To uncluster a cluster
Ai jerked as everyone but the woman in brown armor varnished mid-laugh and that woman heaved a sigh as she sobered. The room was the same, but now, Ai and the couch were the only things in it besides the odd woman. If she was one.
"What have I done this time?" Ai asked very quietly.
"You didn't do it." The other sat in a chair that materialized for her as she plunked herself down. "Everyone is upset that they all misjudged you. They are all annoyed with you, but not because of anything you did."
"I don't understand." Ai managed after a moment.
"The kids care for you a great deal and-" The other paused and then made a face. "Oh, where are my manners? We have met, but you don't remember me and I have not told you my name!" She heaved a sigh and shook her head. "I do apologize for the discourtesy. My name is Cathi."
"No offense was taken. Whatever has happened is outside of my training or experience." Ai felt a bit calmer, but still out of sorts. She was reassured when Cathi nodded with a smile mean to reassure. "Those kids… I want to help them."
"You will." Cathi reassured the former Nightstalker. "Rest assured, Ai, you are getting through to them. You see them as people. Not as children who need to be wrapped in wool and protected from all harm, but as people who were badly hurt and need help to heal and grow." She looked at the floor for a moment. "Not everyone can say that. Even Jane Kelly, as exceptional as she is, has difficulty seeing them as people instead of hurt kids. Nothing against her, she simply can't see them as adults."
"It is not her fault." Ai protested but paused as Cathi nodded. "I… I just have a different view point, is all."
"No, its not her fault and to her credit? She understands her limitations and tries to work around them. Hence why you are here. You need help too, Ai and where you are, you are not going to be able to get it." Cathi was sad now, so sad.
"I…" Ai swallowed hard and then nodded. "Will I help Sam at the very least?" She went utterly still as Cathi looked away and… Was that a tiny sob? Ai jerked! She had given offense! "What? What did I say? I apologize!"
"STOP!" Cathi all but hurled the word at her and Ai froze solid as the woman glowed green for a moment. Whoever or whatever she was, angering her was likely a bad idea. The glow faded. "Just… stop. Breathe. Let me breathe. It is not your fault, Ai. It is nothing you did. I am angry, but not with you. Indeed, no one is angry with you. You did what you thought was right. That is all you ever do." Cathi took a deep breath and then she let it out slowly. "You didn't do it, Ai. The kids did to try and save you."
"WHAT?" AI all but exploded to her feet but then she took a deep breath herself and sank back to the couch. "I just… I just wanted to…" She fought the shudders that racked her and suddenly a warm mass settled beside her and had arms surrounded her as tears came. "The… No… I…"
"It is NOT your fault!" Cathi hissed into Ai's ear. "Nothing that has happened in this whole Force forsaken mess is your fault! Nothing!"
"I wasn't supposed to fight." Ai was sobbing now as the same hard arms held her. She fought her tears, but they just kept coming.
"Fighting was all you knew!" Cathi was being so patient, so kind. "From the moment you were decanted from your clone tank until the moment you died, it was all you knew. Of course you fought! I told them and told them that you would. I know soldiers. It is what you trained for, what you did! I knew what would happen the moment I saw you put on that barge. You heard the Cult was there and of course you had to stop them! It was what you did for your entire life! Stop your enemies!" The arms hugged her and Ai felt comforted, but she couldn't stop crying. "It wasn't your fault, Ai."
"What happened?" Ai begged as she fought in vain to stop her tears.
"A retcon." Cathi held Ai gently as the girl sobbed. "And no, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault." Then she sighed. "Well, except people who think crossing dimensional boundaries is a good thing, like the Cult and the XCom that you knew." Ai shook herself but the tears did not stop. "At least your people took care not to cause too much collateral damage when they jaunted across the reality barriers. Jian saw to that."
"And me coming back… did that?" AI begged through her tears which would not stop no matter how she fought. She slapped herself, but the salt water still fell. She moved to do it again, but rock hard hands grabbed her hands and held her tight. As strong as she was, this woman was stronger!
