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[Fanfiction] Motherhood

Kalenath

By Kalenath,
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Spikey844

Spikey844

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Indeed and i was second after you and nikis was ahead of you...

 

Nikis is ahead of me yes, but so is Sun, Karl and clan, the Caretakers, the Royal Guard and the Orokin Marines...​

 

Then its​ me, then you, then Shadow....

 

If there is anything left by that point.

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Son of a....

 

ALL of you may be disappointed.

 

Cathi and Jesse are BOTH a little peeved by now. The one running Gemina and the others MAY have just made a serious mistake.

 

1st rule of fighting ANYTHING:

 

NEVER, EVER underestimate your opponent.

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Also i forgot to comment about the "Akira" thing chapter or two ago. That was a reference to the anime movie "Akira" right?(One of the weirdest movies i've ever seen)

 

That is exactly what it referenced.

 

And yes. It was weird.

 

As for unleashing hell, renleech?

 

Soon.

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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Locks

 

Cathi struggled but could not break free as she was laid out on a cold, hard slab of metal. Someone was using mechanical shears on her hair and she could see surgical instruments laid out on a tray nearby. She ignored it all, focusing on Jesse who lay nearby on another slab, her head already shaved.

 

"What is the point of this, Cathi?" Jesse asked, sounding honestly curious. "I mean, it is a dream, right? So it is all symbol and metaphor. So...what is the point?"

 

"We are trying to help." Siri came into view, now wearing surgical scrubs and a mask. Jesse ignored her.

 

"They take images you know, images you trust and warp them." Cathi said in the same calm tone that Jesse was using minus the curiosity. "With everything I have heard about you, you have been in the healer's care quite a bit. So... they will twist that. Make Healers the bad and themselves the good."

 

"I suppose that makes sense." Jesse agreed. "They have blocked my code."

 

"Jesse." Siri chided her. "Of course we have blocked your code. It will hurt or kill you. Open wide." Jesse ignored her again, still focused on Cathi. Siri sighed and moved to grab a tube device from the tray. "Stubborn girl. All you do is make it hurt worse."

 

"Even if they put tubes down your throat, gag you, tear out your vocal cords or whatever other evil they have planned, we can still talk here, Jesse." Cathi promised her. "They want to be able to communicate, so we can. Just ignore them for now."

 

"Was that really their owner?" Jesse was still curious.

 

"Part of her." Cathi said with a shudder that was not at all feigned. "She had to make sure her tools were controlled, so she put bits of herself into each of them."

 

"And... that is what they are going to do to me now." Jesse mused as Siri did something. Again, she ignored the other Tenno. "Do you have a bit in you?"

 

"Yes, but Sun mangled it." Cathi said with glee as Siri gave a sob. "Hurt like hell at the time, mind you. But I am free for the moment. They will try to do it again. And to you."

 

"So... they will be able to control us? Our bodies?" Jesse asked, her tone thoughtful rather than scared. Cathi approved.

 

"Not in any believable way." Cathi promised. "Do you really think Draco or Iriana would be fooled by a grunting, staggering parody of a Tenno? They can manipulate, send strong suggestions, trick you, but they cannot directly control. Their leash holder can, but she is still fettered for now."

 

"Cathi, come on!" Siri was getting angry now, but Cathi just ignored her as she focused on Jesse.

 

"That energy form..." Jesse said softly. "She made me watch. Did she really destroy it?"

 

"I don't know, Jesse." Cathi admitted. "My brain says we cannot be sure of it like we cannot be sure of anything in this place. My heart says 'yes'. He defied her. He had to go so she drained him beyond the point of recovery. I am surprised she left it this long. She always was a vindictive *@##$."

 

"You insult the Empress of Orokin, Cathi." Siri warned. She paused as both Cathi and Jesse burst out laughing. "What?"

 

"Ah, Siri, you made a funny!" Cathi was smiling as cold metal pressed down on her bare scalp. She saw Fred in surgical garb sliding a metal cap of some kind over Jesse's head as well. "That witch is no Empress. She never was. Only in her dreams. And not even here."

 

"She is the last survivor of the Royal Family!" Siri said sternly. "That makes her- What?" She demanded as Jesse and Cathi burst out laughing again.

 

"Are they really this clueless?" Jesse asked as tubes descended on her. "Or is this fishing for information?"

