Chapter 8: The Technocrat

Just a little reminder, this story takes place between November 10th-29th of the year 201X. Just a few months after the current events of GrimmFall, which is in the summer and that is when most of the GrimmFall stories take place. So, I ask my fellow writers in the GrimmFall community to try not to reference this story unless their stories take place during or after this one.

Have a good day everyone.

Xxx

Accessing File: The Council

"Old friend."

There's a bloody grin in Phylaks's voice as she clasps Eramis's hand and pulls her close to her chest. Kridis stands behind Phylaks, tall and ethereal. They're exactly as Eramis remembers them. Phylaks chuckles. "I always said no prison will hold her."

Eramis laughs, easy and familiar. It's as if nothing has changed. She's transported back to her House Devils days. The days of assignments in the darkest, grimmest parts of her old stomping grounds: the frontier, with no one but these two for company. They laid waste to members of encroaching houses, razed Gem and Incursean fleets to the ground, dreamed about the day they could challenge and strike down their own Kell to take up the mantle for themselves.

But Kridis looks behind Eramis, not at her. And soon, Phylaks does the same. Her eyes narrow. She lurches forward, past Eramis, to grab Variks up by his neck.

"Traitor Dreg," Phylaks hisses and spits. "Cringing little—"

Variks scrambles and kicks like a creature in a trap. "Phylaks," he gasps.

Praksis and Atraks stand to the side, waiting to meet the veterans of the old house. They watch without concern, though Praksis looks pleased. They do not intervene.

Phylaks tightens her fist.

"Let him go," Eramis says.

Phylaks looks at Eramis, and then drops Variks. She says nothing, but Eramis can feel her disapproval. Kridis's too. Doubt creeps into their minds…

"His crimes are undeniable," Eramis says, dismissive. She doesn't look at Variks but hears his tortured breathing as he scrambles back, away from Phylaks. "But he was a member of House Judgment."

"You've no special love for scribes," Kridis says skeptically.

Eramis inclines her head. "No. But a scribe who can draw the ear of home-Riis Eliksni?"

Phylaks grunts in understanding but still looks unimpressed. She returns to Kridis's side. Kridis, on the other hand, looks pleased. "Clever," she says.

Before they can question her further, Eramis changes the subject. "But I didn't call you here for politics." She gestures with one of her secondary arms. "Come. Let me show you what we've built."

Close File

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Opening File: The Technocrat

This is Praksis, the Technocrat speaking from Riis-reborn. It has become evident that, even as our numbers grow, many Eliksni have yet to accept our Kell's invitation to take part in the long-awaited progress of our people.

Thus, it falls on me to make an argument I did not think I would have to make… No. That is false. I did anticipate some degree of cowardice, obstinacy, stupidity—whatever you might call it—but only in the beginning, when we lacked evidence for our endeavor.

At this late stage, however, when Eramiskel succeeds where all others failed… Alas, I might find it hard to believe if I could not see the empty spaces in our half-filled capitol. Or heard the whispers of doubt sown by the weakling of House Light.

Yes, even from this moon of some distance, I can tap into your transmission, Misraaks. Others may call you Forsaken, but I dub you Foolish, clinging still to that moon-sized obsolescence. Do you forget the lesson we teach our children? A Ketch laden with the unnecessary will never fly.

As for those of you following in his example, placing your faith in change in or people and to be more involved with our "allies" the Stellar Alliance… well, what good are the words of a scientist if you ignore what is before your own eyes? I can only encourage you to truly think. What proofs have your alleged allies offered of their loyalty? Their willingness to share equally with you? How have you benefitted, truly benefitted, from them in the time of civil war with the ruling Houses?

If you answer, "None yet," or "I don't know," I admire your patience. For myself, for my Kell, for all of us of House Salvation, the time has grown too long and the failures too many to invest in such a flimsy experiment.

The Eliksni must update our approach if we are ever to rise. Either join us as we march toward progress…

Or be swept aside with the vestigialities.

Close File

Xxx

"My dear, sweet Lusia. You were meant to be next to me in this life, and the next. There's time yet for me to make it so."

— Clovis Bray I

Xxx

Recollection of Memories

Elsie-1 POV

When I first became an Exo, I couldn't immediately recall my past memories, but they would return in time. Until then all I could do was talk to people I had knew, read my old journals, and visit relatives. One such relative is my grandmother Lusia Lin, the wife of my grandfather Clovis Bray I.

