Not so Simple
"This is a very bad idea." Marlena was nervous. Actually, she was far beyond nervous.
She smoothed her silver gown carefully. She wasn't out of place here, the colony had a wide assortment of clothing styles. It had a Corpus trade depot in the middle of it. That made for... interesting times during Corpus recruitment drives, but for the most part, the profits from the colony were enough to keep the rabid businessmen from killing the Golden Goose. At least for now. Then there were a few other people who lived in the colony. People like Baro Ki' Teer. People who didn't like the Corpus much. People who had both money and power enough to make even a Corpus executive wary. Maybe not a Board Member, but anyone else would keep a low profile if they knew what was good for them. While there was a public security force, the private security forces were far better equipped and trained. Not to mention ruthless.
"Try to relax if you can. He knows we are coming." Maroo replied. Marlena looked at her and Maroo tilted her head first one way and then the other. She wore her bodysuit with its enhanced helmet. "Jin told him. The boy feels loyalty to that cheapskate." Marlena paled, but Maroo just shook her head. "The odds of sneaking in before the Grineer got me were fairly low. Now?" She shook her head again. "It is not going to happen."
"So... what do we do?" Marlena swallowed and looked around, but the colony was quiet.
"We talk." Maroo frowned. "Not my preferred way of dealing with such things, but in this case, probably easier and cleaner. We need the boy and the lock. With both, we can seal it and leave. No muss, no fuss. No one gets hurt."
"He won't go for that, will he?" Marlena asked. Maroo shook her head yet again. "So... what?"
"We get in, I see what he has in the way of security." The thief frowned. "He will have me disarmed and searched. You will be scanned and searched. Don't resist." Marlena made a face but nodded. "I don't know where the others are and it probably better if we don't look for them. They understand the threat. They want it gone too, the Corpus are far more vulnerable to this that the Grineer or Tenno." According to every source she had ever read, Sentients had always had a way with high tech. And since Corpus depended on their tech for everything... ouch.
"From what little I know of Corpus, wouldn't one of them try to profit from it?" Marlena asked as they walked down another street and into a large area filled with opulent houses.
"Probably." Maroo grunted as she saw what she wanted. The house wasn't as large or grandiose as some of the others. What it was... 'Secure' was probably the best word. Walls. Force fields. Automated systems that were state of the art. Armed guards in plain sight. She knew of other defenses. Hidden weapon emplacements. Traps. Hidden guard animals with a taste for flesh. Baro Ki' Teer liked his privacy. "Which is why the Clergy got involved."
"They worry me." Marlena said softly. Maroo looked sidelong at her as the strode towards the front gate of the dwelling. The guards saw her coming but didn't react. She had likely been identified by the security systems as soon as she and Maroo had exited the shuttle that had brought them. All it would have taken was money or maybe some influence and Baro Ki' Teer had both in spades.
"They know the threat, Marlena." Maroo replied. Her visor picked up targeting beams sweeping her and Marlena, but no weapons came alive. Or, no weapons she could sense. She stopped just outside the gate and looked at the guards who were eyeing her. "Two to see Baro Ki' Teer. I know he is in residence. I know he is aware I am coming. Tell him Maroo has information he needs."
"You were loud saying you wouldn't ever come back." One guard said suspiciously.
"I didn't have much choice in the matter." Maroo said quietly. He shook his head and she scoffed. Her voice turned hard. "Whatever. You want to turn me away? Fine. When this place is a crater, don't come crying to me. Oh wait. You will be dead. Never mind."
All of the visible guards had weapons ready now. Maroo didn't move, didn't take her eyes from the guard who had spoken. He didn't look away either.
"You ain't changed a bit." The guard said after a moment.
"If I had any choice whatsoever in the matter, I wouldn't come within a million klicks of this place." Maroo said with a snarl. "I don't. But if he lays a hand on me again, I will do my best to tear it off. Fair warning." The guard was too well trained to smile at her vehemence, but he did nod.
"Warning taken." The guard stepped back and the gate opened. "You know the drill."
Maroo growled but nodded. She stepped forward, Marlena at her side, thankfully silent. The guards indicated a line drawn on the ground nearby and Maroo moved to it. She nodded when Marlena looked a question at her. When both of them stood at the line, Marlena gave a small cry as energy played over both of them.
"Weapon detector." Maroo said with a sigh as the Lex at her side suddenly glowed red. "There are a lot of people who don't like the owner of this house much. People who go to him expecting deals and get the shaft." None of the guard as much as twitched, but she hadn't expected them to. Baro did not normally hire idiots. She reached for her pistol with her left hand, grasped it with two fingers and held it out to the closest guard who took it. "I want a receipt."
"Seriously?" The guard who had talked before asked, his face bemused.
"I trust your boss as far as I can throw a Grineer Galleon. Not at all." Maroo said in a quiet, but firm voice. "That Lex is mine. I know anything he can get his hands on is his, so..." She shrugged. "I want my weapon back, not some cheap knockoff that he has had sitting in a warehouse for the last few decades."
