Debates both calm and violent

Smith did not move, did not speak. He simply stared at Frost as Almira tensed beside him. Part of him wanted to flee the warframe that raised such fear in him. Part of him wanted to rend the Tenno limb from limb, as silly as that thought was. He had no chance against Frost. Part of him simply wanted to lie down and cry.

He ignored all of those parts to look at Nyx who also wasn't moving.

"Will you kill these?" Smith asked, nodding to the frozen humans.

"Ignoring our questions to ask questions yourself is not wise." Nyx said mildly.

"We cannot talk to you." Smith said softly. Nyx stared at him as Frost looked at her.

"You think that is true." Nyx said slowly. "Your fear is strong. The girl's anger is strong. You do know Frost and me. But we don't know you. How..." She broke off suddenly and shook her head. "This makes no sense."

"Is Talia in the city?" Almira said through clenched teeth. "She is in grave danger."

"From you?" Frost demanded. Almira and Smith both shook their heads. "Who then?"

"I am a threat, but not the immediate one." Smith said slowly. "She is coming to discuss the Americans' intransigence. She wants a peaceful solution. They want blood. They will kill her."

"Truth." Nyx said softly, her rifle muzzle falling. "You do know us and you hate us." She inhaled. "That is not possible. We do not know you."

"Tenno, how much of what has happened to you has been possible?" Smith asked quietly. "Without a much better reason than you have been given, you cannot read my mind without violating your oaths, just my surface thoughts and emotions. I was given a short briefing before we came. It lacked a great deal of detail. We cannot stay here, but I will not let you murder these humans."

"You are not American." Frost said softly. "Why do you think so little of us?"

"Frost, wait." Nyx said as Smith fought for control of the rage and fear that surged inside him. "He isn't faking his anger and fear. He really hates and fears you. He is wary of me, but he doesn't fear me as much. And the girl?" She actually winced. "Be glad you cannot feel her emotions." She shook her head. "To answer your question, no. We won't kill the police officers. They will remember investigating a disturbance. The drone that spotlit you has already been tweaked to show two gang members fighting here. They will find a body, report it and leave. No one will care about a dead gang member."

"Then we need to go." Every muscle was protesting as Smith turned his back on Frost to look across the city. "I need to talk to Talia and the First Tenno. I can tell them what is going on. No one else."

"Do you really think we will just let you into their presence?" Frost demanded, rifle at the ready.

"No." Smith replied and Frost stared at him. "You are not stupid, Tenno. Of course you will take precautions. But we have very little time. So, help us or get out of the way."

Frost stared at the unarmed man and then of things, he chuckled.

"I like you." The Tenno slung his rifle. "Too many pussies around these days. Nice to see someone who has balls." He froze as Smith's emotions were going haywire and Nyx recoiled. "Nyx?"

"Stop!" Nyx said sharply as Smith fought for control. "Oh my god… Frost. Stop."

"Stop what?" Frost asked, confused.

"Stop talking!" Almira took hold of Smith as he shook. "Easy, easy… It is okay." Almira held Smith as he shuddered. "It is all right. It is over. This isn't..." She broke off, her face working. "It is over, Smith. It is over."

"Almira, help!" Smith begged as his emotions tore through him.

"Focus!" Almira said sternly. "Focus on the Code! You have a mission. You will accomplish the mission. All else is secondary. Emotions are secondary. Focus on the mission!"

"I..." Smith did as instructed, focusing on what she had taught him. It took far longer than it should have, but eventually, he was breathing air that did not come strained. When he looked up, there were three warframes standing there and the cops were gone. "We… We need to go."

"Smith. You and your companion have strong negative emotions about myself and Frost." Nyx said quietly. "Banshee will escort you to a safehouse. We will decide what to do once you are out of public view."

"Warn Talia!" Smith grated out.

