A shared mind is never a quiet one.
Even though you're sure the divide is at least ninety-five percent you, you can always feel her there, floating within this space. The link that joins you lets you control her as if moving your own body, something that's become second nature by now.
But no matter how high the sync rate, that number to you is never a hundred percent.
She is always here.
You suppose that's why you are a little distracted during your mission. Sure, you and your doppelgangers shoot down the Corpus crewmen with little difficulty, and Lotus is almost done extracting the information she needs.
But you can't help but glance at Limbo every now and then.
You nearly miss a MOA sneaking up on you.
And you say sneaking, but really it's shrieking and running, and you somehow didn't notice.
By the time you aim your guns at it, it's been frozen in space and fizzling as a dome of white and blue comes up around you.
"You alright there?" he asks over the comms.
"I'm fine." you say, as a well-placed bullet drops the MOA to the ground in a pile of fried circuits.
You feel another prod. And you look at him again.
He's lowering his gun as he wanders towards you, dispersing the dome.
"You sure you're alright?"
You spot some movement just behind him, and you lean a little to your left to shoot a Corpus tech trying to sneak up on him.
"I'm fine. We have a mission to complete."
Excellent work, Tenno, we've got all the data now. Head to extraction.
"Right on time." he says, and you picture a smirk in his voice.
He does have a rather nice voice, magnetic and smooth and proper, but with dips and faded bits, a product of speaking through the frame, no doubt.
You wonder what his operator sounds like.
"It's been a pleasure working with you." He says, bowing and tipping his hat, stopping you just before you get onto your ship.
"It has." you say, smiling a little despite yourself.
"If you ever need my assistance, please feel free to call. I do enjoy our little adventures."
You nod, watching him step into the launch door. "I'll see you around."
As you watch his ship depart and you step into your own orbiter, you wonder what happened.
The distractions are so unlike you. Your training made you focused - excised the part of you that felt pity or sadness when you killed something. It was just a movement, fluid and practiced and smooth. You reach for your gun, you aim, you pull the trigger.
You've run these missions dozens of times. How could this be different?
A voice chimes in. Operator? Ordis wonders…what are you thinking about?
You don't respond. Brushing it off could be the best course of action for now.
But of course just as you think this, you feel another nudge. It has the sensation of someone smiling and shaking their head.
This was simply a conundrum.
This damned thought has occupied most of your mind space for the past hour and made you nearly walk into your various equipment when you paced around your ship.
No, scratch that, you did walk into the foundry's worktable and knock over your pile of tools. And you just grumbled silently and picked them up (while a wind chime laugh twinkled in the recesses of your mind).
Not funny… you think back, and the laugh seems to get a little louder.
The pacing continues. And you're torn between unlinking from your frame for some privacy or just thinking loudly until she responds with something that isn't laughter.
So far she's just been giving you nudges that feel like she's smirking. And it isn't helping you with this problem.
In fact, why are you thinking so hard on this? This isn't really that much of a problem. It's nothing compared to the Grineer hordes chasing you or the Corpus' attempts at gunning you down or even the threat of a sentient invasion. This is minuscule in comparison.
Because the 'big problem' is just wondering whether to ask Limbo to join you on Earth.
You were looking for a partner to complete a bounty with you, and you thought his skills would be very helpful. It's only been two days since you last saw him.
You can feel her giggle again, just as you feel another pulse in your chest.
Fuck it. You head to navigation, selecting Limbo's contact along the way.
"Mirage? So nice of you to call. Did you miss me already?" he jests, and you can hear the grin in his voice.
"I need a partner for a bounty on Cetus, care to join me?" you ask, then realising you added a flirty lilt to your voice.
"Gladly."
"I'm on my way there. Can we meet in a few hours?"
"I can be there in two."
He arrives in exactly an hour and fifty-seven minutes. And finds you standing at Nakak's stall, watching the girl try to sell some young boys an Excalibur mask. He slips into place beside you, hands clasped behind his back.
"Shall we?" he asks, cape billowing a little in the gentle breeze.
"Let's go." you reply, and catch yourself using that flirty tone again.
There's a pulse again. And you can feel Mirage's heart begin to thump harder in her chest.
You have to stop a moment to force it to settle down.
