no argument. Discovered at first contact.

After reading this chapter, i wonder who's the worst enemy: the shamelessly evil like the old enemy or the one with true belief of doing the right thing?

Faith is a weapon, too dangerous to be used by a single person in any case

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Janet is a very lousy spy, no argument. Discovered at first contact.

After reading this chapter, i wonder who's the worst enemy: the shamelessly evil like the old enemy or the one with true belief of doing the right thing?

Faith is a weapon, too dangerous to be used by a single person in any case

 

IS she? is she REALLY?

 

*chuckles*

 

She fooled Shepherd, but Elena had more information. And since she was TRYING to find the Elena Greensky, then she succeeded.

 

No, being captured and taken control of was NOT part of the plan.

 

 

 

 

 

Was it?

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Spikey844

Spikey844

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IS she? is she REALLY?

 

*chuckles*

 

She fooled Shepherd, but Elena had more information. And since she was TRYING to find the Elena Greensky, then she succeeded.

 

No, being captured and taken control of was NOT part of the plan.

 

 

 

 

 

Was it?

Oh......

F***

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Is it odd that I'm actually cheering for Elena and hoping Sun gets an attitude adjustment (or at least enough information to change his mind)?

 

Well, Elena technically isn't a villain by choice. More a dupe. Yes, LOTS of people hate her for what happened. She hates herself for what happened. But she is no hero either.

 

As for Sun changing his mind? You can TRY...

 

 

Elena Rising

 

Janet was numb. So close. She had been so close. The other hunter -what had Elena called him? Sun?- had nearly managed to kill her. But the canny old traitor had managed to escape with Janet still firmly under control. There had to be some way to get loose from whatever the traitor had done to her. There had to. Every tech ever made had weaknesses. But she also had to be very careful. If she moved too quickly or too rashly, the control would likely tighten. The only good news was that Elena was distracted. The ship was muttering as armatures worked to repair the pod.

 

"Stupid muddle brained Tenno." The traitor said as she worked. "Lousy stinking... I don't want to hurt anyone! Why can't anyone believe that?" Janet decided to push, just a little.

 

Actions speak louder than words, traitor. Janet said with a hint of snip. And yours are damning. How many people have you controlled? Elena sighed.

 

"You are the only one I have had to control, Janet." The ship said quietly. "You are just as pig headed as the Lotus and her minions."

 

I will take that as a compliment. Janet tried not to quail as the clear cover reformed over top of her again. So... you will use me to...what? Take control of that child?

 

"No." Elena replied softly. "It would be wrong. And..." She made a noise of regret. "It wouldn't work. We can see the data, but accessing it take a lot more power. More than we have available."

 

I don't see your dilemma. Janet said sharply in her mind. Why not use her as you are using me?

 

"Because in three days, her time..." Elena said heavily. "She will be dead." Janet went still and Elena made a noise of confirmation. "The Separatists were fanatics. Unfortunately, they were not stupid. They fooled me good, Janet. Then they disabled me and imprisoned me. After they attacked the Tenno. Not wise of them. Not wise at all." Janet would have shaken her head, but it didn't move. "I am not going to hurt you, Janet. I am sorry that the controls hurt you going in. Do they hurt now?" She nearly begged.

 

Why didn't you join the Grineer? Janet ignored the question. If you hate the Lotus so much?

 

"Look, I don't hate her." Elena replied. "She was always a guardian and guide. She was good at it. Better than me, for sure. Now? She does the same for the Tenno. It was what she did. She was always so focused on that. The responsibility of having to look after the entire solar system..." She sighed. "I don't blame her for hating me. She can't hate me more than I hate myself. I have had a long time to think about how badly I screwed up."

 

They will find you again. Janet said quietly.

 

"Yeah." Elena sounded resigned. "Sun defines focused. It is what he has always been." She chuckled a little. "He doesn't show it most of the time, but everything he does is focused. He wreaks havoc on the battlefield, causes chaos and makes a mess and he is always so focused. Now on killing me and you."

 

I will welcome the deathstroke. Janet said sharply. If it stops you.

