Oh my
Janet hurt. Every single fiber of her body hurt. But she managed to open her eyes. She stared down at the tubing that was connected from her body to the sword that lay on a table close at hand nearby. The room was packed with several large banks of medical looking machinery.
We do not have much time. The sword said into her mind. The doctor or the other will return soon. Or the Creator will wake.
Right. Janet scrutinized the machinery for a moment and then sighed. None of it was familiar. This is beyond my skills. Do you have any idea how to fake this stuff into thinking I am still here?
No.The sword said slowly.
The moment I try to disconnect, every alarm in this place will likely go off. Janet said with a sigh. I... They saved my life, did they not?
Yes. It was very brave, what you did.Mortis said calmly. But also very foolhardy. You have no warframe. No mental protections.
It was needed. Janet said with a sigh as she lay back. I wasn't going to let Nikis die. He is a good Tenno. She snarled at herself and sat up, her hand reaching for the sword.
HE disagrees.Mortis said with a sort of snort. Not that a sword could. But then again, this sword could talk, so maybe a snort wasn't totally out of the question. Whatever else the sword might have said was cut off as a door opened. Janet stared at the warframe that stood there. A Saryn, but... gold showed in places. A Prime.
"Janet..." The female voice from before was resigned as she stared at Janet sitting up, her hand halfway to the sword. "Don't you dare. Not after all of this."
"I know where Rasputin's core processes must be." Janet said with a snarl. Or, she tried to. Her audible voice was a croak. "The tank he was in fell into the largest ocean on Earth. The Pacific, I think it was called."
"We knew that." The Saryn said quietly, taking a slow step into the room. "We had his flight path from orbital scanning but there was no sign of anything dropping over land." She shook her head slowly. "Janet..." Was she about to cry? "Please."
"You don't understand." Janet said slowly, her hand going back to her lap. "I talked to Mira. His slave. She is likely with him or close to him. I can find her." She begged.
"Mira?" The Tenno paused, her hand halfway to a control bank, likely to sedate Janet again.
"I watched as he turned her into energy." Janet said sadly. "She freed Nyx... And Nyx kicked his ass." The other stared at her and Janet pressed forward. "Mira didn't want to serve that scum. He took her, took control of her again I bet."
"What happened?" The other asked slowly. "Nyx... didn't remember."
"Mira was an Oracle." Janet said softly. "She wasn't trained or anything. Her parents threw her out for being odd and Rasputin found her, snatched her off the street. She was his first test subject." The Saryn actually winced at that and Janet could relate. "I saw him take Nyx. I saw Nikis get infected. I saw..." She slumped, tears staring to fall and the Saryn stepped closer, her hand coming down to take Janet's.
"Janet?" The other's voice was worried now. "What?"
"He wants me." Janet said weakly. The pain was starting to flare again. "To be his consort." At that, the Saryn recoiled and Janet nodded. "To rule with him. If he drains my ability like he has done so many others..." She shook her head. "You can use me as bait. Trap him." She pleaded.
"Janet, do you have any idea at all what Nikis would do?" The other said sourly. "My name is Rachel by the way. I didn't mean to be rude."
"Well met, Rachel." Janet gave the Saryn's hand a squeeze. "I don't mean to be a pain. But I can help. I want him stopped." Hate sang in her voice now. "Not for me. For Mira, for the others he has hurt. For Caroline."
"Caroline?" Rachel asked, confused. "Who was Caroline?"
"Nikis' little sister." Janet said sadly. Rachel jerked and Janet snarled. "She had... gifts. Rasputin took her, hurt her. Did the same things to her that he did to Nyx. I understand Nikis' hate now. So much time, so much pain and fear. So many hurt for one insane human's greed."
"I... never knew he had a sister... before." Rachel said slowly. "I... I have known him all my life. I never guessed. What happened to her?"
"Don't ask me that." Janet said fiercely. "It... it was needed... but... Please don't ask. I can't... handle it." Rachel went still and then she sighed.
"Is she still enslaved by Rasputin?" Rachel asked, concerned and Janet brushed her own tears away with her free hand.
"No." Janet said quietly. "And that is all I am going to say." Then she went still as a sudden brainstorm hit. "Rachel... this is going to sound... somewhat insane." Rachel chuckled with no mirth.
"After the last couple of days." Rachel said with a sigh. "What is one more piece of insanity? Hit me with it."
"Someone said something about Nikis not listening to anyone." Janet said, slowly feeling her way through her idea. It didn't seem any less crazy after a moment's reflection.
"Oh he listens. He is a very good listener." Rachel said with a sigh. "Then he does his own thing. Always has, always will."
"Not... always." Janet said softly. "I am in the Citadel, am I not?" Rachel looked at her silently and Janet shook her head. "I am not asking for secrets, Tenno. I am asking... Can you contact someone in the database?" Rachel did not move and Janet shook her head again. "He won't listen to you. He won't listen to me. But I think I know one person he might listen to. But... finding her will not be easy."
"Janet..." Rachel said in a warning tone.
