Shades of heresy

"She is awake." A familiar young voice said close by as Brianna swam back to consciousness. "Her face is all icky though. Is she going to be all right, Beta?"

"She is angry, Ivan. She has that right." An equally familiar female voice said quietly. "But she is alive. Go on, you have class."

"She was nice to me. I hope you feel better soon, Ma'am." Small lips brushed Brianna's cheek and then were gone. She heard feet on the floor and then a door hissed.

"Yes." The woman sighed deeply. "Yes, you were, Brianna Enginus. Even as blocked as you were, as angry as you were, you were kind to him. Thank you for that. I am sorry. We do need you. This…" A hand stroked Brianna's cheek. "This violation is not what you deserve, but we do need you. You will forgive us in time, but you will never forget it any more than you can forget the other betrayals. He sees nothing wrong in what he did. To you, to me, to the kids… I need your help, Brianna Enginus."

That is not my name. Brianna tried to speak that aloud and could not. Something was in her mouth.

"I understand why you did that, but you frightened Ivan very badly. He watched your face melt half off!" The woman could hear her somehow and was not happy. Brianna tried to move, to do anything, but she couldn't. "You will not be able to move. Your nerves are inhibited. The regeneration of your face and neck is not done yet. I assume that was a Tenno toxin of some kind. Nasty stuff, whatever it was. I know you are afraid, I know you are angry. You have a right to both. He hurt you, used you and then threw you away. He would do the same to me if he could, but I am his only hope and you? You are mine."

I will not serve him! Brianna snapped in her mind.

"No, you will not." The other replied to the irate medic's mental voice and then chuckled when Brianna tried to stiffen. "Brianna Enginus, only an idiot would expect you to serve him after what he did to you and I try very hard not to be an idiot. He expects the treatment that you will undergo shortly to rebind you to him. To reform you into a toy for his use and abuse as before. It will not."

What are you going to do to me? Brianna demanded in her mind.

"I am going to give you something that will reform you on a genetic level." The other said sadly. "There will be a great deal of pain. Even Orokin science cannot alleviate that completely. We have machinery here that could help, but none of us know how to use it. You do."

I won't help you! I can't help you! If it is Orokin equipment, it is all gene locked to-

Brianna broke off as horrified realization struck. If they could rebuild her DNA any way they chose, they could make her able to use any Orokin equipment! The Collapse had occurred when all of the Orokin who had been able to use the equipment had been killed. No one else could use it. Billions of people had perished for lack of any alternative sources of food, power and other essentials other than what the Orokin had controlled so closely.

"Yes." The other was gentle now, so gentle. "He wants to use you, me and mine to rebuild Orokin. One destroyed soul at a time, of course. Our wishes mean nothing to him."

They never did. Brianna said weakly. It won't work. There are others, many others who will fight to keep it from happening.

"The Lotus is gone. The Grineer, Infested and Corpus are great threats. The Tenno may or may not fight." A hand was stroking Brianna's arm now. "But it will be Orokin. The rightful ruler will take control and hopefully kill this fool before he causes too much damage through his silliness. I bet Eliza will not be happy with him." At that, Brianna went totally still and the woman made a soft noise of agreement. "Yes, we know she is Empress. He doesn't. He thinks to be Emperor, but as you know, he is a fool. Utterly incapable of performing the job and utterly ignorant of that fact. Eliza was a good woman. A strong woman to survive all of what she endured. I bet she makes a good Empress." A finger rubbed Brianna's nose even as she felt an itch start there. "Easy, Brianna Enginus. Not long now. You have been alone so long. That ends today."

BUT I DON'T WANT IT! Brianna screamed in her mind.

"Neither did I. This will hurt you and you will be very angry at us for long, long time. We will help you and you will help us. It is what a good pack does. Easy now." The other crooned. "A little stick and a great change. One small step for a woman,..." The other said gently. "...one giant leap for humanity's survival."

Something sharp stuck the back of Brianna's head. Before she could do anything, white hot but cold agony flared inside Brianna's skull. Through the torment, she heard kind words, both aloud and in her mind.