"What's the matter?" he asks, voice just barely tinged with worry.
"It's nothing, let's head out." you reply, and continue heading for the plains.
There doesn't seem to be other Tenno around today. You're alone with Limbo this time, though you do pass Zephyr on the way out. She's just wandering the streets, just looking at the fabric stretched overhead.
You head to the huge gates. You enjoy stepping through the double doors, the grandiose thing. It feels so ceremonial, like you're a special hunting party or an expedition heading out, ready for adventure.
The outer door greets you, and you both unholster your guns.
The countdown begins, and you take a last glance at Limbo, just in time to see him look away from you.
Why would he-
Hold that thought, the doors are open.
You both sprint and leap into the midday sun, out amongst the tall grasses and rolling hills.
A sea of pale brown and terracotta awaits you. And you hear Konzu's voice over your comms, directing you to a Grineer encampment about three hundred meters north-west.
With azure skies above you both dart past a series of rock outcroppings, jumping and spinning past a small lake, catching a glimpse of the shimmering waters.
You head over a small hill and find the entrance to a cave, barely hidden amongst the stone.
The doors don't seem to be guarded for now, and you both dash in.
You look into the cave system, and with a last look at each other you step forward.
You take your first positions.
And so the dance begins, twirling around each other like streamers, with the sparks of gunfire and the glow of energy to light your way.
After a few more Grineer are downed, you hear it, the laughter in the back of your mind slowly growing louder. It bubbles and surges within your throat and you try and cough a little to suppress it.
The laugh grows into a cackle and it echoes around your head, like light bouncing off mirrors.
You're used to this. Your silence and her amusement.
Though there's something else there. If you weren't so used to the laughter you might have missed it, this tiny flash of emotion.
It feels… fragile. Like a gilded jewelled statuette. Despite the hordes coming at you you manage to look at it. A blip of what feels like a pounding heart, and a suppressed urge to turn around.
Oh. Not again…
You don't look this time, and suddenly the urge to look gets stronger. There are at least a dozen Grineer charging at you, this distraction is most unwelcome.
Don't look.
You can hear the sounds of his shotgun going off behind you, just over the staccato of your own twin pistols.
Don't look.
You can't look. You don't know why Mirage wants you to, one of her tricks maybe? Not likely. She knows better than to do this on a mission. But the feeling in your chest is growing stronger, the prodding from her getting more incessant.
So you give in. You look.
And your jaw nearly drops.
You see Limbo, mid-float behind you. As if time slows to a trickle you watch as he tears the planes apart, unleashing a dome of rift energy, white with faint streaks of blue. You watch as he lands back on his feet, proud and elegant, watching as the Grineer fall upon making contact with the dome. You watch as he takes down the Lancer that made it through with a good shot to the chest.
He looks amazing.
You feel your heart pounding loud in your chest, a steady beating drum. You feel… something at the back of your mind. A feeling of something swelling like the crest of a wave, and then collapsing into a sigh.
Oh. Oh no.
You know this feeling.
The feeling of butterflies and the sighs of longing, the racing heart and the flood of thoughts.
Oh, Mirage. You love him.
You think back on it in your orbiter later on.
The feeling is an odd one. Made even stranger by the knowledge that it's not even you. You feel the effects of her longing, you hear her sighs and fake shy giggles, you feel her heartbeat loud in your shared body.
You didn't realise frames could feel like this too.
Honestly, the only reason you could recognise this is from your rather pathetic week-long crush on Esperus. And that was a long time ago, during your first days in your frame.
You remember that. A little flash of memory.
A silly girl then, how old were you? You don't recall. But you vaguely remember the Orokin training room, sparring with the other Tenno, practicing controlling your frames. You remember white walls with lines of gold, and a floor of slightly padded grey.
You remember seeing him. The pale brooding boy, him with his slightly regal voice and his roguish charm. In his frame his voice took on a slightly raspy edge, you remember thinking it was cool.
You were brought in with some others, and took turns sparring with each other. You remember getting pinned to the mat by the dark haired boy with darker eyes, and his voice saying: "Sorry… pushed too hard."
They had… something like the transference pods then, by the sparring ring. They never told you what those were, you just remember being told to step inside, and you remember closing your eyes, and opening them in another body.