"We have." Banshee stepped forward and her warframe shimmered for a moment before vanishing. A pretty Caucasian girl stood there instead, clad in a long dark coat and dark pants. A hologram of some kind? Probably. "But she is a bit stubborn, the Empress."

"She… She thinks she has to do this." Smith was gasping for breath as Almira held him. "She won't put it off." The girl stared at him and shook her head.

"You know far more about our affairs than you should." Banshee said slowly. "Come on, lets get you out of sight."

She started off and Almira helped Smith until he found his feet. When he looked back, the other two warframes had vanished. His fear faded a bit, but it was still there. He knew Frost was nearby and Smith wanted to bolt. To run and run until he couldn't run anymore. He didn't. He patted Almira's hand and strode to keep up with the camouflaged Tenno. She led them to the fence and it bent away from her oddly, as if held by invisible hands. She ignored that so Almira and Smith did as well. In moments, they were walking through what looked or all the world like a warzone. This part of the terrain matched any area Smith had seen Grineer assaults go through for sheer devastation. There were skeletons laying as if the bides they had come from had fallen and never been moved. Some looked far too small to be adults. Banshee saw him looking around and shook her head.

"The last incursion that made it this far, the Administration used a very nasty gas that bypassed most filters." Banshee said quietly. "None of the civilians in the area were warned. None made it out in time."

"They um..." Almira swallowed as they passed a mound of what looked like body bags. About half were full. "I assume that if negotiations fail, the insurgents will try again?"

"Oh yes." Banshee sighed sadly as she walked. "Americans are nothing if not really easy to push past rational limits when they get pissed off. History abounds with examples. Funny thing was, when I was born, people though the US were pansies because they didn't like to go in guns blazing all the time. They forgot that Americans learn very well lessons taught in war. The German and Japanese learned that lesson the hard way, the Muslim world likewise." She shook her head. "This is just the latest mess and not even close to the worst."

Smith didn't take his eyes from Banshee as they crossed a road with two burnt out armored vehicles sitting in the middle of it. A mob of people, many of whom looked as if they couldn't be over twenty, ran away as the trio walked towards a set of houses that seemed slightly less dilapidated than others. The buildings looked ornate, but most were very badly worn by weather and warfare.

"This is Embassy Row." Almira said suddenly. Banshee looked at her and Almira swallowed. "I heard...some."

"Yeah. They didn't bother warning the embassies either. After all, if they did? Someone might tell their enemies and ruin the surprise." Banshee sighed deeply. "If not for the Empress, this whole country would be a smoking radioactive crater after so many embassies were slaughtered. Only four embassies survived at all, and most of those lost staff. Killing ambassadors with no warning has always been an act of war. They didn't care. The head of the armored column was almost to Pennsylvania Avenue and that was all that mattered. Idiots. Yes, they have the most powerful conventional military. It wouldn't matter if everyone else on the planet else decided to step on them. Talia didn't want such horror, so she managed to get sanctions by the rest of the world imposed instead. That got the politicians here a bit miffed at her."

"Well, yeah." Smith unbent a little. "Money and power are everything, right? Honor, duty, loyalty, responsibility? These are for lesser beings."

"Too many feel that way, especially here." Banshee took a long look around and shook her head again. "All we have to do is look around to see the cost. Third civil war in five years, but nothing is wrong. Business as usual."

"And the only people who profit are the crooks and the gangs." Almira said softly. Banshee nodded.

"Only the lawless benefit from lack of law." Banshee agreed. "Everyone else gets screwed, but hey, the rich have their secure fortresses and everyone else can go hang. I don't blame Talia for finally saying 'enough' and all but demanding to open talks to bring them into the Empire. Not after seeing this. Not after California and Texas."

"Did they really blow the San Andreas fault?" Almira asked in a tiny voice. Banshee looked at her. "I… I know people with power do not hold it by being nice, but..."

