Escape
Enough was enough. It had been at least a week and Serene had put up with the prodding of the docs for long enough. Most days she just she sat in the middle of the floor of her room... No, call it what it was. It was a cell. The walls were padded and there was no way for her to activate the door from this side. The only exercise she got was when the door opened and a lit path on the floor led to an exercise room. The only faces she saw were on screens, she never saw anyone live. Meals came on trays from a slot in the wall and left the same way. This was intolerable.
The worst part was the boredom. Serene had always been an active being. For the moment she could walk, she had always been doing something. Emulating her elders to learn various new tricks of hand to hand, sneaking around to get in practice. She had always known that she was going to go for the Warrior's path. She remembered her parents vaguely. Her father had been a tech and her mother...? A teacher of some kind? She wasn't sure. The Tenno probably had records, but Serene wasn't going to ask. They were ticking her off.
"There we are." The voice of the doc, Iriana, came from a screen as Serene stepped out of the portable scanning booth that appeared in the exercise room every so often. "Scan is done. Good job, Serene."
"Doc, I just stood here." Serene said mildly as she started stretching. "Not exactly hard. When can I get out of here, doc?" The Tenno asked for the upteenth time. "I am bored out of my mind here."
"You have a visitor." The doc said quietly. Serene froze and the doc on the screen nodded. "She is scared and hurting, don't hurt her more." Serene rose from where she had been doing squats and looked at the doc who sighed. "Her name is Sara and she demanded to see you in person. We tried to get her to talk to you via screen, but she demanded and as Tenno, she has the right. Don't hurt her."
"Doc!" Serene protested. "I am angry with the way I have been treated, but I know you don't really have a choice in this. If I was unstable..." She still wasn't totally sure if she believed the doc or not. "...I was a danger to everyone around me. Since I am not insane, I won't hurt kin. You know this."
"I worry about her. I adopted her." Iriana said softly. "When you were incapacitated, it left her..." She broke off as Serene inhaled sharply. "Yeah, she is your daughter."
"My..." Serene felt faint but steeled herself. "There was a lot that happened, in the memories I lost. Wasn't there?"
"A lot, yeah." Iriana agreed. "We can give you some privacy when you talk to Sara, but not total."
"In case I take her hostage and try to brazen my way out." Serene said sourly. "Right. I am Tenno, not some stinking terrorist. Besides, you have me implanted." She had felt the bandage on her neck and had, once tried the door that she knew was there. A warning tingle had run down her spine and she had desisted.
"We didn't want to, Serene." Iriana said heavily. "But you scared everyone."
"And no one will say what I did." Serene said with a sigh as she started touching her toes. "I didn't kill anyone, did I?" She demanded.
"No." Iriana said quickly. "You didn't. Actually, you spared the life of the man who shot and killed you."
"What did you say?" Serene asked, stunned. Iriana shook her head.
"Serene, you are a very scary woman." Iriana said quietly. "You swore a public oath to kill the man if he hurt Sara. No..."The doc corrected herself. "If he touched her. He did. He had good reasons, but..."
"If he hurt someone I was protecting..." Serene mused. "Then I wouldn't have cared."
"You didn't." Iriana said with a shudder. 'You didn't hurt anyone but him, but you were ambushed by an ally of his. Cosan says he didn't know what Doctor Vas intended and I am inclined to believe him. He is young and sometimes foolish, but not a liar."
"That is when I died?" Serene asked slowly. Iriana nodded and Serene took a deep breath. "For this... Sara... My daughter?" Iriana nodded again and Serene blew out the breath she had taken. "Well... No time like the present."
"We can give you some privacy, Serene." Iriana said in a kind voice. "But we will be watching." The screen clicked of as Serene rose to her full height and turned to head back to her cell. It wasn't far -six steps along a short corridor- but now it was different.
A blonde haired girl wearing Tenno robes sat in the middle of the floor, her face calm, but wary as Serene paused at the doorway. The girl was unarmed and looked uncomfortable, but that was understandable. Serene rarely wore anything in this prison. A jumpsuit lay on the floor near the door. It was still folded as it had been when it was delivered one morning. She hadn't bothered to put it on after her old one had gotten ripe and she had taken it off. The bathroom facilities in this small room were adequate for self cleaning but not for laundry. The only ones who saw her were the docs, so who cared?
