Waking?
"You took control of me." Tiana snapped. "You enslaved me!"
That was not my intention. Heron replied evenly. The Lotus simply stood helplessly as Tiana fingered the metal circle in her hands. I woke from the dream to see you kneeling there. I did not know you. You were not anyone I recognized. I had thought I was simply a warframe myself. But in the dream, I was seeing many, many warframes. I was riding many, watching, helping a little as I could. The feedback when the Transference machine cut out shut down your neural links temporarily. It knocked you out. We were both vulnerable and I knew enemies were coming. I can make no other explanation for taking control. Forgive me, Sister. I wronged you.
"I..." Tiana shook her head once, twice. She gave herself a shake. "You call me 'Sister', but I do not know you." She jerked as Raven coughed.
"This is not a conversation to be having in the hallway." Raven said firmly. "The others are waiting for us. Tiana, your choice."
Tiana looked at the Lotus whose visible face was set. Then she looked at the others. Finally, she slumped but and shook her head.
"I will... hang onto this, if you don't mind, Rachel." Tiana said to Rachel who shook her head.
"I would ask that you not leave with it." Rachel replied. "It is a relic of the First." Tiana jerked and stared at the circle in her hand. "There were those who tried to control them. It rarely ended well for those." She said dryly. Tiana nodded.
Raven started off, Tiana matching her strides. The Lotus' holo vanished and the others followed the two female Tenno. No one spoke and Tiana was glad for it. Her mind was whirling. Too many things, too quickly. No one spoke as the cavalcade made its way into a much larger chamber. Inside, many Tenno stood in groups, talking quietly. All of that stopped as Raven and Tiana entered. Karl, Alicia and Will moved to the wall where they stood, ready. Michelle and Petra stood near them, but not -quite- with them. Rachel and Carlos moved to the door, warding it.
Raven strode into the middle of the room and looked around. Tiana paused, not sure what to do. Raven smiled at her and nodded. Then she spoke.
"We are here to discuss what happened on the moon." The Elder said formally. "The Citadel is warded. It's shields will prevent any unauthorized presences from entering or leaving." She looked to the said where a black armored form lounged against the wall and bowed her head. "Grandmaster Nikis." Nikis grunted in acknowledgement. Everyone looked at him, but no one commented. Wise of them. "Are the wards live?"
"You know they are." Nikis snapped. Raven looked at him and he shrugged. "Not that surprised she lied. It is what she does."
"It is never that simple, Nikis." A calm, cold voice sounded from the other side of the room and more than one Tenno shied away from the white Loki Prime. Grandmaster Sun was shaking his head. "And you know it." Nikis grunted again and Sun shrugged. "We are all here, Elder Raven and the wards are live."
"Very well." Raven said with a nod to the master interrogator. "Eight of our number were sent by the Lotus on a mission of some urgency. The kinslayer had allied with the Sentient Hunhow and was seeking something that could destroy the Tenno." Tiana bowed her head along with several others in the room. "I stand for the Elders. Nikis and Sun stand for themselves of course. Rachel and Carlos stand for the First. Michelle and Petra stand for other interested parties. The rest of our kin stand for you. Step forward, my kin. Be recognized. We stand with you and for you."
Tiana stepped forward and stopped as seven other Tenno moved to flank her. An Excalibur, a Trinity, a Loki, an Ivara, a Rhino, an Ash and a Frost. She knew them all, if mostly just by name. Rick, Sina, Jorge, Viveka, Hors, Sam and Kiang. Her team who had gone with her to the Moon. Who had fought through the ancient traps and defenses chasing the kinslayer. The battle had been brutal, Tiana had gone down more than once, but her team had always been there to assist. She herself had assisted others when they had fallen.
"We need to know what happened." Raven said calmly. "You have all been debriefed by your various clans and by Intelligence, but this is for all of the Tenno. This... changes things."
"No joke." The Ivara -Viveka- said sourly. Tiana looked at the other and realized that the other female Tenno was fingering a red painted crossbow at her hip. The Rakta Ballistica was loaded.
"Tenno Viveka, we are here to try to understand." Raven said quietly. "To seek a meaning behind what happened."
"What is to understand?" Viveka snapped. "We were lied to!"
"There has to be a reason." Raven said softly. "Good, bad or indifferent, the Lotus is not in the habit of doing things without reason." Her tone was quiet, but rock hard as well and Viveka recoiled a little. "We need to know what that reason is. Our kin are confused. Our kin are scared."
"With reason." Tiana said in an undertone that somehow carried. The Frost -Kiang- reached out to pat her arm and she nodded thanks to him.
"Yes." Raven agreed. "With reason. To be controlled is a particular nightmare for us. For warriors especially. Warrior Tenno wield powers that defy belief. Even the most jaded and bitter of us understand what we can do. Every one of our people will hear of this. No matter how well the secret is kept, it will get out. And when it does, panic will follow." A worried murmur went around the room ."We need to get ahead of this. We need to know what happened and figure out where to go from there."