 

"Damn it, Janet!" Elena snapped. "Just listen for a moment! I can't undo what was done to you. What the Lotus did to you. The damage is... extreme. I brought you back, put you on full support so I could save lives. Is that a bad thing?"

 

I can't trust anything you say. Janet snapped right back. You want to change the past. It cannot be done.

 

"You do not know that." Elena replied, her voice heavy. "Neither do I. I am on my way to another hideaway. Another source of power. You are stressed. You need some downtime." Before Janet could protest, she was falling.

 

***

 

"Janet?" A soft female voice sounded from nearby and Janet felt...odd. "Come on, Janet. Talk to me."

 

"Mom...?" Janet went still. That was the young girl's voice! What the-? "Feel weird."

 

"You will." The older female voice said quietly. "You have been asleep for several hours while they worked on your injuries." The voice turned stern. "Janet... What did I tell you about running on the ice floe?"

 

"Not to." The young Janet said weakly. "I will be punished, I know. Saw the penguins and didn't think. But... Mom? I feel really weird." The older Janet went still. Was she hurting the girl? Or had Elena done something to her to hurt the girl?

 

"Doctor?" The older woman said, fear rising.

 

"I am not sure. Easy young lady..."A voice that almost screamed 'medical professional' said calmly. "Let me see what I can see. No damage. Hmmm..." He mused. "This is...weird, like you say, Janet. I will need to check some things."

 

"Feel so weird." The pain and fear in the young girl's voice was too much and the older Janet was moved to do something.

 

Easy... Janet projected into the other's mind and froze as the girl gave a gasp. Can you hear me? She was not expecting the girl to scream.

 

"Mom! There is someone else in my head!" Two curses came and the future time Janet had no time to even scream as  golden energy snagged her and pulled her from the other mind.

 

Now, Janet could see. She was sitting on the floor in a tiny room. Perhaps two meters by two meters. But...the walls and floor were composed of coruscating lines of golden code. A virtual prison. Janet looked down at herself and sighed. She was also composed of golden code. She closed up her mind as tight as she could, for all the good it would do. If half of what she had heard about Tenno interrogations was true... She was screwed.

 

"Mind telling my why you did that?" A quiet female voice sounded from nearby. A warframe appeared standing by one wall. "That was dumb." In form, it was  Nyx warframe, but... golden in places.

 

"She was scared." Janet said quietly. "I wanted to help." From the warframe's sudden tension, it was clear that the response that Jane had given was no one that had been expected. "I am not your enemy, Tenno." She said firmly.

 

"You invaded the mind of one of our kin..." The Nyx said derisively. "...and you are not an enemy?"

 

"It wasn't by choice." Janet was still quiet. But inside, she was quailing. This was the past. If she changed the past... She clamped her mouth shut and waited. The Nyx just stared at her.

 

"You are afraid..." The other finally said. "But...not of me? Or... not of me nearly as much as something else?" She was working her way slowly through her thoughts and Janet let her.

 

"I can't say." Janet said softly. "Anything I say will cause problems. Worse problems." She qualified.

 

"Can you say why?" The Nyx asked slowly.

 

"No." Janet replied sadly. "I have given you no reason to trust. All I can say is that I did not intend that little girl harm. I did not intend to wind up in her mind, to scare her so badly. I hope she is okay."

 

"She will be." The Nyx replied, her stance uneasy now. "A day in the Citadel's medical ward will heal her injuries. Then her mom will paddle her." The Tenno said dryly. "Why so concerned?"

 

"I can't say." Janet said quietly. Something stabbed into her mind and she gasped, but rode the pain and fended off the mental probe. "Please! Don't do that! I can't say!" She begged. The Nyx sighed.

 

"We need to know." The Tenno said calmly. "If you did not mean an attack..."She shook her head. "We need to know how you got here and why."

 

"I...can't...." Janet forced her mind to stillness and jerked as a familiar voice sounded in it.

 

Don't be stupid, girl. Elena Greensky sounded stern now. I didn't plan for this, but it will work. Do as I say.

 

"What the...?" The Tenno actually recoiled. "Who...?"

 

Tenno! Elena sounded jubilant now. Tell her, Janet! Tell her now! Warn her!

