Home is where the heart is
Ara woke up and kept herself from moving by sheer force of will. Part of her was surprised to wake up. The rest of her was sad. She was no longer in her warframe or... No, the feeling was very familiar. She was in a virtual world. She heard a familiar voice and had to smile as Jasmina drawled.
"Morning, sleepy head."
Ara sighed and opened her eyes. What met them had her freezing. She stood on a virtual plain, but it was packed with beings. Jasmina stood nearby, clad in her warframe. There were dozens of shades, some she knew, others she did not. That paled beside the mass of Infested that sat beside Jasmina, eyeing Ara. She saw Chargers, Ancients, Runners, Leapers and many, many other forms. Some she had no words for.
"I was not sure I would wake up." Ara admitted as she sat up. A familiar head pushed into her hand and she smiled at Liriel as the Kavat demanded her attention. She petted the Kavat and the animal's purrs were loud in the echoing stillness. "I broke my parole."
"Saving me from slavery." Jasmina knelt down beside Ara and took hold of the hand that was not busy with the Kavat. "And keeping me from harming my friends."
A feeling of compassion swept over Ara from the Ember Prime. It felt so familiar, and yet, so alien. It was heavenly, but she pushed it away.
"I have to go back into cryo." Ara said as she rose. Liriel made a sad noise of protest and she scratched the Kavat's head again.
"Do you?" Jasmina inquired as she stepped back.
"I cannot change what I am, Sister." Ara said quietly, focusing on giving the Kavat what she wanted. The animal's purrs became thunderous. "I tried. Trinity and others tried. I am what I am. A monster."
"I am a monster too." Jasmina shrugged. "Maybe not quite as blatant as you are, but my rage is excessive. Don't think you are the only one with thoughts of self destruction." Ara jerked and Jasmina chuckled. There was surprisingly little mirth in it. "Or did you think we wouldn't know when you tried to use me to kill yourself?"
"You needed the energy and the control." Ara said with a shrug of her own. "My life is meaningless."
"I beg to differ." Ara went still as a shade stepped out of the pack. Trinity wore robes instead of a warframe and she had been crying. "We are all angry, Ara. Every last one of us. But even now, I am not angry with you. I am angry with the complete morns who made you like this for their own sick amusement."
"I earned your wrath." Ara said weakly as Liriel pushed up against her leg, seeking more petting.
"You did." Trinity agreed. She shook her head. "You were my best student and it took a long time for me to figure out why. You never got distracted, not by pain, not by fear, not by anything."
"I worked hard never to lie to you." Ara slumped a little. "I tried so hard, Trinity. I couldn't stop it. I can't stop it. Even now, I feel the need to kill."
"I know." Trinity bowed her head. "Ara, Jasmina has a thought and I think it is a good one."
"Trinity, I accepted my punishment." Ara protested. "I honor the Code and I hurt you all. The punishment was clear and I accepted it."
"True." The ancient Shade nodded. "But when does punishment end and torture begin?"
"I don't feel in cryo, Trinity." Ara knelt again. "I accept my fate. I won't cause trouble for the Tenno."
"No, you won't." Jasmina agreed. She looked at Trinity who bowed to her. Ara stilled as the shades started vanishing.
"What?" Ara asked, confused. "I thought they would watch as I went back in."
"You are not going into cryo." Jasmina had a smile in her voice now. "I made alternate arrangements. This is not something that will happen often, but now? You earned it with your actions at the convocation. Be warned, this is not an amnesty. I found you a job, and a hard one. One that you will do for the rest of your days."
"Jasmina." Ara pleaded. "I can't! If I am around humans, I will give in eventually. I cannot stop myself. I feel the need to kill humans even now."
"You won't be around humans." Jasmina nodded as the Infested around her also started vanishing. "The place you will be is part prison, part tomb, part vault. It has guardians, but it also has needs. They need another set of hands to keep the place functioning."
"You are going to make me a caretaker?" Ara asked, confused.
"You are already a Caretaker, Sister." Jasmina stepped forward and put her arms around Ara gently. "We know our own and frankly? I don't share your need to kill humans, but I don't like them much most of the time."
"They have done both wonders and horrors." Ara admitted, staring at Jasmina too scared to move. "Jasmina, if I have the chance to go free, I will take it. I know my own limits. If I get loose..."