"Look, I know it exists." Janet said slowly. "No more than that. And frankly..." She grimaced. "I don't want to know any more than that." She shook her head. "He has dealt with the shades of the First for millennia." Janet said quietly. It was not a question. "While he respects them, he can destroy them if he has to. And they know it. It's his job, isn't it."
"I can't tell you that, Janet." Rachel said quietly.
It is. The sword replied. Rachel jumped and her head were on weapons as she glared at the blade. My duty is to my Creator, Tenno Rachel. He needs help but cannot admit or accept it.
"Mortis, please..." Janet begged and the sword was silent. Rachel was staring at her and Janet shook her head. "Rachel, please. We are going to lose him. You know it. I know it. Maybe...maybe this can help."
"Janet." Rachel groaned. "You don't know what you are asking me to do. I cannot interfere in the database. That is Nikis' domain. His job, yes. And he is darn good at it. If I start poking around in his turf..." She shook her head. "I know better than to play on his lawn."
"Lawn?" Janet mulled over the odd word and then shrugged. Not important. "I am not asking you to, Rachel. I do not want conflict between him and other Tenno. He has enough on his plate as it is."
"So..." Rachel's face was obscured, but the posture said suspicion. "What are you asking?"
"I need to talk to Mag."
Janet was floating now, but not quite out. The doc had come in moments after Rachel had...well, she had not fled. But the Saryn had retreated far, far quicker than decorum would have said wise when Janet had dropped her bombshell. Not that Janet could blame her. What little she had seen of the First Mag was...
"You got stones, girl." The voice came from nowhere and Janet gulped as a golden transparent form appeared nearby. The Mag Prime was standing as if amused. "I will give you that."
"I am scared out of my mind." Janet admitted. "This is way, way beyond anything I was trained for. But Nikis needs help. Help he will not accept from me. Or you." Her last was a statement. Mag nodded slowly.
"He always was stubborn." Mag said with a sigh. "Good kid, but...stubborn. And now?" She shrugged. "Rachel said you wanted to talk. So talk."
"He won't talk to me or anyone else in this time." Janet said quietly. "And... no offense... You are his job." Far from offended, Mag just nodded. "So... we need to find someone who he will talk to. Someone who he can talk to. Someone old enough and powerful enough not to be scared into compliance."
"I don't know of anyone like that." Mag wasn't arguing. Indeed, she sounded thoughtful. "He knew the Lotus before she became an AI. No one else would be old enough. And he hates the Lotus."
"If this is...classified information or whatever..." Janet said softly. "Then tell me not to ask. But are all of the shades in the database... awake?" Mag stared at her and shook her head slowly.
"No." Mag said quietly. "Not covered by any rules. Don't know what you could do with that information. Most of them are actually asleep at any given time. If he woke them, took control of all of them..."
"I saw it." Janet shivered and actually saw Mag do the same. "There is one person who might be able to get Nikis to talk. But as I told Rachel, finding her is going to be a pain." Mag stared at Janet and then, wonder of wonders, recoiled.
"You cannot be serious!" Mag snapped. "Do you have any idea what Nikis will do if he catches any of us...waking her?"
"You won't." Janet said firmly as she reached for Mortis. "All I ask is for a guard. Someone to keep me from harming the database." Her hand closed around the sword. "Please don't destroy me." She begged the sword.
I will not. The sword hummed in anticipation, but did not glow as she raised it and reversed it.
"Janet!" Mag screamed. "Rachel, STOP HER!"
The door behind Mag hissed open and two warframes flowed into the room at enhanced speeds. Rachel and a Volt that had gold in places. Another Prime. Both ran to the bed, one right through where Mag stood and both grabbed for the sword.
Too late.
The sword tip pricked Janet's arm and red hot darkness sang through her. She... felt...
She wasn't floating now. She wasn't flying. What the hell? Janet wasn't... She didn't. She wasn't really here. Or... she was, but... This was very odd. A line of text appeared in her vision.
Protocols matched. Cross the threshold?
Janet forced herself to be calm. This was what was needed. Nikis needed help and there was maybe one person in any kind of existence who could help him. Who could help him help himself. She took a deep breath that seemed to do nothing and tapped the line of code.
Now she was falling. She landed on her hands and knees on a solid surface. It felt... right. She was wearing an odd white garment. Half smock and half robe, it covered her, but... She looked up and froze. All around her, forms in white garments like hers stood watching her. Male and female humans, all ages. Every skin tone and body type she could have imagined stood watching her calmly. She rose slowly to her feet. Oh dear...
"Have no fear, Janet." One of the women stepped forward, her face serene. "We have been waiting for you. For a long, long time."
"Who are you?" Janet stared around wildly, but she was surrounded. None of these seemed hostile, but...
"My name is Eva, Janet." The woman said softly. "I shared your gift while I lived."
"Gift?" Janet nearly exploded. "This isn't a gift! It's is a damn curse! I had to watch! I had to watch it happen. Everything. I couldn't help Nikis, I couldn't help Nyx or Caroline or any of the others... All I could do was watch!"