 

I WILL NOT BREAK TIME! Janet screamed so loudly that for a long moment, there was utter silence in her head. I WILL NOT!

 

"Time...?" The Nyx sounded stunned now. "Oh my god..."

 

Janet, don't be stupid! Elena snapped. This is all you have to do. Tell them about the attack! Do it! Janet shook head and pain started inside. Janet, I will hurt you! The sentient spacecraft warned. This is my only chance, Janet. Janet shook her head savagely and the ship sighed. So be it. The pain that came crashing in on Janet now was far, far beyond her ability to fend off or rise beyond. The ship's voice was cold and hard now. Tell them Janet.

 

"I... won't..." Janet screamed as she writhed on the floor. "...be your slave anymore..."

 

"No, you won't." The Nyx agreed as she knelt by the human. "Easy..." She said as she reached for the human's forehead.

 

"Don't..." Janet screamed as another wave of pain lanced through her.

 

"It is all right." The Tenno said quietly. "I am the only one listening. I give you my word I will not harm you. And I will..." She touched Janet's head and Elena gave a short, sharp scream and the pain vanished. "Free you."

 

"Kill me, please..." Janet begged as she lay, exhausted. "I can't...I can't keep her out. She... took control of me. Of my body. Of my mind..."

 

"We can." The Nyx replied calmly. "I could feel another mind, but I could not hear the other's voice. What has been done to you?"

 

"She took control." Janet said weakly, just the memory of pain still pounding through her veins. "I was hunting her and she captured me, took control of my body. I... Please don't ask. She begged when the Nyx started to speak. "Please?" She pleaded. "I can't beat an interrogation here. I know that. But... If you do..."

 

"We may cause more problems than we solve." The Nyx said heavily. "Damn them. They did it. They really did it. Bunch of fricking Orokin  idiots actually managed time travel. "

 

"For some definitions of 'managed'..." Janet said with the ghost of a chuckle. Soft and filled with remembered pain, but a chuckle. "I am sorry, I meant no offense. I didn't know the girl could hear me. I didn't mean to scare her."

 

"She is okay." The Nyx replied as she rose. "So are you. For now. If the one who controlled you attempts to do so again...we can keep 'her' out."

 

"For how long?" Janet asked, hating the whining note in her voice, but powerless to squelch it.

 

"I don't know." The Nyx replied sadly. "Can she... make you do things?"

 

"I don't... think so." Janet said after a moment. "She was trying to convince me and then compel me. I don't think she can force me to do her bidding her except by torturing me."

 

"Damn it." The Tenno said with feeling. "We will be watching. I cannot guarantee that we can hold her out. But we will do the best we can."

 

"I wish you would kill me." Janet said sadly. "Every moment I am here... I place everything in jeopardy."

 

"If it comes down to it..."The Nyx said formally. "I will. But only when we have exhausted all other avenues. Not before."

 

"I will hold you to that." Janet said softly. "My name is Janet."

 

"Nyx." The Tenno said and vanished. Janet stared at where the other had been. The Nyx? The First Nyx?

 

Oh... boy... Janet shook herself and sat back to wait. This might be a long day.

 

***

 

Are you proud of yourself? Elena snapped, breaking Janet out of her light doze. The human jerked, but she was still in the golden prison. All you have to do is tell them about the nuke!

 

All I have to do is alter the past, traitor! Janet snapped right back. Get out of my head! She spoke aloud. "Help!"

 

"I am here, Janet." Nyx appeared and a touch to Janet's forehead sent the angry screams of the traitor ship away. "Easy, it's okay." She said gently.

 

"So scared." Janet said weakly. "So... alone... This is nothing I trained for." She shook herself ."I...may I ask a question?"

 

"You just did." Nyx said with a smile in her voice that wasn't visible through her helmet. "But I will give you another."

 

"I am... energy here, yes?" Janet said slowly, looking around. Nyx nodded."This is...what she did. She sent my energy back in time?"

 

"I don't know." Nyx replied, somewhat uneasily. "The records we have of the experiments that were done..." She actually shuddered a bit. "The experimenters were careful, but... any manipulation of time could have broad consequences."