"Yeah. The vote of secession went through and an hour later the fault slipped more than it ever has in history. We are still not entirely sure how they did it, but evidence points to a subterranean nuke. Almost twenty million dead all told between the earthquakes, the fires, disease and then the anarchy. Then they blockaded the ports." Banshee said softly. "The US Navy was ordered to sink any ships trying to deliver medical supplies to the 'rebels'." She made air quotes around that word. "I don't know if they did. We were busy. I do know that was the straw that broke the camel's back about loyalty to the Administration. The chief executive might have been the Commander in Chief, but when he started acting like a raving nutcase? They had to choose. Many did. Entire units simply vanished. Some still haven't reappeared to this day. They are probably dead, but we don't know."

"And now, the Empress and the Tenno are involved." Smith said softly. "Reluctantly."

"Very reluctantly." Banshee led them into a dark building and nodded to two hulking forms in heavy armor who simply appeared out of the gloom. "Peace be with you, guardians. These are with me."

"Salaam, Banshee." One made a gesture that Smith thought looked religious that Banshee returned. "It is a quiet night. but this place… It seems too quiet. On edge. Waiting."

"These people cannot be trusted." The other guard said quietly and Banshee nodded.

"They can be trusted to twist the truth to suit themselves. Beyond that? No. They cannot be. I may have been born here long ago, but now? These people are as alien to me as I am to them." Banshee shrugged. "Their media has been demonizing the Orokin and the Tenno as alien monsters for decades. The Empress curtailing their fun and games with weapons of mass destruction only made things worse."

"We can hope the Empress can get through their thick heads that this foolishness must end." The first guard shook his head. He tapped his helmet and nodded. "They are expecting you."

"We can hope, but do not let your guard down." Banshee said with a growl. "Anything unusual?"

"Not really." The second guard scoffed. "Some sniper fire here and there aimed at the decoy facility. One fool tried an anti-tank missile on the gates there."

"So Mag did get to play?" Banshee snickered as both guards nodded. "Maybe she will stop whining now." Almira tensed. Smith gripped her hand and she relaxed, but he saw that Banshee had noticed. "And the moron who fired it?"

"Mag held the missile less than a meter from the launcher and blew it up there." The first guard winced hard enough to be visible in his armor. "Whoever fired it… There was precious little left."

"Do not irritate the Mag, no." Banshee said in a monotone. "Bad idea."

"Indeed." The guard paused and then nodded. "The Empress is sending an escort." He nodded to a doorway nearby and Banshee started forward. Smith and Almira followed.

As soon as Smith passed the door though, he was falling. He landed on his hands and knees on a hard surface and he was alone in a small room. He shook his head as he rose to his feet. The room was bare metal, no furnishings or fixtures. Nothing to break or use as weapons.

"I cannot say I am surprised." Smith said mildly. He had to be under observation after all. "But at least tell me that you warned Talia."

"Considering how many times the US has tried to make supersoldiers using the Technocyte Virus." A very familiar voice said as a wall became transparent. Hayden Tenno sat in chair in another room that mirrored the one Smith stood in, bare metal walls. "Why should we take your word for anything?"

"Because you know she is in danger." Smith said as sternly as he could.

"She is in danger every day." Hayden retorted evenly. "But you? This is a new low even for these scum."

"They didn't send me." Smith replied, not moving from where he stood. "And I hope you won't hurt Almira. She has done nothing but suffer for helping me."

"She is a conundrum." Hayden admitted. "She is like us, changed, but not lost to the virus. She is also trained in our style of fighting. Nyx was impressed and Nyx is hard to impress."

"Considering where she was trained, I am not surprised." Smith shook his head and sat down on the floor. "So? How do I die? Gas? Bullets? An ax?"

"Unlike the parody that is the US government nowadays, we won't be cruel." Hayden said with a sigh. "We need to know where you came from and how. If we can find out without hurting you, we will."

"You could just ask." Smith said with a snort. "Don't tell me Nyx isn't monitoring this conversation. Don't even try."

