Unconventional
Tiana woke up slowly. She was fuzzy. Everything was soft and fuzzy. But she wasn't where she had been. Whatever she was lying on was softer for one thing and she was warm. She hadn't been able to get warm in a patient gown.
"She is waking." A calm female voice sounded nearby. "Janna H-15, get the soup and take your time."
"Yes, Lady Katerina." A younger female voice replied. A sound came to Tiana's ears. Something she couldn't identify.
"That was a door." The first voice said quietly. "Ancient tech. Actually, no tech at all." She chuckled without mirth. "Good morning, Tiana. How do you feel?"
"I..." Tiana stiffened. She couldn't see! She tried to move and her limbs did, but slowly. So slowly. "Wha-?"
"You are recovering from a bad case of radiation poisoning." The one called Katerina said gently. "You cannot see because the healers who tended you blocked your optic nerves and covered your eyes. Soft tissue is far more vulnerable to damage from such energy. Any damage you took was repaired before you got here, but we figure better safe than sorry. You don't need eyes though."
Something touched Tiana. No... it wasn't a physical touch! The world fell away.
A virtual world
"What the heck?" Tiana asked as she arrived in a virtual world that was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The room was large and each wall was covered with odd windows. She recognized them from descriptions as 'stained glass' windows. She wore Tenno robes.
"Please watch the language." Katerina's voice was kind as a human form appeared nearby. She wore an odd gown that looked religious in nature. She smiled at Tiana. "I know you are very confused. You were in the Tower."
"Are you... Tenno?" Tiana asked, concerned. Katerina nodded. "I don't know you."
"I am energy form and trapped in a specific location." Katerina said with a frown. Tiana tensed, but the other shook her head quickly. "No, no. It was mostly by my own choice. Although Nikis letting everyone know I was here didn't help matters."
"Wait a minute." Tiana inhaled as memory came flooding in. "Katerina? Banshee?" That had been a hell of a revelation, the fate of the original Banshee.
"I was Banshee, once." Katerina said with a sigh. "Now I am just Katerina. I still honor the Code, but I am a lot less than I was." She shrugged. "As Nikis' punishments go, this one is fairly lenient."
"I bet." Tiana said weakly. It wasn't every day one met a legend in the not so corporeal flesh. "Wait. You were..." She froze. "Where am I?"
"Neptune. You are a guest of the Clergy." Katerina said formally. "They have pledged to see to your safety and security while you recover." Tiana stared at the Tenno shade and Katerina sighed again. She waved and a sofa appeared nearby. She sat on it and nodded to Tiana. "Would you like to sit? This is... a heck of an explanation. Most of it bad."
"I was at the Tower." Tiana said slowly. "The kids didn't mean to hurt me."
"No." Katerina said gently. "They didn't." Tiana stared at her and Katerina smiled. "I do try to keep up with our kin these days. Well done, sister Tiana. The Voices are helping the kids adapt. It will not be easy or quick, but I believe they have a far better chance now than they did. They will need some extra assistance. Since none of them can physically handle the stresses of a Trial, there will be some concessions made, but I believe their chances are better than fair."
"Why am I here?" Tiana asked flatly.
"Because someone tried to kill Healer Iriana." Katerina said softly. The standing Tenno froze and the sitting one bowed her head. "They missed. Barely. The only reason their bomb did not succeed was that another Tenno shielded Iriana from the energy disruptor that was intended to destroy her inner energy utterly, leaving nothing to save. He did not survive it."
"Do we know why they targeted her?" Tiana asked, her tone hushed. Katerina shook her head. "So... what?"
"The weapon that was used was apparently an ancient Orokin tool of assassination." The shade said softly. "I don't remember a lot about them, but what I do remember is awful." The shade looked away. "Iriana... is not doing well. She was aware when the disruptor killed the one who saved her. She says she heard him scream. I don't know." The shade shook her head. "She isn't coherent at the moment and no one blames her. Every time she wakes, she starts screaming."
"Who?" Tiana asked softly. Katerina looked at her and Tiana met the shade's eyes. "Who saved Iriana?"
"Your clan leader." The shade said simply.
For a moment, the words did not register. Then they did not make sense to Tiana.
"That is not possible." Tiana said firmly. "Karl is the strongest Tenno I know, mentally or physically. There is no way..." She broke off as Katerina held out a hand to her. "What?"
"He didn't have any of his defenses activated in the hospital. Commander Horatius of the Corpus Special Forces was one of the first on scene, sister. Grandmaster Nikis went when the Commander called the alarm." Katerina's eyes were glistening as she held out her hand to the frozen Tenno. "It is corroborated."
"No." Tiana said weakly. "That... That isn't possible." She did not resist as Katerina grasped her hand and pulled her down to sit on the sofa beside the shade. Normal rules did not apply in a virtual world. "He... I..."
"Come here." Katerina pulled Tiana into a hug as the younger Tenno's eyes started to burn. Then Tiana was sobbing. "Death is a part of life, sister. Everything mortal will die. It is pretty much the definition of 'mortal'. We are all lessened by the loss of a brother. But that is not the worst part." Tiana stiffened in Katerina's embrace and Katerina gave her a squeeze. "There were people -many people- who declared grudges against Iriana."
