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[Fanfiction] Weapons


Kalenath
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*an arrow hits the floor ten millimeters from Shadow977's foot*

 

A soft, silky -DANGEROUS- female voice sounds from nowhere!

 

'You find my daughter's pain... interesting? Really?'

 

An evil chuckle sounds.

 

'Let see how interesting you find this... Start running. I am a good sport. Nikis taught me this and it is fun.  For me anyway. I will give you... one minute...'

 

'One Mississippi...'

 

'Two Mississippi...'

How about i just shoot my own brains out.

 

i really don't feel like running today

Edited by Shadow977
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How about i just shoot my own brains out.

 

i really don't feel like running today

 

The female voice laughs coldly.

 

'You got guts, kid. But stop mocking my daughter's pain.'

 

 

The 'OR ELSE' is not spoken. But it IS loud and clear.

 

Edited by Kalenath
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The female voice laughs coldly.

 

'You got guts, kid. But stop mocking my daughter's pain.'

 

 

The 'OR ELSE' is not spoken. But it IS loud and clear.

 

Actually i didn't mean to mock her pain but i guess i used the wrong word.(English isn't my native language, don't judge me)

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Actually i didn't mean to mock her pain but i guess i used the wrong word.(English isn't my native language, don't judge me)

 

"Serene!"

 

A loud male voice sounded from nearby as a pitch black Nekros strides into view. "Stop scaring the kids. He didn't mean anything by it. Did you, squirt?" Nikis shakes his head. "Nobody is that dumb."

 

The silence seems to pout but the Nekros just stands there staring into the shadows. Finally one deeper shadow moves off. Nikis shakes his head.

 

"Kids..." He snorts. Then he leaves.

Edited by Kalenath
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Prisoners?

 

Lis did not move, her hands not moving from her defensive posture. The one who had spoken shook his head slowly.

 

"Guards. Lower your weapons." The man in the silver suit said firmly. The guards did as ordered. "Proxies, stand down." The mechanical monstrosities all seemed to relax, but all were watching Lis. "Ma'am, you are hurt. So is your friend. We can help. Will you let us?"  Lis shook her head slowly. The man frowned but nodded. "Okay." He said quietly. "Then I need you to clear the portal platform. We have another group coming in."

 

Another group? Lis was confused, but when she looked around, she was standing on a portal platform. It... didn't look Orokin. Not quite.

 

"Ma'am! Please!" The man said sharply. "I have to get you to clear the platform." One of the guards made a small, furtive motion and the man shook his head. "No. She is in shock. They both are. Ma'am." He begged her. "Please move! If you are on the platform when it pulses, it will kill you!"

 

Lis shook her head, but her mind was made up when the portal field lit up. She scooped Sara up in her arms and ran for the edge of the platform. She made it before the golden glow came and faded showing... kids? All of her senses were on hyper mode as she held Sara, staring at the small group of young women who were staring at her and Sara. Six of them. None were over ten years old. All carried small packs that looked like schoolbags to Lis' not so expert eye. The man who had spoken, spoke again quietly.

 

"Ladies. Welcome to facility 87-A. I am Frank O-34, the supervisor here." He said calmly despite Lis and Sara standing to one side. All of the girls nodded to him, their faces worried, but oddly calm. "We will try to make your stay as comfortable as possible." A door hissed open nearby and Lis went still as a woman in the same silver outfit stepped in. She paused on seeing Lis and Sara, but then focused on the girls. "This is Proctor Gen H-12. She will be in charge of your group's safety and security while you are here. I know you have a lot of questions, ladies. But we need to get you oriented and set up with quarters. If you can hold your questions for half an hour, we will do our best to answer them. Gen H-12?" He nodded to the woman who nodded back.

 

"Ladies, if you will follow me." The woman's voice was firm, but... kind. The girls filed out in a pair of lines, oddly disciplined for a group of children. Lis stared after them and then went totally still as the door behind them hissed and the man, Frank O-34 turned back to her.

 

"Ma'am, you are bleeding." The man said quietly. "She is bleeding." His voice was gentle, soothing. "You need help." Lis shook her head savagely. "Oh dear..."

 

"Sir..." One of the soldier said in a cautious voice. "She is trained."

 

"Of course she is, sergeant!" The supervisor snapped. "She is protecting the girl from something or someone. She was only half conscious when she arrived and her first thought was for her charge. And then the private had to poke her... Geez, you soldiers..." He shook his head. "Ma'am, no one will hurt the girl under your protection. Please, Ma'am. Let us help?" Was he begging her?

 

"Sir, she is going to fight." The one called sergeant said stiffly. "I respectfully ask that you withdraw."

 

"There is no need!" The man nearly shouted. "Ma'am, we have a medical facility! We can help!" But Lis had heard and seen enough. Corpus. Not to be trusted. Her odds were very slim against several of their proxies and four of their soldiers, but she had to protect Sara. If Sara woke in Corpus custody... Lis laid Sara down slowly and then straightened back up, but not all the way. Into a combat crouch. "No..." The supervisor begged as all of the guards and all of the bots took aim again. "Don't kill her!"

 

"With all due respect, sir..." The sergeant said slowly. "Might want to ask her not to kill us! Cause she is going to try."

 

"Crap." The man said with a sigh. "Fine, Protocol Eighteen."

 

Lis dodged as something shot from a wall nearby, but it wasn't aimed at her! Her eyes went huge as the white bundle hit Sara's still form and wrapped around her, encasing the girl in a fuzzy white cocoon. Moments after it hit, Sara's face was the only thing visible and it was covered by something clear. Sara sighed and was still.

 

"Leave her alone!" The words tore from Lis' throat as another white package shot out, at her this time. She dodged it and it hit the wall with a splat. Another came from another hidden launcher, but she threw herself flat and it sailed over her harmlessly. She straightened, ready for any more but none came.

 

"We only had three." The man in charge said, his eyes huge. "I... Don't kill her!"

 

"Holy profit..." The sergeant said with feeling as Lis snarled, a sound more akin to a mama bear than a humanoid form. "This is gonna hurt..." All of the guards slung their rifles and drew shock batons of some kind. All of the robots also had shock prods extending from their tops now. "Doc..." The sergeant begged as Lis set herself. "If you are going to do something, now would be good!"

 

Then Lis charged and it was just fury and pain.

 

***

 

Lis came awake screaming. Pain flared across her entire body, but it was her rage talking, not the pain. She had been fighting. The odds were bad, and the machines... she had no real way of harming those with bare fists. But she was fast and motivated. She remembered breaking the sergeant's arm. Appropriating a shock baton that had stopped glowing as soon as she took it, but the leverage had helped. A boxy helmet splintering under an overhand blow from the baton. A metal leg going the wrong way under a precise horizontal strike. Stamping another soldier's leg under her heel. Not sure if she broke it or not. A hiss from somewhere close at hand. Then things... got hazy.

 

"Doc, she is awake! Hurry!" The sergeant sounded upset. Then... everything faded. She was conscious. But... muted. She could see though eyes that were clouded but she could see. Everything felt... far away. The doctor was stepping away from her, his face ashen. "Who the hell is she?" The sergeant demanded, his face in her field of view showing pain, but also determination. "Dang she is good."

 

"Don't jostle the inhibitor." The supervisor said with a snap. "If she comes out of that... I don't know if any of our normal restraints would hold her as angry as she was." Something touched Lis and her body relaxed. She could still see, but... something was wrapped around her now. Something oddly gentle, but unyielding. "There we go. She won't be able to fight and that should dampen the pain until they can get her tended properly."

 

"She looks fifteen..." One of the others said with pain tinged awe. "How the hell can a fifteen year old fight like that?"

 

"I don't know." The supervisor said, calming. "You all... Get those injuries tended. I will have the MOAs take them both to medical. Faster and less jostling than if we wait for gurneys." Lis felt movement and part of her quailed as she was lifted. But whatever held her was gentle. "Ma'am..." The man's voice came close. "There wasn't any need for that. We want to help. Please... let us help."