 

"A little bit of both." Cathi granted as pain flared in her legs and back. Tubes had bored into her body in places. "They have been out of touch for a long time and-" She gasped as pain flared through her chest, but forced herself past it. Jesse gave a small cry as well. "Jesse?"

 

"Not pleasant." Jesse agreed.

 

"We don't want to hurt you!" Siri begged."Stop resisting!"

 

"Oh, is this supposed to hurt?" Jesse asked curiously. "I mean, I had Grineer torture me, alter my mind while I was conscious. That hurt. This...? This is unpleasant. No more." Siri growled something vile and Jesse snickered. "Hey, Cathi?"

 

"Yes, Jesse?" Cathi asked, curious as machinery approached her head. She laughed as Jesse started to sing loudly and way off key. And what she sang...

 

What do you do with a drunken sailor?
What do you do with a drunken sailor?
What do you do with a drunken sailor?
Ear-ly in the morning!


Way hay and up she rises!
Way hay and up she rises!
Way hay and up she rises!
Ear-ly in the morning!

 

After Jesse started the second verse, Cathi joined in. The words were simple, the tune was awful. And she was laughing as she was singing. Jesse was too. After five verses, she was laughing too hard to continue. Jesse continued for another two and then stopped after the chorus, laughing.

 

"Are you done?" Siri demanded. "We want to fix the hole in your mind."

 

"How many of those kinds of songs do you know?" Cathi asked delightedly, ignoring Siri. "That was awesome!"

 

"A few." Jesse demurred. "I have been hanging around Mishka and she sings everywhere. Not all of them are for polite company, but here? I think they work because this is not polite company."

 

"Jesse, stop." Siri said with a growl.

 

"Nine million bottles of beer on the wall..." Jesse sang, again off key. "Nine million bottles of beer..." She gave a short scream and then continued to sing. "...take one down, pass it around, eight million, nine hundred thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall!" She continued in the raucous tune. "And I can do this all night!"

 

"Jesse." Cathi said softly when Jesse did not continue. "I have a request."

 

"Song or something else?" Jesse asked with a smile in her voice as the machinery clamped around her. Cathi's vision faded as well and sharp pains erupted across her head. Jesse sounded a little weaker when she spoke again. "What?"

 

"The being I spoke to asked me to give Eliza his love." Cathi said softly. Jesse inhaled. "Now, the slaves and their mistress fake love well. But that is all it is. Fake. You know what real love it."

 

"I do." Jesse agreed as energy crackled around Cathi. She ignored it. She hoped Jesse could too. "So... what?" Jesse grunted.

 

"If I do not make it, please tell her." Cathi focused herself carefully, blocking each and every impulse that that machinery sent into her, creating feedback loops when she could, instability when she could. Stopping it cold. "Do not let them win."

 

"Cathi, what are you doing?" Siri's voice was worried now. "Cathi, don't." The other snapped as power flared around Cathi in increasingly powerful patterns. "Gem! I need you!"

 

"I won't let them win. If I make it and you don't, I will tell her." Jesse promised. "Will you do the same for the people I love? If I fall?"

 

"I will." Cathi promised as power surged around her. "It has been an honor, Cyberlancer."

 

"The honor is mine, Guardswoman."

 

"CATHI!" Siri and Gemina both screamed as one as Cathi released the power she had been blocking. It slammed into her mind with the subtlety of an out of control spacecraft. She didn't even try to control it or block it or ride it. She just flowed with it. It didn't hurt and she was floating.

 

Gentle arms gathered her up. But she was seeping through them. Power flared and it held her in place despite her weak struggles.

 

"There wasn't any need for that, Cathi." The energy form was crying. "We just wanted you back." It was too much effort to respond, so Cathi didn't bother. "Always so stubborn and now, you have infected Jesse with that. We will help her. Then... we will try to help you. Oh my dear Cathi. Rest now."

 

She fought the soothing numbness that swept through her but it was no use. She was falling into a pit, but she went into the darkness singing.

 

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer..."

 

***

 

Jesse woke confused. Everything was clear. So why was it all wrong? She was alone in the room. That was wrong too. Everything was wrong. She stared around slowly and catalogued her surroundings as she... had been taught? She couldn't remember who had taught her. Her name was Jesse, she remembered that. But the rest was hazy.