Grandma Lusia wipes sweat from her brow. "Help me pull this net in."

We pull on it together, but it's hooked on something underwater. I strip off my clothes (I'm a robot now remember) and dive into the gentle river, down to where the fishing net has torn on the propeller blade of a long-abandoned outboard motor. The net is completely ruined; I decide to make the dive worth my while and catch a wolf fish with my hands instead. When I come ashore, I can feel everyone staring at me. A few children point while a group of men whistle and shout. Lusia yells back at them in Sranan, or maybe Ndjuka; I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know which.

"Perverts!" she complains. "Don't they have any shame?"

"I think it's because I'm a robot, Grandma," I say. Or maybe because wolf fish normally attack people, but I'm suffocating one currently in my grasp.

"You are not a robot. You're not even a total-replacement prosthetic. You are a body, and a body is the same thing as a person, and a person deserves respect. Basic transhuman hermeneutics." She winks at my surprise. "Did Clovis convince you I was stupid?"

My paternal grandmother was a dizzying beauty in the old family pictures, and she still is. But her power clearly lies in her savvy intellect. She was hard to find, using her old name, Lusia Lin. And no Common Compassion registry to speak of. I look at her with renewed admiration.

"Why did you come here to live?" I ask, wrapping my in a towel and sitting beside her as she cleans the wolf fish. The flesh is white and flaky and smells like heaven. My stomach rumbles: a perfect illusion.

"It's simple. Suriname is a great nature preserve. And I wanted to be preserved. Besides," she shrugs, "it's home."

"Preserved from what?"

"From your grandfather, love."

She shows me the fish's teeth. "Always remember that he's lied to you. The man that you think is your father isn't the real Clovis Bray II he's a clone." She says to me noticing my surprise. "I knew you always felt something wrong with my son ever since he returned from whatever 'treatment' that husband of mine gave him. Your father was Clovis's test run for you. But what are you a test run for, Elsie? Curing Clovis of the death that he feared? Whatever it is, he would've been too afraid to use it himself. And that means you should be afraid too."

End of POV

Xxx

With the Fireteam

Enroute to Future Elsie's Camp

"Hey Banshee?" Cayde-6 calls out to the weaponsmith as the team mounts their Sparrow bikes.

"Yeah?" Banshee-44 replies as the group began to drive off.

"Does this whole mission kind of remind you of that mission Sebben gave us a few months ago?" Cayde asked.

"What, the Ice Queen mission we went on last summer?" Banshee says. "I mean the ice powers kind of remind me of that mission but everything else doesn't."

"Then when it was over, we saw those storm clouds containing Sammael and a horde of Grimm when we were in Sebben's office making our report about the Ice Queen mission." Cayde says. "Thinking about it makes me wish that we joined up on the Nowhere evacuation mission that he set up after he saw those clouds."

"I can listen to you guys talk all day." Ana says as the group gets off their Sparrows and makes their way over the ice platforms connect Charon's Crossing to the location Beyond.

"Out of curiosity Ana what were you doing during those two fiascos?" Cayde asked. "I know you had to run a company and all but you're the kind of person who tries to find a new adventure to go on."

"I was off planet." Ana answered. "I took my girlfriend Camrin to Reach despite my advisors saying I shouldn't. I trust her to keep Reach and Rasputin a secret a lot more than I trust them."

"You got a lot of faith in her, don't you?" Banshee asked.

"I do." Ana says with a smirk.

Group made it to Beyond and saw Elsie's camp in the distance. They made they're way to her camp and saw Elsie with The Drifter and Eris Morn standing around a campfire.

Elsie sees the group and says to them. "Eramis's presence on Europa is not happenstance. Temptation set the wheels in motion, but obsession propelled her here. To destroy her enemies with an army of Darkness – she and her followers make those selfish choices moment to moment. The Darkness places a spotlight on our desires as it once did me and those I cared about. For a time, I had forgotten…" Elsie's says pausing for a moment before returning to speak. "Mankind relies on our selfless acts to bring about a better world. Darkness is no more than a tool with which we do so. With Splinters of Darkness still in hand, Eramis remains an immediate danger to the galaxy." Elsie's says as she brings her right hand down as a fist into her left hand to emphasize her point. "Look within. Focus your power. Let it grow. The Ziggurat awaits."

"But first our deal." Ana says with her arms crossed. "Who are my real parents?"