 

Lis felt motion. She could only stare up at the ceiling as light flashed by quickly. She cast out with her mind, but it was all fuzzy. She couldn't focus. Couldn't contact the Lotus.

 

Sara... She pleaded in her mind. But there was no response from the girl.

 

She tried to remember what she had been told of the Corpus. Religious fanatics who revered profit and Orokin technology both. They used robots to do most of their fighting, but those soldiers had been well trained. Outclassed, but well trained. If those robots hadn't been there... She fought through whatever was fuzzing her brain. She had to help Sara, she had to! If the girl woke in Corpus custody or worse... if they figured out who she was...

 

Lis tried to move, but none of her muscles were responding. She felt... something at the back of her head. Where the skull met the neck. But she couldn't feel what it was or what it was doing. She was... She couldn't give up. She was Tenno! She would not give up!

 

Suddenly, the motion ended and Lis felt a hard surface underneath her. A worried female voice sounded from nearby.

 

"What the hell did they do to this poor kid?" Lis tried to tense, but her body wasn't working as something flared around her and she was suddenly cool. "Who shot her?" Something was touching her abdomen, where pain flared and then faded.

 

"According to this..." A  dumbfounded male voice spoke up. "She appeared in the platform with the other..." Lis tried to tense again, but nothing worked. She was rapidly losing her temper. "Bleeding. No way to tell where she came from." An inhalation came from the voice. "And all four of the guards are coming to be tended." The female voice gave a whistle of awe. "Protecting the other girl? Only words she spoke were 'Leave her alone' when the supervisor tried to contain them."

 

"Oh boy..." The female groaned. "This is all we need now. Some kind of special ops trooper protecting a girl. We are up for review any day now and the Board would love to shut us down, send these kids to their own special care centers."

 

"Special torture centers." The male voice snapped, then sighed. "Sorry, Ma'am. I like the kids. The thought of some Board member using them for his or her amusement... makes me angry."

 

"Me too, Tech." The female replied sadly. "Me too. Hmmm... Does she have any ID at all? Special Forces usually have an ID chip embedded in their sternum. Hard to detect, but if you know it is there... No. Nothing."

 

"You think she is Special Forces?" The other asked, worried. "What am I saying?" He asked with a snort. "It's not like she is Tenno and those are about the only other ones I know of who could take four to one odds. And that wasn't even counting the proxies."

 

"Well, let's hope this one isn't hurt as badly as the other." The female said sadly. Lis stilled. Sara? What had happened to Sara? "We were in time. But..." Lis was trying to fight now. She could... almost...

 

The world went away.

 

***

 

Lis woke up, suddenly and completely. She felt... okay. She stared down at herself and she was wearing an odd garment. It covered her completely for modesty purposes, but was thin and flimsy looking. A slow hand came up to touch her neck and she went still as she felt something around it. She explored whatever it was with her fingers, but there were no seams, no latches. It seemed to go all the way around, covering where the object at the base of her skull had been. It... went all the way up the back of her skull. Her hair, short as it had been, was gone.

 

There were... other oddities. She felt... light. Her body didn't feel quite as it had. She tried to understand the feelings, something went 'click' and her brain fuzzed. When she could think clearly again, she stared down at her upper left arm and the small cuff that circled it. On it, two lights glowed. A green and a yellow. She tried to focus again and  a red light shone. Her mind went fuzzy again. Some kind of restraint? But... This made no sense.

 

"We don't want to hurt you." The voice of the man she had heard before came from nearby and Lis turned her head to see the Supervisor. What had his name been? Frank something? "Our job here is to keep our charges healthy and happy, Ma'am." Lis shook her head slowly and the human sighed. "Look, I know you do not trust us. From what you have shown, how you have acted... Some Corpus hurt you or the girl you are protecting. Or both. Probably a Board member." He said sourly. Lis went still and he shook his head again. "We get a lot of that here. Not people protecting kids mind you, but abused kids. Scared and hurt kids." He sighed. "We can help. That poor girl... every time she comes out of sedation, her fear spikes through the roof. I don't know what they did to her, and truly? I don't care. Our job is to help hurt kids. She is a hurt kid. She doesn't trust us. She will trust you."

 

You don't know Sara... Lis said snidely in her mind but the man nodded as if she had spoken aloud.

 

"No, I don't  know this... Sara." The man said with a shrug. Lis went still and he smiled grimly. "After what you did in the portal room, do you really think we can take any chances with you? We have tapped your surface thoughts. No deeper."

 

Reading my mind... Lis closed herself up tight and then man sighed again as her mind went fuzzy. She...relaxed against her will.

 

"We didn't have a choice. You won't talk to us." The man said sadly. "If you get free, you will hurt people. So, we cannot let you loose. There are far too many vulnerable people in this facility for us to let you loose. But at the same time, we are not the Board. Our job is to help hurt kids. This... Sara is hurt. Very, very hurt."

 

What did you DO to her? Lis demanded before she could close herself down.

 

"We didn't. She struck her head, more than once." The man said softly. "Probably a fall, from the other injuries we have found. She was bleeding inside her brain." Lis went still, horrified and the man nodded. "We caught it in time. She will recover, in time. But for now, she needs rest. She needs care and rest. Every time she starts to wake, she starts screaming. We cannot keep her sedated. It will hurt her."

 

Lis slumped. She... couldn't help these people. They would hurt Sara.

 

"Please, Ma'am." The man was begging her now. "I know you are a soldier of some kind. Probably Special Forces or some Executive's Black Ops. We don't need to know any of the Board's secrets. We frankly don't want to know any of the Board's secrets. We have enough problems as it is. We have a hurt girl who we cannot help. Maybe you can."

 

Can't... trust... Lis fought the mental words and focused on the wall over the man's head.

 

"I know." The man said sadly. "So... here is what I am going to do. To help that poor girl, I am going to take a dangerous chance. One that would likely get me mind wiped if the Board ever heard of it." He reached out and touched the cuff on Lis' arm. It...clicked and fell off into his hand. "You will be able to move in a few minutes. You will not be able to strike anyone. If you try, the inhibitor will activate and put you on the floor. It was surgically implanted. You will not be able to remove it." Lis stared from her arm to the man and back, dumbfounded.

 

"Your charge is in the next room." The man said quietly. "She is a mess. All I ask is that you protect her. Try to calm her, get her to sleep.  We have healed her injuries, but... whatever she went through hurt her far worse than any physical injury." Lis shook her head. This had to be some kind of trick. Some kind of brainwashing? Corpus didn't... They didn't act this way. "I... hope you will talk to us." Frank O-34 said with a sigh. "Eventually. We can help. Maybe just her. But... maybe you too."

 

Then, to Lis' utter amazement, the man rose and left the room. Lis felt her extremities start to twitch and stared around herself, cataloguing, evaluating. The room was small. The bed she was in and a chair were the only furniture. A sink and shelf under a set of lockers marked with a symbol for medical supplies were the only decoration. A recovery room? What the hell? Lis shook herself savagely. If they could listen in her mind... She had to warn Sara that their thoughts could be tapped. Somehow.

Lis' head swam as she swung her legs off the bed but she managed to stay upright when she tried. She staggered toward the sole door she could see. It opened as she approached it. Inside, another tiny room. Sara lay on the bed, writhing in the grip of another nightmare. No one else was present. This had to be a trap of some kind. Lis scrutinized the girl, but there were no bindings, no restraints. Sara had a shaved patch on her skull, but other than that, no sign of any injuries. Lis shook herself as Sara gave a low moan.

 

Enough. Lis snarled to anyone who might be listening as she eased herself forward and into the chair beside the bed. Nothing happened and she laid a slow hand on Sara's brow.

 

"Easy, girl..." Lis said softly and Sara stilled as Lis rubbed her forehead soothingly. "I am here. Easy..." Sara jerked awake, but...she did not scream. She knew Lis. Her eyes lit on Lis' head and went wide, but then she slumped.