"Because of Mishka's dad." Tiana mused. Katerina nodded and Tiana scowled. "So... one of them tried to kill Iriana and killed Karl instead."
"So we believe." Katerina said with a scowl of her own. "If they had succeeded, almost every other Tenno would be looking for them right now. But what is coming is going to be bad enough."
"The clan will respond." Tiana said flatly. Katerina nodded. "They will need me."
"Sister, you need to finish your treatments." Katerina's tone was calm, but unyielding. "The radiation has mostly been flushed from your system, but you need time to recover."
"My clan needs me." Tiana snapped, slipping out of Katerina's embrace and standing. "Send me back."
"Not yet." Katerina said softly. "There is... one other thing. Iriana needs help."
"We will get her to..." Tiana broke off and scowled at Katerina who slumped a bit.
"I know about the Caretakers and yes, they have offered." Katerina said softly. "Elenia and Jasmina like Iriana and of course Mishka is her daughter." Something in her tone...
"But...?" Tiana prodded.
"But we can't send her there." Another voice spoke up and Tiana recoiled as a female human wearing a white gown appeared in the virtual room. The human wore a headdress that covered her head down to her mouth, which was set in a grim line. "Hello Tiana."
"Oracle Janet." Tiana said slowly, stepping away from both of the others. "My clan needs me."
"I...regret not being able to warn Karl." Janet said slowly. "But..."
"Leave me out of your machinations!" Tiana snapped. "I don't care if you can't help. I will avenge Karl is it is the last thing I do!" She started to focus herself. Exiting a virtual world was not easy without permission, but it was possible.
"You leave now and it will be." Janet replied calmly. Tiana froze and the Oracle nodded. "The last thing you do that is. What is worse? You will kill the wrong target."
"And of course, you cannot tell me what the right target is." Tiana retorted. Janet shook her head. "Of course not. Bye."
"It wasn't the Rising!" Janet snapped as Tiana finalized the connection. "Or the Red Veil." Tiana froze, her final connection halfway completed. "Nikis and the others think it was a terrorist attack. It wasn't."
"But you cannot tell me what it was." Not a question.
"I want to." Janet said sadly. "I so want to but if I do, thing will get far worse. Tiana, please. Iriana is going to break. She cannot handle what happened. She saw it. She felt it happen." Tiana winced and Janet pressed her advantage. "I love her too. She was kind to me when she didn't need to be. She helped Jesse too." She was shaking her head now. "And all I could do was watch it happen. I cannot interfere."
"How did they do it?" Tiana demanded.
"The bomb was implanted in a human." Janet said softly. "I backtracked from the explosion after it happened. He was acting normally and none of the sensors picked up a thing. According to the records, he was visiting a relative who was undergoing treatment down the hall from Iriana's office. Instead of going to that room, he walked to Iriana's office, laid his hand against the door and exploded. He never spoke, but in my vision, I could see his eyes. He was aware of what was happening and it wasn't him in control."
"Oh shit." Tiana said in an undertone.
"Yeah." Janet said softly. "I have spent the time since then trying to figure out what is going on and why. The only way to solve this without a lot of bloodshed..." She paused. "More bloodshed. Nikis went to the Red Veil HQ asking about the bomb. They...resisted."
"What are they? Nuts?" Katerina and Tiana both exclaimed as one. They looked at each other and shrugged.
"Yeah. They are. But they learned. He didn't kill them all." Janet said with a sigh. "They started surrendering after he slaughtered twenty of them." She shook her head "Wasn't a fight. It was butchery. There are some fights that even fanatics will realize they simply cannot win."
"Is it revenge for what Stalker has done?" Tiana asked Janet who did not reply. "You cannot say."
"All I can say is that you need to help Iriana." Janet said sadly. "You may be the only one who can."
"What?" Tiana demanded. "I am no healer. No mental specialist."
"I know." Janet seemed to wilt a bit. "She is so angry. So hurt and angry. She won't be thinking clearly. Having her here is a good thing, but they won't be able to hold her when she is fully aware. Not without hurting her, which they are flatly forbidden to do. She will swear vengeance."
"What?" Tiana felt faint. "No! She is a Healer. Not a Warrior!"
"I know." Janet was crying softly now. "And she won't care. She heard and felt Karl die." The Oracle shook her head savagely as Katerina gave a small cry of grief. "You know that path, Tiana. You know what it will do to her!"
"I..." Tiana slumped a bit. "Oracle. If she chooses such, I am honor bound to abide by her choice."
"Say she assumes a warframe. Even if she manages to find the right target, such an act will destroy her!" Janet snapped. "And you know it!"
"Yes." Tiana said sadly. "But that doesn't change the fact that it is her choice. Not mine." Janet looked at her and Tiana tensed. "What?"
