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[Fanfiction] Consequences

Kalenath

By Kalenath,
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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Oh s@#t oh s#$t DEAR GODS HELP US!!!! we are doomed i tell you DOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEDDDD!!!! also is nikis gonna need any help on this stalker hunt? if so i will drag my ash out of mothballs and link up with him...

 

You get in his way and you are GONNA get hurt...

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Also regarding the chapter before this i was surprised by how calmly Draco took the fact that there's a kinslayer.

 

Bodyguard always have to be calm. Hyper or easily aggravated bodyguards do not generally last long in the business. At least... not as professionals.

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Kalenath

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I'm sorry, but I gotta say it.

Nikis is gonna call....

GHOSTBUSTERS!

 

Nah, Ric would say that. Nikis is a bit less prone to silliness just to do it.

 

 

 

 

Pain

 

"You are stalling."

 

The words were calm, but the tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. It did not help that the red and black armored form was tapping a finger on the clear cover over the pod in which Natalie E-12 lay unconscious.

 

"We cannot give you what you ask." Caroline said quietly as she worked nearby. "The only one who might be able to find the targets you demand we find is Janet and there is no chance in hell she will help you now."

 

"I did not harm her daughter." The not-quite-a-Tenno replied evenly. "Iriana did not see me and I did not harm her." Caroline looked at him, her expression clearly disdainful and Stalker sighed. "Have a care, Oracle. You are not immortal in that form."

 

"Neither are you." Caroline retorted. "Nikis will find a way to destroy you. You know that."

 

"Oracle..." Stalker shook his head. "I am not asking you to fight."

 

"No." Caroline snapped, her ire rising. "You are demanding we assist in murder."

 

"Justice is not murder, Oracle." Stalker replied evenly.

 

"You don't know the difference between justice and vengeance." Caroline retorted. "We told you 'No' long ago. So now you blackmail us with the lives of innocents. You kill people -friends- to gain our silence. You force us to betray our sister..." She looked to where Janet lay unconscious and her head bowed. "To lie to protect you from those who hunt you. There are limits, scum. And you are rapidly passing them."

 

"I defended myself when attacked." Stalker retorted evenly. "If they had listened, none of this would have come to pass."

 

"Sure." Caroline's words simply dripped sarcasm now. "Poison their kids and that will make them calm. Right."

 

"None of the children are dead, Oracle." Stalker replied. "I needed their attention and yours. I got it."

 

"Yeah, you did. Kids curling up and starting to expire gets people's attention." Caroline snapped. "And the bombs you planted all over the settlement demand we keep listening."

 

"I have to protect myself." The red and black armored form said reasonably as he nodded to Natalie E-12's sleeping form. "I used tranquilizers on the attendants. Nothing more."

 

"More hostages for you to abuse if we cannot produce the impossibility you demand." Caroline retorted. Stalker sighed but she did not relent. "Even if it wasn't against most of our oaths of non-interference... We cannot -not will not, but cannot- do as you demand. All of the cryo chambers are hidden from our sight. All of them."

 

"So backtrack." The Stalker said with a shrug. "See the traitors before they went into said chambers. Give me references and I will take it from there."

 

"So you can find sleeping Tenno and murder them in their sleep, guilty of horror or no." Caroline snarled. It was easy to see she was Nikis' sister at times. "Even if we could do it, the answer would have to be 'No'. You know this, why keep deman-..." She broke off and her eyes flicked from the red and black armored from to the pod and back. "No... You didn't..." Stalker did not reply and she backed away from the machinery she had been working on. "You didn't!" She hissed in horror. "She is a child!" The turtle screamed.

 

"Not anymore." Stalker replied offhanded.

 

"You bastard!" Caroline snapped, moving towards the pod. "Not enough to slay merfolk, you have to kill her too?"

 

"She is not dead." Stalker replied, moving to block her. "Yet."

 

"What did you do to her?" Caroline demanded, moving past the red and black form. She scrutinized the readouts and froze. "You... you drugged her. With what?"