 

"Lis..." Sara's voice was clouded with sleep and fear. She sounded so lost and alone. "Help..."

 

"I will." Lis said as she gathered the now sobbing girl up in her arms.

 

"I will."

 

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Now that I think about it...Zacharias and Shiela?

 

No, those two are in the breeding colony. Security THERE is a bit tighter than four guards and five MOAs.

 

We might see them. We might not.

 

The Corpus is not a monolithic organization in my stories. They have many factions and many agendas. Some good, some bad, some indifferent. You can bet the Clergy WILL find out about this quickly. How will they react?

 

Wait and see.

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From the current portrayal of the place, I'm guessing with a small Black Ops guard detail.  But knowing Kal, it's just as likely to be a Black Ops wetwork team.

I kinda doubt a black ops detail here... 4 guards and some moas, and they still got their &#! kicked by a woman with a HOLE in her stomach.

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I kinda doubt a black ops detail here... 4 guards and some moas, and they still got their @$$ kicked by a UNARMED and UNARMORED woman with a HOLE in her stomach.

 

Edited for clarity. But good point.

 

Any Clergy facility or Black Ops facility would have FAR tighter security.

 

 

Orphanage

 

"Lis..." Sara said softly into the Tenno's ear. "They are Corpus."

 

"I know." Lis said quietly. "They are likely watching and listening. And they have tapped my brain, listening to my thoughts." She gave the girl a warning squeeze and Sara returned it.

 

"Oh crap." Sara said weakly. "I feel... so..."

 

"It's all right, Sara." Lis said, holding the terrified girl carefully. "We will get out of this. Somehow."

 

"Where are we?" Sara asked, staring around. Lis was about to respond when an automated voice sounded. It was modulated to sound female and kind.

 

"You are currently guests at Corpus Orphanage 87-A." The voice was calm. "You will be housed and cared for at company expense until further arrangements can be made. I am the automated systems dedicated to medical care of our charges. Further questions should be directed to facility staff." The voice clicked off and both girls stared at one another.

 

"Orphanage?" Sara asked weakly. "I..." She shuddered. "Lis... I am going under. Oh god... No..."

 

"You need rest, Sara." Lis said softly. "Too much stress, too fast. I am here, Sara. I am not going to leave you."

 

"Don't let me hurt you. Don't... let them..." Sara gave a sigh and was asleep.

 

"I won't." Lis promised the sleeping girl, holding her gently. She looked up as a door hissed open and put  a finger to her lips in warning as a young looking woman stepped in. The woman nodded. She wore the same kind of silver suit that the man had.

 

"We have quarters set up for you and her." She said softly, her face sad as she looked at Sara. "She needs sleep." Lis shook her head savagely and the woman slumped. "I... we cannot, will not press you. But this medical facility stresses her. The other... will not as much. Please?" She begged.

 

Lis thought about that for a long moment and then slowly rose from her chair, cradling Sara to her chest. The Tenno wasn't that big, but Sara wasn't very heavy either. The poor girl had been sick.  Lis took a careful step, balancing Sara's still form in her arms and looked at the other.

 

"Follow me, please." The woman said with a nod.

 

Lis followed the young woman out into... wonder. The hallways was not a the sterile walls of a medical ward. Or the platform on which she had arrive. The colors were bright and cheerful. Every so often, a picture of some kind hung. Some were digital images, pictures or portraits. Others looked to have been done in crayon on actual wood pulp paper. The woman did not speak, just walked. Lis followed without comment, but her eyes were roving. Many doors that she could see off this hall. None locked apparently. No obvious security systems. The whole floor felt... odd. A mix of ultra high tech and primitive comfort. The woman led Lis to an elevator and when it arrived, entered. The elevator was wider than Lis had expected. Narrow but wide. Wide enough for two gurneys at once, Lis realized. The woman guiding her nodded.

 

"Our medical ward." The woman said quietly to keep from disturbing Sara. "Not much, but sufficient for our needs." Lis did not reply, just kept her eyes moving. "No one will attack you. The only guards are at the portal."

 

This made no sense at all. Lis was trying to understand this when the door opened and her world started turning completely in circles. At least a dozen children sat around a large room, boys and girls, but... aside from a few looks, none of them made any motion. None spoke as the woman guided Lis out of the elevator. The room was large and comfortable, with chairs, couches and small tables set up. There were a few of the mechs that Lis had seen before, but these were smaller. None seemed to be armed. All seemed to be watching the children. The woman led the Tenno with her burden into another hall and sighed.

 

"They are scared, Ma'am." The woman said quietly. Lis turned an incredulous look at the woman but the other just shrugged. "Not so much of you. But the Board has been talking about shutting us down as 'inefficient.' " She made a face. She muttered under her breath. Something about 'lousy perverts'? Lis just looked at her and the woman sighed. "Never mind. We set up a double room for you two. It will be as comfortable as we can make it. I don't know what will happen. No one does. But for now, we can be gentle for her sake." She nodded to the sleeping girl in Lis' arms and Lis nodded as well.

 

A door opened ahead of them and the proctor woman that Lis had seen in the portal room appeared in the doorway, beckoning. Lis and the young guide entered and Lis came to a complete halt. This... she hadn't expected. The room was... gentle. Two beds lay against either wall. A desk with a chair sat against a third wall. A small door was ajar, showing a shower stall, small toilet and sink. There was rug on the floor. It looked... hand woven. A picture of a tree was hung on one wall and a smiling woman on another.

 

"How is she?" The proctor asked, her tone worried.

 

"She woke and fell asleep again. Since then, she hasn't woken." The guide replied sadly. "Probably for the best. Set her down. We have a somatic unit in the pillow." Lis tensed, but the woman shook her head. "It will keep her from having nightmares, no more. We are not an Indoctrination facility." Pain rang in her tone and Lis stared at her. "Please. She needs rest and you need food. We are not your enemies."

 

Lis shook her head slowly, but what choice did she have? If they wanted to, they could knock her out, do whatever to Sara then. They seemed to want to help. But... They were Corpus. This made no sense. She sighed deeply and laid Sara on one of the beds, careful to arrange the girl so she would not lie on any of her limbs. She went still as the proctor pulled a fuzzy blanket out of a drawer under the bed and laid it across Sara. Sara... murmured in her sleep and relaxed as Lis rubbed her scalp. The proctor jerked her head to the other girl and they both left the room. Lis pulled the chair from the desk and sat beside Sara's bed. Waiting for something, anything to happen. But nothing did. Sara slowly relaxed, comforted by the warmth of the blanket or Lis' presence? Either one was okay in Lis' mind. She went still as the door hissed, but it was the woman who had guided her here, with a tray in hand. She set it on the desk.

 

"We figured you wouldn't want to leave her." The woman said with a small, sad smile. "None of this is drugged. Some of the kids we get need help sleeping. We do what we can. It..." She sighed again, her eyes on Sara. "It doesn't feel like enough." Lis was stunned. Was the woman about to cry? "Leave the tray when you are done. An airborne proxy will be in to collect it. They are quiet. It... isn't armed. Not a threat." The woman turned and left. Leaving the tray on the desk. Lis stared at it for a long moment and then sighed deeply. She did need nourishment. And if they were going to drug her? Actually, now that she thought about it... What would be the point with the thing attached to her skull?

 

There was an odd utensil beside the covered bowl on the try. For a moment, she couldn't figure it out, but then a hidden button depressed under her finger and a spoon shape came out of one end. A second click made a fork shape. A third reverted it back to a long flat metal piece. She smirked a little. She hadn't thought they would give her a knife. She made the utensil into a spoon and opened the bowl. The smell was... good. Not Eliza's quality of cooking, but it did smell good. She took a long, slow careful bite of the... whatever this was. It wasn't quite soup and it wasn't quite stew. Something in between. IT looked kind of unappetizing, but it was filling. She hadn't meant to eat the whole bowl. She had intended to leave some for Sara, but in moments the bowl was empty and she was staring at it. She blinked, startled out of a doze. She was tired. Was she drugged? She didn't think so. There wasn't any of the fuzziness she knew from drugs. She was just... so...