"She needs you." Janet said firmly. "She has lost herself in rage and pain. She cannot find her way. She needs help. Your sister needs help." Katerina seemed about to speak and thought better of it as Tiana glared at the Oracle.
"Not mine." Tiana keyed for a recall and the world fell away again.
Reality
"That was rude." Katerina's voice was displeased as Tiana came back to her senses. "She is very upset."
"I hate being a puppet." Tiana replied calmly. "I know I am dancing on her strings, but I don't have to like it."
"You really think she is doing that?" Katerina asked, her tone cold now.
"Yes." Tiana was firm and the other was silent for a moment. Then Katerina sighed.
"Fine." The shade was unhappy, but she moderated her tone. "Your meal will be here in a few minutes. You will have to take it through a straw since no one will trust you with a spoon." Tiana did not react and Katerina sighed again. "We are not enemies, Tenno Tiana."
"My clan needs me." Tiana retorted.
"So does Iriana!" Katerina snapped, patience apparently exhausted. "But fine. Get comfortable. You will be here for another twenty hours. We will keep Iriana asleep until we can find a way to help her. Rest well."
The presence that Tiana could barely feel vanished, leaving her to her thoughts.
"Stubborn Tenno." Katerina said sourly as she watched Tiana sip carefully through the straw that Janna H-15 had set up. The shade stood in the virtual environment again and she wasn't alone.
"They do what they have to do." Janet stood beside Katerina, her visible face sad. "They are playing right into his hands. They are doing exactly what he wants. He didn't think it through, but then again, fanatics rarely do."
"Why can't we just tell them?" Katerina begged. "Tiana would listen."
"She might." Janet said sadly. "The others? No." The Oracle shook her head. "The problem isn't Tiana. The problem isn't even Nikis or Karl's clan. They are not stupid, none of them. But they are all dancing on strings. And not mine."
"The Lotus won't believe us." Katerina said softly. "The others are hunting vengeance." Janet nodded. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Yes, but it will anger a bunch of people." Janet said slowly. "I... I don't want to do this. If Tiana had done it, we could protect her."
"What do you need?" Katerina asked gently.
"I need you to activate every sensor scrambler you have." Janet said softly. "Everything. This is going to set off alarms across the system. We are going to have every Tenno who isn't busy hunting vengeance hunting us. I won't involve Jesse in this."
"She would help." Katerina said softly but froze as the Oracle spun to glare at her. "I know she is your daughter, but she would help."
"She was my daughter." Pain sounded in the Oracle's voice now. "No. She is good. Well trained, and well motivated. But this? No. This doesn't require a Cyberlancer. This requires an Operative."
"Janet..." Katerina said softly. "They will ID him. They will know. You know what they will do."
"I know." Janet was crying softly now. "But we have no other good choices. He will be willing, if just to see Jesse again."
"I..." Katerina slumped a bit. "I will be ready. We cannot even tell the Reverend Mother."
"No. She will not react well. I just hope..."
"Yeah, me too."
Somewhere
It was very quiet in the cell. He didn't mind. He had a lot of reading to catch up on. The man he had been had known a lot, but Zacharias was no longer the man he had been. A memory implant that had covered up his true past had been damaged by a deep Grineer interrogation. Even now, he wasn't sure which of his memories were real and which were false. Thing was, he was remembering all kinds of stuff. Like how to get out of the cell he was in. But he wouldn't. He had given the Reverend Mother his word.
What he had done to Janet's first child had been wrong. It had saved Janet's sanity and the girl had grown up a wonderful child so he had few regrets. He didn't remember doing it, but it had been done and he had been the one to do it, so...
His punishment was almost over. As punishments went, this one wasn't that bad. He still worked at the hospital but now most of the women he worked with knew what he had done and their attitudes varied form cold to worried to scared. Some of the patients refused to let him treat them and that hurt a great deal. He was a doctor now, not a covert operative and helping people was his life.
Zac. The voice wasn't familiar for a moment and then it clicked. He hadn't heard it for some time. Don't react. Speak in your mind. I will hear.
You cannot be talking to me, Janet. Zacharias had tears in his eyes as he spoke to the woman who had been his wife. Before.
I don't have any decent alternatives, Zac. Janet said sadly. All hell is about to break loose and it is not what people think it is. They are not listening to me. They are angry.
With reason. Zacharius hadn't heard all of what had happened, but one would have had to be mind blind to miss the storm of controversy that had resulted from two outsiders being hidden away at the Convent, the super secret and secure Clergy facility intended for the ascension of a new Reverend Mother. They can hear this form of speech.
Not right now, they can't. Janet reassured him. Zac, we are being played. All of us. Tenno and Clergy alike are being manipulated.
By who? Zacharius asked carefully. There had been a time he had trusted this woman utterly, but times had changed.
I cannot answer that, Zac. Janet said weakly. All I can say is that we have one chance to stop it. To show everyone what is happening and why. But to do that, I need an operative.
I am not one anymore. Zacharius said slowly.
You are all I have. Janet's voice mixed fear, amusement and a deep affection.
And no one else I know of would be crazy enough to steal from the Lotus.