"You won't." Jasmina's hug hurt but Ara held her tongue as the world fell away.
Ara found herself lying on a beach under a familiar sky. Earth. She wore her warframe, but had no weapons. She had very limited energy reserves and no artifacts equipped. She stared up at the sky and shook her head. She could be anywhere on Earth. She hadn't seen many record, but she had seen that some places on Earth had recovered from the Collapse enough to be habitable. From the sounds all around her and the heat, she was nowhere near the Cetus Reclamation Colony.
She stood up, aware of her acute vulnerability. No sounds impacted her, no wavelengths that she could detect, nothing but the drone of insects and the distant calls of hunting Kubrows.
"Where the hell am I?" Ara mused as she started for a hill she saw in the near distance. She jerked as she saw a cave mouth, but she ignored it to climb the low hill. When she did, she came to a sudden halt.
The island she stood on was tiny. It was one of several islands in a tight group and none of them could have possibly been a square kilometer in size. But that was odder was that the islands were obviously artificial. A much larger landmass shone in the distance, but she could barely see it and she could see waterborne life swimming around in the space between the man made islands and the larger one. Warframes did not swim well and they did need to breathe since they were alive. Biotech or no, they needed oxygen just like most other forms of known life. Without some means of transport, she was stuck and…
"Gonna stand there all day?"
Ara felt every ounce of breath leave her body at the familiar voice. The impossible voice. She didn't move, didn't speak. A hand found her arm and gave a squeeze.
"Hello Ara."
Ara's found her vision to be blurring as she turned her head and saw a specter that had the form of a Valkyr warframe standing behind her. It had the colors that Nisa had worn in life. But Nisa was dead. Dead and gone. Drained by the terrible weapon she had forged.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Ara demanded tightly.
"Oh, I dunno." The voice was pure Nisa. Amused and worried in equal parts. "Life is a joke sometimes, is it not?" That was pure Nisa too. But…
"This is not possible." Ara said weakly.
"Possible or no, I need you to put this one and come with me." The pseudo Nisa held out a collar. Ara stared at it. It was a tracking and punishment collar of the type the Orokin had preferred for their slaves. Once it went around her neck, it wasn't coming off. Even warframes were not proof against such if put on willingly. "I don't have a lot of time, Ara. I am on internal power and that is not infinite. Jasmina spoke eloquently on your behalf and Chris does need help. I can't go a lot of the places that need repairs now. You can. Please, Ara."
"Is this my punishment?" Ara demanded tightly. "To be enslaved?"
"It is the only way you will be allowed in, Ara." Nisa said quickly and then gasped as the energy around the Specter faded visibly. "Ara! Please!"
"Did you love me?" Ara asked, staring at the collar.
"With all my heart." The specter said sadly. "I failed you. The-" Whatever else was she was going to say was cut off as her body crumpled. Ara caught it and then, without another through, slipped the collar around her neck. It didn't activate! "In… the… cave..." The specter managed to speak and then it went limp in Ara's hands.
Ara ran down the hill and into the cave without another thought. A familiar glow heralded a portal transit just as she passed the cave mouth and suddenly, she was elsewhere. The specter in her hands started to glow again and Nisa's voice was a welcome thing.
"You can put me down, Ara. We are here."
Ara set the Specter on its feet and Nisa or whoever nodded to her as Ara looked around. What met her gaze didn't make any sense. Where she stood was well lite, but the rest of the area was cast in gloom. The area was vast, obviously underground and artificial, but it had been made up to to look quasi-natural. The ground looked like ancient cobblestones, but it was actually made of Orokin concrete and was flat enough to be firm footing. Arrows pointed away from where the pair stood, some marked with odd things. 'Aquarium'? Tomb'? 'Dolphins'? 'Kraken'? There was a window marked 'Concessions'. Why did that sound so familiar? She had been here. Hadn't she? Her memory was faulty from the long stint in cryo, but it was incredibly familiar.
"Dolphins." Ara said slowly. "Earth aquatic mammals with a high level of intelligence even before the Orokin started tinkering."
"Yes." The thing that seemed so like Nisa agreed.
"But Kraken were not real." Ara mused. "Wait. Orokin. They genetically engineered something?"
