Allies of a sort
Smit should have been terrified when he woke up, but he heard Mag humming softly and had to smile. She was so nice, so gentle. She had insisted he sleep through what she had to do for fear of his pain causing long term effects. He hadn't wanted to sleep, not trussed up as he had been, but she had started to sing something softly that he didn't recognize. It had soothed him and he had fallen asleep.
"Back with us?" Mag asked in her gentle way. His body moved when he tried it and he smiled as he opened his eyes but his smile faded as he saw a warframe behind Mag. Nyx was standing as if impatient. Mag looked over her shoulder and slowly shook her head. "Scaring the hell out of apprentices may be a time honored tradition, sister..." She bit out the word 'sister' as if in great pain. "...but you of all people know it is counterproductive."
"And you didn't have anything to do with Almira doing what she did." Nyx said flatly.
"Feel free to tear into my mind again." Mag said with a growl. "You won't like what you find, you evil bitch."
"You gave us no-" Nyx started and broke off as Mag hit her. Nyx just looked at the unarmored Tenno as Mag slammed her fist into the warframe's faceplate again and again to absolutely no effect. Nyx sighed as Mag hit her repeatedly. The only effect was the unarmored Tenno's knuckles starting to bleed. "And what does this prove?"
"It proves I still remember who I am." Mag snapped as she finally retreated. "I am not your slave."
"Sister..." Nyx sighed again. "No one is enslaving anyone. If anything, we are freeing people from bondage."
"Lie to yourself all you want." Mag snapped. "Don't lie to me and except me to remain silent. I know what you are. I know what you do. I know what you are doing." Her face twisted into a grimace of disgust. "Don't try to cloak your evil in righteousness. Don't even try. There are limits. You passed them."
"No one is complaining, Sister." Nyx said mildly.
"Yeah, you don't leave them enough free will to know right from wrong." Mag snarled. "Get out!" She moved to stand by Smit who was staring from her to Nyx and back.
"We have another load coming in." Nyx did not move. "And the boy is required."
"No." Mag snarled. "I have had it with helping you. Get your brain dead techs to do it. I won't do it anymore. I won't. You will take the boy, warp him, break him and then discard him as you do all of your toys. It is what you do and I can't stop you but I won't help you anymore."
"Mag, don't do this." Was that pain in Nyx's voice? "You are better with them than any of us. You can ease them into it."
"Into the horror." Mag snarled, a sound more akin to a feral kubrow than a sentient being. "Get! Out!" She spun and Nyx recoiled. Smit couldn't see what Mag was holding, but Nyx held up empty hands in a warding gesture.
"Mag..." Nyx tried again. "Don't. The Master has demanded the boy's presence. Frost is taking him as an apprentice. He liked what he saw." Mag growled dangerously.
"I am sure he did." Mag backed up until she was right beside Smit who lay frozen by this confrontation. "Is he finally tired of his latest toy then?" The unarmored Tenno bit that out and Nyx shook her head. "Oh, I see. He wants to do more than one at once. And you call me sick."
"You are sick, Mag." Nyx was crying softly now. "I want to help and you won't let me. You won't let any of us."
"Your help kills people!" Mag snapped and threw whatever was in her hand at Nyx who retreated to the door. The small metal object his the ground with a clang and Nyx picked it up. It wasn't a weapon. It looked like some kind of sculpture. "I don't need your help or any Tenno's help. You are all evil and I won't aid you in your evil."
"Mag..." Nyx begged. "You are Tenno."
"Am I?" Mag growled as she turned back to Smit. "Could have fooled me. I have a working brain and I use it. Get out." She repeated. "I still have to filter what that stupid witch Trinity put into his blood stream. That sedative can kill and you know it."
"Mag, the Master has commanded I bring the boy to see him." Nyx was calm again. "Now."
"Fine." Mag rose and spun away from Smit's bed. "Take him. When he perishes halfway through your oh so benevolent master's gentle interrogation, don't come crying to me."
"Mag." Nyx said slowly. "He knows how hurt Smit is. He has asked you attend the boy."
"He lets me anywhere near him and I will kill him." Mag said flatly. "You..." She jerked upright as energy flared from the thing on her head, every muscles going stiff and her eyes rolled up into her head. Smit sat up in alarm as Mag stiffened.
"Don't touch her." Nyx warned when Smit would have reached for the kind woman. "She is being chastised again. She won't be permanently harmed."
Smit looked at Nyx and then slowly and deliberately, he took Mag in his arms. He could hear her screaming in his mind and then she gasped as pain slammed into him too.
No! Mag screamed in her head as Smit convulsed. Don't!
I had forgotten what kindness was. Smit admitted as the pain soared through him. But he held it away from both himself and Mag for a moment. I have been confused and slow for so long it felt normal. It wasn't.
Boy! Let go! Mag begged. He will-
Whatever else she said was lost in a torrent of rage and pain that swept Smit in and grabbed him tight. He could feel scrutiny on him. Whatever it was, it wasn't anything he could fathom. It was alien, overpowering. He ignored it, focusing on trying to help Mag, who was trying to push him away even as he felt every muscle lock up. Then a cold, hard voice sounded.