"We need to tell the Lotus to **** off!" Viveka snapped, her hand on her crossbow. The murmur turned ugly. Whatever feelings people might have at the moment, all of the assembled Tenno knew the Lotus and most respected her.
"Do we?" Sun asked from where he stood. The murmur faded into a silence that was profound. "We don't have all the information. Rushing off half cocked is a bad idea."
"And waiting for her to enslave us is a good one?" Viveka nearly screamed. "I for one-"
Bang!
All eyes turned to Nikis. More than one Tenno had drawn weapons at the sound of a gunshot, but all lowered said weapons as they saw he had his pistols ready in hand. One was lowering from where he had fired at the ceiling.
"Nikis..." Rachel groaned. "What did the ceiling do to you?"
"It was there." Nikis... sounded different. Older. Harder. Terrifying. His words were calm, but his tone... more than one Tenno flinched from the ice cold gunfighter. "There will be no schisms today." This was not a question. It was a statement of fact. "We are here to figure out what happened and move on. Take your hand off your weapon, Tenno Viveka." His right hand Magnus was aimed at her faceplate. "Break the peace here and I will shoot you. I will not have a moment's regret. I will not let you make the same mistakes we did if I have to kill every last one of you. Clear?"
Not a threat. A promise.
"Grandmaster Nikis..." Raven begged. No one dared move. No one dared breathe. Nikis played the doddering old fool so well sometimes it was easy to forget who -and what- he really was.
"What is it gonna be, brat?" Nikis demanded of Viveka who stared at him. "Richard died so that you would have free will. You have it, but there are some choices I simply won't stand by and watch you make. You try to fracture our kin and I will kill you." It went without saying that if the Grandmaster of the Dead did so, there would be no coming back after.
"Nikis." Tiana took a step to stand by Viveka. "Shoot if you must. She is scared. So am I. If you shoot her, you will shoot me too." She raised empty hands. The Ivara warframe turned to scrutinize the Mirage and then Viveka slumped a bit, her hand falling away from her weapon.
"You got guts, girl." Nikis replied evenly. "But there are some things I will not allow. You have a right to fear after what happened, but you cannot let it rule you." His words were to Viveka now. "And I will not let you do what your friends want." Viveka jerked and Tiana stared form the Ivara to the Nekros and back. "She is with 'The Rising'."
A murmur went around the room. This time, it was more worried than angry. 'The Rising' were a group of extremists who had started with the Red Veil, but had proven too extreme for that group. And considering that the Red Veil were dedicated to purging the entire solar system with blood and fire, that was saying something.
"So much for 'free will'." Viveka snapped. More than one person quailed at her tone.
"No one is stopping you from being a fanatic, brat." Nikis retorted. "All I am doing is keeping you from starting a schism in our ranks. You wanna purge people who can't fight back? Be my guest. Go kill humans or Grineer or whatnot." He shook his head slowly. "But you even try to mess with our kin and you will pray for oblivion and I won't let it take you for a long, long time."
Tiana shook her head and stepped between the Nekros and the Ivara. More than one person in the hall inhaled in shock as she raised empty hands. She didn't move. Didn't speak. She just stood there. Then the others who had gone with her to the moon moved to flank her, blocking Nikis' shot.
"Viveka." Tiana said sadly. "Choose. Do we live or die? We cannot stop him. We cannot fight him. But we do stand for you."
"I..." Viveka sounded shaken now. She stepped forward to stand by Tiana. Her hand came up from her weapon to take Tiana's hand. "I am afraid."
"So am I." Tiana replied. She didn't take her eyes from the Nekros who nodded to her. His pistols went back to his sides. But his gaze never left Viveka. The tension in the room dropped a little. But only a little. Tiana took a deep breath and spoke.
"Elder, the Lotus called us to help her stop the Stalker from destroying an ancient relic of Tenno power. We were honored to do so..."
A bit later
No one had moved. Viveka still held Tiana's hand. The others had shifted closer to her as the Mirage finished the tale. More than one had laid hands on her as she spoke haltingly. Offering support.
"When I came to, the sword was gone and there wasn't even any blood. It never hurt." Tiana said softly. "I don't know where we were. My ship came for me and I went back to it. I was numb. Am numb." Viveka was shaking her head. Tiana looked at the other female Tenno. "You didn't see that?"
"No." Viveka said weakly. "I came to my senses on my ship. I knew I was missing time, that I had been controlled. The last thing I remembered was opening the pod. Seeing the form inside. Humans?" She asked. The other six who had been with them shook their heads as well when Tiana looked at them.
"No." Tiana said softly. "Not human. They were not human. The Lotus was talking, but I could only make out a little. I was fuzzy." She took a deep breath, let it out. "She called the boy 'My child'." At that, Viveka jerked. "We need to know, Viveka."
"Yes." The Ivara's voice was tiny. "Yes, we do." She relaxed completely for the first time, Tiana still holding her hand.