 

"Give me the information I need and I will give you the antagonist." Stalker replied. "I know your medic is seeking an antidote for the toxin. He may or may not be able to find it. You will not be able to undo what was done to her without the proper antagonist."

 

"You lying scum!" Caroline screamed. She hit a panel and the pod was suddenly encased in energy. "Get out! Now!"

 

"If I leave, she becomes a vegetable." Stalker said with a shrug. "And the bombs go off. Is that what you want?" Caroline snarled at him and he shook his head. "Give me what I want, Oracle. Now."

 

"Even if we could..." Caroline lay down on the floor and her legs retracted into her shell. "I wouldn't. Not now. Not with her... in this state. Go ahead. Detonate your bombs." She said wearily. "Let loose your toxins. Kill us all. Go ahead." She said with a sigh as Stalker stared at her. "Do it." She declared. "Do it!" She screamed when he did not move.

 

"The only lives I wish to take are the traitors'. The False Tenno who stole our honor and slew the Emperor." Stalker said after a moment. "I do regret the deaths of the merfolk. If they had let me explain, I wouldn't have killed them."

 

"Bull." Caroline said with a sigh as she retracted her neck most of the way. "You needed proper bait for your trap for Nikis." Stalker stared at her and she snorted. "Who are you talking to, murderer?"

 

"If you knew about that..." Stalker had a hand on his scythe handle now. "Why didn't you stop me?"

 

"I wanted to." Caroline admitted. "I really did. But Mira persuaded me not to." Stalker stared at her and Caroline made a sour noise of humor. "You know? The mermaid Oracle you crippled?"

 

"You cannot stop me." Stalker said slowly, his scythe in hand now.

 

"No." Caroline said heavily. "I can't. I swore many binding oaths to follow a non-violent path. Our powers are too...imbalanced. We are too much given to interfere otherwise. We had to hold ourselves apart. We had to remain aloof. We had to stay away from everything. But that means we got very good at interpreting the bits and pieces we managed to glean. Janet has far more power than we do. Her visions are clearer than ours. We cannot see what you desire. She might be able to. But she will not. Not for you."

 

"And if it is the only way to save this one's life?" Stalker laid a hand on the pod again and energy flared. Natalie E-12 writhed inside the pod, her face twisting into a  grimace. Then it went slack. The turtle... closed up and did not respond. He sighed. "Forcing my hand is a bad idea, Oracle."

 

"And forcing ours is a worse one." Stalker stiffened as Janet...sat up on the bed she had been restrained on. The bonds that had held her fell away along with the circlet around her head. She swung her legs off the bed and stood straight. Then he went completely still as a green glowing dagger appeared in her hand. "They are pacifists, kinslayer. I am not." He settled into a combat stance as she took a step towards him.

 

"There is no need for this, Oracle Janet." Stalker said quietly, his scythe up and ready to block. "This... was not as I planned. I did not intend harm. I came to ask questions, no more." Janet shook her head slowly and settled into a combat stance of her own. "Oracle, you cannot win against me." Stalker warned.

 

"You might be surprised." Janet said softly as she sidled to the side. "There are all kinds of ways to win."

 

Stalker kept his scythe between... He jerked as Caroline's head snaked out and clamped around the left foot of his warframe. He swung automatically, the scythe cleaving through the tough shell as if it were made of paper. She screamed once and fell still. But... He pulled, but the scythe was stuck fast and Janet was moving in, the dagger gleaming. The energy in it.. he could feel it's anger. It was sentient, that weapon. And it hungered... for his life.

 

"Stop!" Stalker commanded as he released the scythe and dropped his hand to his throwing blades. "You do not understand! I do not want your lives! She lives yet!"

 

"No, it is you who does not understand." Janet snapped as Caroline... rose to her feet, the scythe stuck out of her back like a macabre trophy. "If you had come to us as you were instructed, it wouldn't have been a problem!" Stalker froze. "You killed those people for nothing!"

 

"They attacked me!" Stalker said as he drew his knives. But... a beam of green energy slammed into him from the side. He dodged but other beams hit him and he staggered as... He slipped and fell, his knives falling from his hands. "What...?"