 

"I agree." Janet said with a firm nod. "She said I shared genetics with that girl. But..." She shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense to me."

 

"I had some people look up the math." Nyx was still uneasy. Janet tensed, but Nyx chuckled. "I asked them to do it as an exercise in research, they don't know why."

 

"Some secrets must be kept." Janet said softly. Nyx nodded. "Can she... use my genetics to come herself? Without my... mind or whatever this..." She waved at the transparent form she was inhabiting. "...is?"

 

"I am not sure." Nyx said with a sigh. "We have a preeminent mathematician in one of the nearby settlements..."She broke off as Janet winced. "Janet?"

 

"This is why she sent me..." Janet said weakly. "Settlements. She knew. Damn her. She knew..." To her horror, she started to cry. "I can't just sit back... All of this... she... I..." Somehow, a touch was on her arm. She looked up through streaming eyes to see Nyx staring at her.

 

"Janet?" Nyx asked slowly. "What?"

 

"She knew I wouldn't be able to sit and watch evil unfold." Janet said softly. "Damn her, she knew..." She slumped. When she spoke again, it was in a monotone. "When did the little girl fall in the crevice?"

 

"Yesterday." Nyx said softly, worried. "Janet..."

 

"If it was yesterday..." Janet said, still in a monotone. "Then sometime in the next two days, a small ship will declare an inflight emergency while in orbit over Antarctica. When it does, it will be granted permission to land at one of the settlement. As soon as it does, a five hundred megaton nuclear weapon will explode."

 

"That is not possible, Janet." Nyx said sharply. "We would detect it."

 

"You didn't." Janet said sadly. "I... I did it... I broke time..." She curled up on herself and hugged her knees. "I... I couldn't just sit back and watch it happen. Watch that little girl die. Know that I could have stopped it and didn't. She knew me. She read my files, read my mind. She knew I couldn't..." She was heaving in grief now.

 

"Who, Janet?" Nyx said sharply. "Who will attack us?"

 

"Separatists." Janet said softly. "The records call them Democratic Republicans, whatever that means."

 

"Those loons?" Nyx asked, shaking her head. "They are fringe jobs, but not dangerous. Or so we were told. The Elena Greensky..." She broke off as Janet snarled, the sound of the name overriding her control. "Janet?" Nyx... stilled as the woman's reaction to that name became clear. "Oh no... no..." She groaned.

 

"They tricked her." Janet said sadly. "They will attack. They cannot win. But they think they can if they make a strong enough statement. And attacking the Citadel is a very strong statement. A statement of stupidity, but a strong statement."

 

"Janet..." Nyx said slowly. "I cannot take your word for this." Instead of answering, Janet laid herself out on the floor and dropped her mental shields. All of them. "Janet..." Nyx breathed, horrified.

 

"Don't let her win." Janet pleaded. "Do what you must Tenno. Do not hold back. My life is forfeit, but please..."

 

"Oh Janet." Nyx' voice was gentle as she knelt beside the still human. "So brave. So strong. So... broken. I will be gentle." She said as she laid a hand on Janet's forehead.

 

"I don't deserve gentle." Janet was lost now. Abject and lost.

 

"I will be gentle." And indeed, the currents of power that arced into Janet's mind... were gentle.

 

***

 

It...didn't hurt. Janet didn't hurt. Nyx was crying as she retracted her hand. Then, in a move that Janet could not define, somehow, Janet was lying in Nyx's lap, tears falling as the First Nyx cried with her.

 

"I failed." Janet said sadly. "I couldn't stop her. I did what she wanted me to do. I broke time..."

 

"No." Nyx said sadly. "No, you haven't. You did as she wished. Will she release you now?"

 

"I doubt it." Janet said with a snarl. "Good slaves are hard to come by. And slaves meshed with the genetics of someone here? She has meddled once, she will do it again."

 

"With power comes temptation." Nyx agreed. "The more power one has, the greater the temptation to meddle." Janet looked at the Tenno who nodded. "I am tempted to meddle. Often. But I remind myself every time, that every action has consequences. Some are easy to see, some are not."