Well, well, well… The male voice sounded amused. It seems our errant sister has a new interest. Fascinating.
Leave him alone! Mag snapped in her mind. He has nothing to do with this!
You will bring him to the Master. The voice declared. You will tend him. You will not attack the master or the boy will suffer. Am I understood?
Go! FUCK! Yourself! Mag screamed again as agony tore through her and Smit.
You will bring him. The other replied, calm and cold as ice. You will obey.
I DO NOT SERVE YOU!Mag screamed both in her mind and aloud. "I serve the Lotus!"
A cold laugh was the only response as the power released her and Smit. Smit collapsed to the floor as Mag fell to her knees. Warm armored hands eased Smit on the floor and Mag sobbed.
"Ah, sister..." Nyx said sadly. "The Lotus is not real. Your delusions are only causing you pain. This is hurting us all, sister. Please. Stop."
"Fuck! You! Get away from him!" Mag managed to groan as the hands that were holding Smit were batted away. "You can do whatever you want to me, hurt me, kill me, whatever, but even you cannot make me believe your lies. I know the truth!" Unarmored fingers were checking Smit's body now. He couldn't move. "Stupid kid. Stupid lying freaks, you had to hurt him! You just had to!"
The arms picked Smit up and he felt softness underneath him. Then cool numbness swept through him and he relaxed as his muscles unclenched.
"Why?" Mag begged Smit. "I can take the pain. You can't. You are not trained, not changed. You cannot take such power without harm." The soothing was all over his body and he smiled a little as the pain faded completely.
"Because it worked." Smit said softly as he looked at Mag who was crying. "You made me smarter."
"You were already smart." Mag slumped a bit. "You just needed a bit of focus. Your brain chemistry was a bit off. But that? That wasn't smart. He could have killed you without trying."
"Correct me if I am wrong." Smit said slowly. "Your master, whoever he is, has demanded my presence." Mag stared at him as Smit smiled a little wanly. "So, if he killed me, who would be punished?"
"You would be dead!" Mag protested.
"And then Nyx would bring me back." Smit eyed the armored form by the wall. "I know that is possible. Tenno do not die."
"Yes, we can." Mag said sourly. "And you are not Tenno. They gave you a dose of the preliminary virus. It is altering your body but very slowly. It will take years to alter you at the rate it is going. Long enough to brainwash you properly. You don't know what you are doing. I cannot let you suffer for me, Smit. I cannot."
"I cannot fight Tenno." Smit allowed. "But this is wrong."
"Hold tight to that thought." Mag helped him sit up. "They will try to make you think otherwise. To make you as evil as they they are."
"Mag." Nyx shook her head. "We are not evil. You are confused."
"I know what you are doing in your secure labs." Mag sounded resigned now as she helped Smit stand. "Don't talk to me about good and evil, you lying bitch. She is trying to manipulate you, trying to confuse you." She warned Smit.
"Too late." Smit cracked a smile. "I am already far more confused than anyone could match." He had to snicker at Mag's expression. "It is laugh or scream, Mag and I find I prefer to laugh."
Mag stared at him and then a slow, tremulous smile crept across her face. She took his hand and sighed.
"Even if these fools have forgotten what honor is, I haven't." Mag moved so she was standing by Smit, still holding his hand. "You are weak from the drug Trinity gave you, from what happened outside and from what you just did. You would have died for me." Smit nodded. "Don't. Please." She begged.
"The master is waiting." Nyx moved to the door and it opened. Outside, a pair of golden warframes stood with weapons in hand.
Mag looked at Smit who shrugged. They started off, following Nyx who did not look back. The two golden warframes took up station behind them, weapons at the ready. Smit stumbled, but Mag's firm arm held him as he recovered. Nyx did not slow. The gray corridors all looked the name to Smit whose vision was faltering as well. Mag's grip was the only thing keeping him standing as they approached a door with two more golden warframes standing guard.
"Three to see the Emperor." Nyx declared as they approached the door. "We are expected."
One of the warframes, a female proportioned one with an odd tail that arced around it, nodded to Nyx and palmed the door open. Smit was weaving as they passed the door. He hadn't had any idea what to expect. A throne room with huge ceilings and wide open spaces? A torture chamber? Some kind of high tech temple? He was surprised to find the room small and comfortably appointed. It had a desk with a large chair behind it and several sofas scattered about. A pair of large windows let the sun in and pictures hung on the walls, some beautiful, others childlike.
"Take a seat." The dark haired man in armor said as he perused a screen. "I will be with you in a moment." Nyx did as instructed, Mag stood and held Smit in place. The man looked at her and sighed. "Mag."
The standing Tenno did not speak, did not move. Indeed, she might have been a statue. Smit stared at her and then around again. Were the walls wavering? They were! Where were they?
"This is a virtual environment." Mag said when he shot a questioning look at her. "It isn't as if the Fearless Leader of the Tenno is actually fearless. He knows better than to come into my presence physically again unless I am drugged and restrained."