 

"You attacked their children! We did not want this! We wanted to talk! No more! We are trying to avert an avalanche! It is like trying to hold back the tides of the Motherworld with a spoon. We needed your help. But no..." Janet snapped as she stepped towards him, her dagger ready. "Enough! If you had bothered to act in good faith, we might have actually given you what you wanted. Insane Tenno are good for nothing. We might have given them to you. But no. You had to be in control. You had to be in charge. No longer. Your bombs are deactivated. Your toxin has been neutralized. And now? We have decided. No more. You are not worth the cost."

 

"What are you talking about?" Stalker demanded. "You... she... what is going on?" He snapped as the pod with Natalie E-12 opened and a large form slid into his view, tentacles slipping under the girl to carry her off.

 

"If you had bothered to ask that before striking, taking hostages, we would have told you." Janet said, her voice turning sad. "We had no interest in letting Nikis kill you again. It does no good. We know that. He knows that." She shook her head. "But now? You mindwiped my friend. For nothing!" She screamed as she stepped close, dagger up. Then it came whistling in. "Die!"

 

A small part of Stalker's mind noted her form was perfect. Then the pain grabbed him and pulled him in.

 

***

 

Janet was crying as Stalker's still form wavered and vanished in a puff of black smoke. Her dagger, Vita, was crying as well. Vita had liked Natalie E-12 too. The girl they had known and liked...was gone. Her mind had been snuffed out casually by the kinslayer.

 

"He..." Janet went to her knees beside Caroline. "He just... I... This... it wasn't supposed to be like this..."

 

"Not your fault, Janet." Caroline's voice was low and filled with pain. "Ours. We... did not see. We did not know. We cannot see him either. He... He acted as he always has. He betrays."

 

"What can I do, Caroline?" Janet asked as she laid a hand on the turtle's shell. "How bad?"

 

"I will live." Caroline said weakly. "But... I won't be mobile for a while. Janet... Nikis is angry. Mira is alive, but he is angry. We... We have to tell him. My... responsibility."

 

"I am sorry, Caroline." Janet said sadly. "I messed it all up. Hurting myself. It was..." She paused as the turtle extended flipper and nudged her leg. "No... don't move. Wait for Jean. He can help."

 

"You saw your daughter screaming in pain." Caroline was sad, so sad. "All the rest of it was unclear to you. You reacted as a mother. You wanted to protect your daughter."

 

"And instead... how many lives were lost?" Janet slumped. "Now Nikis is angry... The others too... We failed, Caroline. We failed."

 

"No." Carline touched Janet's leg again gently.

 

"Not yet."

 

***

 

Jesse tried not to sigh as the doc worked.

 

"I told you I was going to hurt." Jesse said in a quiet voice to Raven who stood nearby, her face grave.

 

"You are very lucky, young lady." The medic named Amelia was gentle, but thorough as she worked to fix the damage. "If that had been a sword or other bladed weapon..."

 

"I know." Jesse said with a sigh. "And... It did feel good. Up until I lost focus."

 

"And slammed yourself between the legs." Raven said with a sort of forced mildness. "Be glad you are not a guy."

 

"Oh, I am..." Jesse tried not to squirm as Amelia finished up. She sighed in relief as the pain ebbed but did not go away completely. "Doc?"

 

"I was going to ask you, Jesse." Amelia said with a smile. "How does it feel to your senses? You know your body best."

 

"Usually." Jesse grumbled. She glanced over at where Draco lurked by the door. "I assume this is some kind of character building thing? To make me understand my limitations?" Draco gave a shrug.

 

"You were doing well until you lost focus." Draco's voice was even. "And training weapons are blunt for a reason."

 

"So when a ham handed trainee bashes herself between the legs with one, it doesn't cut her in half." Jesse said with a groan. "The kata...went well?" She asked. Then she snorted. "Until I freaked everyone out that is. Silly, silly... pushed too far, too fast."

 

"Yes you did, Jesse. As for the kata? As far as I could see, yes. It went well until you lost your grip on the far end of your training nunchaku and they went out of your control. At least you managed to keep from hitting yourself in the head. There is always room for improvement." Raven replied and then frowned. "Doctor? How is she?"

