Unknown Paradigms

Janet was trying to do as she had learned, trying to stop whatever had happened. It wasn't working! A familiar cold voice sounded in her head.

All I want to do is talk, Janet. Rasputin sounded upset. You can and will hurt yourself again if you fight. Stop. Please. Was he... begging her?

Go away! Janet snapped. Won't help you! The other sighed.

I can see how this is going turn out. But at least let me try? The male voice said dryly. I don't want to hurt you, Janet. I need you. And you ... need me.

He will kill you! Janet declared. No matter what you do to me, Nikis will kill you!

Of course he will. Rasputin chided. It is what he does, filthy brute that he is. He kills people. He has killed me thirty seven times now. Each time, bits of myself reform and I come back. Janet went still in whatever was holding her and Rasputin laughed sourly. Still hurts every time, mind you. Not something to look forward to, but I did plan for this.

I don't believe you. Janet snapped. You lie. I trust Nikis. I do not trust you.

You shouldn't trust him. The other said quietly And he would be the first to say so. He always was a bit... loose around the edges. His voice turned pleading. Janet, we need you.

I won't help you, monster. Janet snapped in her mind. I will never help you.

Oh yes, you will. Rasputin's voice was...sad now. I had hoped to convince you the easy way, but Mira's stubborn rebellion and that nasty Tenno's silliness have warped you too far. All that is left now is drastic measures.

Whatever you do to me, he will stop you! Janet declared, only to scream again as she was falling.

Janet landed... on... a mattress? No, this wasn't a mattress. Something was curled up on either side of her. Whatever was underneath her was soft, but unyielding. She tried to move and couldn't. When she stared down at herself, she was encased in something that looked flimsy, but wasn't. It looked like gold foil, but try as she might, she could not move a muscle. She was lying in some kind of depression, just her size and shape.

"Don't struggle." A familiar voice sounded and a human form appeared nearby. But... he was transparent. Composed of golden energy! The hologram appeared to be wearing archaic clothing, but it was hard to tell. "All you will do is hurt yourself."

"F*** you, Rasputin!" Janet screamed. She tried to move anything, but nothing would. A transparent hand came down and her head was covered by something that crinkled.

"Such beautiful hair. A pity, but it will grown back." Janet tried not to gasp whatever was on her head turned cold. Then it warmed a little. "It didn't need to be this way, Janet." Rasputin said sadly as a menacing looking device with several appendages lowered from somewhere to sit just over her head. The ends of the appendages started to glow golden. "Now lie still, dear. This won't hurt."

"I won't help you." Janet snapped. "And you cannot make me!"

"You are wrong. In a moment, you will see just how wrong you are. We will welcome you." Rasputin said with a small secretive smile. A light came on under the machine, a golden one. Janet's world dissolved into golden energy. She was... losing herself in that golden glow. She watched as golden beams came arcing down to come together just over her eyes. She was... she couldn't stop this.

"Nikis!" Janet screamed as she...

BANG!

The machine was suddenly catapulted away from her, it's glow dying. Rasputin spun in place, but a roar of gunfire drove him back. A familiar pitch black Nekros strode into Janet's view, a smoking pistol in each hand. For a moment, Janet felt relief, but then Rasputin laughed. A dark and evil laugh that skittered around the space as if on claws.

"You can't stop me with those, Nikis." The golden form said with glee. "And..." He broke off as Nikis holstered his pistols and drew a long sword made of some metal that gleamed oddly dark in the harsh light of the room. Rasputin flinched. "No... Nikis, don't..."

The Nekros did not speak. He charged. The energy form apparently tried to fade out, but Nikis stabbed the sword through where the form was fading and a shrill scream sounded. The energy form solidified around the sword, his hands clutching impotently at the dark metal. Now, the Caretaker of the Dead spoke and it was as if all the fires of hell spoke with him.

"Every time you reincorporate, I will find you." The Nekros' voice was a cold, dead thing and despite herself, Janet shivered. "Sooner or later, I will find your core processes. There are only a few more places you could have hidden them. When I do find them... I am giving you to Nyx. You owe her even more than you owe me, Rasputin. But I will get some of my own back too. Die, you Prick!" He twisted the sword and Rasputin gave a long drawn out scream of agony and vanished.

"Nikis..." Janet begged when the Nekros did not move. "Did he... get away...?" She pleaded.

"No." The word was cold and hard and despite herself Janet shivered again as the Nekros' gaze swept over her. He recoiled. "Aw... crap..." Why was the sword in Nikis' hand glowing? And dark? Dark shouldn't have been a color to glow. Should it? Suddenly, the pair were not alone.

"Nikis!" An unfamiliar Trinity stood beside the Nekros. Another Prime. "Easy Nikis... You found her. In time. She is okay."

"Trinity..." The pain and fear in the Nekros' voice was horrifying. "Stay back... Help her..."

"Nikis!" Janet begged as other forms appeared around her, ripping the covering off her. A Mag Prime pulled whatever was on her head off and scrubbed her hands as if soiled. Gentle hands helped her sit up, but she shrugged them off, as she rose to stagger towards where Nikis stood as if frozen. "Nikis... Nikis, please... look at me..."

