Annoyed

This was intolerable.

He had fallen asleep and when he had woken, he was in a room with no way out. It wasn't small. But there was no way out. A pile of soft things lay in one corner. A small thing that looked and smelled like dirt was in another. This made no sense to him at all. Where was the sad female? He needed to find a way to communicate with her! He had... some kind of link to her. Or something. He had definitely felt a connection with her. Or something. She was familiar. What had the others called her? Nyx?

He sat in the middle of the room and pondered what had happened. Things were not as they had been. His mind was awhirl with things that he had no names for. But one thing he did know. The prey he had hunted and killed... they had been attempting communication. Their 'bleating' had been some kind of communication. So...

He examined himself as best he could. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing seemed wrong or different. But everything was.

The walls were solid metal. He examined each in detail. He wasn't sure what he was looking for or even if he was looking for anything at all. This was all new to him. The place didn't smell. At all. Not even of him. Which was wrong in so many ways. He knew his own smell. But he didn't now. Or, he didn't smell as he had. He smelled something on his skin that wasn't familiar. He finished his examinations and moved to the center of the room. There he sat. His eyes flashed from side to side as he waited.

If there was one thing a successful hunter learned, it was patience. Prey was easily startled, leading to time consuming and exhausting chases. Those could be enjoyable at times, but not when one was starving. His thoughts slithered to a sudden halt. He wasn't hungry. Why wasn't he hungry? He had been awake for some time, moving carefully but all over. So he should be hungry. But he wasn't.

There were no identifiable smells and he wasn't hungry. This wasn't right. He uncoiled himself from the floor and jumped as high as he could. He stared up at the ceiling far above his head and then around himself again. The light was wrong. He had never seen such light before. It wasn't anything he knew. He sank back to the floor and focused himself. It didn't work. He tried to open his mouth as the prey had done in their bleating, but none of the noises they had made came out. He kept trying.

He woke. He had fallen asleep! But... he hadn't been tired! He stared around and focused on a flat thing that lay on the ground near one wall. It hadn't been there before. It had things on it. Odd looking things. Smells came from them. They smelled odd. He stared around, but nothing else seemed to have changed. He rose to a crouch and took a slow, careful step towards the new thing. Nothing happened and he continued. But there was a feeling now. He didn't know why or how. But he knew he was being watched. He did not like the feeling.

He bent down to sniff the flat thing and the odd things on it. None of them smelled bad. They were just different. Was this food? For so long, he had eaten his prey while it struggled. One thing had water in it. He tasted it and spit it out. It tasted wrong. He growled and backed away from the flat thing, resuming his place in the-

Flash

"Why didn't he eat?" The voice was familiar. Nyx. Worried. He tried to vocalize. Tried to move. He couldn't. He was lying on his side. How had he fallen asleep this way? It was uncomfortable, but he couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.

"It, Nyx." Another female voice. Sterner. Harder. He didn't like her. "Not a 'he', an 'it'." Nyx growled. He found he liked her even more than he had. This female was not to be trifled with.

"He has male characteristics, Mag."Nyx replied coldly. "Unless you want me to start calling you an it, I suggest you back the frack off."

"Nyx." The other sighed. "You are emotional. You mind linked to it. It did something to you." He made a noise and the voice exclaimed. "Nyx! Out!"

"No." Nyx snapped. "He could have hurt me and he didn't. In the forest and after. He was trying not to hurt me. He was trying to understand. Mag, if you trust nothing else I say, please trust that. He isn't mindless!"

"Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?" Mag's voice was sour. "I cannot leave you alone with it. Him." She corrected herself as Nyx made a noise of protest. "You are still sick. Hayden shouldn't have let you go out, even supervised."

"Trinity cleared me, Mag." Nyx said with a sigh as something touched his arm and eased him to a more comfortable position. "I don't remember all of what happened with Rasputin, but I do remember what he was doing. Then... this." Hate sang in her voice and he recoiled a little. She was angry. But not with him. "I did this. It is my fault. I did this. I do not know how or why but I did this to him. I need..." The sheer pain in her words called to him. He forced his body to move despite whatever was holding it. It took most of his strength to open his mouth, to force air through it.

"No." The voice was not right. It didn't sound anything like any of the others he had heard. But the word was simple and clear. Sudden silence fell. "No."

"No what?" Nyx asked, her tone somewhere between awed and scared.

"No." He tried to convey that she wasn't at fault. That is wasn't her fault. That he had changed somehow. That... A touch on his cheek had him freezing. Mag hissed but he did not react.

"You do not have the words." Nyx said softly. So let's try a more direct way. No what?

No you. He worked to focus. No cry. No fault. Pain erupted in his skull and he heard Nyx cry out in protest as the world started to fall away.

STOP! The word was inaudible but loud. He jerked back to awareness. Nyx knelt on the ground, holding him as he lay. He opened his eyes and went still. This wasn't the Nyx he had seen before. But it was her. He could tell. Somehow. This not prey being wore no armor. An odd thing surrounded her head. He smelled sickness on her. Pain. Another form stood nearby, an odd oblong thing in its hands. Kill him and you kill me too! He is trying to help!

