Special
"How badly are you hurt?"
Corpus Special Forces Sergeant Violet, also known as Adept Violet, Herald of the Voices of Amelia, also known as Priestess Violet, Oracle Friend, obviously didn't recognize Brianna. She did not react. Indeed, she did not move as Brianna eased herself fully into the room. The three Orokin drones that surrounded her were not overkill in the slightest. Not with this woman. Brianna slowly shook her head and then sighed.
"I screwed your mission, didn't I?" She asked sourly enough that the female Corpus soldier stared at her. "I am sorry. I had to stop Lorinos and I failed to do so. He fled and I was stuck with seven living, breathing Corpus troops. I am many things, I do not wish to be a murderer." Again, the sergeant did not react and Brianna slowly shook her head again. "I do not look as did or sound as I did. You cannot trust blindly and certainly not someone who looks like me, so I will not ask it. What I will do is provide proper attire for you." She smiled as energy flared and Violet's attire changed from a skin tight bodysuit to a white robe. Her stunned face was covered by a traditional white headdress and then all that was visible was her eyes. Brianna nodded as the human woman's eyes went huge. "I hope you recovered fully, Sergeant. We were very worried about you. The drug you were given has no counterparts in the real world, so we had no idea if there would be more side effects."
"Who are you?" Violet's voice was hushed. "Obviously, you are Orokin, but..."
"My name is Brianna Executor." Brianna said sadly. Violet stared at her and the Orokin nodded. "Now, anyway." She moved to the bed and sat down on it. "I could not give you my name before. You called me 'Medic Three' when we first met and you called me that the second time." Brianna grinned a little. "Because you are crazy."
"Medics One and Two were male." Violent said weakly. "Medic Three..." She snarled a little. "You read my mind."
"No, I didn't." Brianna replied. "I touched Gerald F-23's mind because he was in command. I haven't had time to scan any others. If I had tried to scan yours, I wouldn't have seen anything, I bet. He was in command, wasn't he?" She inquired after a moment. Violet did not react and Brianna sighed. "Never mind. I should know better than to ask such things after so long around Tenno."
"Tenno." Violet said weakly. "The Tenno brought Medic Three. She helped me again after… After..."
"After you used a really weird big gun suit thing to help stop a madman who called himself Horus." Brianna smiled at Violet. Said smile faded. "The drug he gave you allowed you to shape shift and you did. It also drove you mad."
"No one knows that but Tenno." Violet said softly.
"Tenno and the medics they brought in to tend you when you had your breakdown at the tower. Iriana did her best, but she couldn't do it alone. She called me. I went." Brianna glowered at her. "You refused to stay on Avalon. They could have helped you there far better than my own fumbling. You silly woman."
"I..." Violet stammered. "You? But...you were not Orokin."
"I wasn't." Brianna agreed. "Now? Due to a great deal of pain and horror instigated by an evil Orokin with far too few scruples, I am. My life is likely forfeit for this heresy, but I refuse to be evil. Let me see your hand."
There was no command in her words. No power. No mind tricks. Simply a healer wanting to heal. Violet slowly raised her hurt hand and showed it to Brianna who hissed. Blisters had formed all across it. Second degree burns. Brianna knew exactly how painful such were, but the tough soldier would show no weakness.
"Don't move." That was a command. Brianna focused her will on the burnt hand and golden energy played from one drone. Violet hissed as the blisters faded and the red of burns was quickly replaced with pink healthy skin. The shrouded woman stared at her hand and then at Brianna who nodded. "Better?"
"You are not the woman I knew." Violet said slowly.
"I am still scared of you. You like forks." Brianna retorted evenly and Violet actually chuckled.
"I never actually did that." Violet was still tense. "Are we in the tower?" Brianna nodded, mystified and the soldier snarled. "Two of Amelia's Voices were taken by an unknown force and brought to Mars! We lost their signal near here! The team was a cover to search the area!"
"Tower!" Brianna shot to her feet. "Status of any organic prisoners?" She gasped as information flooded her senses. Awful information. "No… Stop! Lead me there!"
She took off at a run, not bothering to close the doors behind her. Violet followed, her white robes eerily silent in the empty halls. Brianna ran through halls, atriums, a grand high vaulted chamber and then more halls. She dashed into a room marked 'Alteration' and came to a sudden, horrified halt. She felt Violet come up behind her, but she was busy trying to control herself.