 

The room was small, but comfortable. The bed was large enough that she wasn't cramped, but small enough that she wasn't lost in it either. The sheets and pillow were well made, but... archaic looking. She didn't know why she thought that. Pictures hung on the walls, not holograms, actual pictures. She stared at them. Were they on paper? Some were bordered by decorative things. Other just hung. The walls were decorated. And they looked... they were not metal. She wasn't sure what they were made of. This... made no sense.

 

She had been...singing? Something had hurt and she had been singing. She remembered that.

 

I know you are confused. The voice was female. Gentle. It was everywhere. You do not need to be afraid. I am here to help.

 

"Where am I?" Jesse asked. "This is wrong."

 

You are inside my mind, child. The voice was gentle, so gentle. You are hurting and I want to help. I can help. If you let me.

 

"This is..." Jesse twitched. What had she been going to say? It was hard to think. "No..."

 

Rest now, child. Let me soothe your hurts. Jesse found herself back on the bed, her body covered by a soft garment of some kind as the light in the room dimmed. Pain grew inside her head, but something eased it and Jesse found herself crying in relief. Don't cry, Jesse. It is all right. Rest now.

 

This was all wrong! Jesse didn't know how or why. But it was! Was it her imagination that the gentle voice sighed? The world went away.

 

***

 

 

"I do not understand." Siri was monitoring both of their 'guests'. "We sequester her memories and they come right back. She feels discrepancies every time. That makes no sense. How can she keep remembering?"

 

The Liset was very crowded with four Tenno and two slumbering forms held in purpose made cylinders to keep them secure and healthy.

 

"I don't know." Gemina said sourly. "Cathi is still singing that ridiculous song. We need the mistress. Not her parts. Her."

 

"Gem, we have healed Jesse's injury." Siri said slowly. "But if we let her wake, at all... As she is, she will be as angry or angrier than Cathi was." Both of them shuddered. That had not been fun. "We do not know enough about her abilities to counter them. We have no leverage on her."

 

"Hold on a sec..." Gemina pulled up a set of files on the terminal that she sat in front of and scrutinized them. Jesse's records that they had stolen. "According to the records... The sole surviving kin that she has are her human father and infant human brother." Gemina said softly. "Her father is a Corpus spy. Her brother?" She paused. "Siri... can you... make an believable infant in the dreamscape?"

 

"Gem, what are you asking me to do?" Siri asked carefully. "I want the mistress back too, but if we alienate Jesse by threatening her infant brother...She will die before she helps us. All it will take is for her to open fully to her code there in the dreamscape and poof, she is gone along with any chance we have of finding our mistress. We won't be able to save her."

 

"Not her brother." Gem said with a smile. "And we will not threaten him. She likes to help people. Let's give her someone to help. Someone to care for." She sighed sadly. "A distraction for the mistress to use to gain access."

 

"Gem..." Siri said softly. "That is a bad idea. You have not touched her mind. She feels very deeply. If she thinks..." Siri shook her head. "If we anger her..."

 

"She is not a Warrior, Siri." Gemina said quietly.

 

"So?" Siri demanded and Gemina stared at her. "Neither is the mistress! None of us have a chance against the mistress, Gem. And frankly? What little I saw of Jesse's code was terrifying. I don't know what kind of limits she has. If any. Angering her further is a bad idea. We can gain her trust but it will take time. Such a deception as you propose will not work in the long term and will turn her away from us. Possibly violently." Siri shook her head. "That is my opinion based on what I have seen and sensed. Jesse has honor, but she is not stupid either. We push her too far and it will hurt."

 

"I see." Gemina sighed deeply. "Well, it was just an idea." She banished the screen. "That is why you are the mental specialist and not me. So, just keep her comfortable? Keep trying to ease in?"

 

"Yeah." Siri scowled. "I know they are hunting us. We disabled every tracker we found, but..." She shook her head. "We need Jesse's help. Her willing help and the only way to get it is to convince her. She has shut and locked all the doors to her mind. We need to ask her for entry. Politely."

 

"Would she talk to you?" Gemina asked. "She won't talk to me after my deceptions."

 

"Maybe. It will take time." Siri said with a sigh. "But...eventually. She is a bright kid. And-" She froze as the monitors started flashing. "What the hell?"

 

"What is going on?" Gemina snapped, scrutinizing the readouts on Cathi's capsule. They hadn't changed.

 

"She just... left the dreamscape." Siri's hands were flying over controls.