"Nyx, stand down." He knew that voice. The voice of the other predator. The one Nyx called Hayden. The one who had hurt him so badly before. It came from nearby and he turned his head to see the armored form standing there, it's odd throwing thing in hand. "You are empathizing with an Infected! You are sick, sister."

"You can't hear him, Hayden!" Nyx was crying now and he didn't like that. His hands came up. Both of the others tensed, but he slowly wrapped his arms around the sobbing woman and held her, his claws away from her.

"No cry, Nyx." He said as clearly as he could, which wasn't very clear. "Bad. Wrong. No cry." He looked at the one called Hayden. "You..." He sought through his mind and found the right word. "Predator. Nyx hurting. Predator hurt Nyx? No hurt Nyx."

"What the fuck?" This from the other female who hadn't moved. He ignored her and Hayden, easing his body so he could hold Nyx carefully.

"Sick." He said sadly. "No cry, Nyx. No cry." Nyx just hugged him tighter.

"Let her go. Now." Hayden commanded. He didn't want to. Nyx was still crying. But he did as instructed. Nyx tightened her grip. "Nyx, let him go. You made your point." His throwing disk vanished. He nodded to the other. "Mag. He isn't faking that."

"You don't know that!" Mag protested, not lowering her weapon.

"Nyx sick." He said sternly. "Nyx hurt. No hurt!" He declared. He stared down at the woman who was holding him. "Nyx. Go."

"No!" Nyx protested as he slowly and carefully eased himself out of her grip, wary of his claws.

"Nyx hurt." He said sadly. "Nyx no hurt." He begged the others. "Nyx... no hurt?"

"I don't understand." Hayden said softly. "Nyx? What is he asking?" A whisper of thought touched his mind and he felt relief. She understood.

"He thinks I am hurt." Nyx looked at the floor. "He wants you to help me."

"Are you hurt, Nyx?" Hayden asked softly. Nyx would not meet his gaze and Hayden looked at the not human form. "Is she?"

"Nyx hurt." He raised a slow hand and tapped the back of her head with the backside of a claw. Nyx jerked and started to cry harder. He held her as she sobbed. "No hurt."

"No." Hayden had an odd look on his face, half smile, half frown. "No hurt."

A fairly tense ten minutes later

He didn't like Mag. The feeling was reciprocated. Nyx did not return and he missed her. A lot. It made no sense at all, but he really missed her. Mag? He would have killed and eaten her without a second thought if given the chance. She was annoying.

"First, you wouldn't shut up and now you won't talk." The armored woman was playing with something shiny. It looked kind of like a claw made of metal. Sort of. He watched her warily. She was angry. Very angry. "I bet I can make you talk."

The other male had led Nyx from the room somehow. He hadn't seen how they had left. One moment, they had been there. The next, they had been gone. He had retreated to one wall while Mag stood near the pile of soft things. He was ready. She would move soon. Attack. He knew she could kill him. But he would fight.

"Mag." The voice of the predator Hayden stilled everything. "Nikis' next lesson is in twenty minutes. You better get ready."

"Hayden." Mag wasn't quite whining, but it was close. "What the hell are you playing at? Nyx is a mess. I can see her being off. But you? You saw these things. You fought these things. How the hell can you act like this?"

"Mag." Hayden's voice was soft as he strode to where she stood. "The first thing I was ever taught was to observe. I know the Marines taught you the same. Recon first. Then plan. Then act. Yes?"

"Yes?" Mag drawled the word out into several syllables.

"We need more information." Hayden said quietly. "Nyx was acting oddly, yes. Trinity didn't find anything wrong. Until just now." Mag froze and Hayden nodded. "Nyx was bleeding inside her skull. Right where our guest tapped her."

"He did it." Mag snarled and her metal fang was held ready. He readied himself to fight.

"No, Mag." Mag wasn't the only one to stiffen at Hayden's soft and sad tone. "Trinity just got out of surgery and the results are clear. Trinity's previous repairs were good. But Nyx moved too soon. She pushed herself too hard and too far. A blood vessel tore. Not much, but enough. None of us would have caught it in time." He turned to look at the still form on the other side of the room. "Our guest saved her life by warning us. By making me take her to Trinity despite her wishes."

"Hayden, that isn't possible." Mag protested. "He is an Infected!"

"Yes, he is." Hayden agreed. "But we need to find out what else he is." He shook his head. "Go on, Nikis was making noises about learning Calculus. Wouldn't put it past him."

"Sheesh, that kid..." This time, he saw it happen. Mag...phased. One moment, she was standing there. The next, she was transparent. And the next, she was gone.

"Okay." Hayden sat at the wall where he had been standing, looking at the other. "Mag is a pain, but she does love her sister. What did you do to Nyx?"

"Not... know." He made a noise of confusion. "Not... clear. Information not mine." Hayden stiffened and the other slumped a bit. "Not fault. Nyx good."