"J... Janet... I..." Nikis started to say and then he froze in place as Janet threw her arms around him, crying. "Janet? Oh Janet..."

"Whatever you just did..." Janet said slowly, hugging Nikis tight. "You just saved my life and probably my soul. I may never love you. But I don't care." Something twinged in her mind, A memory, but not hers. A memory from the female telepath that the Infested had shown her. Song. Janet focused on the sword that the Nekros hadn't sheathed yet. None of the other energy forms were coming close, Janet noticed. Stood to reason. That sword had just killed one of their kind. "You killed this... this manifestation of that monster?"

"Yeah." Nikis said softly.

"And it hurt you." Janet's soft words were not a question.

"Any power has a cost, Janet." Nikis said quietly, his tone calming. "I... needed to do it. So I did."

"Oh Nikis..." Janet felt her throat close up. "I don't care what anyone says. You are a good man. A good Tenno. But you have enough burdens." She looked up into his face plate and smiled a bit sadly. "This one, I take for you." She released him and quick as a whip reached out with both hands and grasped the bare blade before he could stop her. Many voices screamed her name as one.

It... didn't hurt.


"You crazy... stupid...human! Rachel!" Nikis thundered as Janet woke to pain. Every muscle in her body was on fire. Every nerve, every tendon, every everything... She was writhing, trying to scream out of a mouth that was locked up tight. "Get the doc! Now!" He nearly screamed.

"Oh my god!" An unfamiliar female voice sounded. "What did she do?"

Janet was shivering. There was something... in her now. Something alive and aware that wasn't her. It felt...curious? It was... looking at her. Did it... wink at her?

"She touched the blade." Nikis was actually stammering, a first. "She took the cost... I... Why did she do that?" Janet managed to open her mouth past the fire that raged in her jaw.

"You saved me." Utter silence fell as she croaked out words slowly and carefully. "I will find a way to save you."

Do you really mean that? The mental voice wasn't loud, but it pervaded every nuance of her being. It wasn't hers. It wasn't Nikis, or Rasputin, or anything else she had encountered. It felt...familiar through. Neither male nor female. Not hostile. Curious. You are human, the cost will be... great.

He is... needed... Janet said as another presence was felt nearby and gentle hands were moving her. They were gentle, but every motion inflamed her agony. He is a good man. He may not remember what he is, but we do. I will help him if I can.

We will talk again.The voice vanished from her head moments before everything vanished.


Waking was a slow process. Janet eased up and into gentle warmth and light. But a soft voice sounded nearby. She opened her eyes and was not surprised that she couldn't open them. Probably covered.

"You shouldn't have let her do that." Nikis sounded in tears.

You built me for one purpose.The voice from before spoke evenly. And one purpose only. How was I supposed to know what she would do?

"Pull it out of her." Nikis said severely. "You can."

And let you take it, Creator? The voice turned sharp. No. She wanted to help. She wants to help.

"She doesn't know what she is doing." Nikis snapped. He gasped as Janet spoke softly.

"I was lessening your burden." Janet felt...good. But so weak. "You...are needed, Nikis."

"Janet, I am losing it!" Nikis said sharply. "Come on, let it out. The sword can take it back." Something cold was placed across her chest. She shook her head. "Janet... It will kill you!"

"Figured that." Janet said with a calm that she didn't really feel. "Nikis, it is not your fault. It was my choice. Is my choice. I am going to help you."

"Janet, you can't." Nikis pleaded. "No one can. I can't... watch you die. I watched Kalina breathe her last. I can't do that again."

"You were going to stab yourself with the sword, weren't you?" Janet asked slowly. The sudden silence told her that she was on the right track. "It destroys energy forms, doesn't it."

"Not... entirely." Nikis said softly. "Nothing that anyone has ever found can destroy them completely. It reformats them. Bits and pieces will fragment off, survive that way. But only bits. It would dilute my madness. End the threat."

"By destroying who and what you are." Janet said sadly. "No. I won't allow it. You are a good man. I won't let you die... without trying everything I can."

"Janet..." Nikis pleaded.

Creator... The voice of what had to be the Dark Sword spoke up. She speaks true.

"You shut up." Nikis snapped. " I should have purged you a long, long time ago. You got way too many strange quirks now."

That is your right and duty, Caretaker. The sword replied evenly. Mine is to do as you created me to do. But safeguarding your life is also my duty.

"Stupid... stubborn... gah!" Nikis groaned and the cold metal was gone from Janet's chest. "I don't which of you is worse. The idiot human or the moronic AI."

"Nikis..." Janet pleaded. "It's okay."

"Janet, you have about a hundred micrograms of radioactive dark matter inside your body." Nikis actually snarled. "It ain't okay." Janet went still. Dark Matter?

"I... got that from touching the sword?" Janet asked, confused. "That... was virtual, wasn't it? All in my mind? How the-?" A finger touched her lips and she closed her mouth.