"Welcome to our pack, my dear."

Then all she could do was lie there as anguish scoured her from the inside out. The feelings were odd, unlike anything Brianna had ever experienced in her life. She felt colors in them. Red, green, blue, yellow… It wasn't just in her skull now. It was in her arms, her legs, her chest and abdomen. It was searing along every nerve, every muscle, every ligament and tendon. Every blood vessel, every skin cell, every everything. She screamed in silence as gray darkness swept her up and held her colored pain in gentleness that did little to alleviate the torture.

Someone was singing softly nearby but Brianna couldn't make out the words. She was floating in something. No, she was lying on something soft with warm bodies all around her. Something found her lips. The tube was gone and she was parched. She drank, unable to do anything else as the hurt continued. Whatever the fluid was, it wasn't water. It was something else. Something warm, thick and nourishing. It tasted odd, but right as wrong as that was. Whatever she was drinking from wasn't metal or plastic. It felt like flesh but equally odd. She was floating again. It was both right and wrong and she could do nothing but cry as the pain tore her to bits.

As Brianna, the kind and gentle medic who specialized in mental traumas, beloved of most of the clan of Tenno known as 'Karl's Shadow',... perished.

One rebirth later

She woke, aware of warm bodies all around her. Her pack sister was crying beside her, her tears falling like hot rain onto the now awake woman's face. She could feel… It was so wrong, but it felt so right. Every sense was hyper-aware. As good as her senses had been as an Enginus, now? They were far more refined. She knew instantly that there were twenty three beings surrounding her. Seventeen of them were physical if odd, and the others were energy form. All were worried. She could hear them, feel them, sense them with senses she had no words for. Everything hummed around her, waiting to come to life at her order. At her whim.

"I am sorry." Beta said weakly. "I am so, so sorry, Brianna Executor."

"That is not my name." The newest high caste Orokin said flatly. She sat up, aware of the small forms easing away from her as she glared around. Her skin was the pale gold of high Orokin. She didn't need to look to know her hair had changed to the black that the high caste Orokin had preferred, probably at least shoulder length now, and her arms were far longer than human normal.

"Yes it is!" Beta retorted, reaching for the golden hands. "Your name is Brianna Executor! You are the highest rank, barring the Council of Executors and the Emperor. Under Orokin, your will is law." She gave the hands a squeeze, then released them, knelt and bowed her head. "For the transgressions, I submit to your mercy, Executor. It was for Orokin, so I have no regrets except the pain it caused you."

"Get up." Brianna wasn't angry. Not really. Her emotions were diluted somehow. "Do you have any idea what you have done? This is wrong. On so many levels. This is heresy at its most base. I am not an Executor!"

"You are now." Beta did not raise her head. She gasped as Brianna wished the other woman's head to come up and it did, raised by a golden beam of energy. Brianna tried to stop the thought that slammed through her, but then the kneeling woman recoiled as the sound of a slap came. But Brianna hadn't moved! That had been her wish come to life! To the slap the woman across the face! She hadn't done it. The technology had! The physical impact had been put forth by Orokin technological wizardry guided by her unspoken will.

"You..." Brianna was shaking. "No. I cannot. I must not..."

"We are your pack, Alpha Brianna Executor." Beta said softly. "We are yours in life and in death. My life is yours." She slowly fell to the floor, rolled and exposed her neck in an oddly formal way. All of the forms around them, almost two dozen small and not so small forms, all did the same as Brianna stared at them.

"Alpha? Beta?" Brianna said slowly. "This is wrong." She shook her head, retreating a step. Everyone made way for her, most of the young ones had their faces to the floor and she could feel the fear coming from them. "This is all wrong."

"You can make it right." Beta was still crying as she looked at Brianna. "What we did was needed, but you will not forgive soon, if ever. I am sorry, but we needed you. You. As you are now."

"This is wrong!" Brianna snapped. "There are forms, procedures, for a reason!" She backed up to the wall, aware that the skin tight suit she wore was morphing into a gown. "Stop!" She commanded and the clothing stopped in mid change before reverting back to her suit.