"You are Sara." Serene said slowly. The girl did resemble her, a little.
"Yes." The girl replied evenly. "Hello Serene. They say you do not remember me." Her brave facade was undone by the hurt in her eyes.
"I don't." Serene said softly as she stepped into the room when a warning tingle at the back of her neck warned her to. "I wish I did, but I don't. I am sorry."
"It's not your fault, Serene." Sara said in a mild voice. "You saved me, twice. The least I can do is try and help you. I know this confinement is boring, so..." She smiled as she produced a small board and a bag that clicked. Serene stared and then smiled as well as she recognized the game.
Go was ancient, far more ancient than the Monopoly or chess games that other Tenno used to wile away their small amounts of free time. It was an easy game to learn and an incredibly difficult game to master. Serene had learned the game early and loved it. Serene knelt to one side, in reach, but a non-hostile posture. Sara set the board down and they each took a bag. Sera had white stones and Serene black. They played in silence for a moment, each placing stone on the board. Finally Sara spoke in a quiet tone.
"They are not going to let you out of here, Serene." Sara said as she focused on her side of the board.
"That...became clear." Serene said as she closed a circle around one of Sara's stone and captured it. "Not much I can do about it though."
"When your clan finds out about this, there will be hell to pay." Sara said with a sigh. "I... I can't..." She shook herself and focused on playing.
"Have they threatened you?" Serene asked carefully. Sara shook her head. The young girl was Tenno, that was obvious. But... This situation had not happened before according to Iriana. If she could trust Iriana. Serene plunked another piece down and winced as Sara cornered several of her stones and removed them. "I am out of practice."
"I can't leave the board or the stones." Sara said sadly. "And they too cowardly to give you computer access." She said with a touch of heat.
"Sara." Serene said with just the right touch of admonition. "Right or wrong, we have our orders." It was the right thing to say, by the Code, but... Serene's eyes flicked to the side and back. Sara nodded minutely. She knew they were under observation, no matter what Iriana had said. Sara placed another stone and Serene paused. She was seeing a pattern forming on the board. An image. A heart. Serene shook her head and touched her chest as if checking something. Sara nodded minutely and Serene went back to the game. Message received.
"I know." Sara agreed. "I am not advocating anything. I am just angry. And how I feel is nothing on how Two feels." She paused as Serene laid a stone in an unexpected place and whistled in admiration as the balance of the whole board shifted. "Nice." Sara said with a smile. Serene acknowledge the compliment with a nod.
"Who is Two?" Serene asked.
"Long story." Sara said as she surveyed the board, looking for an opening to exploit. "Short answer..." The girl put a stone down finally. "She is you." Serene froze, a hand outstretched to place a stone and Sara nodded. "When you were captured by... Our enemies..." Sara said, obviously she had been told what she could say and what she couldn't. "Your mind was messed up. It split in two. You are one side, Two is the other. At first you were both in your head. They pulled her out when you...fragmented, gave her a body."
"Weird, but..." Serene said, thinking that through. "I guess that is plausible. But why is she upset. Is she unstable?" She asked as she finally put the stone down. That made sense actually. Who else would know how to play 'Go' in such a way to make an image appear? One only she would recognize. Or...someone with her memories.
"No. She is angry but not unstable." Sara said, shaking her head as she looked at the board. She shook her head and resigned the game. "Serves me right for challenging a master when I am a beginner. Score?"
"Nah, this was friendly game. Everyone starts at the same place, Sara." Serene said mildly as she started collecting stones and counting them. Each bag would have the same number. "Why is Two upset, Sara?"
"I can't say." Sara said sadly. "I was told I couldn't say."
"This isn't right." Serene spoke mildly, but underneath was rage. "This is so not right. Yes, if I am a threat, then they need to figure out why and how, keep it from happening again. But am I?"
"No one knows, Serene." Sara replied, her tone an almost exact mirror of Serene's. Serene nodded, this girl was angry. No, she was furious. As furious as Serene. "At least they let me stay with Iriana while we are cooped up."
"What?" Serene stiffened. "Iriana is confined?"
"We had contact with your mind, Serene." Sara said with a sigh. "All who did are in quarantine until further notice, as in forever. She is in charge down here, but..."
