Belief
"Look, I know it wasn't possible, but it happened! You saw my records and Karen's!"
It was very tense in the examination room of the medical ward inside the Tenno Dojo that the clan called Karl's Shadow called home. Aeron wasn't happy. Karen wasn't happy. The Warlord wasn't happy, but all of that paled beside Iriana's unhappiness. At least it wasn't wrath.
"What you saw could not have happened." Iriana said flatly. "You and Karen were both hit by whatever hit Percival."
She gave a tiny sob and both Tenno in the room bowed their heads. Percival hadn't been recoverable. His energy had been mangled by whatever the monstrous Infested had done. Even the best of Tenno medics needed something to work with and there was nothing. Their brother was not coming back. His energy was there, but it wasn't him anymore. It would never coalesce into Tenno patterns again.
"So... What?" Aeron was careful to keep his temper in check as Iriana scanned him again. She had been quite adamant about him not stepping off the plate that let he scanners work around him even when their surrounding beams bothered him. "We imagined it? The records are right there." He waved at the bank of computers nearby and Iriana made a face.
"Yes, but they don't make any sense." Iriana said with a sigh as she finished her work. "An Ambulas mech cannot carry a rider. It was not designed to do so. Add to that, it is a Corpus mech. Aeron." She said with a frown. "Why are you not angry?"
A fair question. Aeron hated the Corpus with every fiber of his being. His previous clan had fallen to a Corpus ambush and only he remained of them. His anger was still a danger, but he was far better at controlling it now than he had been. He wouldn't say it to her face, but her glowing eyes were very intimidating. No one had been able to figure out why they did, they just did and it freaked a lot of people out.
"I don't know." Aeron admitted "He wasn't hostile. If anything, he was polite!" The male Tenno made a disgusted noise. "Which makes no sense at all." He complained.
"I know." Iriana patted the distraught male Tenno's shoulder gently. He wasn't normally a touchy-feely kind of Tenno, but Iriana was a law unto herself and he had learned. Oh, had he ever. "Neither you nor Karen are on duty until the Elders have talked to you." Aeron made a face, but Iriana shook her head. "We need to know what that monstrosity did. Your records and your impressions are the only evidence we have. This...oddity will be investigated."
"Oddity." Aeron repeated. "Yeah, it was damn odd." He slumped a little. "We were dead, Iriana. We had no way out and it was only a matter of time." Iriana looked at him, her face bleak. "I am not too proud to admit I was scared. For so long, I wasn't afraid of death. But now? Jac, Karen and the kids… I was afraid."
"Brianna is almost done with Karen. Will you talk to her?" Iriana asked.
"Will you?" Aeron asked slyly and the Healer made another face.
"You know I will." The Healer said quietly. "Between you all, the Caretakers, the Elders and random Tenno on the street, I cannot help but talk to her. Bunch of nags, the lot of you."
"Only because we care." Aeron said with a small frown. Every Tenno who knew of her knew that Iriana pushed herself too hard. Few outside of the dojo knew that Iriana had literally worked herself to death a short time back. Total systemic collapse was no joke at all. She had been brought back from it, but still...
"I know." Iriana stared at the floor. "I am sure the Warlord will find something to keep you both busy. If all else fails, you will be available to help Diana with Janna." She smirked as Aeron groaned.
Janna was Iriana's adopted daughter. Though an unfortunate series of events, the human she had once been had wound up intertwined with Iriana's mind and had changed significantly as a result. Becoming a brand new Tenno was no weirder than anything else that had happened around this clan recently, so they just rolled with it. She was smart, dedicated and willing to put in the effort to learn. That said, she was not overly endowed with common sense much of the time. The upside was that her sponsor Diana was a very good Tenno who had her well in hand most of the time. The downside? When Janna screwed up, it was usually fairly spectacular. The Warlord had banned her from the obstacle course after she had wound up in Medical three times in three days. Once with a fractured faceplate on her warframe, which wasn't supposed to be possible.
"She is chafing." Iriana sighed a little and Aeron nodded. "She wants to learn it all now and it doesn't work like that. She has to have the foundation set before she builds on it and she doesn't want to take the time."
"Honestly, doc, what she really wants is to help." Aeron said with a shrug. "She sees us come back all messed up and wants to help keep us standing in the field. But she cannot. She isn't ready and won't be for some time no matter how well Diana trains her."
"And she knows it." Iriana heaved a sigh. "She is young but she is also smart." She paused and grimaced. "Most of the time. Now if only she could temper the smarts with some sense."
"I don't know what I can do about that, doc." Aeron stretched out carefully when Iriana motioned that he could move from the scanner. "I am not overly endowed with common sense myself sometimes."
"You don't say!" Iriana scoffed as Aeron made a rude gesture her way. But then she shook her head. "I did see what you tried to do for Karen. I um… I might have done the same for Janna or Mishka."
"Yeah." For once, Aeron had no snarky comeback. What he had done had been crazy, but he did love Karen. No one blamed him for that. Or, more accurately, no one in the clan. "I will talk to Brianna when she is free. Anything out of the ordinary?"