"Elder, we need answers and none of us here have them." Tiana said formally.
"True." Raven said softly. "Can everyone keep their temper?" This was sour as she looked at Nikis who shrugged. She shook her head. "Why do I even try?" She asked the room sourly. A few people surprised themselves with chuckles. "Rachel?"
"Wards are set for selective. She can get in." The Saryn Prime who led the inhabitants of the Citadel said quietly. "Don't know if we can hold her." She warned.
"We do not want to hold her." Raven said sadly. "We just want answers. I- Whoa!"
Everyone had weapons in hand as the transparent figure of the Lotus appeared in the middle of the room She was not alone. A young looking male form sat in an odd looking chair beside her. Tiana stiffened as the holograms both looked at her.
"What is the meaning of this?" Raven demanded tightly. Nikis had his pistols in hand now. Sun, his staff. More than one of the others had weapons ready, for all the good they would do against holograms. "We asked for your attendance, Lotus. No one else's."
"Heron has a mind of his own and felt that Tenno Tiana needed more than a basic apology." The Lotus was tense. The boy in the chair nodded to Tiana who didn't move. "I can explain, but it will be complicated."
"Is it ever not?" Tiana demanded.
Not in my experience. The words did not come from the boy's mouth, but it was clear he had said them. I meant no offense then or now. But as Grandmaster Nikis says, there must be no schism. We meant no harm to any of you. We were afraid. We are afraid. It wasn't normal Tenno mental communication. No, this was something else entirely. But it didn't feel wrong.
"Ýou... are afraid?" Viveka's word might have been accusatory. But not really, she was dumbfounded. "You have power beyond belief if you can enslave Tenno with a touch."
We have power. The boy said calmly. But what we did was wrong. We had no time to ask permission. So all we can do is ask for your pardon. Everyone was staring at the boy and he flushed a bit. Tenno Tiana, I beg your pardon. I used you and it was wrong. Please forgive me.
The naked entreaty in the boy's voice shook Tiana. He wasn't faking this. He was truly sorry and scared for her. For her. She tilted her had in query and he smiled at her.
We are not so different, Tenno Tiana. Both broken. Both misfits. The one in the chair said with a nod of his own. Both used, abused and discarded. But we both found a better way with help. He turned to Raven. Elder, my name is Heron and I ask to be recognized.
"Heron." Raven said slowly. She looked around the room but no one seemed to disagree. "You took control of Tiana."
I did. Heron said sadly. Her neural linkages had reached badly to the Transference system shutting down. Nikis and Sun both jerked at the word 'Transference'. Yes, Grandmasters. The Orokin managed to get Margulis' work to function. Mostly
"Zarimon." Nikis breathed. Heron nodded. "She said you died." He nodded to the Lotus who hadn't moved.
We did. Heron replied. We woke from the first dream of horror in the Void to a nightmare of slavery, tests and experimentation. We were uncontrollable monsters. We hurt people without intending it. We did not understand what was happening or why. The only stable thing in our lives had vanished. We didn't know why. We didn't know the Orokin had killed her. He bowed his head. She worked so hard to help us and they killed her for it.
"Margulis." Tiana said softly. Heron and the Lotus both nodded to her. "We heard her voice a few times. Your influence?" Heron looked at the Lotus who shook her head.
"Not intentional. They had been imprisoned on the Moon." The blue garbed not-human female said quietly. "The residues of what happened lingered while they slept. They didn't know. The Orokin didn't tell them anything. But there was a connection. She forged a connection to them and the Orokin wanted to be in total control."
"Typical." Nikis said sourly.
They killed her. Heron said calmly. She was the one spot of kindness in our lives and they killed her for it.
"So... what?" Raven asked. "What are you?"
That is a very good question, Elder. Heron said with a frown. When we woke from the Second Dream, the Lotus told us she had placed us in Transference pods for our safety. We went to sleep and woke up with you kneeling in front of us on the moon, Tenno Tiana. We were and are too powerful. We cannot control our powers completely. The Orokin tried to use us to enhance the warframes that they made. The copies that they made of Tenno. We... did not know what that meant. To us 'Ten Zero' was a curse. It was the designation that the Orokin used to categorize us. I was Ten Zero Fourteen.
"Humans." Nikis made the word an epithet.
Those responsible are dead. Heron replied. The Lotus killed them when she rescued us. But, while our bodies slept, our minds wandered. Here and there, everywhere. We touched minds that were like ours, but not. We did not understand and we wanted to. But we were afraid.
"Of us?" Viveka demanded.
None of us can walk on our own, Tenno Viveka. Heron replied. None of us have the physical capability anymore. We can move, but not very far, or very fast.
"You... you are disabled." Tiana said softly. Heron nodded.
Physically, we are less capable than a human child. Heron agreed. But mentally? It took us...some time and not a little effort on the Lotus' part of get us to understand. The Lotus smiled in fond, exasperated memory.
We were a handful.