 

"Physically, a bit bruised, but no damage now." Amelia said with a nod. "Jesse? Can you tell?" Jesse focused herself as Trinity had taught her, code soaring along her nervous system.

 

"Some pain." Jesse corroborated. "But no damage. I shouldn't deaden that pain, should I?" She asked Amelia who shook her head. "Joy." She said with feeling.

 

"You were med tech trained, Jesse." Amelia replied evenly. "You know why."

 

"Without the pain, I would do more damage without realizing it." Jesse agreed. "Even with the code augmenting my senses, it isn't perfect. If I do not hurt, my instincts will be to move at full speed and that will hurt me. Maybe badly."

 

"You will get better." Raven promised her. "Doc...?" She looked at Amelia and the human medical professional nodded.

 

"Off her feet for a couple of hours should take care of it." Amelia nodded. "She wasn't badly hurt. Just in pain."

 

"Pain. Such fun..." Jesse said with a sigh. "Can I move?"

 

"As long as you do not leave the bed, sure." Amelia smiled but then her eyes turned to Raven who nodded a little. "If you feel anything off, let us know. For now? Try not to scare us again." She chided Jesse gently.

 

"I will try, doc." Jesse said with a sigh as she lay back on the bed. Amelia smiled at her, patted her hand and left the room. Jesse looked at the ceiling for a moment and then sighed. "I wasn't expecting them to have nunchaku set up so quickly. I am far more used to them than blades."

 

"You are good with them." Raven agreed. "Not a weapon I have ever used, but you knew what to do. Until you lost focus."

 

"Yeah." Jesse said with a sigh. "I have been trying to figure out why I lost focus. I was doing kata three..." She mused. "Step six, the half twist and cross body strike. I caught the free end and then..." She shook her head. "Either I lost my grip or it slipped or..." She shook her head. "Then I was on the ground clutching my privates and everyone was freaking."

 

"Your grip was solid." Draco said quietly. "Then it was not. You seemed to stumble." Jesse stared at him and then her eyes closed as she looked inward.

 

"I can't find anything wrong." Jesse said softly. "Once the doc clears me, I will need to try that again. Slower and with more care." Raven nodded approval. "That kata is not that difficult." Jesse mused, her hands moving as she acted out what she could in the bed. She paused and stared at her left hand. "Um... Raven? Is there anything you can see wrong with my hand?" She held it out to Raven who took it in her own right hand and examined it closely.

 

"I cannot see anything wrong, Jesse." Raven said after a moment. She laid Jesse's hand back down. "Do you want the doc?"

 

"I am not sure." Jesse looked at her hand and her expression was speculative. "This is the hand that I lost the grip with. And... it feels... wrong to my senses."

 

"Wrong?" Raven demanded, her hand halfway to the intercom. "Wrong how?"

 

"I am not sure." Jesse said slowly. "It... It almost feels like part is missing. But..." She shook her head. "Everything is here. Is Olim available?"

 

"Last I checked, he was pacing, waiting for the doc to finish." Raven said dryly. "Draco?" She asked and the guard nodded. He opened the door and yes, Olim was just outside. Her wore robes instead of his warframe. "Olim. Fancy seeing you here." Raven said brightly. Olim just sighed.

 

"One heart attack a day is enough, Raven." Olim said with a glower. Jesse smiled at him but then she beckoned him in. "Jesse? You okay?"

 

"After bashing myself in the crotch with my own nunchaku? Sure." Jesse said with a snort. Olim stared at her and then he matched her snort. "But... I think I have something odd."

 

"Odd how?" Olim asked, stiffening. She held out her left hand to him and he stepped close to take it.

 

"This...feels wrong." Jesse said slowly, unsure. Olim turned her hand over, checking it with both touch and code that she could sense. He went still and she did likewise. "It is not my imagination, is it?"

 

"No." Olim agreed. "It isn't." Both Draco and Raven had stiffened and he nodded. "Jesse? What do you remember? From when you woke before? At the Enclave?"

 

"Not much." Jesse said after a moment. "I woke. I felt wrong. You think... it was something there?"