 

***

 

"I thought she was never going to fall asleep." The voice of the proctor roused Lis a little. Lis tried to move, but something held her. It was gentle, whatever was holding her, but irresistible. She was lying on her side. On the bed? Something warm was being laid over her. "Maybe we should have drugged her, but that wouldn't have ended well. Tough girl." Admiration sounded as gentle hands eased Lis onto something that yielded under her.

 

"Very." The supervisor sounded somewhere between worried and amused. "I never thought to see you scared, Gen H-12. But then again, I saw what she did at the portal. She is no average soldier, whoever she is."

 

"All to protect this girl." The proctor sounded both awed and resigned. "We need answers, supervisor. The Board will demand them."

 

"I know." The supervisor sounded deflated. "They were already on our back. That witch Vina is demanding Olena V-12 back." A hiss came from the woman and his tone turned harsh. "Not a chance. Not a chance in hell."

 

"Supervisor." The proctor sounded scared now. "She ran away. If we don't give her back... They will review us. Thoroughly. You know what they will find."

 

"I don't care!" The supervisor snapped. "We... we have to abort it. She will die otherwise. I won't let her go back. I don't care how productive that $#*(@ is. That was uncalled for. The girl is only nine! She had no idea what she was signing! She is too young to be a surrogate!"

 

"I know that, supervisor." The proctor sounded sick now. "You know it. The Board doesn't care. The witch's mines are some of the most productive in system currently. They want her kept happy. And if the cost is a little orphan girl's soul? Why should they care?"

 

"I am going to make them care." Something in the supervisor's words chilled Lis. The proctor hissed as well.

 

"Frank O-34..." She warned. "Don't do anything rash. With the six new girls, we have twenty eight kids who need us here. Plus these two. And if you tick off the Board, they will 'correct' you with a mindwipe and shut us down."

 

"I have had to watch as we mend these kids and then send them out so they can be worked to death or worse, Gen H-12." Was he crying? It sure sounded like it. "I... can't do this anymore. I can't send them out... knowing..."

 

"Come on." The proctor said gently. "Let's leave these two to sleep and you can get drunk. I wish I could, but my kidneys can't handle it anymore, even the replacements have worn out. Come on. Rest well tough lady. You need it."

 

A hand patted Lis's shoulder and something warm was placed beside her. She managed with effort to crack her eyes and stared at the small stuffed Kubrow that had been placed in her arms. She took that utterly impossible image into full slumber.

 

***

 

She wasn't afraid when she woke. Lis should have been. But she wasn't. Sara lay still in the next bed, but the girl's breathing was even. Just asleep. And wonder of wonders, no nightmares. Sara was cuddling something close. A stuffed animal of some kind? Lis stared down at the small furred thing that sat beside her and shook her head. Some kind of hypnotic device? But she could hear no mechanisms, see no power supply or indicators. She set it aside. Another mystery for later. Sara was her primary focus. She slid form the bed and walked to where the chair still sat by Sara's. A hand on Sara's brow had the girl murmuring in her sleep, but not waking. The tray was gone. Then she stilled as  Sara's eyes shot open, but... the girl didn't scream.

 

"Lis?" Sara's voice was confused, but clear. "I had... the weirdest dream..." She froze as she stared about. "It... wasn't a dream..." She swallowed hard and went still as Lis laid a hand on hers. "What the hell?" She asked, fear rising.

 

"I don't know." Lis admitted. "We are prisoners, but... this is not what I expected."

 

"They will try to brainwash us." Sara said, curling up and clenching her knees. Lis laid a supportive hand on her arm and Sara clenched it tight enough to hurt. Lis did not react. "It is what they do."

 

"For now, all we can do is watch and wait, Sara." Lis said quietly. "And be ready." She brought her other hand up to rub Sara's brow. The girl leaned into it like a cat.

 

"I have never heard of a Corpus Orphanage." Sara said after a moment. "Then again... I only saw labs. A ship..." Both women went till as the door chimed. "Ah..." Sara stared at Lis who shrugged. "Come in?" Sara said in a tremulous voice. The door opened, but the proctor woman did not enter. She smiled on seeing both awake.

 

"First meal will be ready in twenty minutes." The Proctor said quietly. "My name is Gen H-12. I am proctor here. I figured an introduction would be polite."

 

"Sara." The girl said weakly. "This is Lis. She... doesn't talk much." Lis gave Sara 's hand a squeeze. Both comfort and warning. Sara returned it.

 

"We got that." The proctor said dryly. "But... you asked where you are and what an Orphanage is?" Sara nodded and the proctor returned it. "An orphanage has always been a home for orphans, children who have lost their parents. This orphanage was set up a long time ago. I have been here for a hundred and fifty seven years." Sara's eyes bulged, then she paled, but the woman took no offense. "I have seen a lot of... odd things come through here. You two are no odder than some. And far less disturbing than some of the others. You are hurt and she is protecting you. That I can understand." She shook her head. "Once, long ago, I was a soldier. Maybe not her equal, but I did serve. I... believed." Lis jerked and the woman nodded. "No longer."

 

"You... don't believe?" Sara asked, caution rising.

 

"Oh,..." The proctor waved a slow hand. "I believe the Corpus are humanity's future. A good one? Or the only one as we are told in Indoctrination? That I don't believe."

 

"That kind of talk would have gotten you punished, where I... was." Sara said slowly as Lis gave her hand another warning squeeze.

 

"Oh, it has gotten me punished a bunch of times, girl." Gen H-12 said with a sour laugh. "One thing about being as old as I am? I don't have to care anymore. They cut off my longevity treatments when they exiled me out here and truth be told? I don't know how much longer I can do this. My body is finally starting to wear out. But for as long as I can do it, I will."

 

"What is 'this'?" Sara asked quietly. "You are not like any Corpus I have ever... heard of."

 

"You have dealt with Corpus." Gen H-12 said without a hint of emotion besides a dangerous glint in her eyes. "One of them hurt you. Or more than one. We get a lot of that here. Lots of hurt kids."

 

"But... Corpus are all about efficiency." Sara said weakly. "Kids can't work as hard or as long as adults."

 

"No." Gen H-12 said savagely. "But they also don't know all of their rights and are far, far cheaper to house and pay." Lis jerked and the proctor frowned. "Sorry, I am... I get upset easy these days. Most of the Corpus, even most of the Board, do try to make their employees lives at least reasonably secure and safe. Some don't."

 

"Happy employees work harder." Sara said, uncomfortable.

 

"Yeah." Gen H-12 said with a sigh. "But try telling a few of the worst that. They have their power and no one can curb them. Except maybe the Clergy sometimes. Not all the time. We get... the detritus. The flotsam who are tossed away when the worst of the Board are done with their parents."

 

"What do you do?" Sara asked, confused. "What can you do?"

 

"First meal is being served now." Gen H-12 said with a smile. "Come and see." She stepped away from the door. Sara looked at Lis who shrugged Sara's stomach growled and Gen H-12 smiled. "I can bring a tray for you both, but you...should probably see." She turned and left as Sara looked torn.

 

"I am scared, Lis." Sara said softly. Lis gave her hand a squeeze. Lis sighed and shook her head. She wouldn't move without Sara. The girl looked at her and smiled. "You are one stubborn caretaker, Lis." Sara's smile became a grin as she rose and slid from the bed, holding tight to Lis' hand. "We do need food." Her stomach growled and she shrugged. "Don't we?"

 

Lis nodded and rose from the chair. They walked side by side, the small half Tenno girl and the Tenno. Hand in hand. Ready for anything. Or so they thought.

