Perchance to… communicate?
This wasn't right. On some level, Elenia's fuzzy mind knew that when she woke. On another level, she was just so... tired…
STAY AWAKE! OH, GOD! ELENIA STAY AWAKE!
Jasmina's impassioned scream cut through the haze that enveloped Elenia's mind for a moment, but only for a moment before soft greyness surrounded her again. It felt so good. She knew on some level that it wasn't. That this was very bad. But she was so sick of fighting. Of hurting. Of hurting other people. She had never wanted to do that, but the Warrior path for Tenno had been expected of her, so she had assumed it after being born infected to a Tenno family. She rarely thought about her family these days and-
Elenia's thoughts crystallized. She had buried those memories along with her birth family. She hadn't thought about that in a very long time even for Tenno. Someone was probing her mind! Trying to discover her secrets!
Bad idea. Elenia said slowly and started a biofeedback to kill herself. No matter what body she was in, that would deny her enemies their prize. She could hear Jasmina crying in her mind, begging her to come home. Sorrow rose. She would never see her home or her mate again. Then anger flared and her power with it. A gasp came from nearby as the Tenno's inner power grew, but then faded. The gray surrounded her again, muffling Jasmina's terror.
"Easy, Tenno!" The nurse from before? Scared. But, not for herself? Odd. "We can help. Let us, please. What happened was our responsibility. Imprisoning Tenno doesn't work any better than trying to enslave them does. We are trying to make sure your energy wasn't damaged. No more."
You lie. Elenia managed as the gray pervaded her despite the impassioned screams of her mate.
"Often, yes. In this, we are not lying." The nurse was trying for reassurance, but Elenia was not fooled. "Granum has commanded. We obey. You will not be able to flee in that form. We do not wish to confine you, but this is safer for everyone. We do not wish to fight. We wish to talk."
"She won't believe you." That was Granum! "She may not believe me. A cursory glance at the history that the modern day Corpus shares with the Tenno gives many reasons why."
"I do not understand and I will not." The nurse admitted. "I do my job, sir."
"Yes, you do or Vala wouldn't have you on her ship." Granum had a smile in his voice that faded. "Has our guest spoken at all?"
"Not aloud, Sir." The nurse sounded bit dubious. "I could hear something when she woke, but it was odd. Not in human wavelengths. Almost like it came directly to my mind."
"It might have." Again, Granum was serious. "I had reason to deal with Tenno a few times before I was trapped in the Void. A couple of times, that was how they communicated. I will talk to her. Try to explain. She won't trust me, but if we can salvage any of this mess, it will better than the nothing we have to show for it now."
"The warframes?" The nurse asked and then hurried to speak. "Or, if I am not cleared, I will do as ordered and-" She broke off.
"Nurse Connie N-12, you have done well. I do not punish people who are doing their jobs well." Granum was calm, but firm. "The Corpus that you knew is evil. You know now that was well as I do. I do not see an easy or pleasant way to reform them as entrenched in the evil as they are. Vala is a start, but I am not sure where she is going. She has her own path to follow. It may mirror mine or it may diverge. For now? We need to fix this. Status?"
"The body is as your directed us to make, perfectly human and in good health." The nurse replied, still uneasy. Elenia could relate. Cloning made a mess more often than not. "Sir… All I know about Tenno is what I was taught and…" She all but sobbed! "It was wrong?"
"Not wrong, nurse. Incomplete." Granum replied, his voice heavy. "The Tenno as you know of them from your training were weapons in what the Orokin called 'The Old War'. I did not see that except second hand. The warframes you know were made as weapons and the souls ensconced within were used as weapons. But, nurse, some Tenno predated that. Some predated Orokin itself. That is not something the golden overlords wanted spread."
"I can see that." The nurse said softly. "I… I will do as directed, sir. You and Captain Vala needed someone with no strings attached. I owe the captain my life and she asked. She could have commanded me and I would have obeyed, but she asked. I can tend this one and I will."
"I hope you won't be needed, because it will be very dangerous. Even as she is, she is Tenno. Trained and honed to fight. We have angered her. Step back to the wall and then release her." Granum commanded.
"Yes, Sir." The nurse was all professional as whatever the gray was that held Elenia faded. "Done."
Jasmina's rage, fear and pain slammed into Elenia as whatever had held her mate's mind away faded, but she did not react. Elenia did nothing at all as Jasmina sobbed in her mind except offer her own self as balm to the other's raw psychic wound. It helped. Jasmina calmed a little.
"Tenno, I offer my apologies." Granum said as Elenia did not move. She did not dare. "I was trying to open communications with your kind and it did not go as planned. I don't know how or why the Corpus sent forces to that place in the volcano, but I couldn't let them take the one in the green mask when I realized what they were doing. I couldn't. I know what they would do. And if he, whoever he is, got loose, it wouldn't end well for anyone, I bet. They don't know that place was a prison, do they?"
If you are in human body, he can brainwash it. Jasmina said weakly. Control it.
