Points of Scrutiny
For a moment, the robed Tenno just stared at the Trinity and then she snorted.
"Save me?" Diana asked. She shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling you are not talking about physically?"
"Karl's Shadow wants the Rising dead and gone. All of them." Janna replied, her tone calm and reflective. "Such vengeance is not good thing. Not for humans. Not for Tenno."
"Janna, you cannot change me." Diana said, not unkindly. "I am what I am. I am a servant of the Executors. I was from the moment I took the oaths. I will be until I die." She shook her head. "Not that I want to die, but I gave my word. That means something to me."
"Did you swear blood oaths?" Janna asked, her voice still calm.
"Janna..." Diana groaned.
"I have a specific reason." Janna said after a moment's thought. "And not just my desire to help Mom." Diana stared at her and Janna slumped a bit. "Mom is... not doing well. She is coping, but she isn't getting any better. Honestly, the most animated I have seen her was when she realized what happened to you. Even Kat isn't helping her as much as we hoped. He is recovering himself and needs time and help. She cannot..." She trailed off, obviously distressed.
"Iriana?" The older Tenno queried, confused. "But she is-" She broke off as Janna coughed.
"Too many shocks, too quickly." Janna sounded almost in tears now. "What the Executor did to her drove her into a breakdown. She doesn't remember that or the therapy that brought her back. Thank god!"
"Breakdown?" Diana's voice was tiny as Janna nodded.
"Part of it was me." Janna admitted. "I was not entirely stable myself after everything. She pulled my mind in and held me tight to protect me from the brainwashing. The contact with her mind changed me, but it also changed her. And not for the better." Diana was staring at the younger Tenno in horror as Janna bowed her head. "I learned so much, about so many things but the one thing I so want to learn eludes me. How to help her. Your problems have pulled her out of her shell. I only hope it will last."
"Janna..." Diana said weakly. "You can't trust me."
"I know." Janna was firm now. "But that doesn't mean I can't use you." Diana stiffened and Janna nodded. "I was ordered to help Mom. I would have anyway but this gives me some legal cover if I do anything...unexpected." She chuckled at Diana's expression.
"Janna." This time, Diana's groan was long suffering.
"Look, Diana, I am so new I squeak." Janna didn't lean forward, but it seemed as if she wanted to. "I am completely clueless about a lot of things. But there is one thing I do know. A new Tenno needs a sponsor. Someone to show him or her the ropes, to teach him or her the things that he or she didn't learn or couldn't learn before." Diana was sure her jaw fell off as realization dawned. "Yeah. I want you."
"Are you out of you bloody mind?" Diana didn't -quite- scream that. Janna just looked at her and then something suspiciously like a giggle escaped the girl. Diana goggled as the girl nodded.
"Correct me if I am wrong, Tenno Diana." Janna was obviously fighting a chuckle as she responded. "But I am not in my mind currently, am I?" Diana stared at her and Janna laughed a bit more openly. "Am I?"
"Ah..." Diana paused and then collected her thoughts. "This is going to go over like a Grineer Napalm trying to fly." She said weakly.
"With some, yes. But I did get authorization to ask." Janna reassured the other. "From lots of people. This is not a little bratty girl going through a phase or having a fit of temper." She sighed a bit. "I did far too much of that before I met Iriana. Before she saved me."
"Janna..." The robed Tenno tried again. "My life is forfeit. I was captured by enemies who have a legitimate grievance against... my..." She trailed off as a dark form appeared behind Janna who did not move as the pitch black Nekros laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ah..."
"Girl has got a point." Nikis said quietly as Janna bowed her head. "I know vengeance, Diana." He was not hostile! "I have lived it."
"Grandmaster Nikis..." Diana cursed the quaver in her voice, but she was sure no one would call her on that. Not under these circumstances. "I... I can't... She is just a kid!"
"You really believe that?" Was Nikis amused? "Man, are you in for a shock." He patted Janna's shoulder and retreated a step. "Show her, Janna."
This was a command. Diana stiffened as Janna spun to her feet, her staff coming to her hands. Janna turned in place to bow to the Nekros who returned it from the neck. Then the Trinity turned back to where Diana knelt and started a kata. Not a beginner's kata either. No. This was master staff kata. Flailing Branch was not an easy set of katas, but Janna was performing each in sequence. Not swiftly, but her moves were crisp and clean. Not perfect, but hey, who was? Diana stared at the Nekros, but his posture was attentive to Janna, so Diana did not comment as Janna finished the kata called 'The Way' and slammed her staff to the ground properly. Diana stared at the Trinity and then at the Nekros who nodded to Janna who slung her staff.
"Where I...was... we studied ancient martial arts to stay in shape. Each of us was given instruction in what we wished." Janna said softly as she knelt again. "I chose the staff. It gave me reach. Not as flashy as a sword, but longer. None of us ever went beyond basics. It wasn't the Company way."
"You were Corpus." Diana said slowly. Janna nodded. "I don't understand."
