[Fanfiction] Innocents

[Kalenath]

Is Jesselle going to become a Tenno or something?

Also... I'm loving this story, probably going to look up any previous issues, but I'm having trouble with some of their names.

I know I'll just have to deal with it, it's your story and all... but I just can't get over an ancient Ninja-ish fearless warrior being called Karl

 

Scary thing is? I knew a Karl who practiced Ninjitsu. He was downright TERRIFYING. Hit him and he gets happy. It is called 'blood drunk' and it is SCARY. He... didn't always remember who was friend and foe when he got that way.

 

Ouch.

 

 

Mental

 

Jesselle knew instantly that something had gone very wrong. She usually woke up quickly. It was basic training for Clergy personnel, even those like Jesselle who were tech or medic oriented. It took her several minutes to realize she was awake and several more to realize that she was not anywhere that she knew. Then a voice she did know spoke from nearby.

 

"You know you are in trouble, right?"

 

Jesselle jerked and then turned to look. Yes, it was Sister Keiko sitting at a table near the door to the room. The sister looked pale and wan, but her eyes were alight.

 

"Yes, Sister Keiko." Jesselle said quietly. "I know I am in trouble. I apologize."

 

"If you think a verbal apology will do, young lady..." The Sister said as she rose. Jesselle swallowed hard as she saw what was in the Sister's hand.  A small flat object, marked with lines. "You can think again." She shook her head as she stepped closer to Jesselle's bed. "Drugging me was one thing. But you scared us all. Every last one of us."

 

"I... ah..." Jesselle hung her head and held out her hand.

 

"This is from me, the Reverend Mother and your mother." Keiko said as she brought the ancient ruler down on Jesselle's hand. Jesselle did not flinch and Keiko sighed. "Stupid girl..."

 

"It... had to be done, Keiko." Jesselle said weakly as Keiko stung her hand with the ruler again. "They would have all died. I was... Ow!" She cried as Keiko struck her hand again. "Sister!" Jesselle said weakly. "I apologize... It just..." Suddenly she was crying. "I just..."

 

"Oh, Jesselle..." Keiko sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into an embrace. "You scared us all. And not because of what you mom would do. No. We thought we had lost you, girl." She gave Jesselle a shake. "If you ever do such a dumb thing again, I will do as the rules demand and paddle you." Corporal punishment was a fact of life among the Clergy. It worked as a deterrent in almost all cases.

 

"I... I didn't..." Jesselle sobbed as Keiko held her. "I just... I needed to do it. I was the only one who could..."

 

"That is not true, Jesselle." Keiko said firmly. "If you had told us, we would have sent an agent. Someone trained for such. Not an untrained girl on the cusp of womanhood."

 

"I... couldn't tell anyone." Jesselle said sadly. "I gave my word."

 

"And was your word worth your life?" Keiko demanded. Jesselle went still and Keiko nodded. "They may not be able to fix what is wrong with you. If not... your power will grow out of control. If that happens..." Jesselle swallowed hard and nodded.

 

"The I will be put down." Jesselle said softly.

 

"No." Keiko said firmly. "You are not an animal, Jesselle. You are a silly girl occasionally, but... We do know that your heart is in the right place. Until we know one way or the other, you will not be left alone for any reason. You will be under full time surveillance, both mechanical and organic. Telepathy does not work on mechanicals."

 

"I know." Jesselle hung her head. "I just... I wanted to talk to Mom and... then it was... they were kind, but... I... It didn't work as it should have. And now..." She slumped. "Now I am broken."

 

"Jesselle." Keiko said firmly. "You do not really know what that word means. I pray you never do. You are hurting, scared and sick. Not broken." She shook her head and let the girl go. "Now... You have to get cleaned up and ready for some tests. The healers here need to run a bunch of tests."

 

"Where are we?" Jesselle asked as she sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

 

"I do not know." Keiko admitted. "Not anywhere I have been or seen. Some of our historians say it is an Orokin relay of some kind, refurbished." She waved a hand at Jesselle. "Go on. You are not bedridden,. Get clean. Now." She brandished the ruler again and Jesselle hurried to the cleaner unit.

 

"I..." Jesselle swallowed as she started to take off her patient gown. "How did you get here? I guess they brought me while I was asleep."

 

"I went by an extremely unpleasant route." Keiko said with a sigh. "Nothing I care to do again anytime soon. Get clean. Now!" She commanded and Jesselle hurriedly closed the shower stall.

 

***

 

Jesselle felt a bit better clean. She still felt... off. Not bad. Not wrong. Just... off. As if things were not quite as they should be. It only got worse when she left the room with Keiko holding her arm.

 

"Jesselle." The violet hulled MOA sounded... ambivalent and Jesselle winced.