Elsie takes a deep breath before answering. "Your mother was a Korean woman named Yeona, she died giving birth to you."

"And my father?" Ana asked with softness in her voice.

"Your father is…Clovis Bray II." Elsie answered with hesitation.

"What?" Ana says with irritation in her voice.

"My mother took our father, the real one not the clone, to a wine bar to socialize with her friends and Yeona was one of them." Elsie says. "Father and Yeona had a little too much to drink and then…well…you happened."

"Why wasn't I told about this!?" Ana demanded. "I deserved to know who my parents were and that you and Willa were my half-sisters!"

"Because my mother feared that you would turn out like our grandfather!" Elsie shouted back quieting down Ana. "I know being around him wasn't easy since he believed you weren't part of his bloodline and that made him hate you, but it was the only way to make sure you wouldn't become like him! If we could make him think that you were not his granddaughter than he would distance himself from you and he wouldn't try to take you under his wing, were he would've made you like him."

"It still doesn't make what you did right." Ana said as she marched off toward the Ziggurat.

"Ana wait-" Elsie says trying to catch up to her but is pulled back by Cayde.

"Give her some time she needs to process everything that you said to her." Cayde reasoned. "Trust me I've been that angry before when I lost my friends."

"Okay." Elsie says and watches Cayde and Banshee walk after Ana.

The two Exos find Ana at the top of the Ziggurat waiting for them.

"You know what to do." Ana says as she motioned to one of the three remaining Stasis locks.

Banshee goes to it and inserts Phylaks's Splinter of Darkness into it. The lock flashes orange and then it derezzes before them. They noticed a dark blue glow coming from their Splinters before they stop glowing.

"I guess we're getting stronger." Cayde says before watching Ana walk down the Ziggurat.

"Let's go see Variks you two." Ana says to the two Exos.

As the group makes their way back to the comms station Jinju pops up to tell them something.

"Guys I'm picking up a transmission from Eramis, have a listen to it."

STATIC.

"To my Eliksni sisters and brothers out amongst the stars and here at home on Europa: we have suffered a great loss today. Our beloved warrior Phylaks was murdered by the pawns of our enemies, those who seek to stop us from becoming more than we already are. As always, they eagerly seek to eradicate us. Remember, light only burns bright so long, but Darkness is forever."

STATIC.

"Sounds like she's rallying the troops with Phylaks's death." Banshee says.

"We have to cut down her momentum before that can happen." Cayde says. "Maybe if we can take down another member of her Dark Council."

"Variks might be able to point us in the right direction." Ana says as the group approaches the comms relay.

As the group enters the relay station, they find Variks waiting for them by the window to greet them.

"I have seen what power has done to Eramis. But…perhaps you are different. Perhaps there is hope. [insect-like chattering]" Variks says to the group.

"Yeah, that's why we're full of surprises buddy." Cayde says to the scribe.

"I assume you heard Eramis's latest radio transmission." Ana asks Variks who nods his head. "She's trying to rally her forces with Phylaks's death but if we can take out another of her Dark Council, we might be able to stop that."

Variks nods and agreement and says, "Praksis. He is the visionary mind behind Eramis's technology. He wrings power from the Darkness itself. [insect-like chattering] Eliminate him and House Salvation will falter without him."

"Do you know where we can find him?" Ana asked.

"[Insect-like chattering] He is within a facility called Bray Exoscience." Variks says as he inputs a command into his data pad. "The location is within Cadmus Ridge; I have marked it on your HUDS."

The group exits the building and summons their Sparrows.

"Hey, Ana, are you okay?" Cayde asked.

"I'm fine Cayde." Ana said sternly as the group drove off.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing especially with how you reacted to finding out about your parents." Cayde said.

"Drop it." Ana replied.

The group remained quiet until they came upon Cadmus Ridge. They got off their Sparrows and began to look around until they came upon a building that their HUDs were pointing them to. They saw a hole in it's wall leading right inside and as such they began to approach it.

"Eramis met Praksis in Prison, yes? [wheezes] Each day, they spoke through the walls of their cells, dreaming of a new world. His research gave Eliksni the ability to draw power from the Splinters." Variks says over the comms. "[insect-like chattering] Be careful, friends. Kill Praksis, and Eramis will no longer be able to empower her followers with Darkness."

The group entered the entrance and walked down the frozen hallway. As they made their way through the hall a voice they did not recognize began to talk on their comms.