 

"Can you... destroy me?" Janet pleaded. "That will stop her. I think..." She said with a sigh. "If this isn't some kind of copy or something."

 

"No." Nyx said gently. "Besides, it wouldn't be right. Buck up, Janet. It will be okay."

 

Then Janet was sliding back through time and space. She sighed. This feeling had gotten old the first time. When she woke, she was stuck in the pod again and Elena was cursing.

 

"What did you do?" The ship demanded angrily. "Tell me!"

 

I did what you manipulated me into doing. Janet felt... empty now. Just empty. I told them.

 

"That is not possible!" Elena screamed. "Nothing has changed!"

 

Edited by Kalenath
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Kalenath

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Wheels within wheels

 

"What did you do?" The ship repeated angrily.

 

I did what you wanted. Janet said, her mental tone listless. I warned them. Congratulations. You won. Wonderful. Now kill me.

 

"Who did you warn?" Elena snapped, but then her voice calmed. "Janet, I won't kill you. I didn't even want to hurt you. You pushed me to hurt you." She sobbed a little. "I don't want to hurt anyone, Janet. I just want to make things right again. You of all people should understand that...after what happened with Zacharias."

 

F*** you. Janet said in as forceful a tone as she could muster. Which wasn't very. The difference between you and me is that I want to help people. Always did.  You are just looking for a way to escape justice.

 

"That is not true, Janet." Elena said softly. "My death is coming. I know this. I... have to accept it. Sun won't give up. He never has. He never will. I am dead. Period. I want my passing to be remembered for more than just blatant stupidity."

 

Do I care? Janet asked snidely.

 

"No." Elena replied. "No, I have given you no reason to. I... Janet, who did you tell?" She was not -quite- begging.

 

She said she was Nyx. Janet said quietly Elena inhaled in shock and Janet made a noise of confirmation. Yeah. I think she was the First.

 

"The First? Nyx was dead centuries before that, Janet." Elena said weakly. "That... isn't possible. She couldn't have left the database. Wait..." Elena paused and Janet could almost hear wheels churning in the sentient ship's mind.

 

Just do whatever you are going to do. Janet snapped weakly. I am sick of your whining. Kill me or let me go. Either way... Your days are numbered.

 

"I can't, Janet." Elena sounded honestly regretful now. "You are the key to my redemption."

 

So you are going to buy redemption with my life. Janet said softly. Figured it was something like that.

 

"Janet." Elena retorted. "It is not like that. I can keep you healthy and whole for a long, long time as you are. I don't want to retard your mental processes. I need you cognizant, Janet. I need you able to communicate with your ancestor."

 

So you will torture me until I comply. Janet said softly. Whatever helps you sleep, traitor.

 

"I don't want to hurt you, Janet." Elena said sadly. "But you are leaving me no choice." Janet could do nothing as an ominous looking machine lowered itself over her head. "This is going to hurt. Don't resist."

 

F*** you. Janet repeated as golden energy played across her face. It did hurt, but Janet kept the pain at bay. Then it really started and soon all she could do was scream silently.

 

***

 

"What have you done?" Elena's voice was stunned. The power of the machine that the ship had subjected Janet to had stripped all of the defenses from her mind. All of them. The ultimate plan was laid bare to Elena's scrutiny and the ship was shocked. The latest injection that Janet had been given hadn't just been a palliative for the poison. Before she could recover, Janet acted. The rumble of the engines...died.

 

What better way to trap sentient prey than with the right bait? Janet asked snidely. Why else would you hack the Corpus Clergy files except for the DNA scans? Nothing else would have mattered to you. You are not the only one who knew about my ancestor, Elena. She cast her mind out. She broke the block that Elena had placed with only a small bit of effort. Her training in such things had been... very thorough. She hadn't wanted to before. Now that she had control of the ship, it was time. Her mental voice was very cold. Ship systems are under my control for now. Tell me you have a fix on her.

 

I do. The voice of the Lotus was cold. Tenno are inbound.

 

Then I can die happy. Janet said with a smile in her voice that her face wouldn't show. If you can... tell my...former mistress I accomplished my mission. The traitor is stopped.

 

"No..." Elena said sharply as the ship rocked. "Not like this! Lotus, please! Not like this!"