 

"What?" Gemina actually shook. "That is not possible!"

 

"For us." Siri gasped as energy flared around Jesse' capsule. "Jesse! No!"

 

"Put her out!" Gemina called as she worked controls to put Cathi into a deeper sleep.

 

"Trying!" Siri exclaimed. "Controls are... oh my god... She is still asleep! But...she isn't in the dreamscape!"

 

"That isn't possible!" Gemina exclaimed.

 

Everything stopped as a form appeared standing between the two capsules. The holographic being was a human woman. She wore a long white robe and a white headdress that covered her face down to her mouth. Both Tenno froze, unsure of what to do. She wasn't armed.

 

"One piece of advice you get and only one." The woman said in a tone that both calm and furious. "There are some locks that you cannot pick. There are some doors that you cannot open. There are some gates that you cannot breach. There are more of each that you should not. Be wary, for you are stepping onto dying ground. This is the only warning you will get." She vanished.

 

"What the hell was that?" Gemina asked. "Siri?"

 

"I..." Siri swallowed, shaking her head in pain. "That was a mind. A powerful mind. Definitely female. Touching it was like looking at the Sun. She let me have a look, but no more. Whoever she was... She was powerful."

 

"How powerful?" Gemina asked slowly.

 

"I think she could give the mistress a run for her money." Siri said with a wince that Gemina shared. "She didn't...feel human. Or Tenno. She felt...ambivalent? Sort of. But angry. I couldn't sense why."

 

"At us?" Gemina asked, confused.

 

"I don't know." Siri was working controls again. "Ah, this makes no sense! Jesse is still asleep. She is still dreaming. But she is not in the dreamscape! This isn't possible!"

 

"We need to find her and bring her back." Gemina said quietly. Siri looked at her and Gemina nodded. "I know."

 

"Gemina,..." Siri said carefully. "We do not know anything about Jesse except what is in the records and what little I have managed to pull from her mind when I touch it. Which isn't a lot. The records are incomplete. We both know that."

 

"What choice do we have, Siri?" Gemina asked reasonably. "Without Jesse, this whole escapade is meaningless."

 

"All right." Siri laid a slow hand on the surface of the cylinder Jesse slept in. "But only me."

 

"Siri." Gemina snapped.

 

"Fred is needed to keep the ECM systems going. If we are detected, and we are lucky we die." Siri said with a snarl. They had taken the ship deep into Grineer controlled space. The stealth systems of the ancient Liset were not in the best of shape and needed constant tweaking. "If we are not... Sun catches us." They shared a shudder.

 

"Take Samuel." Gemina said softly. Siri looked at her and the Equinox shook her head. "You will need him and he is gentle."

 

"Gem..." Siri said slowly. "If she is dreaming freely, then anyone who goes in is in mortal peril. A randomly dreaming mind is not a safe place. I can probably protect myself. But not another."

 

"She needs help." Samuel's voice preceded the Oberon into the cramped area. "She is angry with both of you. Maybe I can talk to her?" He shrugged. "Maybe." He put his armored hands on the cylinder Jesse lay in.

 

"Hopefully, her memories from the dreamscape are still sequestered there." Siri said with a groan as she laid her hands on Samuel's. "She may not know you. If she does, run."

 

"Don't have to tell me twice." Samuel said with a grunt. "And if she doesn't?" Gemina just looked at him and he sighed. "I don't... I don't want to, Gemina. She is good kid."

 

"You won't hurt her, Samuel." Gemina reassured him. "If she doesn't remember you? I bet she will enjoy it."

 

"I heard what the woman said." Samuel said as Siri started to gather her power. Gemina looked at him. "Fred and I both did. What she said? All that comes to mind is the last translation I saw of Sun Tzu's The Art of War." Gemina jerked as Samuel slowly lowered his head to lay it against the cylinder. Siri laid her head beside his.

 

"On dying ground... fight."

 

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Kalenath

Kalenath

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eh my ancestors were scottish.. you won't hold that against me right? I was always an irishman at heart...

 

Well, I know a LOT of drinking songs even thought I don't drink myself. (can't unfortunately, LONG story)

 

This song was chosen because it is one of the cleanest I know. This IS a public forum and kids DO read these. Besides, Jesse is young and more than bit naive herself about some things.

 

As she said, there are many ways of fighting. Samuel and Siri are in for a HELL of shock. If they are not careful, a FATAL one.