 

"Uh... Hi Sheila." Jesselle said weakly. "I um... I know I made a mess."

 

"You have no idea." The MOA that wasn't one said with a snort. "The paperwork for this is going to take years."

 

"Well, then it is a good thing she likes being punished." Keiko said with a small smile. Jesselle winced and Keiko's smile blossomed into something nasty. "I can think of a few things you can do to make up for drugging me and fleeing the colony like you did. Helping to clean up the paperwork is just one of them."

 

"Shoot me?" Jesselle asked the MOA, not at all whimsically.

 

"Oh no." Sheila laughed merrily. "Misery loves company and you just earned the ire of every single bureaucrat in the Clergy with your escapades. I mean... theft of medical supplies, alteration of portals, evading capture, infiltrating a Grineer laboratory without the proper forms filled out?" Jesselle winced harder and Shelia took pity on her. "Oh, relax Jesselle. We will have a lot of paperwork, but I won't make you do it alone."

 

"Thanks." Jesselle said dryly. She sighed. "The kids?"

 

"What do you know about them, Jesselle?" Sheila asked quietly.

 

"They are not human." Jesselle said quietly. "I do not know what they are, but they are not human. Their minds didn't.... feel human."

 

"They are Tenno." Sheila made a sour noise. "Stupid Grineer found a set of pods and used what was in them. I can only imagine their surprise when human looking children popped out of the women they..." She broke off as Keiko snarled at her.

 

"Enough Sheila!" Keiko said with a snap and the MOA froze. Then it bobbed, her version of a nod. Jesselle paled. 

 

"What did they do?" Jesselle begged. "The Grineer?"

 

"Not yet." Keiko said firmly. "First your tests. Then the kids would like to see you. They ask for you every day."

 

"Every...day...?" Jesselle swallowed hard. "How... long?"

 

"You have been asleep for three days, Jesselle." Keiko said quietly. "They were worried, so they kept you asleep until they were sure your brains hadn't been scrambled by what you did."

 

"No more scrambled than they were." Sheila said with a laugh. Jesselle... did not.

 

"Can you stop me if it comes to it?" Jesselle asked the MOA who froze in place. It turned to Keiko who pursed her lips and shook her head.

 

"My brain is organic, Jesselle." Sheila said softly. "If you...do what you did... I am just as vulnerable as any Grineer. Maybe more so." Jesselle recoiled, but Keiko had a grip on her arm and she did not fight the older woman. "Jesselle, we need to test. To find out if this can be fixed."

 

"You must have tested while I slept." Jesselle said weakly, but did not resist as Keiko started off, pulling her gently. The MOA fell into step beside them.

 

"We did." Sheila said with a sigh. "But there are some tests that can only be done with you awake and aware. Nothing that should hurt. But we need to figure out what happened and why. Then... maybe we can fix it. As it is now?"

 

"You can't." Jesselle's words were a statement.

 

"We don't know." Sheila corrected her. "None of the Tenno we have normal contact with are talking to us about this. Your mom is being awfully closemouthed too."

 

"She has to be." Jesselle said automatically. "I... I will not resist. Do what you have to."

 

"Jesselle." Sheila said with a hint of reproof. "You know better. We will do nothing without a concrete reason."

 

"This is a hell of a weapon." Jesselle said sadly. "Which is what the Grineer must have wanted. They..." She paused. "The programming?"

 

"We are working on it." Sheila promised her. "It won't be easy. But with you awake and able to talk to the docs... it should go faster."

 

"No time like the present then." Jesselle said, straightening her shoulders. "Let's do this."

 

***

 

It felt...wrong.

 

The medics were kind. They did not strap Jesselle down. They did not slap a helmet on her or drug her. They explained everything they did and they worked to keep her calm and comfortable while their scans ran. But the tests...

 

She could murmurs now. Just beyond her hearing. Voices. Sounds. She knew it was her ability working and fought hard to get past it. She let them know every time the murmurs got louder and the docs worked hard to help. But the drugs did not work as they should.

 

"I do not understand." Jesselle said weakly while she took a break that the docs ordered. She lay on her side on the scan bed, sipping a nutrient drink the docs had given her. "Why doesn't the blocker work?"

 

"Jesselle..." Sheila hadn't left her side. Keiko likewise. "You dosed yourself heavy with that telepathic blocker. But then you blew right past it. Your mind is ignoring it now. Anything weaker will be ignored as well. Anything stronger..." She trailed off as Jesselle sighed.

 

"Might kill me." Jesselle finished for the MOA. She shook her head as Keiko glared at her and sipped the drink again. "Geez... One mother was bad enough. Now I have several."