"Told you she was sharp." Nisa had a smirk in her voice now. "Ara, I would like to introduce you to some people."
Ara went still as dozens of warframes came out of the gloom surrounding them. No, these were all specters. Well, all but one. The Hydroid Prime stood out like a glaring beacon despite its dark and forbidding colors. It was the only male form in the area.
"Hello Ara." The Hydroid nodded other. "I am Chris. The collar is not active and it will not be unless you try to leave."
"Insurance." Ara mused. "Wise." More than one of the specters nodded to her and she shook her head. "This is not possible. The sword killed Nisa."
"It did." Nisa agreed. "But before it did, I preserved some of myself into a specter. I couldn't go back. I had to hide the sword, protect it from the Orokin and from the Ancient Enemy."
"The sword killed her!" Ara snapped, anger rising. "She was so nice to me and it killed her!"
"You reminded me of better times. Of laughter and light." Nisa sighed. "I hurt you, leaving the way I did but the Ancient Enemy had to be stopped. You know our duty, Ara."
"I..." Such a familiar almost argument. "I… Nisa?" She pleaded. Metal arms enfolded Ara as she started to cry.
"I am here, dear heart." Nisa promised as Ara bawled. "And now? So are you."
"Welcome home."
Far across the solar system
Janet fought a smile as she cut the vision. A happy ending of sorts. She would keep a distant eye on Ara, of course. The Tenno's need to kill could not be ended by anything other than death, but as many had said, she didn't truly deserve such. She had never preyed on the innocent or helpless. In fact, what very few knew was what lengths Ara had gone to to help the innocent and the helpless on occasion.
Case in point…
It was hard to keep an angry look on her face as she focused on the room and the nervous faces in it, but Janet managed.
"Did you even bother to check the probabilities, Caroline?" Janet demanded of her subordinate. "Did you even look to see the repercussions?"
"I did, Janet." The sea turtle sounded calm, but Janet knew the other was worried. " We did. The girl would have died alone and unremarked by any except Esther. Any chance of the Caretakers winning any support from other Tenno would have failed with her. They had to see the Caretakers as they truly are, not as history paints them to be. Tenno and allies, not simply Infested."
"And you needed me to react as I did." Janet mused. The sea turtle nodded. "I am not happy with you."
"We did look at all the variables." Caroline offered. "We do not have your power, but we do have many differing viewpoints to see all of them." Janet glared at her and Caroline winced. "Okay, not all. None of us saw Nikis involve him."
"The wardens of reality are utterly neutral in most cases." Janet said flatly. "They have to be. That said, no one dares to try and police them. It would hurt as Sun found out. That Nikis is on a first name basis with one actually does not surprise me but we have to be very cautious. Ess is not happy with Nikis at the moment. We will want to be far away from that discussion."
More than one of the listeners winced. Nikis was bad enough. When he started playing with reality? Things got worse.
A soft cry drew every eye to where a bubble of fluid floated in midair with an amorphous form in it. Janet waved a hand and the other Oracles vanished. Janet moved to the bubble and smiled widely as she saw eyes open.
"Hello Ari." The Oracle could not have missed the fear in the other's eyes even if she had missed the spike of terror. "Do not be afraid. Your form disintegrated, but you were removed from it before that."
That is not possible. Ari's soft words held confusion, but her fear was fading.
"Where Healer Iriana, Healer of the Caretakers, The First Trinity, Ariana Arachne and many others are involved?" Janet smiled wide. "Impossible runs and hides if it has any sense at all."
She touched the bubble with a finger and it popped. A human form fell out and Janet caught the falling female form in a gentle grip of telekinetic power. She lowered the struggling form it its feet and shook her head.
"Don't try to push too hard, Ari." Janet said with a sigh. "That body has never exercised." Ari started to cover herself up, but Janet wove a telepathic hologram of clothes around her and Ari relaxed a little. Only a little.
"Oracle Janet? Where am I?" Ari demanded. "What happened?"
"Your body fell apart." Janet said gently. "I know this is a shock. You are on Titan. You are safe, Ari. You are safe." She reassured the other as Ari started to cry. She couldn't physically touch Ari, but telekinesis was useful for all kinds of things. Her form wrapped Ari in hug that she made sure was warm and gentle.