"No." Iriana mused. "And that worries me. You, Karen, Oia and Lars were all hit by the same energy that killed Percival. If Karen hadn't revived you when she did..." The Healer slumped a bit.
"Warrior Tenno do not die in bed, doc." Aeron was very quiet.
"I know." Iriana gave another tiny sob and Aeron laid a hand on her arm. "We nearly lost you both today and I am scared. I guess I was deluding myself that Tenno were immortal and invincible. I know better. Intellectually, I know exactly how fragile we are even in warframes."
"As Janna keeps trying her darndest to prove." Aeron smirked as Iriana strangled a chuckle.
"That she does." Iriana managed after a moment. "I will talk to Brianna."
"Has the Warlord had any luck finding another medic?" Aeron asked.
Iriana and Brianna did everything they could, but they were essentially the only full time medical staff the dojo had. Jimmy and Kat were trained, but they were not fully trained or trusted. Brianna focused on mental issues while Iriana was more a generalist. Alicia was the clan's combat medic and also a generalist, but she was in the field a lot, not available. The only other medic was not one that anyone was ever going to talk about outside the clan. Bastet's existence was not common knowledge and was not going to be.
"She is looking." Iriana shook her head. "We have applicants. Lots of applicants. But not many pass the security checks. Of those, none who are medically trained have gotten past Tiana's vetting except Carlos."
"Yeah." Aeron grunted. Carlos wouldn't stay. Too many memories of his sister around this dojo.
The clan had far too many secrets that could not be spoken anywhere outside the dojo. Tenno were far more disciplined than humans had ever been, but in the end, they were mix of personalities just like humans. There were some Tenno who could be trusted to keep secrets, no matter how wonderful or terrible. There were others who simply could not stop blabbing them. The clan simply couldn't take the chance. If the Grineer or Corpus, -hell, even the Elders!- found out about some of the things the clan hid, it would not end well. Most of the Elders knew about Avalon now, it hadn't been possible to hide forever and everyone knew it. But if the Grineer or Corpus figured out that a tiny fragment of Orokin still existed, the best thing that could happen was a bloodbath.
And if anyone figured out who Kat had been? Bad didn't begin to cover that.
"Janna helps." Iriana said with a sigh. "Kat and Jimmy do what they can. And I do take breaks." She frowned as the door opened and a familiar form flew in to hover by her shoulder. The Djinn sentinel beeped at her urgently. "Speaking of. Yes, I know, TW1-K1. Break time." Her voice was sour.
"Better go." Aeron smiled at the Healer's disgusted expression. "Don't want Janna to get motherly again, do we?"
"Don't encourage her!" Iriana pleaded as she strode for the door, the sentinel that was her minder as well as her protector at her shoulder. "I will rest. Please talk to Brianna."
"My next stop." Aeron promised. The Healer smiled and then she was gone.
He stared after the Healer for a moment, a bit pensive. Iriana was a rock most of the time, but her recent experiences had shattered her own foundation and left her reeling. The clan stood for her and with her, but she was not ever going to be who she had been before. Before Janna. Before she had died. The clan's preeminent sniper might have been considered cold and unemotional by many because he worked to hard to stay calm, but he did know sadness on seeing the Healer so reduced from what she had been. She was still kind, cheerful and very good at what she did, but now, there was undercurrent of fatigue, of sadness. Of despair.
Aeron wished he could help her, but he was sniper, a warrior, a taker of lives, not a builder or fixer. He shook his head and exited the scanner room to find Medical almost deserted. Everyone was busy with missions and the most recent excitement. Kat nodded to the sniper from where the medic was working on something and Aeron returned it. He had no real misgivings. He would watch the Tenno, everyone did, but Kat wasn't who he had been. Aeron hadn't wanted to accept that, but he had eventually. It had helped that Kat didn't really trust himself and had demanded full time surveillance on himself. If it was a trick, it was a darn good one.
"Is she resting?" Aeron asked as he strode up to the desk.
"Yep." Kat made a face and Aeron shook his head.
"You dosed her tea again, didn't you?" The sniper asked warily. Kat just looked at him. "You know how she reacted last time."
"I didn't." Kat spread empty hands. "I was sitting right here. I learned my lesson." Aeron made a face, Iriana's rage had been something to see. From a safe distance that was.
"She needs less stress, not more." Aeron groaned and Kat made a face that matched his feelings. "And missing a shift stresses her."
"Yeah." Kat looked at the wall, but he wasn't seeing it. "I am scared, Aeron. I really am. She can't stop. She is obsessed with healing now and she cannot stop. The only time she sleeps enough is when someone drugs her. She talks to Brianna, to me, but..." The other male Tenno slumped in his chair. "I am scared."
"Me too." Aeron admitted. "We already lost her once. So many hits. So many hurts. So many shocks would tear anyone apart. Even her. She puts on a brave face, but she cannot keep this up. If the Warlord relieves her from duty..." Aeron trailed off as Kat made a sad noise.