 

"You scared us all." Keiko said firmly. "Finish it up."

 

"Yes, Ma'am." Jesselle said meekly and drank. "The murmurs are getting louder." She said with a gulp. "I can't... hear anything concrete. But that is not good, is it?" Keiko shook her head, her face set and Jesselle nodded. Another voice spoke up.

 

"No, it is not good." Healer Iriana's face was sad as she stepped close. "This is why none of us wanted you to go. Not because of this per say..." She waved a hand at Jesselle who nodded slowly. "But because we knew they would hurt you, if not how."

 

Iriana had appeared during the first set of tests and smoothly taken over. No one had seemed to mind. Indeed, most of the docs seemed relieved to have the Healer present. Truth be told? Jesselle felt the same. Iriana was good. She was kind, gentle, funny and very, very good at what she did.

 

"So the blocker drugs do not work." Jesselle said softly. "And my own training is inadequate to stop what I did..." Iriana nodded and Jesselle slumped a bit. "I... I see."

 

"There is one possibility, Jesselle." Iriana said softly. "But frankly... it is a long shot. There is a lot of debate happening." Jesselle stared at her and Iriana made a face. "I cannot talk about it beyond that. For now? We can help you control it. It won't be pleasant, but we can reverse what the Grineer did and control you until we can." She held up a metal thing and Jesselle stared at it.

 

"What did they do?" Jesselle asked, eying the metal thing in the Healer's hand. It was narrow and thin. Some kind of band?

 

"What they did was not just mental, Jesselle." Iriana said gently as Sheila moved close to the bed. Keiko sat on the bed and took Jesselle's free hand in her own. "You do not want to hear this. But you must."

 

"What did they do?" Jesselle begged.

 

"In a moment. I need you to put this around your head, Jesselle." Iriana said slowly. "And I need you to do it now."

 

"Me?" Jesselle stared at the Healer, confused. "Why me?"

 

"Because the only thing that can stop someone as powerful as you are..." Iriana said softly. "...is you."

 

"I don't understand." Jesselle eyed the thin metal...thing. Fear trickled through her. Not just hers.

 

"What this does..." Iriana said, holding the metal thing out to Jesselle. "...is create a feedback loop of mental energy. It won't hurt." Her voice was gentle, so gentle. "But it will be very uncomfortable. You will not hear anything in your mind. Nothing at all. It will not last forever. But it will last long enough for us to repair what the Grineer did."

 

"And if you tell me... before I have that on..." Jesselle swallowed hard. "I will be upset. Maybe upset enough to shatter the blocks..." Iriana nodded and Jesselle grabbed the metal thing and slid it over her head. "What do I-?"

 

Silence.

 

Jesselle's world was suddenly silent. She could see Iriana, Sheila and Keiko. All looked scared. But she couldn't hear. She could feel the metal under her fingers, but it... it felt...wrong. She forced her hands way from her skull through sheer force of will.

 

"It... I..." Jesselle gasped out, then froze. She couldn't hear her voice! "What? No! I can't hear myself! I can't hear!" She begged. Keiko took one hand and Iriana the other.

 

"I know, Jesselle." Iriana's voice cut through the silence in Jesselle's skull like a knife. "You cannot hear yourself speak. Your mental voice drowned out your physical one. You stopped using your physical voice." Jesselle stared at her and Iriana sighed sadly. "And you never even realized it."

 

"Oh god!" Jesselle screamed. "No! I can't... This... no!" She tried to reach up, to pull the circlet off her head, but the two women held her hands fast. "Let go! I... I have to hear myself speak!" She screamed into the silence in her mind.

 

"Jesselle!" Keiko commanded. "Calm down! Talk to us! Speak. As in open your mouth and let air pass through!" Jesselle focused herself and fought to open her mouth. It did. A croak sounded. Was that her voice?

 

"Help!" That... did not sound like her. Not at all. The voice sounded sick and weak and hoarse from screaming.

 

"We will, Jesselle." Iriana promised. "But you won't be able to remove the circlet. It is fused to your skin. Until we -the doctors- decide that you are not a threat to everyone... you have to remain confined."

 

"No!" Jesselle screamed into the silence in her head, wetness falling from her eyes. Keiko and Iriana held her as she cried.

 

***

 

It took a while, but eventually, Jesselle calmed. She forced her mouth open again and spoke. Her voice... sounded worse.

 

"What... did they do... to me?" Jesselle pleaded with the Healer and Sister. Sheila and Keiko looked at the Healer who nodded, her face set.