"No." Cathi corrected Ai grimly. "You dying again did."
"I…" Ai swallowed hard and then slumped. "I died? I knew it would happen. But so soon?"
"You had a heart attack." Cathi was still so gentle. "You felt another mind in yours. You had no way of knowing who it was or why it was there, so you reacted as you had been trained. You tried to set off an alarm." Ai nodded, she remembered that. "The other tried to stop you and the fight in your psyche set off a chain reaction in your body. One of many effects was that it stopped your heart."
"Who?" Ai all but begged. "I didn't know the voice."
"No one you want to know." Cathi said firmly, her disapproval clear. "She meant well, Ai. She truly did. She was keeping an eye on you, because you created ripples simply by being in the place you wound up. She did not intend this and from what I understand, she is distraught, but the fact of the matter is, you felt another mind in yours. You had dealt with mind control. You reacted as you had been trained. She tried to stop you and it killed you."
"Oh." AI said slowly as her tears finally slowed and stopped. "I… I didn't want to go. Sam, the other kids… They are such good people!"
"Yeah, well… um…" Cathi actually hemmed and hawed a bit. "It wasn't your fault."
"What did Sam and the others do?" Ai asked slowly. The arms holding Ai went still and Ai shook her head. "I am not supposed to be here if I am dead. I don't know where I am supposed to go after, but I am reasonably sure this isn't it. I can just imagine Sam's, Maya's and Mina's reactions to me dying like that."
"Alice was actually the one who wrenched you from the mind that was trying to save you." Cathi said softly. "She looks like a toddler, but she isn't one!"
"'Trying to save me'?" Ai asked, clearly unsure.
"She messed up.' Cathi said with a growl of pure annoyance. "She wasn't supposed to let you hear her! Then you flatlined and she tried to grab your soul as it fled your shell. I debriefed her, after this mess happened and she…" Cathi sighed, "She just wanted to hold you long enough to get a healer there to fix things before anything went totally off the rails. Alas…"
"Alice? The kids… Oh no…" Ai said weakly as Cathi gave her another squeeze. "I was still linked to Maya, wasn't I?" She hadn't felt Maya's mind, but the girl was deft and if she had been… If all of them had felt Ai die… 'Oh shit' didn't begin to cover that!
"You were. Maya felt your heart stop and she freaked out. No one blames her. Not at all!" Cathi's tone was flat now. "She tried to get healers to you and her kin woke up. They did not react well to you dying and less well to someone trying to steal your soul." The armored woman heaved a truly monumental sigh. "To his credit, Sam tried to stop them. He may not remember all of what he endured, but he knew it was a bad idea to stop such. XCom would have revived you and the wardens would have made sure you took no lasting hurt, but the kids were not reacting with their minds. They reacted with their hearts. They saw someone they loved in pain and being taken from them. They reacted badly."
"Wait… They are all psionic. Oh no." Ai breathed, horror rising anew. "No, no, no, no."
"Yes. They took hold of your mind and won't let go. And that brings us to the 'now'." Cathi said sadly. "You are in limbo, stuck between life and death. Time has no meaning here. The wardens and the kids are struggling to grasp hold of you. Both want to save you, but neither can trust the others." Again a huge sigh. "Much as I detest them on occasion, the wardens are not idiots. They didn't want this to happen. They have tried and are trying to explain, but the kids won't talk to them. As far the kids are concerned, the wardens killed you and an argument can made that they did."
"As powerful as the kids are, if they are contesting with the wardens of reality as I understand them now that I remember such…" Ai took a deep breath. She had been briefed on what could be done in her time jaunt and what could not be by a no nonsense sort. The guy had been quiet, calm and utterly inflexible. What had his name been? Carter? It didn't matter. "...they will lose!"
"The wardens do not want to hurt them." Cathi reassured the distraught Nightstalker. "As messed up as this situation is, such would make things far worse. The kids are needed. That said? They are putting up a hell of a fight and refuse to talk to any wardens. Hence why I am back. They do not like me and I do not like them, but I am neutral here, hence why the Lady and Alley called me in to help you get to this time. They don't trust the wardens either, with cause from what I understand."