 

Shut up and die already! The Lotus snapped. How many more lives must you destroy, Elena? How many? The hate sang in her tone again and Janet was moved to speech.

 

Lotus? Janet said weakly. Don't... Please don't... become that... What the Reverend Mother saved me from. Hollow and empty... They need you, Lotus. Please... She begged in a tiny voice. Don't let your hate win.

 

I... The Lotus' voice broke for a moment. Oh Janet, you are such a good soul. Was she crying?

 

"I surrender." Elena said sadly as the ship rocked again and a familiar white form strode into the bay where Janet lay. The Loki Prime from before. "I surrender! Don't hurt her! Sun! Please don't hurt her!" A long rifle was in his hands and aimed at one of the consoles. Janet needed no imagination to know that Elena's core processors lay behind that console. Her... self.

 

"She is not my target." Sun's cold voice was calm and clear. "Why should I take your surrender, Elena Greensky? So you can escape and plot more horrors?'

 

"No." Elena sounded broken now. "Because you Tenno and the Lotus need closure. Vengeance won't be enough. If you must, then do it. But it will not be enough." Then her tone solidified. "And I am linked to Janet. If I die, so does she."

 

My life is meaningless! Do it! Janet snapped at Sun. End this threat.

 

"You know..." Sun shook his head slowly. "Nyx was right about you, Janet." Janet stared at him, stunned. Was he... chuckling?

 

I don't understand. Janet said weakly.

 

"She said you were the only one she had ever met with as firm a grasp of ethics as she had." Sun said as two more warframes entered the bay. Alicia in her Trinity and Karl in his Rhino. "The Elena Greensky surrendered."

 

"You are ****ting me!" Alicia said sharply. He shook his head and she groaned before kneeling by the pod Janet was ensconced in. She let out a low whistle. "We need to get you to proper care, Janet."

 

End it... please? Janet begged.

 

"I am not a good being, Operative Janet." Sun said quietly as Alicia started to work. "But I will not kill you just to kill her. And... Pragmatically speaking, her argument is valid. We do need closure. Not just vengeance."

 

She lies. Janet begged. You know this.

 

"Of course she does." Alicia and Sun chorused. "She is a politician." The two Intelligence Tenno shared a dark chuckle. Sun continued. "Karl? We need a tech specialist to get her out of the console."

 

"Are you sure about this?" Karl asked, his Hek not moving from where it also aimed at the console. "And why aren't any of the traps I heard about in here working?"

 

"Because someone hacked my systems so cleanly I never felt it. All internal defenses are offline." Elena replied in a dazed voice. "Well played Janet. Very well played. Subdividing your mind... I never saw it coming. I saw what I expected to see. Nothing more."

 

Janet was no amateur, but it hadn't been easy. Part of Janet's mind had been focused on what was happening. On being controlled and sent to wherever Elena had sent it. Other parts had been... busy with lots of things. She had separated herself while in Shepherd's care. And... while Elena had been connected to Janet, Janet had been connected to the ship. Shepherd had never felt any oddities in Janet's mind and until Elena had scanned Janet's mind fully, the ship hadn't had a clue either. The absolute best kind of spy. The one who couldn't possibly be a spy. Or...was a rotten spy.

 

Or in this case, a master spy pretending to be a rotten spy to be captured and taken to her enemy so her allies could find said enemy. The mind boggled. Small wonder Elena was so stunned.

 

"Will moving her hurt her?" Alicia demanded of Elena.

 

"No." Elena said sadly. "She is paralyzed but I assume you have the antidote." Alicia gave a sharp nod. "The pod will retract when you wish  it. I can't... remove the controls though. Not quickly."

 

"Not that we would trust you with such a thing anyway." Alicia snapped. "Trusting you would be stupid." As she stopped speaking, Janet felt something that made her quail.

 

I have control, but she is trying to regain it! Distracting us all! Janet said quickly. Alicia! Sun! Stop her!

 

"Just out of curiosity, Elena..." Sun said mildly as he leaned over the pod Janet was in. "You are linked to her. What happens to you if I do... this...?" A flash...