 

As they exited the room, the proctor beckoned them from ahead and they stepped to where she stood. The woman led the way into a larger room that seemed filled with children. All eating quietly. All were... smiling at the proctor and now at Lis and Sara.

 

"What do we do here, Sara? Lis?" Proctor Gen H-12 asked softly. "We heal souls."

 

Edited by Kalenath
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*sniff*

 

Did Nikis and Serene scare everyone away? Geez, I guess I need to talk to those two about dropping in on my threads.

 

Ah well...

 

Got ahead of myself. Two today.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Do you really want their help?

 

Lis was... bemused. Sara sat, chatting softly with a girl about her own age as the two worked on something that involved small blocks being moved around a tray. It had been two days. Or at least... six meals. There were no chronometers, intentionally. The staff did not want the kids to focus on how long things took. Sara moved a block slowly and the other girl stared as an image appeared on the tray. Some kind of circuit diagram? Sara winced, but the other girl just smiled and nodded. They reset the tray and started again. Sara relaxed. How long had it been since Lis had seen Sara relax completely? Lis wondered if she had ever seen Sara so carefree, so... happy. Allowed to just be a little girl for a bit. She knew Serene and Mishka tried, but Sara had always been so serious. So uptight. And for her to be able to relax here of all places...

 

Lis looked about, her eyes roving carefully. She noted each and every hidden surveillance system. They were not that hard to detect. This wasn't a prison after all. It was a place of healing. Or... so the staff said and so Lis was slowly coming to believe. Sara hadn't had nightmares either night. Somatic units were not perfect, but they did work for Sara. Kept her calm and her nightmares art bay. There were no drugs that Lis could detect in any of her or Sara's food. Some of the other children were drugged. Lis could see the slight hesitation in their movements that came from calming agents. From what little Lis had heard from the staff, she was surprised more of the kids didn't need them. The only true downside to Lis was that she still wore the 'inhibitor' thing.

 

She had to get it off. Somehow. When the Corpus figured out who Sara really was, and Lis had no illusions that they would eventually... Lis would have to protect Sara. The staff might be kind and gentle, but they were Corpus. They served the Corpus. When the Board...

 

She squelched that thought. She would not betray Sara. Her mind was not an open book, but her surface thoughts might as well have been. She went still as Proctor Gen H-12 appeared nearby and beckoned to her. Her immediate negative was turned on its ear when Sara looked at her and smiled fondly. The girl tilted her head at the proctor and Lis sighed inaudibly. Sara was... okay for now. Lis needed to figure out what to do now.

 

Lis rose from her chair and walked to where the proctor stood in the hallway. The old human woman nodded to a door nearby and led the way. Inside, two chairs sat beside a small table. The room was comfortable like all the others in the tiny facility. Made to feel that way to set minds at ease. The proctor sat in one chair and after a moment, Lis sat in the other.

 

"She is sleeping well?" The older woman said with a smile. Lis nodded. "Good, drugs don't always have the effects we want. Much better to soothe and comfort using natural means." Lis just looked at her and the Proctors shook her head. "Somatic units use natural wavelengths of EM radiation. Yes, they are artificial, but they are gentle. Far gentler than drugs." Lis did not speak and the proctor sighed. "Sara is doing better. You are not."

 

Lis jerked but did not move otherwise. Gen H-12 sighed even more deeply.

 

"I am not asking for secrets." The old woman said quietly. "I am not asking you to betray anything. All I ask is for you to talk to me. We need to have some kind of story to tell the Board before they come calling. If they find a mystery, they will pry it from your mind and Sara's. They will callously undo the repairs we have done for her and they won't care if they destroy her. I have seen it happen before." Lis did not move and the proctor shook her head. Then she spoke louder. "Recorders off."

 

"Proctor Gen H-12, the recorders are required for..." An automated voice was cut off as the proctor recited a series of codes. "Authorization accepted, Lieutenant Commander Gen H-12."

 

"Shut up already, you stupid bag of bolts." The old woman snapped and turned back to Lis who sat frozen. Lieutenant Commander? That was...a fairly high rank, wasn't it? The proctor shook her head. "We don't have long. Ten minutes is the best my codes can give us. I know what you are." Lis went totally still as the older woman sat back, her hands folded. "Even Special Forces couldn't have taken four to one and disabled a MOA too. Yes..." She said with a smile as Lis stared at her, slack jawed. "You took out it's knee. Good strike, fast and precise. A well trained human could do that. But not while taking on four other humans at the same time. All of whom were trained, if not to Special Forces quality, then to basic soldier level. They are not the best, but they are not completely clueless either. You went through them like a buzz saw." She paused. "Or a Glaive. Not that I would expect anything less from a Tenno."

 

Lis felt fear spike. She was discovered. But...why was the old human woman just sitting there?

 

"Two reasons." The proctor said as if Lis' thoughts had been audible. Maybe they had been. "One, you are still locked in the inhibitor. I bet if I served you up to the Board like this they would give me a nice pat on the back before they stood me up against the wall and had me shot." Lis stared at her and the old woman smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You can't fight with that on your neck. For now. I bet you will find a way around it. Sooner rather than later. So... before you do,... the second reason: I am not your enemy."

 

"Not my enemy?" Lis jerked. She hadn't intended to speak.

 

"No." The old human said quietly. "I haven't held a weapon in hundred and fifty-seven years. Before that? I was Special Forces. Which is how I know you are not." She said with a self deprecating grin. "We know our own. You are far, far better than I was even at my best. Now?" She shrugged. "You could kill me with a hard breath. But..." She shook her head.

 

"But?" Lis asked, manifestly against her will.

 

"I have seen you with that poor girl." Gen H-12 said quietly. "You love her." It wasn't a question. "I didn't know your kind could love. I never fought your people, but I knew a lot who did. Well... who tried." Gen H-12 looked pensive for a moment. "The Board are idiots. Complete @(*()$ idiots." She shook her head. "I will not betray you to them. I cannot. Not after what they did to me and my people." Lis just looked at her and the old human sighed again.

 

"I believed, like I told you. We all did. And they took that belief and used us to further their ends. We were told the area was filled with dangerous rebels. We breached and went in shooting. There was no return fire." She bit her lip as Lis inhaled sharply. "Dangerous rebels, my @$$. The most dangerous weapon there was a stuffed bear." The woman snarled. "I saw that... in the arms of a girl not much older than your Sara... My Supra's bolts had cut her in half. No armor. No weapons." She sighed. "And the worst part? They all died because they were squatting on some Executive's land. They were not even hostile and we killed them all. Five of us. Fifty three civilians dead because that Executive wanted the land and they were in the way. He ordered us to go in shooting and we did. Heaven help us... we did. They probably would have moved if we had let them. But he wanted the land and he wanted it now. Maybe there were ore deposits... Maybe to put in a swimming pool." She snapped. "I don't know. I don't care. I won't betray you."

 

"How can I trust you?" Lis asked quietly.

 

"Because as of now..." The proctor said quietly. "You are the only person who knows that Gen H-12, proctor for this orphanage, was Lieutenant Commander Gen H-12. The Special Forces officer who walked into that Executive's office and hosed him down with her Supra in full view of his staff. Her team died, covering her as she erased that scum from existence. When she was done, there was nothing to revive or recover. Not even DNA. She expected to die. She didn't." Lis stared at the old woman who was smiling in grim memory. "The Board covered it up of course, but they would have executed me if not for some... special assistance. I was... exiled instead. Forgotten about. The current Board would love to shut this place down and my presence would be all the reason they need. My records are sealed from simple searches, but if they looked? Oh yeah. I betray you, you betray me. Mutually assured destruction." She shook her head. "I won't hurt these kids. I won't let the Board hurt these kids."

 

"I can't trust you." Lis said slowly.

 

"No?" The proctor said with a smile as she picked up an empty cup and threw it hard at Lis. Lis... caught it in midair and threw it back. The proctor ducked and the cup that would have hit her square in the face clattered against the wall and then to the floor. "Then how did you just threaten me?"