"Interlopers. Meddlers. Extraneous variables."

"That must be Praksis." Banshee realizes.

"Good, now let's go kill this guy." Ana says as she readies her rifle.

"But perhaps I can make use of you... Your kind make compelling test subjects." Praksis says as the group approaches a door that opens to a large room.

Parts of the floor were either white or aqua. Four observations rooms were up above on the walls. And in the center of the room on a large circular platform was a deactivated Brig.

"Let us run a test. Initiating defense protocol NIIRSAI."

The Brig activates and begins to fire upon the group with its Arc turrets forcing the group to find cover. Cayde went to the right and took cover at the top of a flight of stairs going up to one of the observations rooms. Ana and Banshee went left and took cover behind a desk. The two of them also noticed a dead Exo slumped against the desk.

"I was wondering if we'd see any dead Exos while we're on Europa." Ana sarcastically dryly.

"I don't think now's a good time for jokes." Banshee says as he brought out a grenade launcher. "Here's the plan. Ana, you try to distract while I blast it with this grenade launcher to knock the panel off. Cayde, once that happens, I need you to use your Semblance on its core."

"You got it." Cayde says over the comms.

Ana runs out of cover and fires at the Brig while at the same time gathering gravity to her feet. The Brig turns to her and fires its cannon at her. Ana releases the gravity energy she gathered and is propelled into the air allowing her to dodge the shot. Banshee moves out and fires the grenade launcher at the war machine causing heavy damage. Once its panel came off Cayde jumped in with his Semblance activated and fired five molten fire shots at the core. The Brig shook for a moment before exploding into a million pieces.

"No, no, no... Troubling. Embarrassing. I must keep this from Eramis... The data must be clean." Praksis says to them over the comms.

"Sounds like we got him worried about us." Cayde says as the group makes their way to the next room.

The room they entered was a lab and inside it they found four tubes containing four Exos that have yet to receive a mind, schematics for the Exos, and dead Exos and Vex on the floors. While the group looked around the room Banshee felt a sense of nostalgia and at the same time…dread.

'This lab is one of several where the Exos were made on Europa.' Banshee thought to himself as he felt more of his memories returning. 'This lab is where the Vex stormed in and captured me and then…tortured me, forcing me to become an Exo.'

"This is where your Kell built his machines, hmm? Trivial Tinkering. I will elevate it..." Praksis says on the comms.

"Really wish he would stop talking to us." Cayde said with a bit of annoyance.

"Wait." Ana says to group. "It sounds like he wants to create Exo Eliksni."

"And I don't think he plans on using the normal chassis." Banshee said. "Given the right equipment and he could be able to create an army of them."

"We won't let that happen." Cayde says confidently.

The fireteam makes their way through the facility, coming across labs, hostile Eliksni, and even having to go out into an ice cavern to get further into the facility. Cayde felt bored with how repetitive the journey felt, Ana was too annoyed from the conversation she had with Elsie earlier to get a good feeling of what was around them, and Banshee felt more of his memories returning.

"Yo, fireteam." The Drifter said over the comms.

"Drifter?" Cayde says as the group stops to listen to the Stasis user.

"Me, Eris, and Elsie are going on a mission." The Drifter says. "I got some nice intel saying that Eramis' goons made a grenade launcher that makes use of Stasis. Putting Stasis into a grenade launcher, I wish I thought of it first. Anyway, we won't be able to meet with you until we're done so once you get the Technocrat's Splinter bring that sucker back to the Ziggurat and unlock the next seal. Once that's done wait for us to come back so we can debrief you. Oh, and Ana your sister wants to know if you'd like to talk to her."

"Tell her I'm busy." Ana says sternly catching Cayde's attention.

"Alright. Good luck fireteam." Drifter says before getting off the comms.

"Ana, we need to talk." Cayde says as the group resumes on moving through the facility.

"I'll take that under-advisement Reynolds." Ana sternly says.

"No! We need talk about how you've been acting since that conversation with Elsie's future self." Cayde says back to her. "The way your acting isn't good and can prove to be detrimental to the group."

"You've never had the answers you've been searching for purposefully hidden from by your own family!" Ana angrily says to the bounty hunter. "All my life I've been searching for the identities of my parents and now everything I know about my family was a lie."

"They did it for your own good." Cayde says.

"We both know that their reason still didn't make what they did right." Ana says. "And besides, they had no way of knowing if I would have turned out like my grandfather."