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evafan002

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Well, I know a LOT of drinking songs even thought I don't drink myself. (can't unfortunately, LONG story)

 

This song was chosen because it is one of the cleanest I know. This IS a public forum and kids DO read these. Besides, Jesse is young and more than bit naive herself about some things.

 

As she said, there are many ways of fighting. Samuel and Siri are in for a HELL of shock. If they are not careful, a FATAL one.

point taken about the public forum bit

Not at all, I have cousins living up there, and I play the bagpipes myself.

Nice i would love to learn how but unfortunately due to some health issues years ago i do not have the lung capacity for it

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Kalenath

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They decide to enter her mind. Damn, this is dumb... And they know she's unstable.

 

They don't REALLY have a choice. If she stays as she is, she dies.

 

But yeah. Its dumb.

 

Really scary thing is: She isn't unstable.

 

Yet.

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Kalenath

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Electric Dreams

 

Siri and Samuel materialized in their warframes on an empty plain. As far as could be seen, the ground was gray. Not metal, but not alive either. The sky was a lighter shade of gray. Both carried a full load of weapons and both looked around warily. But the Nyx Prime and the Oberon were alone.

 

"Is this...the way it is supposed to be?" Samuel asked carefully. Siri shook her head and Samuel sighed. "Of course not. That would be too easy."

 

"Most dreaming minds are a jumble of images, pulled from both conscious and unconscious memory. Even Tenno minds are usually cluttered with stuff. Jesse's mind isn't like any other mind I have touched. She is far more organized and she thinks far faster than even most Tenno. More computer-like than organic." Siri said cautiously as she unholstered her Burston Prime. "I have no idea what defenses she may have in here, but I do know she will have them. And she can hurt us, maybe kill us here."

 

"We are trying to help her." Samuel said quietly as he readied his Tigris.

 

"From our point of view, yes." Siri replied, her focus all around. "From hers?" She started off. "Stay close and keep your mind as still as you can."

 

The Oberon nodded and maintained his position as the Nyx Prime started off across the plain. Nothing happened as they walked but neither relaxed. Something appeared in the distance and both froze in place, but it didn't move. It was fuzzy even to warframe senses. They started forward again, weapons ready. Nothing swooped in to attack, nothing moved at all except for them. Soon, they were close enough.

 

"What the hell?" Samuel asked for both the Tenno as they approached the object that resolved into a white sign on a grey metal pole. On the sign were written words.

 

'Do not pass 'Go'. Do not collect $200.'

 

The two Tenno stared at the sign and then at each other. They scrutinized the sign and the pole, but nothing else shone. They looked at each other again.

 

"I don't have a clue." Siri said after moment. "You?" She asked Samuel.

 

"No." Samuel shook his head. "Obviously a warning of some kind with 'Do not'. But I have no idea what kind." He slumped a bit. "Keep going?"

 

"We need to find her, pull her back to the dreamscape." Siri said softly. "She is scared, hurting..." She went still and the world shifted around them.

 

"Ah..." Samuel swallowed.

 

"Don't move!" Siri commanded and the Oberon froze.

 

Suddenly the two warframes were standing in a very large room. All around, space echoed. But both stared as a raised dais of some kind appeared in front of them. Sitting on it were two forms. One was Jesse. The other was speaking.

 

"...Oh, it was anything but easy, Jesse." The Lotus said with a smile as she worked on something in her lap. Jesse sat, her hand on a form that was lying beside her. The blue and purple garbed woman paused and looked at Siri and Samuel who did not dare to move. "Ah, our guests have arrived."

 

"Guests?" Samuel murmured to Siri who did not respond.

 

"Yes, guests." The Lotus replied. "You see... This was predicted. By me and others. Doing what you did angered a lot of people. Not the least, Jesse." She shook her head. "Jesse asked for help. I am giving it." She reached out to take Jesse's hand. Jesse did not react. "Come on, Jesse. I know you are angry. But come back to us."

 

Jesse coughed, jerked and sputtered a bit. The Lotus held her hand gently.

 

"I... That must be a heck of story, Lotus." Jesse said with a small, wan smile. "I would like to hear it all someday. How you kept Eliza from killing you when she discovered who you had been."

 

"I never lied about it, Jesse." The Lotus said with smile of her own. "They were wary, but by then... everything was chaos. They needed me and I needed them. Trust was hard to achieve, but we managed. Eventually."