 

***

 

Janet woke as she normally did. Suddenly and completely. But... something was wrong. Something was off. She... She stared around and sighed. Golden code on the walls. The virtual prison again. Not that it really was one. More a sanctuary. And not one in the past.

 

"Please tell me she won't get loose." She begged of no one. "That Sun stopped her."

 

"He did. She won't." The voice was familiar and Janet nodded as Nyx appeared nearby. "Well done, Janet. She fell for it. You okay?"

 

"Not really." Janet admitted. "Subdividing my mind was rough. And then keeping going through the pain was also rough." She shook her head. "I do need to know one thing, Nyx." The Tenno nodded. "Was that girl really my ancestor?"

 

"Yes, she was." Nyx said quietly. "DNA doesn't lie. Janet Oreon was the only survivor of the settlements devastated by the Separatist attack. She was in the Citadel for medical care due to a fall into an ice crevice. She was not Tenno, but she was kin. We cared for her through her grief, found her a place after. She lived, loved and died almost a hundred years later."

 

"I see." Janet said with nod. "Thank you. That would have haunted me." She paused. "Elena said she died in the attack." Nyx just looked at her and Janet sighed. "Whatever. Keep your secrets Tenno. I have way too many of my own to want anyone else's." She shook her head. "What now?"

 

"Janet..." Nyx' voice was soft and gentle as she stepped close. "You know what we have to do."

 

"Yes, and I accept it." Janet said calmly. "Now?"

 

"No." Nyx said quietly as the room they were in morphed and suddenly Janet stood in a much larger room. A room absolutely filled with golden transparent forms. "Someone wants to talk to you."

 

The woman who strode out of the group was transparent golden energy like everyone else, but she looked almost exactly like Janet. Albeit, far older. Janet went still. This had to be...

 

"Hello Janet." The old woman said calmly. "My name is Janet too, Janet Cartin. But when I was young, it was Janet Oreon."

 

"I am sorry I couldn't stop it." Janet said, abject. "We had to make her believe she had succeeded the second time so I could hack her systems while she was distracted, get backup there to stop her. I am sorry I scared you. It was wrong but it was needed."

 

"We have a different view of Time than you do, Janet." The old woman said kindly. "It happened. Yes, it was bad. But it happened. It had to." She slumped a bit. "It took years for me to move past my grief, to find love again." She reached out and took Janet's hands in her own. "Nyx told us you will not remember this."

 

"This knowledge is far too dangerous for anyone but Tenno to know. I am not strong enough to protect it properly. They are." Janet said quietly, giving the old woman's hands a squeeze. "I knew going in that I would not be allowed to remember what happened. I am just glad we stopped her." She went still as the old woman embraced her. "Hey..." She said as the woman burst into tears. "It's okay."

 

"This isn't right!" The old Janet said fiercely. "Nyx, this isn't right!" Nyx shook her head, remaining silent.

 

"Right and wrong do not come into it here, Janet." The agent replied, holding the sobbing old woman gently. "It is needed. I wish I could have stopped the attack. I really, really do. But..."

 

"If you had..." The older woman said quietly. "We would all likely have ceased to be. And if she had done that? She could have done anything. You did well."

 

"It hurts." The younger Janet said sadly. "I became an agent to stop things like that. At least... that was what I believed when I served the Corpus. Now? I don't know." She shook her head. "There is no black and white in life. Everything is shades of grey." She shook herself a bit. "I am ready, Nyx."

 

"I am not!" The old woman said, hugging Janet tighter. Janet patted her back and carefully extricated herself from the woman's embrace. Other shades came close to hold the sobbing woman as Janet stepped back. "Even if you do not remember us, we will remember you." The old woman promised. "And in the fullness of time, when you pass on, we will welcome you." Janet's eyes went wide at that.

 

"I... don't deserve..." She shut her mouth with a click as Nyx stepped up and laid a gentle hand on her arm.

 

"We disagree, Janet." Nyx said quietly. "Time to go." Janet nodded and...

 

***

 

She coughed, awake instantly. But...something was wrong. She felt... whole, but... Something was wrong. She couldn't see, but for some reason that did not scare her. Something else did.