 

"They stimulated the parts of your brain that generate telepathy." Iriana said quietly. It was very odd. Jesselle could hear her. But... It was... weird. "They used drugs and actual physical stimulation." Jesselle shook her head slowly, dumbfounded and Iriana continued. "But they did not stop there." Jesselle felt her body go still and the Healer nodded. "They did not implant you with control mechanisms, but they did transplant in cloned tissue."

 

"Cloned?" Jesselle managed to get out. Iriana gave her hand a squeeze.

 

"Cloned from you." Iriana said softly. "Not a lot. A few cubic centimeters. But cloned from your brain tissue and transplanted into the part of your brain that generates and controls telepathy."

 

"So... they enhanced my ability..." Jesselle said, her world rocking. "And then tried to program me to be Grineer." Iriana shook her head.

 

"Talk, Jesselle." Iriana said sternly. "Use your mouth not your mind."

 

"Aw geez..." Jesselle groaned aloud. "This sucks." She forced herself to focus and spoke aloud again. "They enhanced my telepathy and tried to make me Grineer. The programming?"

 

"Gone." Iriana said with a frown. "Crude. This Doctor Tengus may be the Grineer equivalent of a mental technician, but his methods are barbaric in the extreme. Not even the Orokin would have done such and that is saying something."

 

"What can I do?" Jesselle managed to get the words out past her fear. Her voice...was wrong. "And... voice?"

 

"You strained your voice screaming, Jesselle." Iriana said gently. "We will work on that. Does it hurt?" Jesselle shook her head. "Good." She shook her head. "We may not be able to fix this, Jesselle."

 

"I... understand." Jesselle said aloud. "My... choice. If need, I do."

 

"No." Iriana, Sheila and Keiko all chorused. The other two deferred to the Healer. Iriana continued.  "Jesselle, there is hope. For now? You need to heal and acclimatize to not using telepathy for all of your communication. It was easier. So that is what you did. The Grineer encouraged that. They wanted you to focus on your power."

 

"Oops?" Jesselle asked aloud with a grin. Iriana chuckled at that.

 

"Yeah, Jesselle, I would say that qualifies as an 'Oops' on the Grineers' part. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot." The Healer smiled. "Now? Your scans for the day are done. We have a lot of data to go over and you need to rest, acclimatize to this new situation. You also need to practice speaking aloud. It will come back."

 

"What...do?" Jesselle asked, careful to form her words and put them out.

 

"Some people would like to talk to you." Iriana rose from the bed and pulled Jesselle up. "Better brace yourself."

 

"For?" Jesselle asked as Iriana led her from the room, Keiko and Sheila following.

 

She went still as they entered a new room. It was set up as a playroom and all three of the small forms in the room were building something with blocks. But all three looked up to see Jesselle and all three burst into smiles. M-1, N-1 and the other who Jesselle did not remember the name of all rose and ran towards her.

 

"Momma!"

 

Edited January 30, 2015 by Kalenath

[Kalenath]

BIG storm heading for the Maritimes, guys.

 

I MAY not be able to post tomorrow, depending on it we lose power or not.

 

With my luck? We will.

 

I HOPE to post tomorrow, but we shall see.

[Spikey844]

BIG storm heading for the Maritimes, guys.

 

I MAY not be able to post tomorrow, depending on it we lose power or not.

 

With my luck? We will.

 

I HOPE to post tomorrow, but we shall see.

Good luck... Its been fairly quite here in darkest England, but it won't last.

It never does...

[S3EK3R]

The silence before the storm. Both for the story and Kal.

[Temperance000]

Aww, how sweet.

 

We now have an unstable adolescent super-telepath with a bunch of cloned Tenno kids calling her "mother."  Considering that Jesselle has already proven herself capable of extreme stupidity, I am not exactly optimistic about where this is going.

 

So....yeah.  I would definitely be the pseudo-villain in these stories.

[Shadow977]

BIG storm heading for the Maritimes, guys.

 

I MAY not be able to post tomorrow, depending on it we lose power or not.

 

With my luck? We will.

 

I HOPE to post tomorrow, but we shall see.

  

Good luck... Its been fairly quite here in darkest England, but it won't last.

It never does...

And here in Finland it's been snowing non-stop for 5 days. At least it isn't too cold in here.....for now.

[Raphaello]

Been raining and fairly cool (for summer) here in Australia. Barely went past 30C on the hot days and all of those were a while ago.

[4G3NT_0R4NG3]

The best part about Winter is watching it on T.V. from California.

 

I was hit with a stray bullet, but I haven't bled out yet. It appears some of my brain matter may have splattered on Kal's story.

[Raphaello]

Someone needs to send Kal a box of batteries.

[Spikey844]

Or just a petrol generator.

[Shadow977]

Luckily my parents' house has a generator, we're getting power cut-offs because of all this damn snow.