"Yes."Another said softly. "A curse indeed." The male took a step forward, only to pause as Janet jerked back. "We mean you no harm, Janet. We have been... hoping to see you. My name is Jean."
"Where am I?" Janet snapped. "What is all of this?"
"This is a private partition of the Orokin database." A young looking girl with dark skin stepped forward now, but her eyes were far, far older than her face. "My name is Nari. All who share our ability come here. We cannot allow the idiot Orokin to try and use us for their Game."
"Wouldn't be good, no." Janet felt faint, but forced the feeling back. "I ... I have to..."
"It won't work, Janet." Another male took a step towards her. She was being hemmed in on all sides. "All it would do is infuriate Nikis further. I am Oleg."
"I have to do something." Janet begged, staring wildly this way and that.
"Yes." A voice Janet knew spoke and her gaze was pulled to where a young girl stood, her face calm. "But not through me, Janet." Nikis' sister! Caroline smiled and it was a sad, but proud smile. "Oh Janet... Ya are so brave. So brave and so strong. Just what we need."
"Caroline!" Janet slumped. "I don't know what to do." She crumpled to her knees. She couldn't fight these people. "I am just human, playing in things that gods among us fear. I... I don't know what to do!" She wailed. "Did I kill myself for nothing?"
"Janet." Caroline stepped right up to her and then, to Janet's amazement, gave her a hug. Janet hugged her back."Ya ain't dead, Janet. Not yet. They will pull ya back. But before they do... We have a true gift for ya. Use it wisely."
"But..." Janet felt nothing but confusion. "I don't understand."
"Ya will." Caroline promised her. The girl hugged Janet again and then laid a slow hand on Janet's brow. "Ya will be what the human race needs. Not a prophetess. Not a savior of some kind to come and do it all for them. A guide. Talk to Shepherd when ya get the chance, Janet. She is far, far wiser than her years." Janet felt something happen, but she was too tired and spent to move. She felt... energized. But... so tired.
"But... Caroline..." Janet begged. "What do I do about Nikis?"
"Be ya'self, Janet." Caroline was the only robed form that was now visible through the power that was suffusing Janet's entire being now. "Word of advice... Nikis' bark is worse than his bite, but his bite is pretty darn bad. Do not let him have time to set himself." Was she fading now or was Janet. "And look to ya own feelings, Janet. Ya might be surprised."
"Would... No. I am human." Janet said weakly. "I can't... he is Tenno. Better than I will ever be." Was it her imagination that Caroline sighed?
"I tried." The girl's voice was sour. "Sheesh, and ya'll call me a kid?"
Janet was shaking her head in confusion as down turned to up and she fell towards the ceiling and a bright white light that was growing out of a spark there. She passed through something that hurt and was immediately assailed by soft cursing. She was back on whatever surface she had been on, and Mortis lay beside her, it's tip coated in red.
"You idiotic human." Mag was... in a word... P***ed. "After all of that you really had... to..." She trailed off as Janet looked at her. "No..." Was Mag actually... scared? "Rachel! Roger! Get back!" She cried. Janet felt... calm. She was calm. She saw the Saryn and Volt from before back away from whatever they had been doing, both with postures of fear as she...
Janet was floating in midair. She was upright, her hands at her sides. Nothing hurt. Nothing. Everything was... She was...calm.
"I will harm none here, Mag." Janet said softly, but the sheer power in her voice stunned her. What the hell? "I feel... good."
"Janet." Rachel said cautiously. "You are glowing!" Janet stared down at herself and yes, she was. It was green, but not evil looking. No, this looked natural. Like... like fresh grass, or healthy leaves, or a sky just on the edge of a storm. It felt...
"I don't know what happened." Janet said softly. "But I feel good. Calm. I don't...feel any different. But the pain is gone. Mortis? What do you sense?"
You are radiating in several frequencies. The sword sounded unsure. None are dangerous to human flesh. Indeed, most would stimulate rest and rapid healing. Tenno? It asked.
The Volt had a scanner in hand and the Saryn was watching her like a hawk. Mag hadn't moved.
"I don't scan anything wrong." The Volt said after a moment. "Your injuries have all healed. Even the one you just inflicted on yourself." Janet looked at her arm, but there wasn't even a scar.
"So I am a green lamp that can heal people." Janet said with a touch of whimsy. "Wonderful. How do I...?" She gulped as she fell, landing lightly on her feet. The light she had been casting winked off. "Dang, what did they do to me?"
"What did who do to you?" Mag asked after a moment. "You were only gone for a few milliseconds. Not long enough to find or talk to anyone. I found you fast and brought you back." Janet looked at the Tenno and shook her head. "What?"
"I shouldn't say." Janet said softly. "There are secrets that must remain secret, Mag." The spectral Tenno stared at Janet and then nodded slowly. She was going to speak again, but the door hissed and Nikis strode in, his posture angry. He froze as Janet started to glow again. She felt...she could feel his pain, his fear, his anger, his sudden worry. "Hello Nikis." Compassion sang through her now. "We need to talk."
"Janet?" Nikis sounded poleaxed. "What?"
"It's okay, Nikis." Janet said softly.
"It will be okay."