"It is a long story and much of it is classified." Janna was still quiet. "Suffice it to say that when Iriana and Tiana needed a place to hide, they had one. I was tending them... when..." She slumped a bit.
"...when Viveka and Shaun kidnapped you both." Diana finished. Janna nodded.
"They shouldn't have been able to find them or get away from me so easily." Nikis mused. "Certainly not so fast. Got a few theories about that, but for now... Janna is my focus. Girl has a point. She is new. She is virtually untrained."
"She is vulnerable!" Diana nearly exploded. "You know what Gillie or..." She paused as Janna nodded. "No. NO!" She screamed, scuttling to her feet and backing away from Janna who didn't move. Neither did Nikis. "No! I won't be party to using you as bait, Janna! I won't!"
"You have no say in that." Janna's tone might have bent steel. "My choice. We need to end this conflict. Soon. Tenno should not be fighting Tenno. We have enough enemies."
"You are out of your mind!" Diana snapped, hands up if to ward off blows even though neither of the warframes had moved. "That is insane. No! That is beyond insane!" She snarled at Nikis who stood impassive. "You cannot allow this, Grandmaster!"
"Janna has the right to choose her path." Nikis retorted evenly. "Just as any Tenno does. Just as you did. Just as Viveka did." Disgust warred with sorrow in his tone now. "I have no right to interfere. Not my job."
"No!" Diana begged as she slammed into a solid surface behind her. She couldn't go any further back. "This isn't right! She is too young!"
"And that makes me perfect bait." Janna replied. Diana was shaking her head in horror, but Janna was having none of it. "Do not bring my age into this, Tenno Diana. I have the right to act when I see an injustice occurring that will harm our kin. Any Tenno does although we must be very careful. Tenno do not fight Tenno except in Conclave. Tenno do not kill Tenno." Her tone was stern, lecturing almost. "Do you deny this?"
"No." Diana's voice was small as she fought to recover her composure. "I cannot be party to something that I know will hurt you." Janna flinched and Diana continued. "Janna... Think. Karl's Shadow won't accept me. They simply cannot."
"You would be surprised what they might accept." Nikis said with the ghost of a chuckle. "That dojo seems more an asylum at times. But they manage and Iriana is in good hands there. They will help her if it is remotely possible. Maybe even if it isn't."
"And adding an enemy -even a blinded enemy- to the mix will help?" Diana demanded angrily. Then she froze as Janna coughed in warning. "Um... uh. I apologize for the discourtesy, Grandmaster." She bowed.
"You are stressed." Nikis allowed. "I will cut you some slack as a result, but it has limits." He warned. Diana nodded her thanks. "Saryn said she talked to you."
"Um, yeah." Diana kicked herself. Of course the Grandmaster of the Dead would know if one of his charges has been out and about. "She was kind." She said weakly.
"She always was." Nikis' tone held old sorrow, old pain. "Want to talk to her again, all you have to do is ask. She said she would be willing to talk anytime. She likes you."
"I..." Diana swallowed. To be offered such an honor. To be able to converse with one of the First... She bowed her head. "I would be honored."
"You say that now." Nikis said with a laugh. "She has the tact of a stung grizzly bear when people are being stupid about stuff."
"If we are telling stories, Nikis, I can start on a few about you." A familiar voice sounded and Diana went still as a Saryn Prime warframe appeared beside Janna. "The two co-eds in the astronomy laboratory maybe?"
"That wasn't me." Nikis said severely.
"Yeah." Saryn was patently unimpressed by his glower. "Right."
"It wasn't!" Nikis insisted. "I was elsewhere!"
"Right." Saryn drawled the syllables of the word out and to Diana's amazement, Nikis vanished! Diana and Janna both looked at Saryn and the apprentice of the First Tenno laughed delightedly. "Oh yes, it was him. He was good. Sneaky and he did have an alibi. But he was only sixteen. Still a kid despite his warframe and duties. We all knew it was him."
"I... don't want to know." Diana said quickly to muffled chuckles from Janna. "I mean, I am not one of his favorite people already. If I start learning his secrets..."
"He won't care as long as you don't try to use them against him." Saryn was sober now. "I am only going to say it once. Don't." She warned. Then she laughed again. "And it wasn't like the girls were complaining. It took three days for them to recover, but neither complained." She sighed. "At least... until they had to leave. Then oh my god, the whining and crying."
"Nikis... with two girls..." Diana said slowly. "The mind boggles."
"He is male, Diana." Saryn said with a snort. "But don't even think about it. Janet would flay you. Then she would get mean." Janna was looking at her and the Trinity's body language was speculating. "No, Janna. I had a mate. Have a mate." She shrugged. "But we all kept tabs on him. There were never any complaints."
"Ever?" Janna asked, awed. Saryn shook her head. "Wow."
"Get your mind out of that gutter, young lady." Saryn chuckled to take the sting from her words. Janna matched her chuckle and Diana relaxed, which was probably the intention. "But Diana is right, you know. You are hideously vulnerable, Janna. For where you came from and how, you are progressing fast, but it will take time. It will be years before you are ready to go into the field solo."
