Sanctuary
Sister Katerina was bored.
She knew that was not a good thing. As always, she focused on her duties to the Clergy as well as her faith and she usually had a lot of things to do. But now? The newest Reverend Mother had spread Katerina's duties out among the Clergy in an attempt to lighten her workload. Noble, to be sure, but misguided. Katerina was a shade. She wasn't alive like the other Clergy. She was trapped in the power systems that ran the ancient cloister called the Convent. It had been her refuge for so long and she could never leave it. Normally, she could access datafeeds and work to help her Clergy compatriots clandestinely. Now? She couldn't do that. Nikis and the Reverend Mother had completely blown her cover. She was now an overt part of the Clergy, part of their massed minds, if a bit separate due to her afflictions, bound by their rules and restrictions. Her duties had been shared out and she found herself with nothing to do.
Katerina sighed and sent the cleaning bots to scour the floors again. Then she started her daily prayers. It was too soon and she knew it was. She would finish far too soon and have nothing to do again, but-
The pop of a portal from a distant corner of the quiet facility had the shade tensing. No one was supposed to be able to access this place via portal! Nikis could, but he was a law unto himself and routinely did things that scared the sane and insane alike. She checked her sensors and video feeds, but there was nothing. Was there? Was someone crying? Someone female?
"Hello?" Katerina asked carefully. "Is someone here?"
She was wary. No one should have been able to access this place. The small facility was built into a converted asteroid. Said asteroid had been yanked form its own orbit and hidden in the deepest recesses of Neptune's atmosphere. It was small, inert to all forms of sensor and protected by the best shielding available to the Corpus. That was not saying much. Despite all of their claims, even the best of Corpus tech was a pale imitation of the splendor that had suffused human civilization under Orokin. That said? It was the best available to humans at the moment since Orokin had fallen. She checked with the other Clergy and the on-shift personnel responded with confusion that matched her own. No one but Nikis should have been able to get in after they had upgraded the systems. The abduction of Healer Iriana from the supposedly secure facility had been both frightening and infuriating. The only other access was a long carbon fiber cable that led an elevator here. Said cable was two hundred kilometers long. Sure, Corpus elevators were fast, but…
A gasp came from nowhere. There was no one there. Katerina tensed. She still remembered the violation of her security by Tenno fanatics with a pang. It had worked out, in the end. Janna and Iriana had both survived and by all accounts were thriving. But it had hurt, seeing them both vanish from her care. Hearing the awfulness that had happened to both of them. She missed Janna so much. It was part of Katerina's penance for the evil she had done, to see friends age and die while she herself remained as she had been since destroying several insane Orokin shades and fleeing Nikis' wrath.
"Do I know you?" The voice was familiar and Katerina felt her non-existent breath catch as a familiar gray form shimmered into being in front of one of her camera feeds. The woman was staring around, obviously scared. Katerina knew her. Knew her and feared for her! If she was here, Nikis was not far behind! And what had been done to her was a horror by anyone's definition. She forced her mind to still. She couldn't share this with anyone. Not even the Reverend Mother. The leader of the Clergy would understand, Katerina knew. Eventually. But right now? The bound shade had to help her friend. Her abused friend.
"Kat?" The shade asked, working hard to keep fear from her voice. The spectral woman tensed to flee and Katerina spoke quickly. "No, no, Kat. It is okay. Easy, girl. I am not your enemy. Do you remember me? My name is Katerina."
"Katerina?" The gray energy woman asked, confused. "I don't… wait… Banshee?" She asked, her stance suddenly tense.
"Not anymore." Katerina fought to keep her voice level. She succeeded and the other slowly relaxed. "I am not Tenno anymore. The um… Oh girl." She was all but crying as Kat stared around wildly. "I can't come to you. I am stuck. Turn right. Take the door. I am in the room at the end of the hall."
She smiled as Kat started down the hall. Shades didn't need to walk or open doors, but they often did. It helped many of them to remember who and what they had been. They were not the ghosts of human folklore. They were both more and less than that. Katerina smiled as the door to her prison opened and the technological remnant of the woman she had befriended so long again stepped in, her entire posture one of readiness to flee. Katerina smiled in welcome and the other relaxed a little. The Clergywoman shade nodded from her kneeling posture.