 

"That was a cup." Lis said dryly.

 

"Don't tell me you can't kill with a cup." Gen H-12 said with a grin. "I can and I bet you are better."

 

"Why?" Lis asked, stunned as the implication set in. She was free. But...was she? "How do I know this isn't a trick of some kind? And also... Tenno wear warframes. I am not in one."

 

"Yeah." Gen H-12 said with a snort. "Every scan we have done comes back as you being human. But..." She shook her head. "I have seen you with Sara and the others. You do truly care. Maybe.. maybe you can save Sara. She is so hurt. So strong and so brave, but so hurt. I don't know what the Board did to her, but the scans are clear. Genetic splicing of two distinct people's DNA. Blatant tampering. Cloning. That has been illegal for a long, long time. Repairs or rejuvenation are fine, but that? We recently had another example of why we shouldn't do such things." She actually shuddered. "Tenno leave big messes in their wakes."

 

"Serene was not a wise one to anger." Lis murmured. Gen H-12 nodded. "You knew the name."

 

"Murmurs. Stories. Gossip." Gen H-12 replied offhand. "Not a lot in records and most of them classified. But I have a few sources still. One should be here in a bit. I think she can help you. Maybe. Do not trust her though. She plays her own game." The proctor warned.
 

"Most do." Lis said casually. "So... now what? It has been almost ten minutes."

 

"I look at you and I see myself as I was." Gen H-12 said cautiously. "Someone whose belief was turned around and used against her. Someone who had to choke on vomit and blood and guts to do what she was ordered to do. Someone who broke. Sara loves you. She needs you. She needs you whole."

 

"You cannot help me." Lis said quietly.

 

"Maybe not." Gen H-12 replied with a calm that did not show in her tense fingers that clenched on the armrests of her chair. "But I want to try. To make up for what I was? What I did? Oh yeah... I want to try."

 

"I can't talk about...it." Lis said firmly.

 

"Then don't." Gen H-12 said as she glanced up at the ceiling, then at Lis. The warning was clear. The recorders were likely live again. "What do you feel? Now? This moment?" Lis stared at her, dumbfounded and the old human woman gave a genuine smile. "I am not asking for secrets. I am asking for feelings. Humans have emotions. If we did not, we would just be robots. We are not."

 

"Gen H-12, you okay?" The voice of the facility supervisor spoke from a speaker somewhere.

 

"Yeah, Frank O-34. I am okay. I just had to give some classified codes to prove to Lis here that I am cleared." Gen H-12 said calmly. Lis nodded slowly. "She can't talk about a lot. She is bound by her oaths. But I think I can help."

 

"The last thing we need is for the Board to hear about any code breaks..." The supervisor said with a sigh. "I'll... keep the recorders set to automatic. They will record, but only dump to a secure datadrive. And for what it is worth? Good luck to both of you."

 

"How is Sara?" Lis stiffened. She hadn't wanted to speak.

 

"She is making a mess." The supervisor said with a snort. The proctor and Lis stared at one another, but the supervisor laughed. "She is in far better physical shape than some of the others and she is showing them how to fall properly. A good skill to have. But um... It's gonna be a mess. Especially when the others start trying."

 

"You want me to stop her?" Lis asked quietly. "I can."

 

"No." The supervisor said after a moment. "They are all smiling and laughing. That is worth a few bruises and broken pieces of furniture. Oh, and...? You are now Lis F-43 in our records and Sara is Sara B-76. Less obvious."

 

"Thank you." Lis said, stunned. Why were they protecting her and Sara? This... made no sense.

 

"Thank you for not killing the one thing I know I can trust in this insane universe." The supervisor said with a sigh and then the line cut. Lis stared from the wall to the proctor who was... blushing a little.

 

"Frank O-34 was always a good kid." Gen H-12 said with a fond smile. "I was here when he came. One of my first successes. I... took a while to understand what to do and how. But gentleness and kindness do win out in the end."

 

"You... started this?" Lis felt awe. This old human soldier had done all of this...

 

"It is not much." Gen H-12 said with a shrug. "But it is all I can do. So..." She shook herself. "What do you feel?"

 

Lis shook her head as she tried to wrap herself around the strangeness of a human Corpus soldier psychoanalyzing her and not going to betray her. Or Sara. It was hard. But maybe, just maybe... she could do it. Help herself and Sara at the same time.

 

***

 

It was hard. Lis had few self delusions. She knew her own limits to within millimeters. But this... Emotions had never been her thing. She had always had to suppress them to get the job done. Gen H-12 understood. Oh yes, the woman understood.

 

"...and it is so hard. I trusted. Others and myself." Lis hadn't expected to be crying. But she was. "And now? I can't trust anyone."

 

"Yes, you can." Gen H-12 said as she passed Lis another small tissue. "Trust yourself. You know right from wrong or you wouldn't feel like this. I have known people, met people who would do horrors without hesitation. With no remorse whatsoever. They may have looked human. But they were not." Gen smiled a bit forlornly. "You are."

 

"It hurts." Lis said sadly. "Why does it hurt so much?"

 

"Because you are a good woman, Lis F-43." Gen H-12 said quietly. "I don't know what horrors you went through before. It's not really any of my business. But you are strong. Stronger than whoever tried to break you. Stronger than me."

 

"I don't see that." Lis said weakly. "I mean... I am crying for goodness sakes!"

 

"Tears are not weakness." Gen H-12 said kindly. "And anyone who says they are is lying to you. They are  a physical reaction to stress and pain. No more, no less." She shook her head. "I cried when I was a soldier. Usually not where anyone could see, but I did. No one thought the less of me when I did. Got the job done. That was all that mattered. What is your job, Lis F-43?"

 

"Protecting Sara." Lis said quietly. "From others and from herself."

 

"Her scans were...a bit on the side of self destructive tendencies." Gen H-12 said delicately. "We can help. If you let us. If..." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as a speaker went live. "Yes?"

 

"Gen H-12!" The voice was one of the other staff. A female med tech that Lis had been introduced to. Kari L-67? Something like that. She sounded one step from terror. "We need you in the main room! Now!" In the background, Lis could hear raised voices. Female and a male. Was that Frank O-34? "Vina is here!"

 

"Oh crap!" Gen was on her feet and out the door in an instant, Lis a heartbeat behind her.

 

The scene that met Lis' horrified gaze was not a good one. A tall woman in a flowing dress stood in the middle of the room, her gaze on Frank O-34 who stood his ground. But there were several soldiers with weapons at the ready near one door. Six of them. At least none of the kids were present.

 

"You idiotic $#*(@..." Gen H-12 said in a not-so-soft voice. Two of the guards turned to face her, weapons covering her. "Legal methods of torture and murder too slow? Now you have to do it the old fashioned way?"

 

"I do not speak to peons." The woman said in a haughty voice. "Where is my property, supervisor? I know it is here."

 

"Your property?" Frank O-34 looked as if her were a hair away from grabbing the woman who had to be an executive and rending her limb from limb. With six armed soldiers in the room, that would not end well. "Oh... here..." He pulled a small container out of a pocket and tossed it to the woman who caught it.  "That is your property. Now get out."

 

"What have you done?" The woman demanded as she stared at the small opaque container.

 

"What did he do?" A new voice asked calmly and everything went still as an old woman wearing an old style nun's habit stepped into the room. "He did his job. He saved a little girl's life. She wasn't genetically compatible with you, but then again, why should you care? Kill a surrogate and you will find, steal or coerce another against her will." Vina opened her mouth but the nun shook her head. Lis had never met the woman, but she had heard descriptions. Descriptions... didn't do her justice.

 

"Step carefully, Executive Vina." The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy said quietly, but with dreadful force as she speared a wrinkled forefinger at the stunned executive.

 

"I am not happy with you."

 

Edited by Kalenath
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No one commented...