"TOWER STOP!" Now, Brianna was trying hard not to vomit as she looked at the crying young woman on the table. She wasn't conscious, thank god. The woman on the far table would never speak again. She heard Violet retch.
"No, no, no… Kieko… Abigail, no." The soldier was praying softly as Brianna took a slow step into the medical ward that only a madman could have conceived of.
She moved to the table and just stared for a moment. The girl, woman, was alive. Barely. Abigail was strapped down. Such things were unnecessary with proper Orokin technology, but Lorinos hadn't had full access. Or had just enjoyed it. Either one. He had used Orokin tech to do the rest or it would have killed her just surely as the other had been. Brianna's face was sad as she slowly reached out to touch the still woman's cheek. Abigail's eyes fluttered and Brianna shook her head.
"Sleep." The newest Orokin commanded and Abigail slid into a slumber from which she would not emerge until Brianna allowed her to. "That son of a bitch! GEE!" She screamed.
"Alpha? How may I…?" Gee's voice was hushed she strode into view to stand beside nearby. Then her eyes went huge. "By the Ancestors!" She breathed and then her voice went hard. "Alpha Brianna Executor, none of us were allowed in here."
"If you lie to me, to hell with Nikis, I will give you to the First Mag." Brianan snapped. At that, she felt both Violet and Gee recoil. The First Mag was many things, had been many things. Tolerant of people who did things like this was not one of them. It had never been. Many Orokin legends spoke of Mag's wrath in such cases. Both before and after she had died.
"I do not. Scan me as you will, I will allow it." The woman bowed her head and crossed her arms, a formal supplication. "What he did to me, to you, was bad enough. This? No." She begged. "Why? She wasn't a threat! Why didn't he just program her? I know he is evil, but this? Why do... this?" She begged.
"He couldn't program them." Violet said weakly from where she stood. "All Voices are implanted with anti-interrogation protocols. He…?" A question, but not really one.
"Yes." Brianna said sadly as her attention wavered between the horrific scene in front of them and information that only she could see. "He left records. I am… I am reading them now." Despite all of her enhancements, she gagged. "He wiped her mind and then… did this. The protocol went with it. He mean to use them to infiltrate the Voices. But he couldn't program them. So he wiped them both. She is baseline human, so her body was easy to...alter. He must have planned to kill them, turn them into energy forms and leave their bodies...like this. Probably as toys." Brianna snarled as she started to undo the straps by hand. It seemed the right thing to do. "Enough. This is... No. Enough." She repeated. "Gee? If Lorinos shows up again and I am not here or disabled? If he threatens this girl again? You are ordered to call Nikis or go and get him if needed. I don't care about collateral damage now! Lorinos must be stopped!"
"Yes, Alpha. Collateral damage be damned. He must be stopped." The shade agreed. "I may have been Orokin once, but this? No. I am female. Some things are unforgivable. Even if the Grandmaster of the Dead destroys me? I don't care now either."
"Yes, some things are unforgivable." Brianna finished undoing the straps and slowly reached up to stroke Abigail's tear and sweat soaked face. "I didn't know she was here. Until you said, Violet, I didn't. The mindwipe was done yesterday and the surgeries finished two hours after that. Kieko perished an hour later, so I couldn't have stopped any of it. But..." She said weakly as her eyes burned despite everything her enhanced genetics could do to stop her from crying. "Does Abigail have any next of kin?" She begged Violet.
"No." Violet moved to the other table and Gee moved to help her undo the straps that bound the still woman there. "Only Kieko and the Voices."
"This was done with limited Orokin tech. It is genetic. Everything is hers." Brianna said quietly as she focused her will and Abigail was suddenly clad in a patient gown that covered her. Medical gear appeared around her. If needed, it would breathe for her, filter her fluids, clean her, basically take care of her in every way. Too little, too late. "I don't know if even Orokin tech can undo this without killing her. I will try. I give my word, I will try. The mindwipe cannot be undone. The girl we knew is gone. If she survives this...this massive violation, she will be someone new."
"The Voices would help her." Violet wasn't arguing.
"I do not doubt they would try." Brianna sighed. "But can they? The…" She fought to keep from gagging. "...additions are viable. They are healthy. He even replaced her… Her..." She put a hand to her face, trying to keep from sobbing. "We need help! We need to contact someone! Can you call Oracle?"
