Blast from the past
Jesse did not even think. She moved. Olim moved with her. Before Karl even had his Hek fully aimed, Jesse was between him and Mei who hadn't moved even as the Excalibur Prime and Saryn had both ducked and rolled out of Karl's line of fire.
"You do not want to do that, Karl Sensei." Jesse wondered who had spoken. The voice was calm and matter of fact. It was female and... She went still. She had spoken. "At least not until we have the answers we need."
"Jesse. Move." Karl snapped, not lowering his weapon. Draco moved to stand in front of Jesse, but... he had no weapons in hand. "Draco. Move her."
"I am sorry." Mei said as she knelt. "Please move, Jesse. I...can't see you hurt. Not after all of this."
"Not until we have answers, Mei!" Jesse retorted, her voice far more relaxed than she felt. Code wouldn't help her here. This was real, not virtual. If Karl fired, the shot would likely tear through her if Draco did not block it all.
"Her name is Mia." Karl made noise akin to a stepped on badger. "And she is a murderer." At that, everything stopped. Olim shook his head, but he did move to stand by Jesse. "Move!" Karl snapped.
"Karl." Jesse said quietly. "Wait." She turned to the kneeling woman. "Is that your name?"
"No." Mei replied. "I... This body was hers. But they told me you killed her, Karl." At that, everything went still. "I can't remember what happened. What did she do?" Jesse stared at her and then at Olim whose posture was as confused as she felt. "Karl, please..." She begged. "I was waiting... They... It hurt. I was... She was angry and I tried to get her to calm down. She... She did something and I was... somewhere else."
Karl staggered as if he had been struck and his shotgun slowly lowered. But it wasn't as if he were doing it. It was almost as if he had forgotten it.
"Mei...?" Jesse asked softly. "What happened?"
"I woke in an automated clinic!" The kneeling Tenno was all but crying. "It was all strange. I didn't understand. I couldn't remember what happened. After... I got loose... I went to the Elders again and it had been a decade! Karl! What happened?" She was crying now. "What did Mia do to me?"
"This isn't possible..." Karl said savagely, his shotgun coming back up. "It isn't!"
"Karl..." An utterly unexpected voice had all eyes turning to the airlock where Nikis strode in. He wasn't alone. Janet was beside him -holographic- and... Elder Mavri from the colony. Nikis' voice, for once, was not angry. It was not sarcastic, or bitter. It was sad. "Don't. If you shoot, you will regret it."
"Nikis, it is Mia!" Karl roared. "She killed Cora! She tried to kill me!" Mei gasped loudly in the sudden silence that followed his shout and everyone looked at her.
"She... Mia killed me...?" Mei swallowed hard, tears falling. "I... I was trying to get away, but... She killed me?" She begged, her voice tiny. "I didn't think she would. She was always volatile, but... we were sisters..." She bowed her head and tears were falling like rain. "Let him do it." She said to Jesse, Olim and Draco. "I... died a long time ago."
"Mei." Janet said softly. "Face it." Mei jerked but did not raise her head. "You are strong, girl. Face it."
"Her name is-" Karl choked off as Jesse turned, knelt and embraced Mei. "Jesse..."
"What do you remember?" Jesse asked Mei, holding the woman as she cried. "You could have hurt me. You didn't."
"I have... had to kill... I never liked it!" Mei said, not daring to move as Jesse held her. "I do not remember it all." She slumped a bit. "I was... I was cold. It was dark." Jesse just held her. "I woke. I was in a pod of some kind. There were... things... doing things to me... I fought. They broke..."
"Oh Mei..." Jesse hugged her tight and Mei slowly returned the embrace. But only for a moment, then her hands fell to her sides again.
"I screamed and fought and broke loose. It... took a while." Mei said sadly. "I managed... to get out of that horrible place. I was... running..." She slumped. "The guards did not appreciate seeing me running around hysterical."
"It didn't help that you were not wearing anything and were bleeding, Mei." Mavri said heavily. Karl stared at him and Mavri nodded. "I didn't know. Not until a couple of hours ago when Nikis and Janet contacted me. I looked up some records. She was found in the city where Cora...was killed. Nine years after. Naked. Incoherent. Bleeding. They stunned her, took her to the hospital and got her treated. And as soon as the docs did a DNA scan..." He broke off as Karl inhaled sharply.
"They freaked." Janet said softly. "They took her to the Elders and she did not resist after she woke in custody." She shook her head. "They did a full scan, Karl. She never resisted."
"And you...saw this..." Karl said slowly. Janet nodded. "So..."
"The authorities of the time found the clinic." Mavri said quietly as Mei sobbed. "It was...a horror. The bodies of the renegades you had killed vanished from the morgue. Cora's as well. With all of the other insanity going on, no one reported it to you."
"I would not have reacted well." Karl said slowly, finally lowering his shotgun completely. "What did Nicholas do to her?" Mei shook her head savagely and Jesse hugged her again.
"Please..." Mei begged. She subsided as Jesse held her.
"You were careful when you killed the renegades, Karl." Nikis said quietly. "They went to the database where they are not enjoying their punishments. They were not so careful with Cora." Again, Karl staggered as if struck and Nikis nodded. "She woke, confused. In someone else's body."