 

*sniff*

 

Did Nikis and Serene scare everyone away? Geez, I guess I need to talk to those two about dropping in on my threads.

 

Ah well...

 

Got ahead of myself. Two today.

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Do you really want their help?

 

Lis was... bemused. Sara sat, chatting softly with a girl about her own age as the two worked on something that involved small blocks being moved around a tray. It had been two days. Or at least... six meals. There were no chronometers, intentionally. The staff did not want the kids to focus on how long things took. Sara moved a block slowly and the other girl stared as an image appeared on the tray. Some kind of circuit diagram? Sara winced, but the other girl just smiled and nodded. They reset the tray and started again. Sara relaxed. How long had it been since Lis had seen Sara relax completely? Lis wondered if she had ever seen Sara so carefree, so... happy. Allowed to just be a little girl for a bit. She knew Serene and Mishka tried, but Sara had always been so serious. So uptight. And for her to be able to relax here of all places...

 

Lis looked about, her eyes roving carefully. She noted each and every hidden surveillance system. They were not that hard to detect. This wasn't a prison after all. It was a place of healing. Or... so the staff said and so Lis was slowly coming to believe. Sara hadn't had nightmares either night. Somatic units were not perfect, but they did work for Sara. Kept her calm and her nightmares art bay. There were no drugs that Lis could detect in any of her or Sara's food. Some of the other children were drugged. Lis could see the slight hesitation in their movements that came from calming agents. From what little Lis had heard from the staff, she was surprised more of the kids didn't need them. The only true downside to Lis was that she still wore the 'inhibitor' thing.

 

She had to get it off. Somehow. When the Corpus figured out who Sara really was, and Lis had no illusions that they would eventually... Lis would have to protect Sara. The staff might be kind and gentle, but they were Corpus. They served the Corpus. When the Board...

 

She squelched that thought. She would not betray Sara. Her mind was not an open book, but her surface thoughts might as well have been. She went still as Proctor Gen H-12 appeared nearby and beckoned to her. Her immediate negative was turned on its ear when Sara looked at her and smiled fondly. The girl tilted her head at the proctor and Lis sighed inaudibly. Sara was... okay for now. Lis needed to figure out what to do now.

 

Lis rose from her chair and walked to where the proctor stood in the hallway. The old human woman nodded to a door nearby and led the way. Inside, two chairs sat beside a small table. The room was comfortable like all the others in the tiny facility. Made to feel that way to set minds at ease. The proctor sat in one chair and after a moment, Lis sat in the other.

 

"She is sleeping well?" The older woman said with a smile. Lis nodded. "Good, drugs don't always have the effects we want. Much better to soothe and comfort using natural means." Lis just looked at her and the Proctors shook her head. "Somatic units use natural wavelengths of EM radiation. Yes, they are artificial, but they are gentle. Far gentler than drugs." Lis did not speak and the proctor sighed. "Sara is doing better. You are not."

 

Lis jerked but did not move otherwise. Gen H-12 sighed even more deeply.

 

"I am not asking for secrets." The old woman said quietly. "I am not asking you to betray anything. All I ask is for you to talk to me. We need to have some kind of story to tell the Board before they come calling. If they find a mystery, they will pry it from your mind and Sara's. They will callously undo the repairs we have done for her and they won't care if they destroy her. I have seen it happen before." Lis did not move and the proctor shook her head. Then she spoke louder. "Recorders off."

 

"Proctor Gen H-12, the recorders are required for..." An automated voice was cut off as the proctor recited a series of codes. "Authorization accepted, Lieutenant Commander Gen H-12."

 

"Shut up already, you stupid bag of bolts." The old woman snapped and turned back to Lis who sat frozen. Lieutenant Commander? That was...a fairly high rank, wasn't it? The proctor shook her head. "We don't have long. Ten minutes is the best my codes can give us. I know what you are." Lis went totally still as the older woman sat back, her hands folded. "Even Special Forces couldn't have taken four to one and disabled a MOA too. Yes..." She said with a smile as Lis stared at her, slack jawed. "You took out it's knee. Good strike, fast and precise. A well trained human could do that. But not while taking on four other humans at the same time. All of whom were trained, if not to Special Forces quality, then to basic soldier level. They are not the best, but they are not completely clueless either. You went through them like a buzz saw." She paused. "Or a Glaive. Not that I would expect anything less from a Tenno."

 

Lis felt fear spike. She was discovered. But...why was the old human woman just sitting there?

 

"Two reasons." The proctor said as if Lis' thoughts had been audible. Maybe they had been. "One, you are still locked in the inhibitor. I bet if I served you up to the Board like this they would give me a nice pat on the back before they stood me up against the wall and had me shot." Lis stared at her and the old woman smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You can't fight with that on your neck. For now. I bet you will find a way around it. Sooner rather than later. So... before you do,... the second reason: I am not your enemy."

 

"Not my enemy?" Lis jerked. She hadn't intended to speak.

 

"No." The old human said quietly. "I haven't held a weapon in hundred and fifty-seven years. Before that? I was Special Forces. Which is how I know you are not." She said with a self deprecating grin. "We know our own. You are far, far better than I was even at my best. Now?" She shrugged. "You could kill me with a hard breath. But..." She shook her head.

 

"But?" Lis asked, manifestly against her will.

 

"I have seen you with that poor girl." Gen H-12 said quietly. "You love her." It wasn't a question. "I didn't know your kind could love. I never fought your people, but I knew a lot who did. Well... who tried." Gen H-12 looked pensive for a moment. "The Board are idiots. Complete @(*()$ idiots." She shook her head. "I will not betray you to them. I cannot. Not after what they did to me and my people." Lis just looked at her and the old human sighed again.

 

"I believed, like I told you. We all did. And they took that belief and used us to further their ends. We were told the area was filled with dangerous rebels. We breached and went in shooting. There was no return fire." She bit her lip as Lis inhaled sharply. "Dangerous rebels, my @$$. The most dangerous weapon there was a stuffed bear." The woman snarled. "I saw that... in the arms of a girl not much older than your Sara... My Supra's bolts had cut her in half. No armor. No weapons." She sighed. "And the worst part? They all died because they were squatting on some Executive's land. They were not even hostile and we killed them all. Five of us. Fifty three civilians dead because that Executive wanted the land and they were in the way. He ordered us to go in shooting and we did. Heaven help us... we did. They probably would have moved if we had let them. But he wanted the land and he wanted it now. Maybe there were ore deposits... Maybe to put in a swimming pool." She snapped. "I don't know. I don't care. I won't betray you."

 

"How can I trust you?" Lis asked quietly.

 

"Because as of now..." The proctor said quietly. "You are the only person who knows that Gen H-12, proctor for this orphanage, was Lieutenant Commander Gen H-12. The Special Forces officer who walked into that Executive's office and hosed him down with her Supra in full view of his staff. Her team died, covering her as she erased that scum from existence. When she was done, there was nothing to revive or recover. Not even DNA. She expected to die. She didn't." Lis stared at the old woman who was smiling in grim memory. "The Board covered it up of course, but they would have executed me if not for some... special assistance. I was... exiled instead. Forgotten about. The current Board would love to shut this place down and my presence would be all the reason they need. My records are sealed from simple searches, but if they looked? Oh yeah. I betray you, you betray me. Mutually assured destruction." She shook her head. "I won't hurt these kids. I won't let the Board hurt these kids."

 

"I can't trust you." Lis said slowly.

 

"No?" The proctor said with a smile as she picked up an empty cup and threw it hard at Lis. Lis... caught it in midair and threw it back. The proctor ducked and the cup that would have hit her square in the face clattered against the wall and then to the floor. "Then how did you just threaten me?"

 

"That was a cup." Lis said dryly.

 

"Don't tell me you can't kill with a cup." Gen H-12 said with a grin. "I can and I bet you are better."

 

"Why?" Lis asked, stunned as the implication set in. She was free. But...was she? "How do I know this isn't a trick of some kind? And also... Tenno wear warframes. I am not in one."