[Kalenath]

Sorry for the delay guys. Lots of snow to move. Lots of work that had to be done. Lots of stuff getting in the way of writing.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Children or Not?

 

It wasn't funny.

 

It wasn't funny at all.

 

It didn't help that Sheila was snickering. That Iriana and Keiko were both hiding grins behind their hands. Jesselle had her hands full. Literally full. N-1 and the other boy had hugged her once and retreated. M-1... had not. The girl was crying and hugging Jesselle like there was no tomorrow.

 

"A little help?" Jesselle managed to get the words out. Her throat was starting to hurt, but she ignored it.

 

"You are doing fine." Keiko said with a smile. Iriana just watched with Sheila from the door. A door that Jesselle suddenly realized had been locked. From the outside. This wasn't a playroom. It was a  cell!

 

It was... a comfortable cell, with three beds laid against one wall. A few toys were scattered here and there, with the blocks that had been so precipitously abandoned sitting in the middle of the floor. Jesselle examined M-1 and the others as best she could, but none showed signs of any restraints. So... what?

 

"M-1..." Jesselle paused. "Or do you have a name?"

 

"Man in black call me Mia." M-1 said as she hugged Jesselle tight. "Not sure. Not... right. No feel right." Jesselle gave up extricating herself from the girl and hugged her back. "You so weak and still. We worry you die."

 

"I didn't." Jesselle reassured the girl and then patted her head a bit awkwardly. "You... How have you been treated?"

 

"They nice." M-1's voice was muffled, speaking as she was through Jesselle's leg. "Miss Iriana and others nice. Others... angry. No know why."

 

"Whoever made us... made a bunch of people angry." N-1 said quietly from where he stood. Jesselle looked at him and he frowned. "We never found out who did it. We found a few records. We kept them from the clones as best we could. We taught... our siblings as best we could."

 

"You survived." Jesselle said with a sigh as she bent down to hug M-1 who swarmed up to hug her back. "What do you want me to call you?" She asked M-1. "Mia or M-1?"

 

"Me M-1." The girl said sadly. "No this...'Mia'. She bad."

 

"No Honey." Iriana said sadly. "She wasn't bad. Just badly led. She followed someone who she shouldn't have."

 

"Me no want be bad!" Mia sobbed into Jesselle's chest. "Me want a momma! Me want a life! Me no want be bad!"

 

"M-1..." Jesselle said softly. "I cannot be your Momma. I am human. You are not."

 

"Me no care!" M-1 screamed and hugged Jesselle tight enough to hurt. Jesselle fought the shudder than ran though her, trying to soothe the distraught girl.

 

"M-1..." N-1 said quietly. "That sounds like Grineer." The girl froze. "All about me. Me, me, me, me, me. Selfish."

 

"I... No..." The girl stared from her brother to Jesselle and back. "No... Me... me just want..."

 

"I know." Jesselle said sadly as she sat on the floor and pulled the now crying girl into her lap. "M-1, it is not your fault. They hurt you. Maybe the docs can help." She looked at Iriana who slowly shook her head. Jesselle felt her heart plummet and then she hugged the girl gently. She rocked M-1 in her arms and the girl slowly relaxed. "I am not what you need, M-1. I still care for you. But I am not what you need."

 

"Me want Momma." M-1 begged and Jesselle felt her heart fall to pieces as the girl cried.

 

"I am not a mother, M-1." Jesselle said sadly. "Not yet. Maybe not ever as crazy as my life has gotten. But that doesn't mean I cannot love you." The girl hugged her tighter and Jesselle rocked her gently, crooning. M-1 slowly relaxed and then fell asleep. Jesselle rose, lifting the girl carefully. One of the boys moved to a bed and turned the sheet back. Not N-1. The other.

 

"She will sleep for a few hours." N-1 said softly. "She... likely will not remember this when she wakes."

 

Jesselle nodded as she laid the girl down. Then, on impulse, she bent down and kissed M-1's cheek. The girl murmured in her sleep, but a smile crept onto her face as she slumbered.

 

"You are the eldest." Jesselle said quietly as she moved to scrutinize the boy who nodded.

 

"I am." N-1 said with a frown. "You are talking with your mouth. You didn't... after they brought you back."

 

"I am a mess." Jesselle said in a self deprecating way. "The...ability I have wasn't supposed to do what it did."

 

"Are you all right?" The other boy asked, his face worried.

 

"Mostly. My throat hurts, but they will fix that." Jesselle shrugged. "The docs need to do some stuff with me. Work on some of my problems, try to fix what I did to myself."

 

"You didn't, Miss Jesselle." N-1 said softly. "The Grineer did."