 

"I do not know." Olim said softly. He held her hand gently and rubbed her index finger. It felt... tingly. "What I do know is that you have a tendril of code extending through this finger and it has been severed."

 

"You lost a piece of your code."

 

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Wait what? how the $&*^ens did she manage to do that?

 

When she woke the first time, with someone fake brainwashing her to get them to grab her and get her away from the Enclave before things got bad, she tried to see with her code and a tiny bit was severed from her. She didn't remember that. Doesn't remember that.

 

And no, NO ONE is going to be happy about this. ESPECIALLY when they realize who has the fragment.

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When she woke the first time, with someone fake brainwashing her to get them to grab her and get her away from the Enclave before things got bad, she tried to see with her code and a tiny bit was severed from her. She didn't remember that. Doesn't remember that.

 

And no, NO ONE is going to be happy about this. ESPECIALLY when they realize who has the fragment.

But what can Stalker do with it? He's not a Cyberlancer......is he?

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Kalenath

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Altering Fates

 

"What did they do?" Nikis asked quietly as the golden shade he had summoned worked. Mira was staring at the ghostly warframe with a mix of awe and worry. "It's okay, Mira. She won't hurt you."

 

"You are going to be angry..." Mira said weakly as the golden shade worked. Code was swirling around the trapped bodies that surrounded the corporeal pair.

 

"Mira, I am already angry." Nikis said with a sigh. "Very angry." Mira wilted and the shade looked from her to Nikis, a clear 'back off' in her body language despite her silence. "How long has Stalker been here?"

 

"I don't know." Mira said sadly. "We saw... bits. As soon as we all saw what happened to Jesselle... Jesse... What made Janet freak so badly..." She corrected herself. "We all started looking harder. But it didn't make any sense. We couldn't see who had her. Who was hurting her. It wasn't the Grineer. It wasn't the Corpus. Janet was unconscious and hurt and..." She was crying now. "We had to try something! She is needed! And..." She bowed her head. "We all love her. We didn't want to lose her."

 

"It is easy to love her." Nikis said softly. Mira nodded. "And love has made people do dumb things since the dawn of recorded human history." He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "Mira, I am not angry with you."

 

"You will be." Mira sounded abject now. "Part of me so wishes you had killed me when Janet woke to her powers. I am not cut out for this." The shade's code was seeping into Mira now. The mermaid hissed and then relaxed. "Janet was dying. Every... possible future we saw where Jesse was not here ended badly.. Janet died despite everything we could do. In every vision."

 

"So that is why you grabbed Jesse." Nikis growled. "Figured it was something like that. You do know you came within a hairsbreadth of me tearing the Enclave apart, right?"

 

"Yes." Mira averted her eyes as the shade's insubstantial hand plunged deep into her body. "I..." She gasped. "That... I..."

 

"Don't struggle." Nikis warned her and she went rigidly still. "She is almost done."

 

"I am sorry, Nikis." Mira said softly. "I should have said something. Anything. Janet was... She was so sure of what had to be done." Nikis went still.

 

"Wait..." The pitch black Nekros said slowly. "What? What do you mean 'Janet was'? She was unconscious."

 

"Her body was." Mira said softly. "Her mind..." Nikis hissed and Mira nodded. "We all wanted to help, but none of us even come close to her power level. What she touched...changed her, Nikis. You know it."

 

"Yeah." Nikis said quietly. He took Mira's hand as she gasped. "It's okay, Mira. I won't hurt you." He stared as Mira... tried to stifle a giggle. "Mira?"

 

"That... tickles..." Mira said weakly. Then she went still as the shade withdrew her hand. In it, a small object was nestled. Mira's eyes went huge. "That is... the..." She swallowed hard as the Tenno shade laid her other hand on Mira's chest and code seeped through her again. "I..."

 

"The bomb, yeah. Stay still while she fixes the other damage." Nikis said quietly as the shade shook her head and laid the small inert object down beside the still mermaid. Then the shade rose and started touching each still body in turn. Each faint glow denoting an explosive device faded with her touch. "Mira..." Nikis said quietly. "What did Janet do?"