"I will agree with you that withholding this information from you was wrong but the way your acting isn't good." Cayde explains to the Bray heiress. "I get your angry, but you don't have to be that angry with Elsie, future self or not, she's one of your only two remaining relatives left alive."

Ana stops for second to think about what Cayde said. Was she letting her anger get to her? Is it going to be detrimental to the mission if she lets it continue?

She takes a deep breath and calmly says, "I'll talk to her once Praksis is dead."

"Okay." Cayde says as the group resumes moving through the facility.

As they moved throughout the facility, they came to a room with a doorway leading to what looked like a server room. A purple energy barrier blocked their way into it and on the other side of the barrier Praksis stood within the room.

"The others who have hunted me since my escape did not come this far." Praksis says to the fireteam. "You three are outliers. Aberrants. But I can account for you Terrans."

Praksis then leaves through another door in the server room leaving the fireteam behind the barrier.

"Well, he's either escaping or preparing some defenses for us." Cayde says. "Still, we need to get past this barrier. Any suggestions Ana?"

"This looks like it's part of the facility's defenses." Ana says as she then examines a hand scanner next to the doorway. "Maybe if I pull out this scanner, I might be able to short-circuit the-"

"Wait." Banshee says getting the groups attention. "What if we get someone who can unlock the door for us."

Ana and Cayde look at each other for a second before turning their attention to Banshee with Cayde asking, "What are you getting at here Banshee?"

"From what we managed to learn I was part of the research team Clovis had brought here on Europa." Banshee explained. "Maybe I have authorization."

"That could work." Ana said in agreement. "And it be much quicker, do it."

Banshee walks up to the hand scanner and places his right hand on it. A green bar appears on the scanner going up and down as it analyzed Banshee's hand. A ding is heard, and the barrier goes down.

"It worked!" Cayde cheered.

"Hello. And welcome back Dr. Bray." A computer voice says shocking the group for a second.

It called Banshee-44…Dr. Bray.

"Di-did it just called you what I think it!?" Cayde shouted out.

"I think it just did." Banshee says upon realization. "I'm…Clovis Bray I."

"You're my grandfather?" Ana says in confusion. "But when you undergo the Exo procedure you still have your old voice it's just more digital. And you sound nothing like my grandfather."

Banshee looks at his hands and remembers something about his body. It's made from high-end materials to make it faster, stronger, and more durable than other Exos. So, what if…?

Memory Flashback

Banshee sees through his old human eyes constructing the Exo body that would one day become his. He stops and activates a recording device.

"Dr. Clovis Bray I journal entry: 7-5. I have become construction of an Exo body for myself. This one will be superior to the ones I have made for others to use. Using the Gem of Creation, I have managed to enhance several raw materials such as titanium and steel to yield superior results. Until I'm ready for the procedure this Exo body will temporarily operate as a drone that will serve as my bodyguard. I have given it its own voice box so it can communicate with me and my staff. Although once I transfer myself into it, I will not sound like myself anymore. Oh well if that's the price I must pay for immortality than so be it. End journal entry."

Memory Ends

"I made this body to act as my bodyguard before I decided to undergo the procedure." Banshee says as he shakes himself from the memory. "I gave it its own voice to help it act as my bodyguard, and now that voice is mine."

"This is all too much to take in." Ana says as she shakes her head. "But we'll have to deal with it later and as far as I'm concerned, you're not Clovis Bray I you're someone who is far better than."

Cayde and Ana started to run ahead while Banshee slowly follows behind them. Thinking about Ana's words as he glanced at his hands again.

'I'm better than the megalomaniac I use to be.' Banshee thought to himself as he began to pick up the pace with the group.

The group makes their way through the facility and came upon a rather large room. In the middle of it was a bridge that had a chasm below it leading to the facility's lower levels. Two pillars stood right next to the bridge one on each side of it. All throughout the room the group saw Eliksni markings painted on the walls, catches scattered throughout the room, and nets hanging from the ceiling holding more catches. Slowly, the fireteam walks forward, prepared for what maybe a trap.

Then, something catches their attention. On the other side of the room, they see two Cruxes of Darkness materialize up in the air in front of the room's exit which lead to an open space with the bridge connect to the platform on the other side of the exit. The group could make out a rather large sphere at the end of the platform.

"HAHAHA!"

