Machinations

Victor was gone again. He had waited until Jac had taken a warframe and then had turned and vanished through another of his odd portals before anyone could say anything. The Nova Prime warframe had morphed before Juil's eyes, taking the colors that the lich remembered from Jac's previous one. Juil had never imagined what Tenno had to do to shift warfames and the screams that had come from it had bothered her, but when it was done, Jac seemed none the worse for wear.

"Go back into the warframe please, Jac Friend of Esther." Juil asked as Jac worked on something at a console that showed age. "It is not safe for you to be out of it."

"And if Elizabeth did something to it?" Jac asked reasonably and Juil felt her guts clench. "I wouldn't put it past her. Can you scan it?"

"I… I guess." Juil frowned. "I don't know what I would be looking for." Code swept from her hand to the warframe and started to scan it from the bottom up.

"From what I understand, a lot of what Cyberlancers do is instinctive." Jac replied as she stepped away from the panel to look at both liches. Kol had been silent this whole time, but his hand reached down to the pouch that held his comic every so often, as if to reassure himself it was still there. "It is more about feel than knowledge." She made a face. "At last, that is what I got from listening to them talk shop."

"You lived with them?" Juil inquired carefully.

"We shared a dojo." Jac replied. She moved to the arsenal and paused, turning to look at Juil. "The other Cyberlancers really don't trust you, do they?"

"You shouldn't either." Juil admitted. "It is possible that the Queens put some kind of hidden control in all of us. I have looked. Those of us with other abilities have looked, but we are not medical people, not mental specialists. We cannot find anything, but we all worry that they put something in."

"You don't want to go back." Jac nodded. "I can't blame you for that."

"Freedom is as much a curse as a gift." Juil replied, looking away from the Tenno. "Fighting was all we knew. What we were made for. Our lives were pain, fear and hate. Then Esther came and it changed, but now? We are left directionless. She wanted us to find a better way, but I have no idea how to do that. She tried to teach me and I am not a good student. I thought we had time, even with the Queen's evil. I was wrong."

"I cannot lead you." Jac said quietly. "I have my own duties, as you have seen. He will use Elizabeth and Ess if he can to try and subvert people who knew them. Who trusted them. I have to try and stop him. He won't stop trying for the database, but now? I can fight him on even terms."

"Who is Ess?" Juil asked after a moment. "You said the name, but I do not know it. Esther mentioned Elizabeth, but no one else." She made a face. "And most of what she said comes down to 'Don't trust her'."

"Wise words." Jac frowned for a moment and then shook her head. "I lost a lot when I went into cryo after the Old War. I don't remember large chunks of when I know I was awake and fighting. That said, one thing that sticks is that Orokin were a mix. The highest overlords were evil. Their schemes, desires and emotions were the only things that mattered to them. Everyone else was beneath them, human and Grineer alike. Your people were treated very badly, but they abused everyone as they saw fit. Not all Orokin acted that way."

"She was controlled, but she said that her family were not all evil." Juil remembered and Jac nodded.

"Her mother was." Jac said flatly and Juil stilled. "Her mother tried to take power for herself, from the Emperor and others. She mind controlled people to serve her. To love her."

"Oh." Juil was not sure if rage or horror was the right response, so she kept her tone neutral.

"Her mother tried to mind control Elizabeth and the girl fled, trying to take her own life. She failed and wound up in the care of a very scary Elder Tenno." Jac smiled a little sadly. "He did the best he could for her. It wasn't his fault things turned out bad. Elizabeth lived with the Tenno for a long time. Humans don't live as long as Tenno do, but Elizabeth pushed the boundaries of what was human. Orokin did that in many ways and the Royal Family were no different. She just wasn't part of her birth family until after the Collapse."

"And Ess?" Juil inquired.

"In the Collapse, Elizabeth lost everything. Her family, her friends, her old life. And then, when she woke up, she had been dragged unknowing back to the horror that had been her earliest years." Jac was looking off into the distance now. "I think she was lonely. It is lonely at the top, when you are the only being you can truly trust." The gaze she leveled on Juil was one of understanding as Juil hissed. "So, every time Elizabeth was given a chance, she added to her family. First her daughter, then a wayward Tenno or two. You met Jesse, I understand. Jesse was one such." Juil nodded. "I was never a member of her family, but she treated me like family. Ess was another that she sort of 'adopted'. Sort of always was family and no one knew." She made a face. "Ess has problems and Elizabeth helped her. We all did, but she and Elizabeth got along well." She looked away. "At least Aerie is safe." Her words were barely audible.

"So… Is Ess some kind of heir?" If anything, Juil was even more confused. "To Orokin?"