Not with you buffering me, Fire Heart. Elenia replied and then spoke aloud. "Probably not."
"It is none of my business why he was imprisoned by Tenno of all people." Granum replied. "What little I ever learned about Tenno business was generally more than I cared to know." That was rueful. "I had my own concerns and they rarely intersected with Tenno. In my time, your people focused on the Technocyte Virus, only taking action when needed to curb the spread of that awfulness."
"Things changed." Elenia replied.
"That they have, even more than I thought. I need more information, Tenno and unlike the Corpus of your time, I am not going to demand it or like a moron, try to take it by force. I am going to ask for it." Granum said firmly and Elenia jerked. Granum chuckled, but there was little mirth in it. "I know, I know. Unthinkable for a Corpus today to simply ask for such things as might keep an apocalypse from occurring." That was sour. "Then again, considering the depths of depravity that the current fakes have delved into, I am not surprised that you cannot trust anything that anyone in Corpus uniform asks."
"Your own recent actions were not saintly." Elenia still didn't move.
"No. I was stuck in the Void." Granum had a shrug in his voice. "I can make no excuses for what I did to try and escape. I did things that I regret and things that I do not. I am free now and I can act in other ways. No matter what, I will not act as Nef Anyo and his peers do. They are idiots. Incredibly rich and powerful, but still idiots."
"You will get no argument from me." Elenia said, cracking her eyes at last, just a little. As she had suspected, she was in a Corpus medical facility. But there was no equipment close tot he bed she lay in. The only people in the room were a dark skinned nurse who looked very worried and a specter of Parvos Granum who nodded to her as she looked at it. Sane body, same glowing eyes, same golden hand as had been described to her. But this one was siting beside her bed. "Specters."
"You didn't really expect me to put my life in your hands, did you?" Granum asked calmly. "Even outside of your warframe and unarmed in a different body, you are quite probably the most dangerous being on this ship." The specter slowly shook its head. "I know what Tenno are and what they are not. I know your kind are as varied as humans. I wish no war with the Tenno as a whole. Our…" He paused and then made a face. "...incidents when Nef Anyo broke into my prison notwithstanding, I have not gone looking for a fight with your people and I will not." That sounded sincere, but he was a consummate liar. One of the best if half of what she had heard about him from various sources was true.
"Odd." Elenia said softly. "Just like any other Corpus, your people attack and try to kill Tenno any chance they get."
"Yes." Granum responded and Elenia eyed the specter. "You people trespass on private property, steal things and kill people. I won't insult your intelligence by claiming any kind of moral high ground. The situation in the Origin system currently is dire. I admit that." Then he shook his head. "That said? There are those who claim to be my followers and do not acknowledge my commands. I am currently in no position to act against those rogues. I am still consolidating my power and determining a proper course of action. My people and the Tenno have been opponents. I do not wish that to continue."
"A 'proper course of action'." Elenia repeated and the specter nodded.
"I don't think it will surprise you that a civil war is coming within the Corpus that you know." Granum replied. "The Tenno I dealt with before my detour into the Void were aloof, but surprisingly knowledgeable about events occurring. The various…" He paused and then continued. "...individuals who compromise the pseudo Board at the moment are so busy thwarting each other in the name of short term gains that none can see the greater threat coming from Tau."
"Profit numbs the feeling." Elenia was not expecting Granum and the nurse to both snarl in unison. "What?"
"That is not what it was supposed to be." Granum said after a moment. Then he heaved an all too human sigh. "Then again, I guess I am not really surprised. They are fakes. Not Corpus. Corpus died with Orokin." Elenia just looked at him and the specter shook its head. "Look, I know some of what happened. I saw some of it, as I say, secondhand. I have seen what records the various pretenders keep and it is all…" He trailed off and then the specter shook his head. "Their 'history' is nothing of the sort. It is all a mess. Lies and truth all mixed together and taken as holy writ. You trusting me would be almost as foolish as me trusting you. We are different, you and I. Different view. Different goals. Different approaches to said goals."
"And?" Elenia asked.
"And if our peoples work at cross purposes, we will likely both fail." Granum sounded so reasonable. This had to be a trick. "If I antagonize the Tenno, then your people will come after me and I know better than to think I can stop something that brought down Orokin." That was pure worry. Smart man. "Delay it? Sure. Cost a lot? Sure. Stop it? Not a chance."
"So what do you want?" Elenia asked. "Or… What was it? What do you 'desire'?" She asked and Granum eyed her through the specter as the nurse went utterly still.
"What I desire, I can never have again." Granum replied and for just a moment a tired, heartsick man shone in his voice. But then it vanished. "As for now? I find myself conflicted. I am angry. Both at the ones who tried to kill me so long ago and trapped me in the Void and at all the pretenders who are slinging mud and worse things at the memory of what I built." Elenia did not react and Granum continued. "I am also worried. I am going to war with the rest of the Corpus. To try and stop the horror that they have become. That is not in question. I want no war with the Tenno in addition to that."
"And snatching me helps that, how?" Elenia asked.