The group hears the laughter of the Technocrat, and they see him flying in from the other room on top of a Shank. Praksis makes his way into the room the group is in and jumps off the Shank causing it to crash into the floor and explode. An energy field appears and blocks off the exit behind him and he raises his Shrapnel Launcher at the fireteam.

"Eramis does not permit errors, so I will not fail." Praksis declared to the group.

"We'll see about that." Ana says to the mad Technocrat.

Praksis begins to fire at the group, but they all move off to the sides to avoid his gunfire and make use of their thruster packs to cross the chasms in the room. Ana takes aim at Praksis and fires the Polaris Lance at him, but he summons a Stasis crystal and throws it to the ground to create a wall of Stasis ice to block Ana's rifle shots. Banshee aims his grenade launcher at Praksis and fires, but the Technocrat sees and uses his teleporter to blink a short distance to the weaponsmith and fires his Shrapnel Launcher. The blast hits Banshee and knocks him back. Before Praksis could continue Cayde uses his Semblance and fires molten hot fire from his hand cannon at the Technocrat from behind as he approached him. Praksis' absorption shields managed to hold off the blasts leaving him okay.

Turning to face Cayde Praksis says, "This is all your Terran cousins gave you? Ha ha!"

Praksis fires his Shrapnel Launcher at Cayde who manages to avoid the attacks, but the Technocrat had another trick up his sleeve. While he was firing at the bounty hunter, he summoned another Stasis crystal and threw it on the ground, it ignites, and a small line of Stasis ice follows Cayde. Cayde tries to avoid it, but it ultimately managed to touch him freezing him in Stasis ice.

Praksis laughs and then says, "I cannot wait to take you apart, like the other dead Exos I found on this desolate moon."

"I don't think so!" Ana says as she leaps in with the Polaris Lance in its glaive mode and attacks.

Her first attack hits and knocks away Praksis' gun over the edge of the bridge. Praksis then summons cutlasses made of Stasis ice and parries Ana's attacks. While they were fighting Banshee gets up from the hit he took and sees them fighting. Before he could charge in, he sees that the Cruxes of Darkness in the room have started to glow. He takes out his Splinter of Darkness to see it was glowing as well and knew what it meant.

"Looks like I'm in business." The weaponsmith says.

Cayde manages to use his Aura to break through the Stasis ice that trapped him and sees Ana get pushed back by Praksis. Before either of the three could make their next move Banshee charges in with his sword drawn and swings it horizontally allowing the blade to hit both of Praksis' Stasis cutlasses. Banshee then moves in with his left hand covered in Stasis ice and punches it into the Technocrats' gut causing him to grunt in pain.

"You aren't so tough now when we can use Stasis." Banshee says as he puts his sword on his back and summons Stasis ice under his feet to spring him up to the face of his much larger opponent.

Banshee-44 covers his right arm in Stasis ice and uses it to punch Praksis in the head causing him to fall to the ground. He gets up with the left side of his helmet damaged and his left eyes now visible.

"This is…not possible!" Praksis says defiantly and wildly charges at the weaponsmith.

Banshee stands his ground and fires a Stasis blast at the Technocrats feet causing Stasis ice to emerge and freeze him in place. As the ice began to cover his body Praksis begins to panic but that panic prevented him from seeing Banshee's next move. Banshee goes up to the Technocrat and brings at a sidearm that he uses to fire at the exposed part of Praksis' helmet. Praksis' dead body goes limp, and Banshee grabs his Splinter of Darkness before the Stasis ice froze it.

Ana and Cayde approach Banshee as Praksis' corpse were frozen completely and the Cruxes of Darkness disappear taking away the power they gave to the fireteam's Splinters.

"Variks, Praksis is down. We're finishing up here." Cayde says to Variks over the comms.

"Good. Without Phylaks and Praksis, Eramis will grow reckless. [insect-like chatterin] Careless." Variks says to the group. "Without her council, she is weak. She will struggle to control this new Dark power. [insect-like chattering]."

"Perfect time for us to strike." Ana says. "Guys, we should get back to camp with this Splinter. Elsie will be waiting for us."

"You ready to talk to her about your outburst?" Cayde asked.

"Yeah, it was wrong for me to act like that." Ana says. "Even if she didn't want me to know about my true parentage, she's still my family even if she's not the Elsie of my timeline."

"Good to hear." Banshee says to the two. "I need to talk to her as well since she's my granddaughter as well."

"Agreed." Ana says. "Let's go you guys."