You remember seeing Esperus step into the pod across from you. And you saw Loki's frame awaken.
That was the start of it. You remember that. You also remember giving up six days later, when you saw two others in an embrace being broken apart by your overseers.
You still wonder how long Mirage has felt like this. You don't recall- no wait. You do.
You remember your first mission with Limbo. One of your first few out of rehabilitation training. You remember the sudden intake of breath when he first walked towards you with Volt. You remember brushing it off as nervousness.
The shy giggling started on your second mission together, just the two of you. You somehow thought it was Mirage just being herself.
Operator, the system needs you. Will you begin another mission?
You do.
You go it alone for a few days, just running through your missions - some Lotus gave you, some you went for yourself. You did need more weapon components. And things calmed down for the most part. Mirage stopped poking and prodding you. How could she, when there was no one else to look at?
You even run a mission with Khora, finally getting to see her in action.
She was good, and fast. Her whip charged the air around you when she struck something, and you could feel it like static pricking your skin.
It's a good distraction, nice to have a clear - well, mostly clear - mind.
And then one week later you get a transmission.
Operator, you have a new transmission from Limbo. Would you like me to play it?.
"Yes."
Immediately you feel her prodding, your heart racing.
"Hello, Mirage." he says as the holoscreen comes up, and you see him tip his hat at you.
"Hey there." you respond, again with the flirty tone, that should probably stop.
"I have to make a few runs to Pluto, I have some materials I need to find. I could use a partner?"
You smile despite yourself, and you feel another sigh. "Sure."
"Excellent! I'll meet you there."
Mirage needs to stop distracting you.
But at the same time, you find this… sad.
She's a frame, she won't be able to tell him, nor will she be able to act on it. All she can do it think loudly enough for you to know. For you to bring her to work with Limbo, run the missions with him.
You don't even know if the other frames have the same sentience that Mirage does. Or if they 'speak' to you like she does. Do they feel the blips and prods too? Or is there just silence?
You can't say.
You don't know what to say.
It takes a few missions with him to realise that you are doing this for her. You accept mission after mission with him so that she may be close to him. On the tiny chance that he'll reciprocate. You wonder if she knows you do this out of pity.
There's a connection each operator has with their frame. You're sure of it. Something that ties each pair together, a perfect match, something that prevents each frame from being used by anyone else.
It's that connection that lets you feel for her, as you're sure she feels for you.
That's why you're pairing up with Limbo so often. It's just for her.
Even though Limbo - or actually, his operator - is becoming more and more of a friend to you. Even though you have accidentally neglected sleep just to talk to him over your comms. He's funny, he's clever and witty, and he has a rather nice laugh. And you don't know what he looks like.
That doesn't matter though, you think to yourself. This isn't for you, it's for her.
It's just for her.
There he was.
The one she loved.
Him with his bright blue and dazzling black. You watched him dance through the crowd of infested, all grasping, all clawing, eternally hungry, their madness left them hollow.
And you watch them being cut down by slashes of a sword. Spilling their muddied blood on the ground below. You watched him swap to a shotgun in one fluid movement and take down two more leaping down from the branches above.
You feel a pulse where her heart would be, and a surge of feeling washes through you. You swear that somewhere in your head you hear the echoes of a sigh.
You rolled out of the way in time for two of the creatures to slam into each other, doing a quick spin to shoot them both down. A quick reload later, and you were back on your feet.
The Lotus' voice calls out through your comms. Head to extraction.
And you two run. You head up the ramp and through a cave system, with a series of infested runners chasing you. A leap, and they are far behind. Another leap, and you don't see them anymore.
As you step onto the landing platform, a little breathless and smiling. You feel a tug as he takes your hand.
He bows, tips his hat, and steps up to his ship.
You feel another pulse, but this time, you aren't quite sure if it's just your frame's anymore.
Later in your ship you think on it in your quarters, Mirage standing watch outside your door. And you look at a hologram, one that was taken by Ordis, the silly thing, while he was monitoring you on a mission.
You look at him again. Him and you. Him with his blade through a Grineer's chest and you tossing a prism through a doorway.
A pulse. A sigh. And you know you've fallen too.