"This really isn't right." Serene said with a snarl. "Who is..." A tingle started at her neck and she subsided. She glared at the ceiling but remained silent. Sara made to speak, but jerked as well. Serene stared at her and then, minutely shook her head. She charged the subject. "From what I gathered, you do not follow the warrior's path."
"No." Sara agreed. "I am studying historical analysis. Iriana says that will lead to a career in Intelligence work. Some...ah... very quiet people have been talking to me."
"Ah." Serene said with a nod. "Very useful to know." She snorted. "Have they started training you how to pick locks yet?" Sara grinned but shook her head.
"No." Sara said with a sigh. "Mostly it's all historical stuff. Ancient historical stuff. Some of it seems to have bearing now, since history comes in cycles..." A beep sounded and she paused.
"Sara." Iriana's clam voice came from a hidden speaker. "Time."
"Can I hug her at the very least?" Sara demanded.
"Sara..." Iriana said with sigh that turned into a scream as Sara threw herself over the board at Serene who caught her and nearly tossed her away, but was dumbfounded when Sara embraced her. Serene froze as the nerve tingle the back of her neck started again.
"Sara, let go." Serene asked, afraid to move.
"No! You are my mother! I..." Sara snapped as she hugged Serene tighter, then she gave a squeal and went limp.
"Damn it!" Serene snapped, "She is a kid! You didn't have to..." She found herself on the floor, unable to move as armored boots entered her field of view. Armored gloves scooped Sara up and carried her away. "If you hurt her, you are dead!" She managed to rasp out.
"We won't." A modulated voice replied -it was impossible to tell if it was male or female- and then it was gone. It was several minutes before Serene could move, when she did, she rolled into a sitting position and then knelt.
"So I am a prisoner." Serene said to the walls. "I should have known you were constrained too, Iriana. Who is in charge, can you say?"
"No." Iriana's face appeared on the screen. "Serene... I..."
"It's okay, Iriana." Serene said with a sad smile. "Take care of Sara. She is a good kid."
"Serene!" Iriana snapped. "Don't!"
"How long does it take those implant batteries to recharge?" Serene asked the walls as she focused her mind. "Let's find out." She focused on her heart. Biofeedback was a known ability and Tenno had trained for centuries to keep from being used by their enemies. In this case, she could slow and eventually stop her own heart. So she did.
"Serene!" Iriana screamed her name, but Serene was quickly beyond hearing.
A dark time later
"You are crazy." Iriana snapped as Serene came back to full consciousness. "You cannot use that biofeedback technique for that long. You nearly killed yourself for real. They will figure it out." She helped Serene to sit up and stepped back. Serene took a deep breath and looked around. The biofeedback techniques could either suicide or be used to put a person into a deathlike trance. Telling the two apart was difficult even for modern medical scanners.
They were in a morgue. Doors against the wall showed numbers. Serene was sitting on an autopsy table, covered only by a sheet.
"How many guards?" Serene asked as she checked the back of her neck. She felt a new bandage. Iriana smirked and held up a small object that dripped. The restraint implant. "And are we still in the colony?"
"In reverse order, yes and 6." Iriana said with a sigh. "Serene... I can't leave Sara or Two. They had to slap Two down hard to keep her from escaping, She has torn the implant out twice. They hurt her. And I love Sara. Better get dressed," She indicated a jumpsuit lying on a table nearby. Boots that looked Serene's size were beside it. "I wish I could do more."
"Not much I can do for them, or you cooped up in here." Serene said sadly as she hurriedly donned the close fitting garment. The boots went on quick as well. "I won't kill anybody, you have my word."
"I accept that. For what it is worth, I am sorry for the aggravation and hope you manage to get to the bottom of this. You need to make it look realistic, Serene." Iriana said with a sigh. She took a deep breath and relaxed as best she would.
"Take care of Sara." Serene said with a sad smile as she reached for the healer. A swift strike and the woman was unconscious. Serene checked to be sure she hadn't hurt the healer more than some bruises, then laid Iriana on the table as gently as she could. A skana, shorter than average, lay on a table nearby and Serene took it. Then she darted to the wall where an air vent shone. A quick pry and she was inside. She pulled the vent cover back into place and started off into the vent work. Time to ghost...