"We have met before? I don't remember." Ai was sort of getting a feel for this. Sort it. It was all kinds of messed up.
"I don't blame you. You were an emotional wreck." Another squeeze of armored arms. "Jain was afraid this would happen. You are good at making people trust you. And no…" She said quickly when Ai tensed. "...not in any bad way. You are not a manipulator in any way outside the battlefield. You truly care. That is not common, Ai."
"Most people do not want to leave themselves vulnerable." Ai replied and felt a motion from the other she took as a nod. She didn't dare look up. "I never had any illusions about my lifespan. But I never expected it to end like this. Is that why was Alley so mad at me? Dying?"
"No. Retcons are never a good thing." Cathi replied. Ai made a quizzical noise and Cathi sighed again. "'Retroactive continuity' is the full phrase. In fiction of all sorts, a 'retcon' is a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events, typically used to facilitate a dramatic plot shift or account for an inconsistency."
"And the inconsistency is the kids fighting the wardens for my soul." Ai said slowly. "I am betting such power being thrown around is not doing good things for anyone."
"You were not supposed to die for years, Ai." Cathi said with a growl. "Sam and the others needed help. They needed it very badly."
"They still do." Ai was thinking hard now. "So, this retcon thing has happened?"
"Not yet, but it will if they don't stop…" Cathi hissed as AI nodded. "Don't you dare! You have suffered enough!"
"Sam? Get in here and bring Maya!"Ai said firmly and Cathi gasped as Sam appeared nearby, his face ashen and the tracks of tears all down his face. Maya appeared beside Sam, her own face a mask of tears. Before anyone else could speak, Ai did again. "Sam? Maya? Time out! Ten minutes." Ai felt Cathi's shock right through the armor as both kids nodded, turned to the wall and sat! Something changed but Ai ignored that as she patted the armored arm that surrounded her and slid out of it to sit a bit away from the other. She looked up and Cathi was eyeing her oddly. "Thank you." Ai said to woman in brown armor. "I needed that. To be calmer. I am."
"Ai, whatever you are going to do, don't!" Cathi hissed, but Ai was done being reactive. It was time to take the imitative again.
"I am not going to do anything." Ai retorted. "I know better. Jain? You were right. I messed it up."
"You didn't. We did. You are what you are, sister." Ai nodded as a form so like hers and yet, so different appeared nearby. Jian had been crying but she wasn't now. At the moment, Ai's elder sister wore Mega Primus XCom armor although such aesthetics meant little to wardens of reality. Jian shook her head and a single tear fell. "I had so many hopes."
"So did I." Ai rose to her feet and stepped to where Jain stood. "Can you fix this?"
"I don't know." Jian admitted, looking to where the kids sat, slowly calming in their 'punishment'. "Ryla did not mean for you to hear her. She certainly didn't mean for you to react like that." Ai looked at Cathi who shook her head. "She is beating herself up."
"Can I talk to her?" Ai asked and Jian went still. "Nothing bad, sis. She is beating herself up for nothing."
"She scared you enough that it stopped your heart, sis!" Jain protested.
"I got better." Ai quipped and Jian actually managed a laugh. Cathi made a strangled noise from where she sat and Ai shot her a quelling glance. Cathi mimed zipping her lips and Ai nodded with a smile. "Whoever, however, why-ever does not matter right now. What matters is there is a mess that needs to be cleaned up." Jian stared at her, eyeing going wide and Ai smiled, just a bit melancholy. "It is what we do, no?"
"I don't know if this can be." Jian said weakly. "I mean, others are getting the retcon all set up. No one will remember in such a case and-" She broke off as AI stepped up to her and enfolded her big sister in a hug. "Ai?"
"I assume I am not cleared for information on whoever or whatever could set up such." Ai said softly. "It doesn't matter. My life ended in Mega Primus, sister. Every moment after has been a miracle. Some more than others." She smiled at Sam who had tensed, but he relaxed visibly, still facing the wall. "Let me talk to this Ryla."