 

"Still..." Jesse ignored the warframes. "To wind up where you did... to wind up doing what you did..."

 

"I was always about protecting the Tenno, Jesse." The Lotus said with a shrug. "From the Sentients, from the Orokin. I honestly don't know if I was following the Sequence or if it was too far advanced to stop. Eliza and I have talked and we believe Orokin was doomed either way. They had gone too far, done too much. Once the Infested were loosed, there was no stopping it. Them trying to enslave my children at the celebration only put the final nail in the coffin." Siri and Samuel stiffened, but neither of the others paid them any heed. "I didn't really want what happened to happen, but in the end? It was them or my children. I chose the Tenno and I have not looked back."

 

"I can only imagine what you have seen." Jesse said sadly, her free hand still on the form by her side. "What you have had to do. But... I am thankful." The Lotus smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "Why the name Rebeka though? You said there were others?"

 

"Because Eliza has a one track mind." The Lotus chuckled. "She was so curious, so determined to find out everything about where I came from. Even when she finally ferreted out who I had been... She kept at it. She kept hounding me to pick up the pieces of my past until I did so just to mollify her. What I found was not what I expected. The most recoverable fragments that were discovered came from Rebeka. But..." She slumped a bit. "Rebeka was a good woman. A good Tenno. She did not deserve what was done to her."

 

"No." Jesse agreed. "No, she didn't. So, why not hate Eliza? She was Orokin."

 

"She was different." The Lotus said with a small frown. "The Royal Guard had never lacked for coordination, I had no contact with them. Our relationship started fresh and they knew of me. But her... I had seen her in some of my children's minds. She was trying. So hard. So many hurts, so much pain and fear. So much betrayal." She shook her head. "I came to love her even before I knew her. She was as much one of my children as the Tenno were even before the children she bore were Infected. I still love her to this day. She desperately wished to become Tenno, but the Elders would not allow it." Jesse looked horrified and the masked woman bowed her head. "She was a daughter of the Emperor. They couldn't."

 

"I..." Jesse swallowed hard. "I see."

 

"Jesse." Siri said softly. "We need to take you back."

 

"I am talking here." Jesse said without looking at Siri. "I will be with you in a moment." There was...something in her voice. Something wrong.

 

"Jesse." The Lotus said gently. "Be calm." The Cyberlancer jerked and then relaxed. "Yes, you are angry. Yes, you have cause. But you cannot act out here. You know that."

 

"She made me watch holos of my parents tortured to death, Lotus." Jesse said flatly. Siri and Samuel both winced, but the Lotus was impassive. "I cannot be calm. Not now." She bowed her head. Was she crying? "Not now." The hand the Lotus was not holding stroked the still form at her side.

 

"The anger is not just yours, Jesse." The Lotus said quietly. "Some of Cathi's anger is still in you. See it for what it is. Let it pass you by." Her words were a command, but still gentle. Jesse nodded and bowed her head further.

 

"We want to-" Siri started only to freeze as the Lotus held up an imperious hand in a 'stop' gesture.

 

"You have done enough." The Lotus said with a snap. "Jesse. Oh Jesse. It is not your fault. It was her choice." Siri and Samuel stared at one another, confused. "We may be able to save her."

 

"She was so brave. So smart." Jesse was crying now. "She knew. She knew what they would do. She chose me. Why, Lotus?" She begged through her tears. "Why did she choose me? I... I am not worthy of such." Siri inhaled sharply as Samuel took a step forward.

 

"Jesse." Samuel said quietly. "What is wrong?" He took a step back as Jesse's head rose and her eyes met his Orynx helmet faceplate. Her eyes were wrong. He couldn't say how, but Siri hissed from behind him.

 

"You are here to seduce me." Jesse said flatly. The Lotus stroked her hand and Jesse swallowed. "Get lost."

 

"That is one reason I was sent." Samuel kept his voice quiet and calm. "You are having a nightmare, Jesse. Cathi is not dead."

 

"YES SHE IS!" Jesse was on her feet now, an oddly shaped weapon appearing in the hand that the Lotus was not holding. "This is not a dream! Not my dream! You all... So superior! What the hell do you know of pain? Of loss? Of horror? You are slaves! All of you! You wouldn't know free will if it bit you!" The Lotus had risen and was holding Jesse's hand tight. "Well, there it lies." She nodded to the form beside her. "She chose."

