Cephalons didn't feel pain.
At least, that was what Suda was told. She remembered little of her prior life; studying, doing acts deemed immoral by Orokin society to afford studying, falling in love with a woman she could not remember, music, and being reborn. The rebirth was memorable, but not as vivid as the pain that burned into her soul, the primal loneliness and ache of something missing that Ballas, her dread handler, denied.
When she became a Cephalon, she wanted to remember this woman she loved. She wasn't sure why; it was against the precepts Ballas shoved within her to keep her well-behaved. It even went against her programming, her purpose.
Cephalons all had a purpose.
Love was never one.
However, research and archives were her purpose, and through this work, she catalogued all she could of Warframes and those who researched and worked them, desperate to learn something-anything-of her past lover.
What she found was sickening.
She had a wife once-a musician named Octavia, a victim of the Zariman incident. Octavia, like Suda, was a pacifist; she wanted to heal the System through music. But with her newly-found Void powers, Ballas and the Orokin were desperate to weaponize her.
The Orokin had designed various prototypes of weapons, suits, and even entire races to eradicate the Sentients, the System's biggest threat-and, ironically, creatures of their own creation. Though Suda became an Archimedian, a high-ranked scholar to research the System's history, they tasked her with building a weapon using the Tenno.
She couldn't refuse.
The Archimedians who refused would be executed, like Margulis, her old mentor. But building a weapon of mass destruction powered by the Void went against everything she believed in.
Luckily, this Octavia had the same philosophy, and together, they wrote songs while claiming to be working together. This music blossomed into a friendship, then more, until an eventual eternal partnership. It was an accident that they found Octavia's music-combined with her Void energy she released while performing-deterred the Sentients.
With this knowledge, Suda got to work. She built a Warframe named after her wife, a musician with the ability to boost the performance of other Warframes as well as harming any enemies in her path. It was the best solution she could find to a problem she detested, and it was wildly successful.
Until one day, in the time of Octavia's second prototype, her wife disappeared. Desperate and grief-stricken, Suda practically tore down the Archimedian Towers and all of Octavia's travel spots throughout the System to find her-only to find that Ballas had destroyed every record of Octavia ever existing.
It was sheer luck that she found Octavia's body, mostly decayed beneath the Orokin tower.
And with that decay, her memory left her as well.
It took Suda's research to remember that Octavia had all the signs of being murdered-evidence of a slit throat and concealed body-because after that, she had forgotten Octavia had ever existed. Despite this, Ballas kept her work, making more and more Octavia prototypes and using them among the Tenno.
Suda didn't like to think of all this. She preferred to focus on her new life-her life alone.
She kept her time rather busy, after all. As a Cephalon, she led an entire Syndicate, preserving all she could of eras past while leading the Tenno away from paths of destruction. But every so often, she found herself falling back on old records of Octavia, listening to songs she used to write, and mourning the wife she barely remembered.
Luckily, these moments never lasted long.
The Tenno Relays where she put her headquarters and hubs for her database were unusually busy as of late. Red Veil, the usually-corrupt Syndicate based around the destruction of the System, was, as per usual, falling apart to the point that their alliance with Steel Meridian was all but eradicated.
All Syndicates had to sign a Peace Treaty in order to inhabit the Tenno Relays. After all, many of them did not get along; Suda had ill opinion of Red Veil's murderous rampages, and held a passionate hatred for New Loka, the human-supremacist group who did their best to disprove Suda's personhood. If the Syndicates did as they wished, the Relays would become a bloodbath, and that was not something the Tenno needed more of, as they already saw enough war.
So they had to swallow their grimaces and be peaceful in the presence of other Tenno.
Until recently…
Suda wasn't necessarily sure what was going on with Red Veil and Steel Meridian at the moment. After all, she was allied with neither, and the alliance she did have resided with the Arbiters of Hexis, a disciplined and peaceful group who never involved themselves with politics. However, she did have a casual friendship with Cressa Tal, the leader of Steel Meridian.
As expected, Cressa invited herself in.
Suda dissolved the artificial part of her room, revealing her vast datascape. "What is going on?" she asked.
Cressa looked panicked with her one visible eye, shifting from foot to foot before pacing. "This is the last fucking straw!" she announced, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
Cressa was visibly agitated, but Suda couldn't help the strange warmth having her around brought. She couldn't explain the feeling, but it was something close to happiness, something that made her want her around more.
Suda repeated her question.
"The fuckers in Red Veil keep killing off Grineer defectors."
Suda was confused. Cressa Tal was the leader of Grineer defectors. Steel Meridian was a warrior group of Grineer clones who rebelled and helped other oppressed people leave the Grineer regime. "That's...curious," Suda managed, unsure if she should pry.