"Hello Kat." The imprisoned shade beckoned but the other did not move. "How did you get loose?"
"Are you going to report me?" Kat asked warily. "Call Nikis?"
"Not a chance in hell!" The Clergywoman retorted angrily. "What they did to you was wrong." She said firmly. "You were not sick. You wanted an end. You accepted your end." She slumped a bit. "Excalibur and I accepted your choice. The others..." She bit back a sob. "I am sorry, Kat."
"B… Banshee..." Kat stared at the other and then she was crying. "Oh my god, Banshee! What have they done to you?" The gray shade demanded as she stepped in.
"I mostly did this to myself." Katerina said sourly. "I um… You were stuck in the database. They wouldn't let you out or let you pass. Assholes." She waved at the floor nearby. "Sit with me?"
"He is chasing me." Kat said weakly. "He will catch me again. Throw me back into that hell."
"Not if I can help it." Sister Katerina felt a calm settle over her. She lived to help others and this was a friend. "My name is Sister Katerina now. This is the Convent. A cloister from long ago that is rarely used in this day and age. This is my prison." Kat stared at her, anger rising and Katerina raised a placating hand. "I did something horrible and fled my punishment. Nikis could have destroyed me when he found me here. I ran from the database and I am sick. I can never go back or be with any of my kin." At that, Kat stiffened.
"No." The gray woman pleaded as she sat, but she was still tensed to flee. "Excalibur… He… You were mated!"
"Yeah." Katerina sighed in regret. "We were. We are. We have talked a few times, he and I. But I am sick, Kat. I cannot ever go back. I am a danger to people. Even you. No!" She begged as Kat held out a hand. "Do not touch me. I can hurt you by accident but it wouldn't kill you. It would just hurt you or worse, infect you with this and that is the last thing I want to do right now. Tenno have hurt you enough!"
"Why won't they just destroy me?" Kat begged, tears falling as her hand fell to her side. "That is all I ever asked."
"Shame." The woman who once had been a Tenno called Banshee sighed. "Our shame drives us to try and help you. Our honor, such as it is, demands that we do whatever we can to try and fix what we did. We didn't plan this. We didn't want this any more than you did. But it happened and the others have to try and fix it. Excalibur and I agreed with you that you had the right to seek an end. The others disagreed." She paused. "That is why you are here, isn't it?"
"I am not sure. I felt a pull." Kat said softly. "I don't know what it was or why. I was fleeing Nikis and I was pulled here. It wasn't any feeling I know."
"I cannot destroy you, Kat." The Clergywoman said sadly. "If I could, then no matter the cost to myself, I would. You have suffered enough." Kat stared at her, hope dying in her eyes. Katerina held up a hand. "That said, I know a lot of people who are good at keeping secrets and who have access to a lot of information. I won't be able to hide your presence here from them, but they are very good at keeping secrets."
"From Nikis?" Kat growled, an echo of a wolf's plaintive howl in her tone.
"Uh, no." The bound shade grunted. Hiding things from him didn't work. "But there are options. Things that even Nikis won't cross."
"Really?" Kat asked. "Um…. I wasn't aware he had any boundaries."
"Kat, you know better than that." The clergy shade chided her friend gently. "You know from firsthand experience how powerful he is. If he had no boundaries, there wouldn't be anyone left alive in this solar system. Sooner or later, everyone pisses him off." Kat chuckled at that and relaxed a little. Katerina's next words had the gray shade flinching again. "I need to call someone else in. She is a friend and she too was Tenno once. She can help."
"Can she be trusted?" The gray shade demanded.
"For this?" Katerina said sourly. "Oh, I think she will be just as pissed with what was done to you as I am." The other stared at her and Katerina pursed her lips. "Kat, the Reverend Mother of the Clergy is many things. She has to be pragmatic. She has to see the big picture. She was Tenno once. However, she is also a woman and a mother. She understands both human and Tenno viewpoints. She will be pissed. Even Nikis steps carefully around her and the Clergy. He is powerful, but he knows not to fuck around with us. With her. Her anger scares everyone shitless."