"You enjoyed it." The man closed down his terminal and sat back eyeing Mag.
"You keep telling yourself that." Mag snapped. "Trinity's drugs are the only reason you have any children." Her growl turned dangerous.
"This doesn't have to be hard, Mag." The man said quietly. "You think I enjoy having Trinity do what she does?"
"Yes!" Mag snarled. "You want puppets? You get them. You want mindless bed warmers? You get them. You can have Little Miss Mind Control here hold me while Trinity drugs me again, but you will never get my willing compliance. Never."
"We need more Tenno, Mag." The other put a hand to his face, sighing. "You know this."
"What I know is that you forced me to have kids and then took them away. You got most of them killed.." Mag snapped. "And you enjoyed what you did to me."
"There was a certain amount of satisfaction from both of us. We can argue consent until the stars go cold but I know your mind. I know you enjoyed it when you let yourself go." The other shook his head. "Okay, we have another problem." He looked at Smit who flinched back. "I won't hurt you, boy."
"Liar." Mag snapped.
"Mag, be silent." The other said quietly and Mag gasped, her hands going to her throat as she opened her mouth and no sound came out. Her face contorted in a rictus of rage, but she stayed where she was. The man's next words shocked Smit. "Nyx, you had no right to inject him with the virus."
Nyx jumped to her feet, her posture instantly wary. "Master… I..."
She broke off as the man rose from his seat. Mag stared at him and then at Nyx, her face working as she tried to speak and couldn't. A gesture and a guard that Smit hadn't seen pulled Mag back from Smit who stood frozen as the armored man approached him. The armor was odd, like and not like any warframe Smit had ever seen or heard of.
"Right or wrong, Mag's anger with me is honest." The man slowly knelt down until his face was level with Smit's. "How old are you, boy?"
"He is fifteen." Nyx said and then she screamed as energy flared around her.
"I am not talking to you, Nyx." The man said slowly, never taking his eyes form Smit. "I am talking to the boy. Your name is Smit, they tell me. Mine is Hayden." He reached out to take Smit's hand in an oddly gentle grip. "Nyx injecting you was never part of the plan. She thought that hiding you among the apprentices would work. It won't. All it would do is get you killed. The strong take from the weak, that is the way the universe works, but you are not part of our universe. Which she knew. I have forced the virus into dormancy. You are free from her." Nyx jerked in her bonds and Hayden shook his head. "You think I don't know about your plots, Nyx?" He asked when Nyx fought the energy back momentarily and then it snapped closer, binding her tight. "You think I don't know who gave Almira the knife?'
Nyx jerked in place and then she vanished, a wailing scream fading with her. Hayden shook his head slowly and then rose, holding Smit's hand and guiding him to a sofa.
"Sit." Hayden sat and patted the seat beside him. "You are barely awake as it is. Don't pass out, it can cause all kinds of problems here."
Smit did as instructed. He had no way of fighting any of the godlike beings. Mag's face was stricken as she stared at Hayden who bowed his head.
"Mag, you know I am stuck between a rock and a hard place." Hayden said quietly. "I never wanted to hurt you. You know I cannot let your rebellion continue. You may speak."
"Don't hurt him!" Mag begged.
"Do you really think so little of me, Mag?" Hayden asked, his own face falling. "I have had to do evil, to keep the Tenno going. Much of what I have done will haunt me for the rest of my days. But you know me, Mag. How many children have I personally killed when I had any choice at all?" Mag looked away, not responding. "Mag, what is between you and me is awful, no question. But I didn't kill any of our kids."
"You sent them off to die fighting your wars." Mag snarled. "Same difference. Just take control! You know you want to do it!" Smit winced at the ferocity in the female Tenno's words. He started shivering and couldn't stop.
"Mag, I don't." Hayden shook his head and pulled a blanket out of somewhere to wrap around Smit who smiled gratefully. But then Hayden's tone turned iron. "You will take another turn in Trinity's Reproduction Center. I cannot change that law."
"And you are male, so you don't want to!" Mag was shaking in place, her rage barely diluted at all.
"You think females are the only ones violated there, Mag?" Hayden asked, still quiet. "You think Nicholas and Karl enjoy what was done to them?"
"LEAVE MY KIDS OUT OF THIS!" Mag screamed as she threw herself at Hayden, only to be caught in midair by shimmering energy.
"You are a nurturing soul, Mag." Hayden's face was sad as Mag was slowly lowered to the ground. "The Tenno need you now more than ever with so many plots and plans circulating. Almira will be found and brought back. You will have your granddaughter again."
"Once they are done with her, she won't be my granddaughter!" Mag hissed as she fought the bonds that held her.
"You think the ones who Nyx tricked her into running to will do any better?" Hayden asked and then paused as Smit felt the room start to spin. Smit felt a strong arm surround him and hold him up. "Oh dear."
"No! Don't!" Mag begged. "Let me help him!"
"You cannot protect him from Trinity, Nyx and Frost, Mag." Hayden's voice was coming from far away now.
"I can."