"No." Violet said weakly as she closed Kieko's staring eyes, trying hard not to look at the woman's lower body. "Communication is always instigated from her end. I have contact points where I can request communication, but they are all out there." She waved at a wall. "Cut off in here."
"I..." Brianna shook her head and the slain Voice was suddenly covered by an ornate golden sheet. Violent and Gee both bowed their heads. "She didn't go into the database. She must have asked not to. I don't blame her."
"Me neither." The Corpus soldier and the meat clad shade said in unison. They stared at each other and then at Brianna who looked at Abigail.
"Most of what is happening here is a violation of the Old Compact between Tenno and Orokin. Such desecration of the dead, enslavement of energy forms, misusing technology to do things like this... The thresholds are being pushed to the breaking points by his madness. At least he was smart enough not to do such to Tenno." Brianna said slowly. Gee nodded, her face somber. "That is what screwed Gillianahorisa."
"Indeed it did." Gee agreed.
"They will likely react about as well to this as Iriana did to what happened to Janna." Brianna continued and both others winced. The Healer was kind, gentle soul most of the time, but she was true Tenno. Make her mad enough and you got hurt. Period. "I will tend Abigail." She promised Violet. "She will not die while in my care. I will do what I can."
"Can you undo it?" Violet asked.
"I don't know." Brianna admitted. "Hurting is so much easier than healing, but those parts are all reading as her genetic makeup, so... I don't know.."
"How can that be her genetics?" Violet all but screamed as she waved at the midsection of Abigail's gown. It was rising.
"I would have thought such impossible, but every scan says it is her genetic code in all of the organs. Kieko did not survive the attachment." Brianna said sadly as she laid a hand on Abigail's head. "Damn him." She focused her will and slowly, ever so slowly relaxed as Abigail's body did and her gown fell back to lie smooth. "I can dampen it, but I cannot stop what he did quickly. I may not be able to stop it at all. He wanted a pleasure toy. Bastard."
"She won't want to live like this." Violet said slowly.
"You don't know that. The woman we knew no longer exists, Violet. He didn't put in a new personality, so a new one will grow if allowed." Brianna retorted, her will seeping through Abigail's tortured form, soothing, easing. "Someone new. I will protect her. I may have fancy genes, but I have no right to dictate her life to her. Nether do you."
She felt him before he appeared. A shield slammed into place between Stalker and the others before he finished materializing. The red and black sort-of warframe did not move from his kneeling posture. Wise of him as angry as Brianna was.
"You are not welcome here, Stalker." Brianna's tone promised pain. "Leave now or leave in pieces, your choice." Gee recoiled from him, her face ashen.
"No." Gee pleaded. "Leave her alone!" Brianna looked at Gee and the shade slumped. "He heard my pleas to my origination. He taunted me before she died. He must have tracked me. I am sorry."
Stalker started to rise and froze in place as Brianna held up a hand that was glowing. Here in the heart of her tower? He had no chance against her and knew it. He slowly sank back to his knees and his hands slowly folded in front of him.
"By all means, rise." Brianna snapped. "Give me a reason to rend you limb from limb! It won't destroy you, but it might make me feel a bit better."
"This a threshold breach." Stalker said slowly as he looked at Gee who shrank back to the wall and then at the still forms on the tables. "A breach of the most ancient compact."
"No shit." Violet actually snickered at Brianna's sour words. "Tell me something I don't know, you lousy excuse for a lower guardian!" At that, Stalker recoiled.
"You are Orokin. Highest caste." Stalker said slowly. "I do not know you. But you know me. Or of me. Have I given you offense?"
"My name is Alpha Brianna Executor. I was made into this against my will. The one doing so abused the sacred Red Vial." Brianna bit out through clenched teeth. "Before that? My name was Brianna. I worked with a doctor named Amelia and another named Iriana. I had a friend named Sheila!" That was all but a shout and Stalker went totally still. "You tell me, asshole! Have you given me offense?"
That was a cold, hard scream and golden energy was pouring off her in waves that roiled with her anger. Everyone shied away from her except Stalker. The waves parted around Abigail's table.
"In that case? Yes, I have." Stalker said slowly. He slowly shook his head. "You have a right to your anger, Executor." He nodded to her, his posture formal. "Do you wish my life?"