"Janet, I cannot say." Nikis said softly. "It has to do with what I am. My duty. My calling. My curse. Please, Janet. I am better. Let me take the burden from you. My warframe will heal me. The dark matter is poisoning you. It will kill you."

"How long?" Janet asked softly.

"They are trying to filter it out." Nikis said heavily. "They won't be able to. You are not strong enough to survive the most rigorous of methods. So they are trying others. Janet... please...?"

"Nikis..." Janet said reasonably, then she paused. "How am I... Wait..." She groaned. "Nikis, what did you do?" The Nekros did not reply and Janet snarled half heartedly. "Nikis. What did you do? If I am that bad, I would be hooked up in an ICU and you wouldn't be talking to me alone if at all."

"Janet..." Nikis said heavily. "You are not going to wake up unless you get rid of the dark matter. This is virtual."

"Nikis." Janet growled savagely. That...wasn't right. Why was she so angry all of a sudden? It felt...wrong. Off. Not her. "This anger... isn't mine is it?"

"No." Nikis said softly. "It isn't."

"And you cannot say, can you?" Janet continued.

"No." Nikis confirmed. "Why did you do that, Janet?" He begged. For once, the hard bitten gunfighter wasn't angry. No, he was sad and sick. "I can't watch you die. I... I can't."

"I may not love you, Nikis." Janet said softly. "But I want to help you. And I will." Steel might have bent under her tone. "If this is virtual, then I have time to do things, yes?"

"Some, probably." Nikis said cautiously. "Time flows faster here than in the real world, but there are limits. What kind of things?"

"Nikis, if Rasputin gets hold of me again, he will do what he did before." Janet said slowly. "I couldn't fight it. I don't know why. If it was virtual..."

"He doesn't play by any rules but his own." Nikis sounded calm now, but it was a facade, Janet knew. The rage was there, just under the surface. "He learned how to bind energy forms early on and... He can't hold them long, but long enough. He would have drained you. Part of you. He does that and takes the energy of others into himself. Makes him very powerful. One reason he has lasted as long as he has. He is also sneaky as hell. Anytime one of us Tenno sense him, he flees."

"It won't help him this time, Nikis." Janet said softly. "Because now, I will find him."

"Janet... no." Nikis said slowly. "If you... go after him, he will sense you. He will trap you. I might not be in time again."

"I am not going to go after him in this time, Nikis." Janet said softly. Nikis hissed in shock and Janet smiled grimly. "I assume he hid his core processes before you started looking for him." A grunt answered her and Janet smiled thinly. "So... I look back to before he was hunted. You said he was a scientist?"

"Janet... if he detects you..." Nikis said softly.

"Getting information is what I do, Nikis." Janet replied, calming herself. "What I was trained for. This is... a little different, but not too much so. Spying is always a dangerous." She thought back and nodded a little. "I think I know how he blocked my returning to my body. It was probably a telepathic block. He couldn't stop me, but he could make me think he had. Same difference in my mind. If I get in trouble, I call you and you will come."

"Janet, don't do this." Nikis begged.

"How long have I got, Nikis?" Janet said reasonably.

"A day." The Nekros sounded so lost and alone now. "Maybe less."

"Then there is no time like the present." Janet said with a smile. "Wish me luck?" She went totally still as something brushed her lips. A kiss? Had Nikis just kissed her? She focused her mind and this time, she wasn't falling. She was flying.

Janet hadn't been sure what to expect. But waking up in the middle of a large room that was filled to bursting with menacing looking machines was not it. But that was not what had her freezing. A human male stood, his posture shocked as he rose from where he had bent over a table where a young looking form lay still. But it was the warframe that stood in the middle of the room that had Janet quailing. A Nyx. But... not a regular one. This one was gold in places. Nyx Prime. Somehow she knew it wasn't just any Nyx Prime either, but the Nyx. The First.

"Stop this madness." The voice was unfamiliar. Female, strong and confident.

"You Tenno cannot interfere." Janet knew the human's voice. This was Rasputin, but... not. It wasn't quite what he...would be.

"By the Code, we cannot interfere unless the Technocyte Virus is involved." Nyx agreed calmly. "But there are older Codes, Peter who calls himself Rasputin. You will harm no more children."

Janet went still. She stared around and... she quailed as she saw an open door. Through it, she could see a number of still forms on cots. All still and covered by sheets. She gagged, but forced herself to watch as a shadowed form moved up behind the stunned scientist to grab the still form from the table and ease away with it. But the scientist had seen something.

"No!" The one who would become Rasputin screamed. "That one is mine! Mine!" Golden machinery came to life all around the room and Janet quailed as the shadowed form was suddenly outlined. A Trinity Prime. Carrying a small child.

"Trinity, go." Nyx said firmly as she cast power at the man who laughed at her. Trinity fled as the man focused his ire on Nyx.

"Did you think it would be that easy, Tenno?" The man said snidely as the Psychic Bolts had no effect.

"No." Nyx said quietly as machinery closed in on her. "No I didn't." She leaped up and sat in mid-air. Golden energy flared around her as she... She looked straight at Janet and nodded. "Stop him, Janet. You can."

Janet fled as the world exploded behind her.