"You know that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble." The guard said mildly as he moved to a wall. A compartment opened on it and he slid the weapon into it. A small piece of flimsy came out of a slot and he held it out to Maroo. She shrugged, took it and stowed it in a pocket without even looking at it.
"Probably." Maroo worked to keep her tone level and confident. "But I am not here for trouble. I am here to try and avert some. And before you ask, I am being paid well to try and save his ass and yours."
"By who?" The guard asked suspiciously.
"You don't get that information." Maroo replied. "But even if I told you? You wouldn't believe me. I barely believe it myself. The grand high muckety muck gets that information and no one else."
"You keep disrespecting him and bad things will happen." The guard warned.
"Has he fed the cats recently?" Maroo asked offhand. Marlena stared at her and the guards all stiffened. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to know about that, was I?" Her grin was feral.
"Maroo..." Marlena looked pale. The scan beams hadn't stopped sweeping her. None of them turned red, but they kept sweeping her.
"There a problem?" Maroo asked as she looked from Marlena to the guard.
"She is not showing up as human." The guard said slowly. Maroo shook her head. "What is she?"
"You do not get that information." Maroo repeated. Then she grimaced. "Frankly? You don't want it. She is a medic, detailed to keep me alive." At that, all of the guards stiffened. "She is not armed and... Marlena? If I asked you to kill someone, would you?"
"No." Marlena replied without hesitation.
"If killing someone would save your life, would you?" Maroo smiled at Marlena to soften the blow.
"No." Again, Marlena did not hesitate.
"Why not?" Maroo asked.
"Because life is sacred." Marlena replied, calming. Her eyes were less frightened anyway. She was still very tense. "I have done very bad things and I will not again even if it costs me my existence. If... If someone threatens you, then I will fight, but I will not kill if I have any choice whatsoever."
"I..." Maroo didn't know what to say to that. No one had ever said such about her before. She had known, intellectually, that when Tenno had come to her aid that they would fight and die for her if needed, but they never spoke. She smiled at Marlena. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Any weapons?" She asked the guard.
"No. But she could be one." The guard wasn't moved at all by Marlena's declaration. "On her or in her."
"Oh, come on! How many people have smuggled bombs or whatever into Baro's residence inside companions?" Maroo demanded. "If she goes 'boom', so do I! I am not a fracking wacko who would do that. Yes, I am angry with him. Yes, I had cause to be angry with him."
"Sensors are not getting clear readings." The guard said sourly. All of them were aiming at Marlena now. "She stays outside."
"Then so do I." Maroo snapped. "She stays with me. You want me to scream from the rooftops what Baro has in there? I will. You don't know bad if his neighbors discover what it is. You have no idea." None of the guards moved and she sighed. She ignored the weapons all around her, moving to Marlena's side. "Fine. Give me my pistol back. Come on, Marlena. We can leave these fools to their fates. If they are lucky they will die when the..."
"Enough." The voice was calm, cool but all eyes went to the door which had opened as Maroo ranted. Maroo looked at where he stood. Baro Ki' Teer. As always, not a thread was out of place from his wildly improbable boots to his angular looking hat. His voice was mild. "You would just leave." It wasn't a question.
"Not willingly." Maroo admitted. "Not only I am being paid a great deal to warn you, to try and fix the problem but my life is on the line too. As is Jin's. Either we seal the door or we die." She shrugged. "If we don't? You will escape I am sure. You will have several contingency plans for even such calamities. Everyone else here will die. Either from what is beyond the door or the Tenno trying to stop it."
"Trying?" The guard who had spoken was pale now. All of them were.
"Yeah, trying." Maroo said softly. "I have seen what the Tin Men can do firsthand, but... this..." She shook her head. "You don't know what it is, do you?" She asked Baro who eyed her. "And you didn't think it was important until Jin started having nightmares of it and a woman in a silver gown."
"Her?" Baro asked, nodding to Marlena. Maroo shook her head. "Then who?"
"This is not something we should be talking about outside where a simple parabolic mike can pick up everything we say." Maroo cautioned. "I know you have countermeasures, but none of those are perfect. All I am going to say is that this is important enough that when the Corpus captured me, they did not brainwash me. When the Grineer captured me, they did not hurt me." All of the guards looked confused now. Baro was a statue. "Other interested parties have worked very hard to keep me alive and sane so that I can try to fix this. I don't know if I can. Apparently, when I touched the object, it molded to me. As to why it molded to Jin... I don't know. You didn't have him working your Vaults, did you?" Suspicion rang in her tone.
"No." Baro Ki' Teer was still calm and quiet.
"But you used him in the Void." More than one of the guards jerked at Maroo's matter of fact tone. "So either he is vulnerable or...something. I don't know. I am no medic. Marlena here is." She nodded to the woman beside her.
"And that is why you are here." The merchant said to Marlena.
"I am here to keep Maroo alive." Marlena said quietly. "No more, no less."
"You have your work cut out for you." Baro actually smiled. It was a small smile, but it was there. "She irritates people without trying and always has to push."