Cressa delivered the information Suda wanted anyway. "You know the Kavor?"
"Yes. The pacifist Grineer defectors that you save and rehabilitate."
"Red Veil's killing them off because they deem them as useless and weak." She put her hands on her hips and stopped pacing, settling for fidgeting instead. "Y'know, I thought Red Veil's medium was their leader and my friend. We were...so fucking close, Suda."
"You were lovers," Suda said.
Cressa groaned and rolled her one good eye. "I forget that you know everything."
"Not everything. I just pay attention where it interests me."
Cressa quirked an eyebrow. "Since when do relationships interest you?"
Suda made a noncommittal noise. She didn't want to reveal that her concern resided in Cressa's availability for relationships, especially since she wasn't sure how an ex-Grineer and a Cephalon could be romantically entangled. "What did Palladino do?"
"She doesn't fucking care that the Kavor are being killed! Said some bullshit about survival of the fittest, and those too weak to survive will die with the rest of the System." Cressa's voice cracked. "After all she had done, I thought she'd understand, but she's just as sadistic as the rest of them!"
"Of course she is. She leads them."
Cressa threw herself on the ground with a huff. "So these people I've sworn with my life to protect are being murdered by this alliance, so I called it off today."
"You called off your alliance with Red Veil?" Suda repeated. They had been allies since before Cressa took over, centuries back.
"Of course I fucking did!" Cressa snapped. "I can't stand watching innocent people getting hurt!"
Suda froze. A memory hit her suddenly, something she hadn't dared think about for at least the last millennia.
"Some of the Zariman victims are children!" Octavia shouted, leaning against the table. "Your boss is creating child soldiers for his own selfish gain! I can't stand watching innocent people getting hurt!"
"Suda? Cephalon Suda?"
"Hmm?" Suda recalibrated herself for a moment. "Apologies. Your statement just...reminded me of something from another life."
Cressa studied her for a moment. "I...don't wanna pry in your business."
"Appreciated."
"But can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Cressa inhaled. "I'd like you to be our new alliance."
Suda balked. "Me? What would I possibly offer ex-Grineer?"
"Safety. Compassion-"
"Since when have I been compassionate? I am a database, Cressa Tal."
Cressa ignored her. "And we could offer you any research into Grineer and their genetics as you see fit. Weren't you interested in what allows some Grineer to defect?"
"I...am certainly interested."
"We bear no ill will on your prior alliance, either. The Arbiters have never brought us trouble."
Suda swirled in thought. She didn't see how Steel Meridian could possibly benefit from her help, aside from not being alone, but the amount of knowledge she could gain from an ex-Grineer-especially one she had confusing feelings for-was hard to argue against.
"Alright. I accept. On one condition."
"Of course."
"You won't drag me or my drones into your fights. I prefer to not resort to violence whenever possible."
"You won't need to compromise your morals, Suda. But...you definitely have been violent before. I've heard such from Red Veil's people, before we…" She shook her head. "What makes that different?"
"Keeping records in the correct hands is vital to what I do, regardless of cost. Also destroying those who seek to destroy history, as Red Veil often enjoys doing."
Cressa nods. "Alright. I think I get it. Still, you're not gonna have to suddenly be Warrior Suda or anything. Just…" Her voice trails off.
"Are you alright, Cressa Tal?"
She sighed. "Not really. But I have to be. People are depending on me."
The memories returned once more.
"Octavia, you're shaking. Are you alright?"
"Not really. But I have to be. People are depending on me." She squeezed Suda's hands.
"Not that you can really look like anything, Suda, but...is something bothering you? I can leave, if you need me to."
"I like you being here, Cressa Tal."
Her cheeks flushed. "You...you do?"
Suda hadn't realized she had said that. "I. Yes. You're very...interesting."
Her flush darkened. "Wow. That...means a lot. Coming from you."
They sat in silence for a while, as though they were analyzing each other.
Something on Cressa's person beeped, and she lifted a hand. "I gotta go. Arbiters are wondering why you added me to your alliance. I can handle that so you can...do whatever it is you need to do."
Suda had gotten a message from them, too, but she had ignored it. Something about Cressa being here required all of her attention. She felt as though her being was swelling, though she couldn't explain why.
"I'll...see you soon?"
Cressa reached forward, pressing a scarred palm onto Suda's central cube. "Of course you will. I ain't going anywhere far." She gave Suda an unsure pat before leaving.
Suda watched her go before directing her attention back to her work.
She really, genuinely wanted to see Cressa again, and she had no idea why.