"Like I can really do more than tear this copy to shreds?" Brianna snarled. "I want to. Oh, I so want to. I can do it molecule by molecule and make it last for days. I think part of me would enjoy it. But no. Leave. I refuse to become you."
"That is good, but I cannot leave. This is a breach of the compact." Stalker said quietly. "Any right thinking Orokin or Tenno is duty bound to stop such."
"You really expect me to say you are 'right thinking'?" Brianna scoffed. "What do you want?" She demanded. "I will not fight Tenno for you. With you, for you, whatever. Begone."
"You cannot face..."
Everything stopped as a scream came from the far table. Everyone went still as a transparent gray form shimmered into being standing in the middle of the slain woman. The shade had Keiko's face and said face held nothing but terror.
"No." Gee said weakly even as Violet murmured the same. Even Stalker seemed shocked.
Before anyone else could move, Brianna was beside the table. She reached out and carefully took hold of the shade's hands, pulling Keiko close. The shade stared at her along with everyone else as Brianna drew the now crying woman into a hug, her form made substantial enough by the tower for Brianna to offer comfort.
"What has been done here is corruption, desecration and heresy of the vilest sort." Brianna said as the shade of the slain Clergywoman cried. "He killed you and meant to enslave you. I refuse to do so." The woman made an inarticulate noise and Brianna sighed. "Here, a basic information packet will let you communicate even with your mind wiped."
Something that flashed golden passed between the women and the shade relaxed a little. When she spoke again, it was clear, if scared.
"Who are you?" The woman begged. "Where am I? I don't remember anything."
"I know. My name is Brianna. Yours is Kieko." Brianna rocked the woman gently in her arms. "An evil man wiped your memory and then..." She bowed her head. "He killed you. He made you into this. This parody of a human being." The shade stared down at herself and then at the golden shrouded form she had stepped out of. She shook her head slowly.
"I feel weird." Keiko's shade said slowly. "I... I need something but I don't know what."
"You need your mother." Stalker said softly and Brianna glared at him. "They all need their mother. The base code is needed to stabilize them, Executor."
"And how do you know this?" Brianna asked in a dangerous voice.
"Because I saw Kat taken by the madman once." Stalker said very quietly. "I went after her, thinking I could use her. I saw two gray shades spawn from her in her captivity, but she fled before I could approach. I took the two and they both faded to nothing in my care despite all of my tricks. I am not a good being, but that? No. That is wrong. As you say, blasphemy and heresy. The Orokin knew better than to do such. The one who did it did not. Any shades formed this way will fail without the progenitor's code, Executor."
"So, Kat has to die for them to live?" Brianna demanded.
"Kat begs for death, for release. And… Are any of them alive?" Stalker asked and then he hit the wall with a thump as Brianna made a tossing gesture.
"Are you?" Brianna held up a glowing hand again and he did not move from where he slumped. Again, wise.
"Point taken, Executor." Stalker said with a sigh. "This is all a violation of the compact, Executor. You know what must be done."
"No. I refuse to let the Guardians simply 'erase' the problem. I will not let them destroy all of the shades. There are innocents here." Brianna's tone was final. She would die first and everyone knew it. Stalker slowly rose and then bowed to her. A full, formal kowtow. Not subservient in the slightest, an offer of respect.
"Then no matter how you were made, you are True Orokin." Stalker said formally as he rose and crossed his arms over his chest, hands to his shoulders. "You know duty. But you cannot help them. Perhaps the Guardians can."
"Or they will simply destroy them all." Brianna shook her head. "Not an option."
"Nikis likely would. He has little patience for many things and has seen far more evil than either of us can contemplate. I do not like him, but few can gainsay his experience." Stalker did not move, and his tone was thoughtful. "Other Guardians may or may not. I know that if I were to search them out, they would not react well."
"I wonder why?" Brianna put enough snark in her tone that Violet snickered again. "So, you cannot aid."
"I did not say that." Stalker corrected her grimly. "I might be able to deliver a message in the very short time it takes them to summon power and obliterate my copies, and for this? My pain is immaterial. Such a breach must not be allowed to fester. That said, they do not advertise themselves. I have no idea where to find a Guardian of the Dead."
Brianna paused and then smiled grimly, still hugging the sobbing Kieko. She remembered Martin talking to Nikis back when Kat had first shown herself.
"I might."