 

"Yeah." Gen H-12 said with a snort. "Every scan we have done comes back as you being human. But..." She shook her head. "I have seen you with Sara and the others. You do truly care. Maybe.. maybe you can save Sara. She is so hurt. So strong and so brave, but so hurt. I don't know what the Board did to her, but the scans are clear. Genetic splicing of two distinct people's DNA. Blatant tampering. Cloning. That has been illegal for a long, long time. Repairs or rejuvenation are fine, but that? We recently had another example of why we shouldn't do such things." She actually shuddered. "Tenno leave big messes in their wakes."

 

"Serene was not a wise one to anger." Lis murmured. Gen H-12 nodded. "You knew the name."

 

"Murmurs. Stories. Gossip." Gen H-12 replied offhand. "Not a lot in records and most of them classified. But I have a few sources still. One should be here in a bit. I think she can help you. Maybe. Do not trust her though. She plays her own game." The proctor warned.

 

"Most do." Lis said casually. "So... now what? It has been almost ten minutes."

 

"I look at you and I see myself as I was." Gen H-12 said cautiously. "Someone whose belief was turned around and used against her. Someone who had to choke on vomit and blood and guts to do what she was ordered to do. Someone who broke. Sara loves you. She needs you. She needs you whole."

 

"You cannot help me." Lis said quietly.

 

"Maybe not." Gen H-12 replied with a calm that did not show in her tense fingers that clenched on the armrests of her chair. "But I want to try. To make up for what I was? What I did? Oh yeah... I want to try."

 

"I can't talk about...it." Lis said firmly.

 

"Then don't." Gen H-12 said as she glanced up at the ceiling, then at Lis. The warning was clear. The recorders were likely live again. "What do you feel? Now? This moment?" Lis stared at her, dumbfounded and the old human woman gave a genuine smile. "I am not asking for secrets. I am asking for feelings. Humans have emotions. If we did not, we would just be robots. We are not."

 

"Gen H-12, you okay?" The voice of the facility supervisor spoke from a speaker somewhere.

 

"Yeah, Frank O-34. I am okay. I just had to give some classified codes to prove to Lis here that I am cleared." Gen H-12 said calmly. Lis nodded slowly. "She can't talk about a lot. She is bound by her oaths. But I think I can help."

 

"The last thing we need is for the Board to hear about any code breaks..." The supervisor said with a sigh. "I'll... keep the recorders set to automatic. They will record, but only dump to a secure datadrive. And for what it is worth? Good luck to both of you."

 

"How is Sara?" Lis stiffened. She hadn't wanted to speak.

 

"She is making a mess." The supervisor said with a snort. The proctor and Lis stared at one another, but the supervisor laughed. "She is in far better physical shape than some of the others and she is showing them how to fall properly. A good skill to have. But um... It's gonna be a mess. Especially when the others start trying."

 

"You want me to stop her?" Lis asked quietly. "I can."

 

"No." The supervisor said after a moment. "They are all smiling and laughing. That is worth a few bruises and broken pieces of furniture. Oh, and...? You are now Lis F-43 in our records and Sara is Sara B-76. Less obvious."

 

"Thank you." Lis said, stunned. Why were they protecting her and Sara? This... made no sense.

 

"Thank you for not killing the one thing I know I can trust in this insane universe." The supervisor said with a sigh and then the line cut. Lis stared from the wall to the proctor who was... blushing a little.

 

"Frank O-34 was always a good kid." Gen H-12 said with a fond smile. "I was here when he came. One of my first successes. I... took a while to understand what to do and how. But gentleness and kindness do win out in the end."

 

"You... started this?" Lis felt awe. This old human soldier had done all of this...

 

"It is not much." Gen H-12 said with a shrug. "But it is all I can do. So..." She shook herself. "What do you feel?"

 

Lis shook her head as she tried to wrap herself around the strangeness of a human Corpus soldier psychoanalyzing her and not going to betray her. Or Sara. It was hard. But maybe, just maybe... she could do it. Help herself and Sara at the same time.

 

***

 

It was hard. Lis had few self delusions. She knew her own limits to within millimeters. But this... Emotions had never been her thing. She had always had to suppress them to get the job done. Gen H-12 understood. Oh yes, the woman understood.

 

"...and it is so hard. I trusted. Others and myself." Lis hadn't expected to be crying. But she was. "And now? I can't trust anyone."

 

"Yes, you can." Gen H-12 said as she passed Lis another small tissue. "Trust yourself. You know right from wrong or you wouldn't feel like this. I have known people, met people who would do horrors without hesitation. With no remorse whatsoever. They may have looked human. But they were not." Gen smiled a bit forlornly. "You are."

 

"It hurts." Lis said sadly. "Why does it hurt so much?"

 

"Because you are a good woman, Lis F-43." Gen H-12 said quietly. "I don't know what horrors you went through before. It's not really any of my business. But you are strong. Stronger than whoever tried to break you. Stronger than me."

 

"I don't see that." Lis said weakly. "I mean... I am crying for goodness sakes!"

 

"Tears are not weakness." Gen H-12 said kindly. "And anyone who says they are is lying to you. They are  a physical reaction to stress and pain. No more, no less." She shook her head. "I cried when I was a soldier. Usually not where anyone could see, but I did. No one thought the less of me when I did. Got the job done. That was all that mattered. What is your job, Lis F-43?"

 

"Protecting Sara." Lis said quietly. "From others and from herself."

 

"Her scans were...a bit on the side of self destructive tendencies." Gen H-12 said delicately. "We can help. If you let us. If..." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as a speaker went live. "Yes?"

 

"Gen H-12!" The voice was one of the other staff. A female med tech that Lis had been introduced to. Kari L-67? Something like that. She sounded one step from terror. "We need you in the main room! Now!" In the background, Lis could hear raised voices. Female and a male. Was that Frank O-34? "Vina is here!"

 

"Oh crap!" Gen was on her feet and out the door in an instant, Lis a heartbeat behind her.

 

The scene that met Lis' horrified gaze was not a good one. A tall woman in a flowing dress stood in the middle of the room, her gaze on Frank O-34 who stood his ground. But there were several soldiers with weapons at the ready near one door. Six of them. At least none of the kids were present.

 

"You idiotic $#*(@..." Gen H-12 said in a not-so-soft voice. Two of the guards turned to face her, weapons covering her. "Legal methods of torture and murder too slow? Now you have to do it the old fashioned way?"

 

"I do not speak to peons." The woman said in a haughty voice. "Where is my property, supervisor? I know it is here."

 

"Your property?" Frank O-34 looked as if her were a hair away from grabbing the woman who had to be an executive and rending her limb from limb. With six armed soldiers in the room, that would not end well. "Oh... here..." He pulled a small container out of a pocket and tossed it to the woman who caught it.  "That is your property. Now get out."

 

"What have you done?" The woman demanded as she stared at the small opaque container.

 

"What did he do?" A new voice asked calmly and everything went still as an old woman wearing an old style nun's habit stepped into the room. "He did his job. He saved a little girl's life. She wasn't genetically compatible with you, but then again, why should you care? Kill a surrogate and you will find, steal or coerce another against her will." Vina opened her mouth but the nun shook her head. Lis had never met the woman, but she had heard descriptions. Descriptions... didn't do her justice.

 

"Step carefully, Executive Vina." The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy said quietly, but with dreadful force as she speared a wrinkled forefinger at the stunned executive.

 

"I am not happy with you."

 

 Sorry guy, ive been workin 16 hours, just got home -_-

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Sorry Kal! D:

 

It's good, as always, and thanks for the double dose of awesomeness. It's very much appreciated!

 

Also, please don't tell Nikis or anyone else not to drop in. For one, it's awesome (if terrifying), and two, I don't think it's wise to attempt to tell Nikis especially not to do anything...

Edited by Jeahanne
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