"You raiment is-" Beta began. Only to cut herself off as Brianna held up a hand.

"Don't." Brianna snarled. "I cannot control this! Myself." She shook her head. "This… This is too much."

She gasped as input flooded every sense. Hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, mind, all of it was being deluged with input. Every single machine in the entire area – a TOWER!- was querying her, asking for orders! She demanded her location and the tower controller gave it! The tower was on Mars, secreted in the core of a dormant volcano. Not that mere magma would harm an Orokin built structure. She clasped her hands to her skull as more and more information flooded her senses, overwhelming her. She struggled but it was like trying to stop a tide with a teaspoon. Nothing hurt, but she couldn't focus. Couldn't think. It was too much. She was drowning in input. She collapsed to her knees and then to the floor, sobbing.

Hands grabbed hold of both of hers, pulled them down into warm embraces and held on. Other forms stepped close, warmth surrounded her and the overwhelming input faded. It was still coming, but she could think!

"Tell the machines to limit the input until you can handle it. You will adapt quickly. Humans have always been adaptable and Orokin far more so." Beta said quietly. She wasn't close. She wasn't one of the ones holding Brianna.

Please… Slow down so I can adapt. Brianna begged in her mind and a soft caress of power soothed her as the input vanished. No, it didn't vanish, but the flow of information became a trickle instead of a tide. Another caress. It was almost a mechanical apology. Almost. She glared at Beta, ignoring the forms around her. "What have you done?"

"The machinery has been without lawful commands for long, long time." Beta said sadly. "Ever since the last Orokin here died. It is lonely. We could access some. Prince Robert could access some, but not much. You can access it all."

"In the name of the First Empress, WHY?" Brianna shouted that as she rose, shoving the forms around her away as she stalked towards Beta who did not flinch under her rage. "I AM NOT AN EXECUTOR!"

"You were not. You are now." Beta did not move as Brianna stepped right up to her. "Your body has been reformed into the perfection of Orokin high caste. Now, you can do anything you want."

"I DID NOT WANT THIS!" Brianna screamed loud enough that several of the small forms nearby retreated.

"Please do not scare the pups, Brianna Executor." Beta said quietly. "They have been frightened enough." Brianna looked from the woman in front of her to a sea of scared faces, most young. Her heart fell as she saw a little girl start to cry. The tyke couldn't have been three years old.

"She doesn't like us." The girl said weakly through her tears as an older woman scooped her up and held her close. From the shared appearance, the woman was the girl's mother and from the vital signs that Brianna could see displayed in her vision somehow? She was scared too, just better at hiding it.

"We hurt her, Gretchen." Beta said softly. "Are you happy when you get hurt?"

"No." The girl's feeble voice was an ice-pick into Brianna's tormented soul. "We didn't mean to be bad, Miss Alpha Ma'am." She begged, holding out a tiny hand to Brianna. The hand was withered, bent the wrong way and Briana stared at the girl. "Please don't be mad!" The girl begged. "We will be good! I swear!"

"Why?" Brianna moderated her tone, but the intensity was still ceiling high at the least. "Do you have any idea how many laws you just broke? How many regulations? How many commandments? I will be put to death for this blasphemy and you? If you are lucky, you will die. You had no authority to do this."

"We are Dax and less than Dax." Beta said quietly. "He ordered. We can only obey. Our lives are not ours. They have not been since the Tenno created the Mother."

At that, Brianna stilled. The voice! With her memory enhanced by this horror, Brianna knew the voice! She had only heard it once, but it had been memorable. Not many people talked back to Nikis or manged to escape him as Kat had. Brianna had heard a bit about what had happened with Kat. She had demanded to go to Neptune to help Kat as crazy as that was, but Tiana had denied her 'request'. Rightly so. When Brianna had calmed down, she had been aghast at what she had wanted. Yeah, sure. Put herself with all of her accumulated knowledge from both Orokin and Tenno in the hands of the Corpus Clergy? That would not end well at all.