"Hey!" The nurse spoke up, stung by Elenia's words. "We saved you!" Elenia looked at her and then at Granum's specter.
"Nurse Connie N-12, from her point of view, we attacked her and then kidnapped her, imprisoning her in that body." Granum said slowly. Elenia did not speak, just waited until he continued. "From our point of view, Tenno, we spent a great deal of energy pulling your energy out of that warframe before it was submerged in a tidal wave of molten magma."
"Magma." Elenia intoned.
"Whoever built that prison built it well." Granum said heavily. "The tunnel sealed off before you get could back to the prison. I assume it was your people, or Orokin. It had to be one or the other to build such a thing to survive so long in so awful a place. That said? The location of the prison became known to the Corpus of this time and they reacted with their customary lack of foresight and ignorant avarice." Elenia went utterly still and Granum's specter nodded. "They could not find a way to teleport in, so they made their people dig a way down to it. Through the volcano." At that, Elenia went totally still and Granum's specter nodded. "As I say, idiots."
"Those were not Corpus tunnels." Elenia said slowly. If he wasn't lying, what had happened to Ming? To Stephen? To Ric? Jasmina had been following this and her own shock and fear mirrored Elenia's. The other Caretaker promised to check and her mind went distant. Still there, but not as close. It was fairly clear that Granum wasn't going to hurt Elenia. Now, as to what else he would do? "Yours?"
"No." Granum replied. "None of my people were involved in that. If they had been, I assure you, the whole thing would have been better handled. The rough construction was probably intended to hide their involvement, but a bad idea. Structurally unsound. I am not sure which Board Member sent that force. The records are obfuscated even for them. I do know that they sent no professional miners and most of their people died when they breached the prison. Whoever or whatever that being in the green mask is, he was damn dangerous."
"Do you have him?" Elenia asked.
"No." Granum admitted. "We tried to grab hold of any of the others with you, but we could only get you. As it was, the heat messed up our tracking solutions, so we were very worried you were not going to wake up at all." Elenia just looked at him and the specter shook his head. "Look, Tenno, I am not your friend, but I have no wish to be your enemy either."
"As you say, trust will not happen." Elenia replied evenly, forcing herself to relax. "I have my own duty and it does not involve the Corpus. Any Corpus unless they involve themselves. If they do that?" She shrugged just a little.
"For any who do, it won't end well. You speak as the other Tenno I spoke to did, so long ago." Granum said very slowly. "Your duty. You do your duty. The virus?" Elenia nodded and Granum was a statue. The nurse was so still as to seem painful at where she stood by the wall. "I see."
"That was all we were ever supposed to do. Fight the Technocyte Virus." Elenia said very softly and Granum nodded again.
"I read that Orokin used the Technocyte Virus as a weapon during their war." Granum said quietly. Elenia nodded and Granum hissed. "That is insane! What were they thinking?"
"They were desperate." Elenia shrugged just a little. "That said? I was there when they unleashed it. I argued. It didn't end well." She broke off, lost in memory.
"I am sorry." Granum actually to seem to mean that! "I have never faced the Sentients that I know of, but what I have read and seen in records is terrifying. That said? Even the omnipotent but often idiotic golden overlords had to know the Technocyte Virus could not be controlled any more than your people can."
"Ballas played everyone for fools." Elenia said softly and Granum went utterly still. "Or did you not see records of that?"
"What I read didn't make any sense." Granum said slowly. "A council Executor betrayed Orokin to the Sentients?" His disbelief was completely understandable. The Council of Executors had been the highest of the highest caste. Their authority had been absolute. They had been the de-facto rulers of Orokin. For one of them to turn? The mind boggled.
"Yes." Elenia replied and Granum actually put his face in his hands. "I am sorry." Elenia said heavily. "But it gets worse."
"Of course it does, Tenno." Granum heaved a sigh. "It never seems to get better, does it?"
"He did it for love." Elenia was still quiet as Granum raised his robot face to stare at her.
"I…" Granum actually seemed to swallow hard. That specter was insanely detailed. "I see. His kind were supposed to be better than that, but whatever. Humans did crazy things for love since the dawn of their recorded history."
"Maybe before that if you believe myth. Helen of Troy." Elenia smiled a bit as Granum gawked at her.
"Let's not confuse people any more then they already are." Granum all but begged her and Elenia had to fight to keep from smiling. "I do get the reference and yes, I can see that. Revenge is a powerful motivator."
"Do you want revenge?" Elenia asked.
"On who?" Granum asked reasonably. "The ones who tried to kill me are all gone. The few descendants of their lines have no idea who they came from and less reason to care. Survival is all humanity has been thinking about for so long." Now the robot grimaced. Again, very sophisticated tech on that specter. "If the modern version of the Corpus have their way, humanity is doomed. I want humanity to survive. 'I' want to survive."
"So what do you want from me?" Elenia inquired carefully. Jasmina was back in her mind wary, worried. It was clear she hadn't been able to get any kind of response from any of the three Tenno who had been with Elenia and that boded.
"Communication."