"You swear more than any nun I ever imagined." Kat said with a grin. The bound shade grinned right back.
"I am Clergy, not a nun." Katerina stuck out her tongue as Kat shook her head. "May I call the Reverend Mother?"
"I guess." Kat sighed. "Nikis cannot be far behind me. He never is. Will he hurt you?" Concern for her friend was rising.
"Can he? Sure. Will he? Not if he has any brains at all." Katerina snarled and focused her mind. Then she spoke both aloud and in her mind. "Reverend Mother? Can I talk to you for a moment?"
I have a few minutes, Katerina. The Reverend Mother sounded so weary that Katerina felt her eyes start to burn. The woman pushed herself so hard. From her look of shock, Kat heard the words too.
"Are you sleeping enough?" Katerina asked, concern rising. Kat stared at her and Katerina waved for her to remain silent.
Sleep? The Reverend Mother asked sourly What is this 'sleep' thing you speak of? If it isn't the Board or the Grineer, it is the kids.
"What did they do now?" Katerina groaned.
Conner Z-6 started a food fight. They all joined in eventually. The Reverend Mother chuckled. The mess hall is aptly named at the moment. What can I do for you, Katerina? I know you are bored. We have all been scrambling, trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the Lotus.
"I was bored." Katerina admitted. "I am not now. If you have some free time, I could really use some company right about now." She winked at Kat who stared at her.
Are you in danger? The Reverend Mother demanded.
"No." Katerina replied instantly and gave a code that reassured the Clergy as whole that she was herself and not under duress. "There may be some danger in the very near future, but not at the moment."
I am on my way. The Reverend Mother said softly. Should I bring anyone? Kat shook her head savagely and Katerina smiled to reassure her.
"If you wish." The bound shade waved when Kat would have spoken and Kat closed her mouth. "If I say 'no' you will bring whoever you want anyway and if I say 'yes', you will sound the alarm. So, whatever." Kat stared at her friend and her mouth slowly curled in a smile.
I know you are bored, Sister Katerina. The Reverend Mother was both resigned and sad now. I was trying to help.
"You did." Katerina reassured the much younger woman. "Everything has been shaken up with the Lotus going silent and all. Oh shit!" She exclaimed as something bad impinged her sensors. She snarled. "Reverend Mother! Intruder! Get here fast! Until you do… I request permission to offer sanctuary to a lost soul."
A lost… The Reverend Mother paused and when she spoke again, it was cold and hard. Is she listening?
It did not surprise Katerina that the Reverend Mother knew about Kat. It did surprise her that the Clergy leader was so calm.
"What?" Kat demanded, she started to rise and Katerina held up both of her hands.
"She is here. She is scared! She going to run!" Katerina begged. "Please!"
Granted. I come. The Reverend Mother's voice cut off.
Kat was on her feet now, but Katerina shook her head.
"Nikis is here, but I upgraded the sensor baffling and I am not where I was the last time. He cannot detect me or you while you are in this room. He has to search room by room." The bound shade said sternly as Kat tensed to flee. "Kat! If you run, he will find you! We can protect you! Claim sanctuary!"
"What?" Kat stammered, undone by all this. She could feel the dark malevolence that was Nikis approaching. He wasn't hiding himself.
"He wants you to flee. He wants you to run, to quit this place. This may be the only safe place for you in this entire solar system!" Katerina rose and held out a hand to her friend. "Claim sanctuary, Kat! Say the word 'Sanctuary'! NOW!" She begged.
"Sanctuary?" Kat half stated, half asked and Katerina nodded.
"Granted."
Kat stared as Katerina seemed to swell, but then, somehow, the Clergywoman shade was between Kat and the door with her arms folded when it opened.
"You stupid..." The pitch black Nekros stared at the pair of shades in shock. "You didn't." Why wasn't he attacking? Kat was vulnerable here. He could take her in a heartbeat. Why wasn't he? His job was to fight and sometimes kill shades. Why wasn't he attacking?