 

"They hurt me." Jesselle shrugged. "But everything else that happened came from inside me." She gave a deep sigh. "It seemed so easy, in theory. In actual practice? Not so easy."

 

"Nothing ever is." Keiko said with a tiny frown. When Jesselle looked at her, the older Clergywoman inclined her head at the door, just a little.

 

"You three... going to be okay?" Jesselle asked lamely.

 

"Whatever happens, Miss Jesselle..." N-1 said quietly. "Thank you. You got us away from the clones. Even if the worst comes, we die free."

 

Jesselle stared at him and then her lip started to quiver. He stepped up and hugged her before stepping back. The other boy... hadn't moved. Jesselle turned to the door and her eyes went huge. Was that a weapon that had extruded from Sheila's housing? A weapon? Sheila didn't use weapons! She didn't believe in them! So... what...? Keiko took her hand and led her from the room, the others following. It was not Jesselle's imagination that several things went 'thunk' when the door closed. Sealed and locked.

 

"What the hell?" Jesselle demanded as she jerked her hand from Keiko's. "Sheila? Since when are you armed?"

 

"Since we did not know if they would try to take you hostage or not." The MOA replied evenly. Jesselle stared at her as the MOA retracted it's weapon. "They are lying."

 

"About what?" Jesselle snapped, her ire rising.

 

"Jesselle... think." Keiko said firmly. "Why would Grineer keep human or Tenno children around?" Jesselle went still and the other Clergywoman nodded. "They wouldn't."

 

"So... what?" Jesselle asked, her ire changing to worry. "They are Grineer?"

 

"No." Iriana's voice was quiet now. "They are something we have not seen before. The... scans we did on the others show full human. But..." She shrugged. "That makes no sense. Grineer wouldn't keep humans around no matter how useful they might be. That is not their way."

 

"So... what?" Jesselle repeated, still angry.

 

"We need to find out." Iriana was calm. "And that starts with you. We have done the preliminary scans. Now we need to undo what the Grineer did." Jesselle stared at her and swallowed. Iriana's face was sad, but kind. "We won't hurt you, girl."

 

"I know." Jesselle gave herself a shake. Keiko held out a hand. Jesselle realized the other hand had not left her sleeve. Hadn't the whole time Jesselle had been in the room. Holding a weapon more than likely. She held out her hand to Keiko and let the Clergywoman pull her forward. Sheila stepped close behind. Jesselle shook her head. "You think the kids did something to me?"

 

"We don't know." Iriana said quietly. "Come. We need to find out. Get rid of the trash in your skull and find out what else is wrong. Fix it."

 

"And the kids?" Jesselle started off under Keiko's urging.

 

"That is under discussion."

 

***

 

"Stand down." The words were calm, but the tension in the room went through the roof. "Now!"

 

To say that the declaration that Karl had just made to the Empress and her inner court was electrifying was true. But it didn't do it justice. Karen and Miguel stood as a solid block of BDU clad fury. Lis was only present as a hologram, since her body was still being repaired, but she too stood with them. None of the three had known what Karl was going to say. None of them had reacted well. At least Karen and Miguel were disciplined enough to relax when ordered. Lis just hissed in fury and the Empress shook her head. Then she thundered.

 

"I said 'stand down', Tenno Lis!" Eliza snapped. "I do not command Tenno, but you had the right to hear this. The healers will get upset if we hinder your recovery. Do not make me exclude you."

 

"Yes..." Lis' transparent form slowly relaxed from its combat crouch. "Empress. Under protest."

 

"Noted." Eliza said with a nod. "And frankly? I agree." She said to the room. "I was only peripherally aware of the mess at the time. I heard about what happened on Mars, of course. But... it did not impact me specifically." Old shame sang in her voice now. "I was... busy."

 

"Mother." Princess Michelle said softly. "Not your fault. We were a handful. All of us, even after we went to training." She smiled a bit forlornly and Eliza shared it. Then the Princess turned to the Marines. "This has to be some kind of Grineer trick. He is dead. More than dead." She looked at the sole occupant of the room who had not spoken and Nikis nodded.

 

"Nicholas is dead." Nikis said calmly. "And yes, he is suffering for what he did to so many."

 

"Does Olim know about this?" Michelle asked, worried. "He was hurt too."

 

"He is in the field." Karl said with a shrug. "He plays a lot of what he knows close to his chest. He has a lot of secrets. As to how he will react? I do not know."

 

"Is he having any luck training Quais?" Eliza asked, her tone curious. Karl shrugged again. "He hasn't told you?"

 

"Empress, that is Cyberlancer business." Karl said with a frown that was clear right through his closed faceplate. "I am just his clan leader. He hasn't stinted on his clan duties so I have no call to ask personal questions." The Princess and Empress stared at him and he shrugged a third time. "If he has problems, he will come to me. Until then? His business."