"Oh my god..." The Saryn whispered, horrified.
"It gets worse." Janet said softly. Everyone stared at her except Mei and Jesse. Mei was sobbing and Jesse was holding her, murmuring soft words to console. "What was Nicholas planning to do to Lis, Karl?" Karl went still and Janet pressed. "I couldn't do anything but watch when she woke. With... the machinery... changing her... inside... She woke being changed and was sedated. Each time she woke, she was awake and aware long enough to start to struggle and then she was sedated again. No painkillers. Just sedatives. Every so often, her body would fail and the machinery revived her. Harshly. Then it ran out of sedatives. He never came back to check on her. I bet he thought it had failed, been discovered. Something."
"Though my pain and fear, I heard a female voice." Mei said in a monotone. "She told me to be strong. She told me to fight. I did." She smiled a bit forlornly at Janet who matched it. "I didn't know who she was until I was contacted by Oracle Janet a few weeks ago. She aided me. I swore to aid her even before she made me an offer."
"I didn't think you could do that." Karl's slow words were directed at Janet who nodded. "Talk to people in your visions."
"Ordinarily I cannot. She was stuck between life and death." Janet said as she stepped to where Mei knelt and went to her knees beside the crying woman. She could not touch Mei as a hologram, but she could offer support. "The normal rules did not apply. I... watched her...after. Things were... complicated for her."
"Why didn't they tell me?" Karl asked Mavri who sighed.
"I don't really know. None of the records I managed to get say it specifically." Mavri said heavily. "But in my opinion? They had her. She was in prison. And from every scan, she wasn't a renegade. She cooperated. Every test. Every trial. Every ritual. She did them without hesitation. Every result was the same. She is not Mia."
"Nor am I Cora." Mei said sadly. "I remember...being her. But I am not her. Not completely. He... broke me. Remade me. I changed my name." She sighed. "During the War, every Tenno was needed, so I went into battle. I healed... but..." She shook her head. "I cannot forget. I cannot forgive."
"I failed you..." Karl said softly. Mei froze and her head shot up. "I promised you protection and I failed."
"Not your fault." Mei said sternly. "Nicholas was to blame. He is the one I blame. Not you. Never you. You did as you should. Me? I tried to walk both lines. I did not want to betray the clan, but I also tried to be true to the Code. It wasn't going to happen. I tried to get the three who kidnapped me to see what they were doing was wrong. They hurt me... Mia hurt me." She said sadly. "I remember that. I... tried to run... Then I woke in the clinic." She looked at Janet. "You let me believe I had just been hurt. Not killed."
"You had enough problems." Janet said quietly. Mei smiled a little at that.
"Yeah, I guess I did at that." Mei replied softly. "My life... is yours, Tenno Karl." She rose, stepping out of Jesse's frantic grab easily. She stepped around Draco who grabbed Jesse as the girl tried to move to Mei's side.
"Let go!" Jesse said fiercely, but Draco might have been a rock for all the give he showed.
"Tenno Jesse..." Mei said softly as she knelt. "What must be, must be. I was renegade. I followed Nicholas until he told me what he was going to do. What he wanted me to do." She shook her head. "I ran. I broke my oath to my clan leader."
"Who broke with the Code." Karl said mildly. "Tenno serve, we do not rule." Mei nodded and bowed her head."And you came when I called. It cost you your life."
"You have carried that burden since that day, have you not?" Mei asked quietly. Karl nodded. "Then we both need closure."
"Elder?" Karl asked Mavri who sighed.
"I wouldn't know where to begin, Karl." Mavri said quietly. "The records were sealed. Many were lost. But this I do know. Mia of Nicholas' clan died to your sword. This is not her." He said with a shrug. "Your business. Not ours." He turned and left the room. Karl stared after him and then sighed deeply.
"I..." Karl shook his head as he turned back to where Mei knelt. "I see your face and I see her as she came at me with a dagger." Karl said quietly.
"I am sorry." Mei said softly. "I never... I didn't expect to survive the War, let alone until now. I was... alone."
"And if you had sought me out... your face would have made me react as I did just now." Karl gave himself a shake. "What do you want... Mei?" He said her name carefully.
"I... I don't know." Mei admitted. "For so long, I lived in fear. Of you. Of my past. Of my memories that I lost. If... you will not kill me...?" Karl shook his head and she continued. "I do not know." She looked at Janet who shook her head as well.
"I am too close now, Mei." Janet said with a smile. "It is all fuzzy."
"Then..." Mei swallowed hard. "I need to find and stop Stalker. After that... I will look to the future."
"Why?" Karl asked as Jesse pulled her arm from Draco's grip. He did not try to hold her. "Why must you stop him?"
"I do not remember all of what happened." Mei said quietly. "Cryo took its toll on me as it did all of us. But I was at the celebration when the Emperor died." Everyone stilled at that. "I... remember... pain... Fear. Anger. A bright light. Then I woke... Everyone was dead. Orokin and Tenno alike. Some slain by energy, others by blades. It... looked like our kin had turned on each other. But I... I don't know."