"I have noticed." Marlena's voice was dry as she made a face. "But I have my duty."
"Then by all means, come in. Both of you." Baro bowed partway, waving towards the door. "And no, Maroo, I don't care about your pistol. You can have it back when you leave."
"I better get it back when I leave." Maroo warned as she started for the door, Marlena a half step behind her. "Or I will take it out of someone's hide." She felt a tingling as she passed the threshold. Marlena winced, but maintained the pace Maroo set.
"Still suspicious." Baro Ki' Teer mused as he walked.
"Working for you, one learned to be. Fast." Maroo replied. "Or if one was lucky, one found him or herself begging in a mining colony on Venus. Naked."
"I don't hurt people just to do it, Maroo." Baro Ki' Teer replied with hint of ice in his tone for the first time as they came to an elevator and it opened. They entered, the doors closed and it started down.
"No." Maroo agreed. "Bad for business. I always wondered why you didn't go into racketeering, gambling or slavery. That kind of thing is far more common. Then I realized, that is all small time. You can make far more money trafficking in nastier things. Why bother with human vices when you can cater to others?"
"I angered you." The merchant heaved a sigh. "I freely admit that what I did was wrong. I should have kept my hands to myself and I am sorry about that. Will you accept my apology?" Maroo shook her head. "I see. Can we at least try to put the past behind us for a bit?"
"That is why I am here." Maroo replied as the elevator descended. "Not by choice as I said. But because I was the best person for the job. Either stealing the lock from you or negotiating for it. Anyone else, you would listen politely, but then send them away. Then you would try to open it yourself to see what profit can be made." Baro looked at her and she scoffed. "Don't even try to lie to me about that. How many times have you tried accessing it since Jin had his first nightmare?"
"Four." Baro nodded. "Once with Jin himself. He felt better after touching it. Odd."
"Not odd at all." Marlena spoke for the first time since entering the house. "He is affected by it, close proximity to the energy it puts out will dilute the toxins in his brain." Baro stiffened and the silver gowned woman looked at him. "You didn't know he was poisoned?"
"He is sick." Baro actually sounded shaken now. "Not poisoned."
"It is toxin caused by a form of energy that only occurs in the Void." Marlena sounded more confident now. "It is not the same radiation that causes the sterility, but it is similar." Maroo and Baro were both looking at her. "There is no way to stop it. The problem is that the intelligence-" She broke off as Maroo hissed. "What?"
"Are we secure?" Maroo demanded of Baro who looked at her.
"We are in an elevator in my dwelling." Baro Ki' Teer sounded impatient now. Never a good sign. "What-?"
"Are we secure?" Maroo interrupted angrily. "If your people hear about this, all hell will break loose." Baro stared at her. "I don't like you and I don't trust you, but I do know you can keep a secret. Are we secure?" She repeated.
"No." Baro said slowly, his eyes on Maroo.
"Then get us that way and we will explain." Maroo relaxed a little. But only a little. "But only in as secure place as you can manage and make sure Jin is there. He is scared."
"Of course he is. He has had nightmares every night for the last few days." Baro said slowly, not taking his eyes off Maroo. "Nothing helps."
"Your drugs won't work." Marlena said softly. "They are not nightmares. Someone is trying to communicate with him -warn him what is coming- and it isn't working right." The merchant turned his stare on her and she shrugged. "She isn't perfect. She doesn't deal so well with people she doesn't know unless she has an 'in'." Maroo glanced at her and Marlena flushed. "Yeah, I was the conduit. Sorry."
"No one died except some Grineer." Maroo made a face. "Not something I want to do again anytime soon, but still... Not as bad as it could have been."
"That doesn't sound like the Maroo I know." Baro said softly, eyeing both women.
"I am a mess." Maroo admitted. "Between the neural poison and a hefty dose of Orokin music, my mind is a bit fuzzy most of the time. I am dying, that is why Marlena is here." Baro tensed and she sighed. "We will explain, but only in a secure place."
"I don't think I want you any further in my house." Baro Ki' Teer's tone was still mild, but his posture was tense.
"Then you don't want to survive." Maroo replied evenly. Then she slumped. "Ah well... go on. Do it. You know you want to." Marlena stared at her and then gave a yip of fear as Baro Ki' Teer vanished. "Very nice holo, Baro."
"What...?" Marlena tensed as a hissing sounded. "Gas?" She shook her head. "You have to be kidding me!"
"He was always...fond... of dramatics..." Maroo fought to keep her eyes open, but the gas was probably a contact agent. "Don't... resist." Marlena caught her as she slumped. "Don't..."
"I won't leave you." The gas wasn't having any discernible effect on Marlena. That would pique the merchant's curiosity if nothing else did. Maroo tried to smile. Tried to reassure Marlena that Baro didn't want her dead or he would have had the guards shoot her. But the darkness was seeping through her too quickly. She was falling...
I have you. Marlena's voice was soft in Maroo's mind as it fell into sleep. Have no fear.
Far from afraid, inside Maroo was smiling.
So far, so good.