 

"She needed help." Mira said heavily. "She needed a transplant of spinal tissue, that was the only thing that would save her. The nerves were dying." Nikis slumped and nodded. "I... It was wrong. What we did. But..." She bowed her head.

 

"Did Janet know?" Nikis asked. Mira shook her head.

 

"She was... making out a will..." Mira said weakly and Nikis sighed as he gathered her up in his arms. "I... We couldn't just let her die, Nikis! We couldn't! We delayed her until Jean was done. She was angry... so angry. But..." She slumped in his arms. "She was also focused on saving Jesse. She is sneaky, that paramour of yours. We didn't even know she had laid some plans until she told us."

 

"What kind of plans?" Nikis asked as he picked his way through the pile of bodies. The shade finished her word, nodded to him and vanished.

 

"Jesse needed help." Mira said softly. "We had no idea what the Grineer would do to her. Either time. We knew she would go after the girls who were taken by the Grineer. The visions were... somewhat clear. But none of us expected what happened after that. The telepathy or the rest of it. It wasn't clear to any of us."

 

"What plans?" Nikis pressed as he approached the airlock to his ship.

 

"The Corpus and Grineer were not the ones who dragged Jesse down into darkness, screaming." Mira said as Nikis carried her into the airlock. Nikis looked at her and she swallowed hard. "All we could see was Jesse screaming. We needed more information and we could not go to the Tenno."

 

"Why not?" Nikis asked as he laid her gently on the deck of his ship.

 

"Nikis..." Mira said softly. "Tenno hide from our sight." Nikis stiffened and then hissed. "Yes. We think a Tenno did what Janet saw happen to her daughter. Will do..." She corrected herself grimly.

 

"None of the Tenno I know would dare." Nikis said slowly as he checked her vitals quickly. "Not only is she Janet's kid, but she is a Cyberlancer. She will be heavily protected."

 

"We know." Mira said sadly." And that is what worries us." She nodded to the cockpit of the tiny ship. "Course... 090. Range... two thousand kilometers." Nikis stared at her and Mira bowed her head. "They... It didn't work as they had hoped. He attacked us."

 

"They... brought... Stalker here?" Nikis asked in total disbelief.

 

"They invited him." Mira said sadly. "In my visions, I could see he would react badly to armed beings finding him in the cavern. I had hoped... to stop it..." She was crying now. "I failed."

 

"What did he do, Mira?" The Nekros at down beside her, taking her hand in his.

 

"We just wanted to talk!" Mira was crying hard now. "He didn't have to kill them! He didn't have to poison the kids!"

 

"He wasn't going to trust, girl." Nikis said sadly as he held her hand. "I could have told you that. What did he want?"

 

"Locations of specific cryopods." Mira said softly and Nikis stiffened. "The fugitive Tenno who escaped the massacre where the Emperor died."

 

"You could... do that?" Nikis asked, awed. "See that?"

 

"Not me." Mira slumped a bit, wiping her face with her free hand. "Janet with the rest of us helping. But... he didn't want to talk. He wanted the information, not a discussion. He poisoned the kids just after you and Jesse were shown them."

 

"So Caroline was protecting the kids..." Nikis mused and Mira nodded.

 

"She didn't know what he would do, Nikis..." Mira said quickly. "None of us knew. He... We expected him to act as Tenno. Silly that. He isn't."

 

"No." Nikis said as he rose and moved toward the cockpit. "No, he is not."

 

"It was odd..." Mira said and Nikis paused. "He made it so you and Iriana would snatch Jesse and get her clear as quickly as possible. I do not know why."

 

"Whatever it is, we won't like it." Nikis groused as he set a course. "Rest, girl. I will get you to the others. They will help you."

 

"Then Caroline, Janet and I will have a long talk..."

 

***

 

"I do not understand." Jesse said as she focused on her hand. "What can whoever it was do with a fragment of my code?"

 

"Jesse, do you know where the code comes from?" Olim asked quietly. Jesse stared at him, uncomprehending and the master Cyberlancer sighed. "Come on, girl. I know Trinity taught you."