 

"Tenno Karl..." Eliza spoke carefully. "More Cyberlancers are what we need. Especially if -as you say- the Sentients are showing themselves again." More than one person in the room shuddered at that.

 

"You can ask him." Karl's voice held just a hint of reproof. "I have been a bit busy."

 

"That you have." Eliza said with a sigh. "And that is entirely our fault." She shook her head. "I will ask when I see him next." She gave herself  shake. "Marines? Thoughts?" Karen looked at Miguel who grimaced and nodded.

 

"The numbers do not add up." Miguel said after a moment. "There were twelve renegades at first. Nicholas, Mack, Gregor, Kodas, Zang, Luc, Mia, Goeg, Zintas, Mina, Cora and Graf."

 

"Mia and Graf died on Ceres." Karl's words were nearly inaudible. Everyone looked at him and he shook his head. "I do not know if the enemy killed them or if they tried to buck Nicholas' command. They died."

 

"So twelve opened pods...." Miguel said after a moment. "And two others." He looked at Karen who looked decidedly upset. He shook his head. "We are not going to like this, are we?"

 

"No, you are not." Nikis said, still calm. Everyone looked at him and he nodded to the Marines. "Karen's body was infertile. No reproductive organs. Mari and you..." He nodded to Miguel. "Donated."

 

"Donated." Miguel said slowly. Feeling the word out. "Not so bad when you say it like that."

 

"Still bad." Nikis sighed. "All of the tech we found is human but that proves nothing. Nicholas was scrounging anything and everything he could get his hands on." The Nekros shook his head. "Hopefully we will get some answers from his shade. It may take a while. Mag was... fairly thorough the last time she hurt him."

 

"My heart bleeds." Karen's voice could have frozen liquid helium. Miguel looked at her and she jerked to attention. "No excuse, Gunny."

 

"Oh, I think you and I have an excuse for being seriously pissed off." Miguel replied evenly. "But only this once. Do it again and I will drop you for pushups, PFC." He warned. She nodded, silent.

 

"So we have three very young Tenno and two... who may be Tenno or not..." Eliza said slowly. "All of whom were in a Grineer laboratory." Karl nodded at that and she grimaced. "The autopsies?"

 

"All of the deceased were slain using Grineer weapons." Karl said in a clinical tone that fooled no one. "The females had controls placed inside their skulls, all of which did irreparable brain damage. The other bodies show no signs of tampering."

 

"Why just the girls?" Eliza asked, her face wrinkling in disgust.

 

"They did the same for the girls they stole from the Corpus." Karl said with a shrug. "All but one were recovered and sent to the Clergy. They may or may not be able to help them. The one? She... The Caretakers took her."

 

"And Oracle's daughter?" Eliza asked, worry showing now. Then again, she knew Janet. She knew what Janet was capable of. Anyone sane feared her wrath as much as they feared Nikis'. Maybe more. Nikis would likely just kill the person. Janet would take her time. If her daughter was permanently injured... She looked at Nikis who nodded.

 

"Jesselle seems to have developed an oddly powerful level of telepathy. Obviously artificial." The ancient gunfighter said with a shrug. "The healers are cautious but hopeful. If it is something the Grineer did, it can probably be undone."

 

"And if it is not?" Eliza asked, her face going blank.

 

"I spoke with Oracle before coming here." Nikis said quietly. "Her words were... and I quote: 'Jesselle knew the risks. Do what is needed'." Eliza was hardly the only person to inhale in shock at that. "You know someone will go for the kids." He warned. "Nicholas made way too many enemies for it to be any other way. Not Olim... he won't shoot a five year old. But others..." He shrugged.

 

"Yes." Eliza said sadly. "And we cannot bring them here. Too many unknowns. Even if the Grineer did not alter them somehow... Then whatever they were made for. Why did they appear now?" No one answered and she sighed. "Any records recovered from the facility?"

 

"We had time to download quite a few records." Karl replied evenly. "We haven't had a lot of time to do data searches. Cecelia is working through the data now."

 

"Well, if anything is there, she will find it." Eliza said with a snort that others shared. "Now as to how fast..." She shrugged.

 

Cecelia was a good archivist. That is, she kept meticulous records and preserved all of the data she perused. But that did not make her quick to do searches of data she did not know intimately. She wouldn't miss anything. Anything. She wasn't a machine anymore, she just acted like one occasionally. If any data was there... she would-

 

Everything stopped as a com chimed. Eliza stiffened and spoke sharply.

 

"We were not to be disturbed." Eliza said sternly. She went still as  the last person she might have expected responded.