"Kat?" Brianna demanded. "You are Kat!"

"No." Beta replied, still not moving. "I am a copy of the energy form known as Kat housed in a meat body. We call her 'Mother' for she is our mother. She bore us, nurtured us all unknowing."

At that, Brianna stilled even further. "I wasn't aware that was possible." She managed after a moment.

"For anyone sane, it is not." Brianna was very angry, but managed it well. Better than Brianna was. "Unfortunately, as you well know, sanity was never the strong point of that idiotic Orokin who kidnapped you. This copy is degrading. All of our copies are degrading. Slowly but inexorably."

"I cannot help you." Brianna said slowly, her senses reeling from this sudden information. Beta wasn't lying. A thought had a screen show up in Brianna's sight that showed degradation to the core of energy that was all that Beta really was. Brianna stared around and every single corporeal form was a meat shell surrounded energy forms. Even the little girl! "Perhaps, someone else could, but after what was done, after I was taken… Tenno will come for me and they will not come in peace."

"We know our time is short." Beta shook her head. "The Tenno or whoever will have great deal of difficulty finding you here. This tower was a refuge. It is shielded from everything the builders could imagine, including psionics."

Well, that trashed asking the Oracles for help. Not that they likely would have, but Brianna had been contemplating distress calls and such.

"How many?" Brianna asked as she looked at Gretchen who hid her face.

"Our pack has three hundred and seventy four beings who can function." Beta said quietly. "Fifty three more are catatonic. They will fade in time, and none can aid them. The transition from organic to energy was not easy for any."

"What did he do?" Brianna breathed, her emotions fettered again. Or something within her was helping her cope with rage the likes of which she had only seen in Tenno. As powerful as she was now? Acting out would be bad. "He did this."

"He did." Beta said quietly. "I do not know when he realized what Kat was, but she fled her prison many times. One time, she encountered him and he was fascinated by her. Then even more by the great golden bird that pursued her."

"Zephyr." Brianna had thought herself beyond shock. "So… he…?"

"Every time Zephyr appeared, anyone she touched, he took." Beta said with a growl of pure wolf rage. "She brushed up against Gretchen's mother. No more. That was all the cause he needed to take them both. To hurt them both. To make them both this parody of life."

"I thought the bird woman was pretty." Gretchen pleaded. "She was nice! She didn't do this!"

"No." Brianna said slowly. "He did."

A door hissed open nearby and everyone moved as Brianna slowly strode to stand between them and the door where he stood. He smiled at her.

"Are you feeling better?" Lorinos inquired. She just looked at him, face blank, and he frowned slightly. "No need to be rude, my dear. We will be good friends."

"Will we?" Brianna said in a very quiet voice. But underneath her voice, a distant wolf howled in rage. Everyone else in the room stiffened but he didn't hear it. He only had eyes for her.

"Yes." His smile came back. "You will make a wonderful Empress. A Healer Empress, one to bring peace and light back to the Solar System."

"Will I?" Again, the wolf howled in Brianna's voice and again, he didn't hear it. Everyone else in the room did though. Gretchen's tears faded and the little girl was smiling.

"Brianna Executor, you were needed. You have come through your ordeal and now?" The Orokin in front of her held out a hand that she ignored. "Come my dear, your future awaits."

"With you?" Brianna asked, her tone disinterested now.

"You will rule the new Orokin at my side." Lorinos waved a hand at the assemblage. "These will serve."

"And you don't care that they are all dying." Brianna replied, still disinterested.

"They are energy forms, energy forms cannot die." Lorinos sighed deeply. "Do not make me order you. I can."

"No, you can't." Brianna was working hard to sound bored now even as rage sang though every pore and the machinery around her begged for release.

"Yes, I can." Lorinos said with a frown. "I am higher rank than you."

"Are you?" Brianna inquired, still trying hard to stay calm. "Because I very recently saw a list of the Council of Executors as they were just before the Collapse." At that, Lorinos stiffened. "And do you know what?"

What she leveled at him might have been called a smile. The same way a shark's was.

"Your name wasn't on that list."