 

"It comes from inside us." Jesse said as she made code swirl around her hand. It... did not come from her index finger and she sighed as she made the code vanish. "So... I take bits of my inner energy to make it?"

 

"Yes." Olim nodded. "There is a long winded physics explanation. Takes about two hours and involves a bunch of high level math." Jesse nodded. "Trinity showed you?"

 

"She...told me about it..." Jesse said slowly. "We didn't have a lot of time for theory, even in the virtual world. There was just so much to learn." She slumped a bit. "I was never so happy in my life. Odd that."

 

"You had someone with you who was willing, able... hell eager.. to share arcane knowledge with no restrictions, no limitations." Olim said with a smile. "Don't blame you."

 

Jesse smiled at that, but it was hard to be cheerful. She was lying on a couch that -while comfortable and formfitting- had a number of devices arrayed around it. She wasn't restrained, they were all scanners of some kind. The problem was that she wore what amounted to an archaic two pierce swimsuit that left very little to the imagination. The idea was to allow full access to her body for the scans. And if anything did happen... With so many scanners trained on her, she could be restrained easily despite her code.

 

"So a piece of my..." Jesse shook her head. "I do not want to say 'soul' but it seems to fit the best..." Olim nodded to her and she continued. "...is in the hands of whoever hurt me in the Enclave."

 

"Yes." Olim agreed as code flowed around her. His own code was... beautiful to Jesse's sight. It flowed like water, never stopping.

 

"But... what can someone do with a fragment?" Jesse asked after a moment. "I mean... Trinity said small bits wouldn't let anyone control me."

 

"Control you, no." Olim said with a sigh. "Track you? Listen in? Use you as a homing device for a teleport?" Jesse stiffened and the master Cyberlancer nodded. "While I am here, I can ward you. But I can't stay forever. We need to get that fragment back."

 

"Which means... I need to track it." Jesse nodded soberly. "Set a trap?"

 

"We don't want to do that, Jesse." Olim said with a frown. "You are very vulnerable, both physically and mentally. Until your mental shields are perfected, you will be vulnerable to mental attacks. Your code adds another layer, but you still need the base shields solid." He knelt beside her couch. "So... again."

 

"Yes sir." Jesse said quietly as she focused her mind. It came easier now. As with any skill, it became easier with practice. The temptation to use her code was strong, but she fought it. She had to be able to do this without the code.

 

She focused her mind and erected a wall of shimmering red light in her mind's eye. It surrounded her, suffused her. But that was merely the first step. Other colors sprang into being as she erected more walls. Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet.  The basic colors came easily now. But there were more shades than she had ever known as a human. And some shades that had no visual component. It seemed to take hours, but was in reality only milliseconds before Jesse sat inside a scintillating bubble of energy. It looked white to her mind. All colors. She opened her eyes and Olim was watching her.

 

"Hold it." Olim said quietly and Jesse braced herself as Trinity had taught her.

 

Moments later a spike of pure power drove into her mind. She did not even try to fight it head on. There was no way. But... she did not have to. She twisted aside in a way that she knew she would never be able to describe to anyone in words. The power skittered off her shields, flowing past her. But then it hit again. And again. The white barrier... started to fray. Jesse did not panic, she focused on shoring it up but it was a losing battle. Eventually, it breached and power tore in and... slammed into the second set of barriers that Jesse had set up.

 

"Good girl..." Olim said with approval as he focused on driving his mind through her second set of defenses. These were not as strong as her primary barriers and in moments, they shattered and Jesse let out a sob as his powerful mind took hold of hers. But... he was gentle. A caress soothed the pain of the breaking away from her mind and then he retreated.

 

"Again." Jesse said as she focused on rebuilding the barriers. Olim sighed as he looked at her. "Again!" She demanded.

 

"No. You are not going to get this in a day, Jesse." Olim rose and took her hand in his. "You are not."

 

"But..." Jesse felt her hand quiver in his. Doing this took up a lot of her energy.