 

"Jesse, I do not understand." Samuel said softly. Then to everyone's amazement, he knelt. "Obviously, you remember. Which means my life is probably forfeit even though I did nothing to you before except talk."

 

"You want to." Jesse said flatly. "I can...feel... your lust." Samuel jerked.

 

"Jesse." The Lotus said carefully. "You asked my aid. I am giving it. Sit down. Please?"

 

"Yes, Ma'am." Jesse said in tiny voice as she sat, the Lotus mirroring her, still holding Jesse's hand.

 

"I am trying to calm Jesse down." The Lotus said quietly. "You think Cathi was upset? You have no idea. Jesse is not a Warrior. Not trained to handle these kinds of feelings. She has been trained -by the best- but that training is not Warrior training. Even Warriors might have difficulty with this. She has been hurt and abused so many times. And now what you have done has pushed her over the edge. Your lives may well be forfeit for coming in here." She warned.

 

"How do you know that Cathi was upset?" Siri asked slowly. "Neither you nor Jesse was there and..." She inhaled sharply as the form at Jesse's side shifted a little. The face became visible. It was familiar. Cathi's eyes were closed, she was asleep. But... she was old. Her face was wrinkled and torn with age and emotion. Pale. What energy she had was fading. She was dying. "What? No!"

 

"You never noticed." The Lotus said as Jesse bent over Cathi's form, tears falling. "You never noticed what Cathi did in that virtual prison, did you?"

 

"She created a feedback loop to break herself and Jesse free." Siri had horror writ large in her voice.

 

"And how did she do that?" The Lotus asked, her tone oddly gentle.

 

"I.... I don't know." Siri admitted. "I was monitoring their physical forms. Watching for tricks. Cathi surprised me. She and Jesse didn't have that kind of power."

 

"Not alone." The Lotus said softly. "But together?" Siri froze and then she started to keen softly. Samuel stared from one to the other, dumbfounded. "Yes, she merged her energies with Jesse's to break free. She knew it wouldn't kill Jesse, something that she was forbidden. But she could not leave Jesse there to be hurt and violated as she had been. She could not. So, she did what she could."

 

"No..." Siri begged.

 

"She chose to sacrifice herself rather than fall to your slavery again." The Lotus' voice was quiet, but intense. She was angry. "Even knowing that Jesse was not going to physically harmed by what would happen, she could not stand by and watch it. She could not let it happen, knowing that your mistress would make Jesse participate against her will."

 

"Siri?" Samuel asked, fear rising.

 

"Cathi has killed herself." Siri said weakly. Samuel jerked and then slowly, ever so slowly, bowed down until he was in a full formal bow. "No, sister. There was no need!"

 

"No need?" Jesse grated out past clenched teeth. The Lotus stroked her hand and she relaxed. "No need?" Jesse was shaking in rage now. "I... Lotus, help!" She begged.

 

"I will." The Lotus promised. She pulled Jesse close, dark blue energy circling the shuddering Cyberlancer. The energy soothed Jesse and she relaxed in the Lotus' embrace. "Easy, Jesse. Easy."

 

"I am scared, Lotus." Jesse said weakly. "So scared. I know what I can do... I... I don't want to."

 

"Jesse." The Lotus said sadly. "Do not grieve. Rejoice. She chose. They made her a monster. She had been one for long time. But now? She can die free. I doubt she has any regrets."

 

"I do. I didn't trust her, Lotus." Jesse said sadly. "Not until that place. Not until what she did there. It could have all been a trick, all along. It wasn't. I didn't believe her. Not entirely. Not until I felt her inside my... my soul. Felt what she did. All of it. And now...? It is too late."

 

"We do not know that, Jesse." The Lotus' voice was stern now. "This is bad, yes. But we may be able to do something." Jesse looked at the masked woman, her eyes streaming. "I don't know, Jesse. But we will try. She deserves that at the very least."

 

"Yes." Jesse's voice was calmer now. "Yes, she does. Thank you, Lotus." The Lotus hugged her again and released her. Jesse sat back beside Cathi's still form, her hand touching the still Guardswoman.

 

"This is a dream." Siri said softly. "A nightmare. She can't be dying. She isn't."

 

The Lotus looked at Jesse who spoke without looking at the two warframes.