"Yeah." Hayden agreed. "Yeah, she is. Opinionated as hell and ethical to a fault. She wanted you alive which is the only reason you are. I would have killed you."

"You predator." The other replied calmly. "Is way." Hayden looked at him but the other did not react. "Strong survive, weak perish."

"Then why help Nyx?" Hayden demanded. "Your kind killed many people in Lasria. Your kind nearly killed me many times. No one knows how many people died in that forest."

"Nyx not weak." The other scoffed. "Nyx strong female. Hurt, sick. But strong." Hayden stared at him and the other mimicked a motion of his shoulders that he had seen the others do. He didn't do it quite right from Hayden's expression. "Nyx...different. Not prey. Not predator. Something else?" He queried.

"Yeah." Hayden said softly. "She wants to defend. Not kill."

"She not like you." The other said softly. "She not like me. She better." Hayden went still and the other looked at him. "No understand all words. What say wrong?"

"Why didn't you attack her as soon as she stepped into the forest?" Hayden asked, seeming to ignore the question. "That was what your kind did. As soon as your territory was breached, you attacked."

"Not know." The other replied. "She different."

"Different?" Hayden said slowly. "How so?"

"She...feel like another." The other sentient in the room said slowly. "Not prey. She not old like other, but she not prey."

"What other?" Hayden asked softly. The predator did not miss his sudden tension but he did not react. Outwardly anyway.

"Not know." The other replied evenly. "Not like others. Larger. Smart. She hide. But prey capture. Take."

"Prey is the wrong word." Hayden said softly. The other looked at him and Hayden shrugged. "The two legged forms you hunted and killed are called 'humans'. I was one, before."

"Not know this word 'human'." He rolled the word around his tongue and shook his head. "Not prey?" He asked Hayden.

"No." Hayden said flatly and the other nodded.

"Not understand." The other curled up on the floor and shook his head. "No hurt Nyx."

"No, you didn't." Hayden agreed. "She didn't know how bad it was either. But you and she shared something and we need to know what it was. What did she do?"

"She touch." The other tapped his skull gently. "Hurt. Images. Feelings. Words. No understand all." He shook his head. "No hurt Nyx. Not fault."

"I am not going to hurt Nyx." Hayden said firmly. "I will speak loudly to her, for scaring us all. But I won't hurt her. She is my daughter."

"What is 'daughter'?" The other asked slowly. Hayden stared at him and the other shrugged as Hayden had. "Not know this word."

"Family. Offspring." Hayden said quietly. "Female child of parent."

"You are parent?" The other asked, confused. Nyx looked nothing like Hayden.

"Sort of." Hayden grimaced. "It is complicated. But she is my daughter. A member of my clan. I will protect her."

"That good." The other replied calmly. "Family. Understand family. But family gone."

"Gone where?" He did not miss Hayden's sudden tension.

"Not know." The other sighed deeply and lay down completely. "All gone. No others. But you? We meet. Before." Hayden stared at him and the other nodded. "You throw metal thing. Slice." He patted his shoulder and side. "Fall in water. Dragged long way."

"That is not possible." Hayden said slowly. "The only one of your kind who did not fall where I could confirm the death was shot."

"Heal." The other said quietly. "Long time hurt. But heal."

"Huh." Hayden shook his head. "This is all interesting. But right now, I only have one question. What do you want with Nyx?" The other nodded to Hayden and answered calmly.

"She make good mate."

The present

Matril jerked awake. He was hurting again. But he controlled the pain through the skill of long practice. Instead, he listened.

"They are not getting it, Chroma." Nyx was crying. "I am trying. I am trying to do what I remember us doing, but it is not getting through. To them, we are animals. Smart animals, but only animals."

"We have to keep trying, Nyx." Chroma sounded sad and sick himself. "If we can't..." He made a sad noise. "I don't want to lose any Tenno kin or any of them. They are the last of their kind as far as anyone has determined. Killing them all is wrong."

"What are you trying to show them?" Matril asked, his voice slurring. Nyx gave a small cry and gentle hands held him, easing the pain away.

"Matril, you need to sleep." Nyx said carefully. "If you are awake, it goes faster. The degradation. Come on, go back to sleep."

"I can help." Matril said softly. "If they think everyone else is an animal, I can help."

"What?" Nyx asked as her hands petted, soothing, calming.

"What am I, Nyx?" Matril asked softly. "In form?'

"You are not just a cat!" Nyx pleaded. "Come on, Matril. Go to sleep."

"I know that." Matril said softly. "You know that. They don't." But darkness reached up and took him.

"Nyx."

"No, Chroma."

"We can't save him."

"You don't know that!"

"Nyx..."

"I... Please don't make me choose his life or ours, Chroma. I can't do that. He would say to let him die. He has. But... it is wrong."

"We need to continue, Nyx. Maybe the rest will get through."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I guide Hayden and Nikis in. You know what they will do."

"I am sorry, Chroma. I wanted to help."

"So did I."