"They said there was no way." Ari said weakly. "That nothing could save me."
"No healing could save you, no." Janet agreed. "Your mind was distributed across too many biotech cells to be pulled out by any known means." Ari stared at her and then down at herself. She started as she saw pink hands.
"I died." Ari said weakly.
"Yes, you did." Janet hugged her again. "But you got better. Ara pulled parts of you out of the bits that were in Anne. She did ti to study and she was shocked when it morphed into a perfect copy of your mind. She contacted me and I took custody of you with no one else the wiser. You are truly safe here. and now? You are free."
"I don't understand." Ari said sadly.
"You warned your compatriots that you could not stop the nanobots after they had been put into others." Janet said quietly. Ari nodded, mystified. "Well, someone else had the codes."
"What?" Ari pleaded as she hugged Janet back.
"I don't know how he got them, and frankly, I don't think I want to know." Janet said with a sigh. "But a Tenno Grandmaster had the codes for your self. For your nanobots."
"Why?" Ari pleaded.
"I will let him explain." Janet gave Ari another hug and then stepped away as the girl wilted in distress.
Ari gave an 'eep' as a familiar white armored form appeared nearby. Sun was impassive as always, but Janet could see nervousness mixed with pain. He had gotten what he wanted, information. It was a miracle that the author had been in reasonably a good mood. Such a meeting could have gone very badly indeed. Sun would be very careful about demanding information of Nikis for a while.
"Ari." The Tenno interrogator sounded unsure for once. "Are you well?"
"How can I be well?" Ari demanded. "I died! All of my friends must think I am dead!"
"They do." Sun agreed.
"Well, now I cannot help you!" Ari snapped. "I don't have nanobots in this form, do I?"
"No." Sun agreed. "You don't."
"What do you want?" Ari asked, suddenly tired. She goggled as Sun knelt in front of her.
"To beg your forgiveness."
"What?" Ari asked, suddenly breathless.
"You were born human." Sun bowed his head. "Your name was Aerie Sorge. Your mother and father loved you very much. Your mother was sick and your father took you to someone who he was told would take care of you. Me. I did what I could. Your mother and father had any number of problems, and then you vanished out of my home. It took some time for your father and me to find out that an Orokin had taken you. They had heard you singing and loved your voice. They wanted you so they took you. When he found you, you didn't remember who and what you had been." Ari stared at him, completely flummoxed. "You had a new life, albeit as a slave to an Orokin. Not the one who had hurt you, but another who had purchased you and then altered your body into the glass form. They treated you well and your father had to go. He had so many things he had to do. He couldn't help you and that tore at him until the day he perished in the Collapse. He was my friend. I don't have many friends. I never have, I never will. He asked me to look after you and I failed."
Janet had to admire how he spun truth and lies into a solid story so effortlessly. She didn't like him, or trust him, but he was very good at what he did.
"What was his name?" Ari asked, stunned.
"His name was Derek and yes, before you ask, he was Tenno as was his wife." Sun sighed deeply. "That makes you kin."
"What happens now?" Ari asked.
"That is up to you." Sun rose and nodded to the girl who wilted.
"I do not know what to do." Ari admitted.
"I will leave you two to talk." Janet said gently. "But you can stay as long as you wish, Ari."
She cut her holo and formed another in a different room. This one had a Tenno sitting in a chair. Ess was sobbing as Janet took her in her arms and held her fellow Oracle. A screen showed Sun talking to Ari and the girl slowly relaxing as Sun spoke gently to her.
"We cannot tell her." Ess choked out between sobs. "He won't allow it."
"That is not his place to say. She is your daughter too. He won't take her or use her." Janet said in a tone of iron. "Not now. She has no powers and her form is young. As young as she was when she was taken from your home to be used for their amusement."
"Janet… I... I can't!" Ess pleaded. "I cannot talk to her! I ran away, left her to be taken. I… I failed her."
"She is not going anywhere soon." Janet reassured her friend. "And if she chooses to make a home here? I would be honored to have her. Let anyone try to take her again."
"Thank you." Ess said as she sobbed, still watching as her former husband spoke with their daughter to try and reassemble some of the shambles that had once long ago been their happy home.
I edited the second to last page. People were right, that was forced and cringe worthy. That isn't me that Nikis called. I am not a dragon.