"We need to end this, Saryn!" Janna protested.
"Getting you killed or corrupted won't help matters." Diana said quietly as she stepped back to where she had been. She nodded to Saryn and knelt. The shade did as well, Janna kneeling beside her. "I have to say, I am touched that you would consider me a good sponsor, Janna. But I wouldn't be. Even if I wasn't blind, I was never a very good Tenno."
"You think I was perfect, Diana?" Saryn asked quietly.
"No." Diana admitted after a moment's thought. "It goes against the grain to say that. We are taught to revere our ancestors. But I know you were mortal once just like me." She scoffed. "I hope you didn't make the same mistakes I did."
"We all make mistakes, Diana." Janna said evenly. "Heaven knows I make more than my share. But this is not one. I need a sponsor. You need a reason to stay."
"'Stay'?" Diana asked. Janna looked at Saryn who waved for her to speak.
"Tell me true, sister." The youngest Tenno in the virtual environment said slowly. "If you were released right now, in the condition you are in, what would you do?" Diana stilled and Janna nodded. "I know. You cannot fight in your condition and you would consider yourself a burden on the rest of us. You would remove the burden. I won't allow it."
"Janna." Now, Diana's groan was almost a growl. "You have no right to gainsay such."
"No?" The young Tenno asked. "We have been played, sister. Your group and my clan were put on this course. We need to figure out why and who did it."
"That does not give you the right to deny me an honorable choice." Diana's words came out sharper than she intended but neither of the others reacted.
"No, it doesn't." Janna admitted. "But sister... We were pushed into this. Will you let whoever did this get away with it?"
"I..." Diana scowled at the Trinity. "How am I supposed to find them when I cannot see?"
"None so blind as those who see." Saryn intoned softly. Both of the others stared at her and Saryn nodded. She put her thumbs to either side of her head and wagged her fingers at Diana. Then she put a thumb to where her nose would be under her faceplate. Janna was biting back a chuckle at her antics, but Diana just stared. Saryn chuckled at her expression. "I would stick out my tongue, but it would be wasted here and now with my faceplate closed."
"Making faces at me helps... how?" Diana asked, confused.
"How do you know I am making faces at you?" Saryn asked reasonably. "I mean, my faceplate is closed. I could be totally straight-faced." She waggled her fingers again.
"I can hear the laughter in... your voice." Diana paused and then she shook her head. "That won't work. Not in the real world."
"Why not?" Saryn asked.
"Well, because..." Diana broke off and then shook her head. "Because in the real world I am going to die as soon as they get off their duffs."
"And because you don't want it to." Saryn retorted.
"Hey!" Diana protested. "I don't want to die!"
"Janna here is offering you a way out and you are denying it." Saryn replied, her tone a hair from scornful. "Tell me how that is not being suicidal?"
"I won't put her at risk!" Diana nearly exploded, rising halfway to her feet. Neither of the others moved and she relaxed back to her kneeling position.
"That is not your choice." Janna said into the sudden silence that followed Diana's outburst. "I am already at risk. As you say, I am vulnerable. The clan will protect me to the best of their ability, but Mom refuses to lock me in a Tower cell for the rest of my life. If someone like Viveka were to get hold of me... What would she do?"
"I..." Diana slumped, her whole posture resigned. "Warp you and twist you to follow her path. I won't. I won't!"
"Diana." The younger Tenno said gently. "That is why I want you to sponsor me. I do believe you want to do the right thing. Not the easy thing, the right thing. Tenno don't generally do easy."
"Would be boring." Diana said weakly. "Janna, you do not know what you are saying." She begged.
"Diana." Saryn said gently. "She understands."
"She can't!" Diana snapped. "She cannot understand. I serve the Executor! I do. I am sworn to serve her. I... Even if I wanted to abrogate that oath, what would I do as an oath-breaker?" She shook her head. "No one would trust me! They couldn't!"
"Trust must be earned." Saryn said softly. "Janna?"
"I know what you are, Diana." The Trinity said with a nod to Saryn. "I know what you were." Diana scoffed, but Janna wasn't done. "The only way to stop this before a lot more blood gets spilled is to find out who implicated your group. To do that, I need your help. And you need mine. I need a sponsor and you need a reason to continue. Sight will not be needed. Neither of us is going to be striding into battle any time soon."
"Everyone devoutly hopes." Saryn muttered sotto voice.
"Janna!" Diana was losing patience. "You do not know what you are saying. I serve the Executor. If she orders me to kidnap you, I have to try. If she orders me to kill you, I have to try." She shook her head. "I won't put you any further into her power. You have suffered enough at her hands."
"And you?" Janna asked softly. Diana looked at her and Janna shook her head. "What of you? Haven't you suffered enough?"
"Don't worry about me, Janna." Diana worked to make her voice kind. "Worry about yourself and Iriana. You don't know what I am."
"Yes, I do." Janna replied.
"You are an assassin."