"Ooookay…." Jian said weakly even as Cathi rose from her seat to stand by the kids. Protectively?
Ai fought hard not to react as a humanoid form composed of red-orange energy appeared beside Jian. The female form was shimmering with energy that looked wrong in so many ways. Were those voices Ai heard in the background? If so, they were not human in the slightest. Something about 'Hunger' 'wrath', 'hate'. But soft, controlled for the moment.
"I am sorry!" The voice was the one that had been in Ai's mind. It came from the head of the humanoid form, but it had no lips. "I swear I didn't mean to-" She broke off as Ai held up a hand.
"Ryla, is it?" Ai asked not daring to move. Was the heat rising in here or was it just her imagination? Cathi seemed to shimmer and whatever AI was feeling faded. "You know my name. I took no offense. Of course you had to keep an eye on me. I reacted badly. It is not your fault."
"I am sorry." Ryla repeated weakly. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I didn't mean to scare you."
"You did." Ai admitted. "But this? Ryla, watching me was your job." Ai paused. Something… "How long have you been doing the job?" She asked, looking at Jian whose eyes were speculative now.
"This was my first solo operation. I have made a hell of a first impression on my new bosses, haven't I?" Ryla apparently had a self deprecating humor. Good for her.
"You broke cover when you spoke to me." Ai agreed. "And that has led to this, but…" She continued grimly when Ryla seemed to wilt. "...it is not totally your fault any more than it is mine, Sam's or Maya's. This is a mess and no mistake, but blaming others or ourselves will not fix the mess, will it?" Ryla seemed to stare at her as both Cathi and Jian did the same. "And what is important here, Warden Ryla?"
"Fixing the mess." Ryla said very softly and then she chuckled. "Oh, you and Nara would hit it right off!"
"Let's not invite Nara and Forsaken here, please?" Cathi all but begged as Jian nodded fervently.
"This is enough of a mess as it is!" Jian agreed with a grimace.
"Do I want to know?" Ai asked, half humorously. Jian and Cathi both shook their heads, but the energy woman did not. "Ryla?"
"You know…" From her tone, Ryla was clearly thinking hard, even though it was hard to tell since she didn't have a 'face' per say, just a front of her head. "Warden, Masterblade… For all of her faults, and she has many, Nara is a pilot. She and Forsaken know all about pain and messes. And... Chorus?" At that both Jain and Cathi went still. Both immediately shook their heads and the energy woman shrugged. "Just a thought."
"If those two show up, we haven't seen messes yet!" Jian said firmly but Cathi had stilled. "Masterblade…" Jian warned.
"No, we do not want a weapon like Forsaken wandering aimlessly around the system. Bad idea." Cathi agreed, but her tone was thoughtful and her gaze far away. "But… Ai and Sam use music to cope." She said slowly and Jian went still. "Chorus has its uses. Well thought, Warden Ryla." She complimented the energy woman with a nod.
"I can't stay much longer without doing damage. I apologize for frightening you, Ai." Ryla said formally.
"And I apologize for scaring you." Ai retorted and everyone but Sam and Maya stared at her. "She is a professional. She may be new, but she did the right thing." She gave Ryla a nod and the energy woman returned it. Then the red-orange form vanished. "Sam, Maya? It hasn't been ten minutes, but we need to talk."
"I…" Sam rose from his seat and paused as Ai moved to his side. She smiled at him, but then pulled Maya up right off the floor and hugged the girl tight.
"You gotta let me go, girl." Ai said softly into Maya's ear even as the girl shook her head savagely. "Maybe they can help me, maybe they can't. But you have to let me go or this will spiral out of control."
"I can't." Maya said weakly. "I just… can't…"
Ai sighed anew as she held the girl. A look at Jian and Cathi saw the same resignation on both their faces. Ai shook her head and carried Ai towards the couch.
"Come on, girl. Let's talk."