 

"Tell me something, Siri." Jesse said quietly. "What is the difference between what is real and what is not?" Siri shook her head slightly. Jesse did not move. "'Real' is in our perceptions. What is real to me will not be real to you. I burn to strike you down, each and every one of you. To make it hurt for millennia. I can do it. I know how. Some of that anger is mine. Some of it is Cathi's. I can only hope that her energy is recoverable. She did mean well even with you setting her up like that."

 

"What?" Samuel asked, even more confused.

 

"You inserted a piece of your mistress' consciousness into mine." Jesse said softly. "And one into Cathi's. I was resistant. Sun's manipulations kept it from taking control of her. You couldn't even make a dream world for her like you did me. But you planned to use her to gain my trust, didn't you? Force her to betray me at a later date? That is what she thought you would do. She warned me about that when we merged."

 

"We want to help." Siri said softly.

 

"You did." Jesse admitted and Siri perked up. "The psychic wound has been healed. Of course, it was healed by you shoving a piece of your mistress into my head, but hey... no harm, no foul, right?" Space itself might have fled from her tone. The Lotus gave her hand another squeeze and Jesse visibly forced herself to relax. "I hate you. I hate all of you. But... I am held to higher standard. As evil and vicious as you have been to me, you are not really to blame. Your mistress is."

 

"Jesse, she can help you." Siri pleaded, then she screamed as energy wrapped around her, dragging her into the air. Samuel stiffened, but nothing happened to him and he stared as Jeese raised her hand, energy flaring from it.

 

"Jesse." The Lotus said softly. "Not yet." There was no command in her words, just entreaty. Jesse looked at her and then dropped her hand. Siri fell to land on the floor, gasping in pain.

 

"Lotus, I am losing control." Jesse said sadly. "Too much. Too fast. I cannot be sure of anything now."

 

"Be sure that despite their machinations, Jesse, there are many who love you." The Lotus said gently. "Who will truly help you. And not for reward, or favors or whatever. But because they love you." Even through her mask, it was clear that she was glaring at Siri. "And that is no lie."

 

"You don't understand." Siri gasped. "You say we don't love. That we do not know love? You do not understand." She was crying as she lay there, her form quivering. "Cathi is my sister in every way that matters! I do love her!" The Lotus looked at her and then at Jesse.

 

"Prove it." The Lotus said as she rose, picking Jesse up easily and carrying her away from where Cathi lay still.

 

"I will." Siri took a deep breath and then crawled to where Cathi lay. She lay her hands on the still Tenno's chest and focused herself. Whatever she sensed made her gasp. "You idiot girl... I am sorry, Cathi. So sorry. I can't stop this. I can slow it. Maybe... maybe one of the Guardians of the Dead can help her?"

 

"They won't help her." The Lotus said as Jesse lay quiet in her arms. "They are far more likely to kill her after what you did to Nikis."

 

"Then she is lost." Siri bowed her head. "I... know not how to heal this. The mistress could. I cannot." She slumped in place next to Cathi. "I am sorry."

 

Jesse patted the Lotus' arm and the masked woman set her down. The Cyberlancer looked at Cathi and then at the Lotus who frowned, thoughtful.

 

"'No greater love', Lotus." Jesse said quietly. "I will sponsor."

 

"And if I don't, you will throw a tantrum." The Lotus said sourly. Jesse smiled faintly, but the rest of her face was fixed. "Geez, Jesse. Always the hard way?" She complained.

 

"Always." Jesse said with a slightly less rigid smile.

 

"Okay." The Lotus clapped her hands.

 

Siri froze as she was suddenly kneeling beside Samuel. Two warframes appeared beside them. A black Nekros and a white Loki Prime. Sun drew his staff, but held it in a guard position, not to strike. Nikis' hands were on his pistols. But he did not draw them. Siri's weapons and Samuel's vanished as other forms appeared around the room. Warframes. Dozens of them. A shadowed form moved to stand beside Jesse and the Cyberlancer smiled at Draco. Then she turned and bowed formally. All of the assembled warframes bowed formally to a form that had appeared on a chair -no a throne!- behind the Cyberlancer. Eliza nodded to the side and Siri felt her world start to flip flop as a Tenno Elder in full robes appeared beside Jesse. Her face was horrifically scarred.

 

"This tribunal is called to order." Elder Raven said calmly.

 

Edited by Kalenath
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