"And Stalker seeks vengeance for the death of the Emperor." Jesse said quietly. Mei nodded.
"And everything that came after. To him, I was there, I had to be involved. I must be guilty and in his mind anyone who he thinks is guilty will be punished." Mei said quietly. "Maybe I was -am-. I do not know. Mindscans show nothing. If I did have memories of that time, they were wiped by the cryo." She shook her head. "He has attacked me several times since I woke from cryo. He has won a few, I have won a few. When Janet contacted me... I felt an opportunity to stop him once and for all. But he mindwiped one of Oracle Janet's attendants and hurt Caroline." Jesse hissed at that and Mei nodded. "I wasn't ready." Mei admitted. "I was so close, but I wasn't ready. He was pushing too hard. He would have killed Caroline. He did kill Natalie E-12. Janet stopped him." She snorted a bit darkly. "Remind me never to get on the Oracle's bad side." Jesse froze and she felt her eyes start to burn. She had liked that young woman.
"He also killed a bunch of merfolk who took offense to him poisoning their kids." Nikis said in a savage tone. Jesse stared at him and Nikis nodded. "Caroline was telling the truth. Most of it."
"This... cannot stand." Jesse said softly. She looked at Olim who shook his head little, but then nodded. "We need to stop this. Mom? What is happening? Can you say?"
"I am not totally sure, Jesse." Janet admitted. "As I say, I am too close. It's all fuzzy where you are concerned. But Stalker will be very wary about crossing me again." Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were flashing. "You are still in danger. I get that. But I cannot see where it comes from or why."
"Could you see anything at all?" Jesse asked. Raven and Draco were looking at her oddly and she frowned. "I mean... It seems that I am some kind of focus here. But... I should be safe from whatever if I am here, no?"
"Not necessarily. Mei got to you here. Others can too. As for what I can see?" Janet said with a sigh. "Just colors. Dark brown and green." Jesse stiffened and Janet stared at her. "Jesse?"
"Grineer colors?" Jesse asked softly. Janet stared at her and then the Oracles gaze turned far away. She nodded slowly. Jesse sighed. "Oh... boy..."
"Later." Raven said sternly. "You have a bed calling you, young lady." Draco took one of Jesse's arms and Raven the other. Together they directed her towards the door.
"Raven... I..." Jesse complained, but did not resist. It was pointless. She was grumbling as she was led from the room. "Bunch of fracking tyrants."
"Only because we love you, Jesse." Raven said with a smile. "Only because we love you."
"Good kid..." Mei said into the silence that fell after Jesse was led from the room. "I am sworn to aid Janet in finding out who threatens her daughter." She said to Karl who nodded. "Do you need an oath from me?"
"No." Karl shook his head. Nikis nodded, turned and left. Janet vanished. "They trust you. I should."
"Only so far." Mei said quietly. "I do not... remember what happened at the celebration. I do not remember if Nicholas did anything else to me."
"We can do some tests of our own." Karl said quietly. "We have a pair of stellar class mental technicians available here." Olim had not moved and Karl nodded to the Cyberlancer. "Olim?"
"I will be watching." Olim said quietly and Mei nodded.
"Please do." Mei said calmly. "I need to stop Stalker, one way or another. I need to help Jesse. The code is untouched, but you cannot trust that either." She rose slowly to her feet and bowed to Karl. "I will follow your orders." Karl looked at her and then made a noise suspiciously like a chuckle. "I will..." She protested.
"I hope you follow my orders better than you followed my desires way back when." Karl had a strange bubble of laughter in his tone now and Olim started from one to the other. Mei made a face and Karl nodded. 'You remember that." It wasn't a question.
"Hard to forget." Mei drawled and Karl actually laughed.
"You took me by surprise." Karl shook his head, levity fading. "That will not happen again."
"I... wish it had been different." Mei said softly. "We were not right for one another."
"And we knew it." Karl replied. "I was still in love with Serene. You wanted a conquest, not a relationship." Olim just shook his head. "Hey..." Karl said mildly. "It was a long time ago, brother."
"You two..." Olim sighed. "No. No. I do not want to know."
"It was one night." Mei said with a smile. "But what a night."
"Too much information!" Olim declared, his hand sup in a warding gesture. "We need to protect Jesse. If it is the Grineer..."
"You think they may have cloned her?" Karl asked quietly.
"I would have." Olim admitted. "But they were supposed to have used all of her genetic material to put her back together after the doctor hurt her."
"But you are smarter than a Grineer." Karl said a she waved for Mei to accompany him. "We can talk to the docs, see what would be involved in getting you a new face, Mei. That one... will cause more problems."
"That is not nice, Karl." Mei replied off hand as she rose to follow. "A box of rocks is smarter than the average Grineer. Some of them make the rocks look smart." Olim stared at her and then a snicker escaped the Frost Prime at her wicked tone.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet, Olim..." Karl warned him. "Cora was known for her jokes. Practical and otherwise. She got me drunk to get me into her bed."
"Which was no joke." Mei replied. "You were mad the next day, and took it out on me in sparring. I ached for two days. But you know..." She smiled.
"Totally worth it."