"She will go mad." Kat finished. "Her work is the only thing holding her together. And if those quacks in the secure psyche unit get hold of her..." He gulped as Aeron stared at him. "You… haven't heard?"
"That unit was disbanded because they messed things up so badly." Aeron said slowly. "Serene, Dust, Michelle… They would have locked me up too."
"I know." Kat said in a very small voice. "I would have wound up there myself. Hell, many of us here would be considered less than sane." He chuckled a little and Aeron shared it.
"Yeah. I can just imagine their reaction to Ric." The sniper said with a snort.
"Their ward couldn't hold him." Kat snickered. "Nothing can hold a pissed off engineer. Nothing."
"So very true." Aeron sighed and shook his head. "If you didn't dose her, who did?"
"I didn't actually see anyone do it." Kat said with a small smile. "But then again, I don't see Diana around a lot. I think she sneaks just to do it."
"She does it to keep in practice." Aeron shrugged. "We may never have to call upon her specialized skills, but then again, we may."
While many Tenno served as assassins, Diana had been a professional one. Her skill level in stealth and stealthy combat was unreal and frankly? More than bit scary. Add to that her Saryn warframe and if she ever went off the deep end, no one would be safe. No one.
"If we ever find the origination of me, then yeah. We might send her." Kat said darkly.
They hadn't been able to keep Kat's past from him. He was far smarter than he let on on most of the time. That said, he also wasn't bound by the oaths his other had sworn whatever they might have been. As soon as he had figured it out, he had gone to the Warlord and Iriana, confessed his knowledge and demanded that they lock him up. Both had refused. He was part of the clan and he wasn't the being he had been copied from.
"We might." Aeron agreed. "She would do it and make sure of it but for now? She has her hands full with Janna." He eyed Kat as the seated male made another face. "What is Janna up to now?"
"She has been pestering Cathi Gata to try out an Archwing." Kat said with a frown. Aeron froze and Kat shook his head. "Not a chance. Not without Iriana's consent, which she is not going to get." Aeron stared at him and Kat chuckled. "She tried pestering me, but I know better than to irritate Iriana."
"Most of us do." Aeron mused and then smirked. "That said… has she been through zero g training yet?" Kat stared at him and then the seated Tenno's eyes lit as well.
"No." Kat's eyes were twinkling now. "You know. That is an oversight and since it would be handled entirely inside the dojo, and under strict supervision, we can do that." His grin turned downright evil.
"Before we do anything, check with Tiana and Diana." Aeron cautioned. "She is Diana's responsibility and Tiana has the ultimate authority. I am stuck here for a while with Karen, so we can set it up."
"Set what up?" Karen asked as she appeared nearby. She was not wearing her warframe, it like Aeron's was being scrutinized. Brianna followed the female Tenno into view, shaking her head at something in her hand. Aeron looked at her and she smiled, but looked a question at him.
"Janna has been bugging Cathi Gata about learning to fly." Kat said with a shrug. "Gotta admit, Cathi Gata is the best flier here when Li isn't."
"She makes it look so easy." Karen agreed as she moved to stand beside Aeron. "And Janna is chafing under all of the rules. Just like I did."
"You stopped?" Brianna asked even as Aeron was about to ask the same. Karen blushed a little but nodded. "You have come a long way, Karen."
"Between you, Iriana and the Gunny, I didn't have a choice." Karen grinned a little, but it hadn't been a laughing matter at the time. "I will have demons for the rest of my days, but I am better and I can serve." She paused as she thought about what had been said. "Wait… You two… She hasn't had zero -G training, has she?" Aeron and Kat both shook their heads, grinning. Karen rubbed her hands together, cackling manically. "This is going to be fun!"
"Karen." Brianna said mildly. "Don't do that. I… My replacement won't know your sense of humor."
At her words, everyone froze. Kat slowly reached out to take the slip from her. She did not stop him. He stared at it and then hissed.
"Brianna, we -the clan cannot allow this." Kat said softly. He handed the slip to Aeron who took it and saw an order to report for 'psychiatric examination'. If someone were to read Brianna's mind, they would have access to every secret the clan had!
"I know." Brianna said softly as Karen hugged her. "It is probably a clandestine attempt to ferret out information under the guise of 'helping' me. But I did fail Serene, Amelia, Karl..." She slumped a bit. "Iriana is not the only one fraying."
"It won't happen." Aeron said firmly. "It won't. We will talk to the Elders. They understand if anyone does."
"It is not going to happen." Karen said with a growl. "If needed, I will take it to my other chain of command.
Everyone tensed at that. Karen's rank of PFC was fairly low for a soldier. She wasn't a soldier. She was an Orokin Marine as well as Tenno and she answered to the Empress as well as Tiana. No one else.
"We have a mystery to solve too." Aeron mused. "That guy… It did happen." He looked at Brianna who nodded. "And I need to talk to you about it."
"Then let's do this." Brianna started for her office, Aeron following. But her posture was slumped, almost beaten.
We need help. This isn't something I can shoot. Aeron mused as he followed the mind healer.
We all need help.