 

"Empress!" Cecelia's voice was terrified. "We need to warn Iriana! Now! The Grineer didn't just augment Jesselle's telepathy!"

 

"What did they do?" Eliza demanded as Karl started to move for the door.

 

"They enslaved her."  Cecelia said firmly. "I found the records of the controls they put in."

 

"But Iriana removed those controls." Eliza said, relaxing.

 

"She removed one set." Cecelia replied, if anything, more scared.

 

"There are four!"

 

***

 

Jesselle was not afraid. She knew Iriana's skill. She knew Sheila's skill. She knew -intellectually- that while there was danger to her, the Healers would not let anything happen to her if they could help it. But she felt... wrong. Something was wrong. She was comfortable lying on her back even with her skull encased in machinery preparing to open the cranium.

 

"Healer?" She asked as Iriana attached a mask to her face. The cool gas felt soothing.

 

"Ready to sleep, Jesselle?" Iriana asked gently.

 

"Something is wrong." Jesselle said weakly. "I... I feel..." She tried to reach out with her mind and felt nothing. The band was still in place.

 

"We have to get that junk out of your brain." Shelia said from nearby. The medical MOA was still, but a number of attachments were extruding from it. "And you really want to sleep through it."

 

"I know." Jesselle said weakly. "Just... something feels wrong." She paused and then hissed. "I feel..." Her eyes went huge as something grabbed hold of part of her mind. Something... familiar. "Iriana, Sheila! Get out of here!"

 

"What?" Iriana paused as Jesselle tried to roll away from her, but was stymied by the gentle restraints they had encased her in. "Jesselle, don't move!" She snapped.

 

"I can hear..." Jesselle said weakly as something hissed nearby and she was suddenly floating. "I can hear..."

 

"What Jesselle?" Iriana asked, worried. "What do you hear?"

 

"He is..." Jesselle was crying now. "He is trying... I... I can't..." She jerked and then her voice spoke again. But it wasn't her voice.

 

"Well, well, well..." The voice of the Grineer doctor sang from her mouth as Iriana and Sheila both retreated a step. "What have we here?"

 

Get out of my mind! Jesselle screamed silently.

 

"Silly girl." The voice spoke from her mouth again and... the band around her skull flared and fell off. "It is not your mind anymore. Now? It is ours. You are ours. All of these..." Jesselle quailed as the restraints holding her clicked and opened. Her body sat up as Iriana and Sheila recoiled, but froze in place as her mind grabbed hold of theirs and held them tight. "Are mine."

 

"All this time, all of the clones spent trying and a puling human brat gives us access." The doctor said with glee. "And now? The hospital is mine."

 

Never! Jesselle screamed in her mind but a bludgeon of power slammed into her and she was falling.

 

"Know your place slave." The doctor retorted evenly. "Even you will learn." The malice... was cold. Clinical. Precise. That made it... worse somehow.

 

"Eventually."

 

[Spikey844]

Of course.... It would not be pretty...

 

That Grinner, once found, should be counting his remaining time alive in fento-seconds.

[Shadow977]

Son of a.....

Edited February 6, 2015 by Shadow977

[Evanescent]

Kal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why you do this?

[Kalenath]

Kal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why you do this?

 

Do what?

 

*whistles innocently*

 

 

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

Edited February 6, 2015 by Kalenath

[Evanescent]

Do what?

 

*whistles innocently*

 

 

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

*narrows eyes*

[BaIthazar]

Do what?

 

*whistles innocently*

 

 

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

 

When I saw that spoiler I got excited and thought you posted a new chapter...

I trusted you :'(

Edited February 6, 2015 by BaIthazar

[Kalenath]

When I saw that spoiler I got excited and thought you posted a new chapter...

I trusted you :'(

 

I try to post 1 a day except on Christmas. Still working on the next.

[Temperance000]

I call about four different levels of BS.  Sorry Janet, your daughter is going to die.

[Kalenath]

I call about four different levels of BS.  Sorry Janet, your daughter is going to die.

 

Yes.

 

She is.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Kalenath

[BaIthazar]

Yes.

 

She is.

SPOILERS!!!!!! Y U DO DIS?

[Kalenath]

SPOILERS!!!!!! Y U DO DIS?

 

Because I can.

 

And because I am evil.

 

And because...

 

Well... BECAUSE!

[S3EK3R]

Happy ending is very rare here. Kal kills more than GRR. Martin. My heart bleeds for a happy ending, but I know it's not possible with Kal.

[evafan002]

sheesh i go away for 2 days and this happens.... alright how many stinking grineer do i need to make dead this time? i hope its a lot because right now? I am quite prepared to drop several hundred BLU-82 Units on the queens palace.....