 

"Jesse." Olim said sternly. "Listen to me. You have the basics down. You need practice. That cannot be taught. You have to do it." He gave her hand a squeeze. "You will do it, but not today. Eventually, you will be able to raise barriers at will, as many as you need. Your code adds far more strength to your existing barriers." Jesse nodded and relaxed a bit.

 

"Unless of course someone has a piece of my code..." Jesse said quietly. "Then he or she has a wide open path directly into my mind."

 

"They won't be able to control you." Olim agreed. "But they can do other things. So... eat, drink and rest."

 

"You think they will try, don't you?" Jesse asked as he released her hand and she moved to take the juice container that lay on a tray by the couch. Her hand shook as she lifted it and drank slowly. A covered platter lay next to it. Her meal. "When I sleep?"

 

"I would." Olim said softly. Jesse stiffened and then nodded. "We will be ready, Jesse. For now, you stay on the couch. We can shield you there and if you do get... contacted or whatever... we can trace."

 

"And if whoever it was is listening right now?" Jesse asked as she opened the platter and smiled a bit sadly at the fine meal that had been set up for her. "I wish they wouldn't pamper me." Jesse complained as she started to eat.

 

"They are not." Olim replied. "You are hurt, if not in any way that can be bandaged or healed in any normal fashion. You are hurt, stressed and immobile for the moment." He shrugged. "They would do that for any hurt sister." Jesse smiled a little forlornly and focused on eating.

 

She was just finishing up the final bits when...something jerked her. She dropped her fork, staring at Olim who nodded. She lay back on the couch. She did not resist as... things enveloped her, both metal and energy. She gasped as tubes went into parts of her body, but that was mere precaution. No one knew how long she would have to spend on the couch and no one wanted her dehydrated or sitting in her own wastes. She closed her eyes.

 

"I... am afraid..." Jesse admitted in a tiny voice. Olim's hand found hers and gave a squeeze.

 

"I know." Olim said quietly. "Be strong, sister. You are not alone."

 

The next jerk tore Jesse's mind from her body.

 

***

 

This time, she was aware of the transit. She was aware of golden energy all around her. A tunnel of sorts. She closed her mind up behind as many barriers as she could create and rode the energy as it dragged her along. She landed on something...soft and warm.

 

"There is no need for that, girl." The voice...was not what Jesse had expected. She cracked her eyes and went still. It was not who she had expected. The Trinity warframe that stood nearby was red. "I won't hurt you."

 

"Who..." Jesse snarled at herself and closed her mind up tighter.

 

"I am not going to hurt you, child." The Trinity said gently as she sat by the bed Jesse was lying on. "I nearly had him. But he had to push the Oracles too far. Idiot." Jesse did not respond and the Trinity sighed. "Let's... start over shall we? My name is Mei. Yours is Jesse."

 

Something warm was wrapping around Jesse now. It was wrapping around her mind. It was coiling, but... gentle. Jesse felt her barriers stiffen as the energy surrounding them started to constrict.

 

"There is no need for this, girl." The other said sadly. "I did not intend harm to any except the kinslayer. He has earned my wrath many times over." She took Jesse's left hand in both of her own. "Easy... let me return what I took. I did so wrongly." One hand cupped and something familiar appeared on it. Jesse did not relax, did not allow the code that she saw skitter from the Trinity's hand towards her own to enter. It flew about, stymied as it hit her barriers and could not gain entry. "Ah, girl..." The Trinity sighed. "I do not want to hurt you." The hand that was not holding the code fragment came up to trace Jesse's cheek. "So young. So pretty. So innocent." She paused. "No... not innocent. What did they do to you, girl?" The Trinity sounded in tears. Jesse jerked her cheek away from the warframe's touch and the Trinity sighed.

 

"All right." The one who called herself Mei said sadly. "I will not hurt you." She promised. "They cannot trace me and I will not hurt you." Her hands... moved. Now they were... touching Jesse in places... Nothing erotic. Nothing bad. Just... Jesse...felt... Jesse snarled and built more barriers as the coils around her mind constricted again.

 

"It is all right, girl." Mei said sadly as she gently brushed Jesse's hair.

 

"It is going to be all right."

 

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