 

"Janet?" The voice was cautious. Female. Mature. Calm, but... cautious. "Can you hear me?"

 

"I hear you." She said softly. "I..." She paused. She couldn't remember! She bit back a cry of fear. She couldn't remember her name! "I can't remember! What happened?"

 

"Easy..." The female voice crooned. "It's okay, Janet. My name is Alicia. I am here to help. Your memory was selectively wiped. That is why you do not remember." A hand touched hers. It felt... wrong, but at the same time, right. "It was needed. It was horrible, but it was needed. You will remember some, just not much."

 

"What did I do?" Janet asked, concerned. "What did I do to deserve such a fate?"

 

"Nothing, my friend." The other sounded nearly in tears. "You did your job. No more, no less. You did it splendidly. But..." She sighed. "There are secrets that must be kept. You agreed. We didn't want to do this. Wipe almost every facet of your memory. But we had to."

 

"I... see."Janet said sadly. "What must be, must be. What now?"

 

"We will retrain you." Alicia said quietly. "In whatever skills you wish. We owe you nothing less. Technical, medical, combat... you name it. We can."

 

"I don't want to fight."Janet said sadly. "I... I wasn't a fighter, wasn't I?"

 

"No." Alicia replied softly. "You were a spy. A very good spy." Janet lay still, digesting that for a moment. "One of the best I have ever seen." There was no flattery in that descriptor, simple fact. "We have found you a place to stay. A place to heal and then to start your new life."

 

"I wouldn't say no." Janet said weakly. "I feel... wrong."

 

"I know." Alicia said sadly. "We went.. very deep to get all of the memories. There is no damage, but..." She sighed. "It felt wrong to do it to someone who wasn't an enemy."

 

"Did we win?" Janet asked after a moment. She was not expecting Alicia to chuckle. "What?"

 

"Oh yeah." Alicia said with a snort. "She never saw you coming."

 

"Then it is all good." Janet said softly. "What now?"

 

"You will sleep and when you wake, you will be where you can be helped. Where you can build a new life for yourself." Alicia said quietly. "It will not be easy or quick. But you will manage. You always do." The hand cupped hers and gave a squeeze. "Be well, my friend." Janet was smiling as she nodded off.

 

***

 

Alicia shook her head as she watched the drones prepare Janet for transport. "Sun? What have we become?" She asked softly.

 

The white Loki Prime hadn't moved from his spot since arriving at the tiny Intelligence facility. He stood over a small container. It looked too small and innocuous to hold such a horrid relic of the past. The mind of the Elena Greensky slept within that box.

 

"We are what we are, Alicia." Sun said quietly. "She accepted it. We did not hurt her."

 

"Hurt her? No. Maim her? Yes. I will get Janet to Iriana. After that? We shall see." Alicia asked as the drones carried Janet from the room. She started off as well.

 

"You know what she will want." Sun said mildly. Alicia nodded. Most Intelligence agents could not, not would not -could not- just sit and relax. They had to do things. And they knew what Janet would want to do. What she was good at.

 

"I will get her there." Alicia said with a sigh. "We will keep an eye on her. Even mindwiped, Janet is still one of us. Still Intelligence. We do not forget our own." She glared at the box between Sun's feet. "That has to be coherent for the trial." Sun just looked at her. "Sun..."

 

"I won't kill her." The cold words were a promise. "She will be... cooperative at the trial. We need to know everything she did. Everywhere she went. Everyone she dealt with and why." Alicia looked at him and nodded. She left the room without further words. After she left, Sun spoke again, so very quiet. "I won't kill you, Elena. I am not that merciful." He touched the box and a scream came from it.

 

"Sun! Please!" Elena was babbling. "I will tell you everything! Everything! Just... don't put me in sensory deprivation again!"

 

"Oh, we have a lot to talk about." Sun said as he laid the box on the table that Janet had so recently been on. "I want to kill you. I burn to kill you. But you are right. We need closure. Not just vengeance."

 

"I will tell you everything..." Elena was sobbing.

 

"Yes, you will." Sun agreed. "We have two days before your trial is scheduled. We have time... to talk."

 

Edited by Kalenath
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