"Nyx is bothered by you." Hayden admitted. "The reactions you show to her and Frost are according to her, totally genuine. Which makes no sense. Frost is no pacifist, but he wouldn't have hurt you like someone had to to cause such fear."

"Then I imagined it and that means I am just deluded." Smith shrugged. "Good, that means Talia is not actually in danger and you won't react badly when she dies." The sarcasm in his voice could have cut steel.

"Badly." Hayden mused. "I might if she were to. The rest of us likewise. Is that why you are here? To keep us from revenge?"

"No." Smith said softly. "I am here to try and keep something awful from happening. Talia is needed. The US is the last holdout. If they were to, oh, I don't know, murder the one bright light who is trying to make the world better, no one would react badly at all to that, would they?" He shook his head." Especially not the Tenno who have been with her since the beginning."

"So, instead, you protect her? Hayden scoffed. "Like I am going to let you anywhere near her."

"That would be stupid of you." Smith agreed. Hayden looked at him oddly and Smith shrugged. "I am infected. She is not. It may be in remission, bet I bet that won't last."

"Remission?" Hayden asked, face working. "The Technocyte virus cannot be put into remission."

"Sure it can." Smith corrected the other grimly. "It just takes more power and knowledge than you have."

"WHO THE FUCK SENT YOU?" Smith jerked as a familiar and furious female voice shouted and a warframe appeared beside him. Mag was pissed. "WHO THE HELL TOOK MY DNA?" She grabbed Smith but the throat and held him off the floor effortlessly. "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"

Hayden was on his feet, but did not react as Mag choked the human.

"Hard to do with you choking me!" Smith managed to grate out as he feebly scratched at the hand that held him. Mag snarled something vile and tossed Smith so that he hit the wall, where he slid down to lie stunned.

"I will have answers. Out of your hide if I need to." Mag said in a dangerous voice. "That girl… She is… What the hell did you do?"

"Mag?" Hayden asked slowly. "Problem?"

"That girl's DNA is almost a direct match for mine!" Mag shouted. "Who the hell cloned me?" She strode towards Smith who rose to his feet and glared at the warframe.

"No one." Smith didn't even see the blow coming. He was airborne for a moment, but then snatched out of the air and held in something that constricted around him.

"Don't you dare lie to me about this." Mag snarled. "First the US goes bananas, now they clone me? They took my flesh. I know they did."

"They didn't." Smith screamed as whatever was holding him constricted further, but then he shouted. "Go ahead! Do your worst! You cannot hurt me as much as Frost did! No one can!"

"You are lying sack of shit. Frost didn't hurt you!" Mag snapped.

"Do you want answers or do you just want to hurt someone who cannot fight back?" Smith snapped at Mag who stared at him. "That is what he did. Why shouldn't you be the same?"

Mag started for him, but Hayden spoke.

"Mag we need answers, not blood." Hayden's voice was soft and quiet, but held deadly intent and Mag froze in place. He shook his head slowly at Smith. "Making her angrier is a bad idea, boy."

"I don't care." Smith snapped, patience fleeing. "I am dead either way. Either she kills me, Frost kills me, your experiments kill me or I die when the virus takes over. Dead." He sat down heavily and crossed his arms. "Go fuck yourself, Mag. I won't help you."

Mag started for him, an eerie glow coalescing around her hands, but she froze in place as Hayden snapped his fingers. He slowly shook his head.

"You know her too." Hayden mused. "You are pushing her. Why?"

"Because I have to die." Smith said softly. "The virus inside of me is the pure strain. The same strain you faced in Lasria." At that, Mag and Hayden both stiffened. "And yes, he has spoken to me."

"That is impossible." Hayden said flatly. "The US never had a pure strain. We worked very hard to keep them from playing with any of the virus. We would know if they had a pure strain."

"They didn't infect me." Smith agreed. Mag stared at him and then at Hayden, obviously confused.

"Then who did?" Hayden demanded, ire finally breaking through his control.

"You did."