"Begone!" Katerina snapped. "You are not welcome in this holy place, Tenno. Begone!"
"You can't hold her, Katerina." Nikis wasn't angry. If anything, he was sad! "She won't stay here."
"We are not going to hold her, you asshole." That was pure angry Banshee. "You may refuse to end her pain, but she was and is my friend! I will find a way!"
"You cannot keep her here. As for destroying her?" Nikis said softly. He looked at Kat, but Katerina moved between them. "You don't know what you are saying, girl."
"And I don't care!" Katerina snarled. "How many times must you hurt my friend? How many times must you cage her spirit?" Nikis actually recoiled at that. "I won't let you torture her again." She warned. "Begone. The only way you are touching her is over my decaying form."
"Our decaying forms." The Reverend Mother strode into view. She pushed right past the Nekros to stand beside Katerina, her own hands loose and ready. "And yes, I know what she is and what you did." Her glare would have rendered any human down to ash. It bounced off the Nekros. She shook her head. "We are all in agreement. The only way you are touching Kat is over the corpses of every single Clergy." Nikis glared at her and she shook her head. "No. Not the Special Forces. They are not bound by our vows."
"Stay out of my head, woman." Nikis warned.
"Then don't throw you thoughts around so loudly." The Reverend Mother retorted. "He will likely be just as angry as I am. I bet Rachel and Jasmina won't be happy either. No one will be. This… This travesty ends here. You will leave or I will make you leave. Live or die, I will make you leave."
Kat stared as Nikis retreated a step back from the Reverend Mother's ire. In all of her waking moments, Kat had never seen the Grandmaster of the Guardians of the Dead retreat from anything. Things retreated from him, not the other way around.
"You don't understand." Nikis said quietly.
"No?" The Reverend Mother snarled. "So, you didn't make us memorize the cautionary tale of the Kat Wolf as initiates?" Nikis actually winced and Kat stared harder. "You didn't instruct us in the ancient shame? I seem to remember you doing that and I doubt I am alone. Get out." That last was a command.
"I have my duty." Nikis protested.
"AND IN THIS CASE IT IS WRONG!" The Reverend Mother shouted. "I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HER! GET OUT!"
She advanced on the Nekros and Nikis backed up! Kat stared from her to Katerina to Nikis, her mouth ajar.
"She won't stay. She can't stay in any one place long." Nikis said quietly. "When she leaves, I will be watching and waiting. I will try not to hurt her. You have my word on that."
To Kat's stunned amazement, the Reverend Mother raised her hands and they started to glow with golden energy! Nikis nodded to her and then the ultra scary Nekros vanished. The Reverend Mother's hands stopped glowing and she slumped, shaking.
"Reverend Mother, are you all right?" Katerina begged as the woman turned to look at the pair of shades.
"No." The leader of the Clergy said with a sigh. Then she smiled at Kat who was all but trembling. "But this is the right thing to do. Hello, Kat. Be at peace. I know who and what you are. I know you can't stay. That your nature will force you to move on sooner rather than later. But you are safe here."
"How did you do that?" Kat asked, not quite pleading. "Nikis runs from no one."
"No one, true." The Reverend Mother smiled and then she leaned against the wall for a moment, obviously drained by whatever she had done. "But even Nikis knows better than to charge a faith head on. That Tenno may be stubborn as a rock, but faith can and has moved mountains. He knew he had no chance."
"I don't understand." Kat said weakly.
"I know." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply and then shook her head. "We need to talk and this is a safe place for you to rest for a bit. Will you stay?"
"Will he…?" Kat swallowed hard. "I don't want to cause trouble for Bansh-… for Katerina." She corrected herself.
"We know who she was, who she is. She is with us and she spoke for us all." The Reverend Mother reassured the gray shade. She moved to where Katerina had been sitting before and slowly sank to her knees. "Come sit. We have a lot to talk about."
Kat stared at Katerina who shrugged and moved back to where she had been. She knelt too. Both clergywoman waited for Kat to make up her mind. Kat shook her head and then moved to join them,
"I guess we do."