"No." Jac reassured the lich. "Orokin is gone. The remnants at Avalon never had any intention of trying to reform the Empire. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, it was gone and good riddance. She said that often enough. Whoever survived whatever happened to Avalon will look to Elizabeth's daughter as the leader, but they likely won't come back. I got an odd message saying that Ess wasn't with them. The problem with that is that Ess…" She broke off and grimaced. "...Ess has always had problems struggling with her own mind. She is a good soul, but she is not sane."

"Do I want to know?" Juil asked, half whimsically and half worried. "From your words she is Tenno." Jac nodded. "And insane."

"Not dangerous most of the time, but yes. She is a good friend and I care for her. She bears a terrible curse that drove her mad when she was young and has survived it ever since. She is tormented, torn and broken. She has been abused by people both good and evil. We shared a common abuser." Jac said quietly and Juil felt a weight slam into her soul. Jac slumped a bit and then continued. "I wanted to help her. I still do if I can but the database has to take priority. At least now, we can look at options to deny it to our foe."

"Such a powerful weapon must be kept out of the hands of evil doers." Juil admitted and Jac looked at her oddly. Juil shrugged. "I don't want it! I have enough problems of my own."

All three of the beings in the area stilled as Juil's code flashed. She jerked and stepped to where the warframe hung. No one spoke as she scrutinized it. After a moment, she stepped back, her face thunderous. The code remained on the head of the warframe, glowing where the eyes would be on a human.

"I am guessing that is not good." Kol spoke up and both females glared at him. He shrugged. "How would I know?"

"I do not know what it is intended for, but there is something in the head of the warframe that is not like the rest of it." Juil said flatly. "It seems dormant. I cannot tell what it is, but it wasn't there before. Esther had me scan warframes and I did scan this one after she built it." She made a face. "Not that I have any idea most of what I am seeing. I read Old Orokin, but Esther drew the line at letting me learn Tenno."

"There are a lot of rules about such, some ancient and outmoded, but not all." Jac hadn't moved while Juil checked the warfame. "Knowledge is power and Tenno have hoarded such for millennia. There are many people who want to influence Tenno, for good or ill."

"True." Juil sighed. "Do you feel off?" She asked Jac who stared at her. "If this, whatever it is, activated, then it might have hurt you when you bonded to the frame."

"That is true." Jac allowed. "But if they try to co-opt me I will switch shells and they can go piss into the wind." The hate on her face shook Juil. It would not have been out of place on any low rank Grineer!

"Jac Friend of Esther, be calm. We are here to help." Juil reassured the Tenno and Jac relaxed a little.

"I… Thank you, Juil Estherai." Jac said with a sad smile. "This is hard, but I knew it would be. I need to do this and my family did not understand. I have my duty and I will do it."

"What do you mean 'switch'?" Kol inquired carefully. "Or is that a Tenno secret?" He asked when both Juil and Jac looked at him.

"It is not." Juil said and Kol stared at her. "It is not pleasant. Esther and I tried a lot of ways to free her from the Queen's controls. We failed, but I learned a lot in trying. If we took mortal wounds while slaves to the Queens, Kol, our bodies were teleported to a highly secret facility where we were rebuilt. When Esther freed us, she set up a facility of her own. To tend us, to give us what we need to make our own repairs. You know this."

"I do." Kol replied, clearly still not enlightened. "But Tenno cannot be repaired. Can they?"

"Not in the way you think." Juil was being cagey, but Jac stepped forward and laid a hand on the hulking lich's arm. "Yes?"

"It is not a secret, Juil Estherai. It is obscure, but not a secret, per say." Jac took a deep breath and spoke again. "It is also shameful, hence why many do not speak of it." Kol started to wave it off, but Jac continued. "We are different, not human. Grineer never entered the database because they were seen as lesser beings, having been created. Humans and Tenno only. Our kinds can go in because we are energy. Humans are potential energy, organic energy encased in flesh. Tenno are pure energy. The shell we wear, the shell I am wearing right now, is just that. A shell." She took her hand off of Juil's arm and patted her leg. "I feel. I hurt. But this is just a shell. If it breaks or is broken, I will go to a new one. Just like you."

"I…" Kol actually stammered, undone by the trust Jac showed him. Then, slowly and very deliberately, he bowed to her! "That is just like us! And just like us..." He said as he rose. "...if something happens to your energy in transit, you are gone." Jac nodded and Kol stared at her. Then his face hardened. "Not on my watch!"

"Thank you." Jac said with a sigh. "That means more than you can know. Esther wanted better for you, better for us than to be cogs in a machine destined to keep us all in conflict with one another. Grineer fighting Tenno, fighting Corpus, fighting Infested, fighting whoever. Fighting is all that Tenno have known since the beginning of our history, but for most of that, it was directed at the Technocyte Virus alone. Your people were literally made to serve and then later to fight and die for the golden overlords. We Tenno evolved, but then the Orokin did what they did and tried to make slaves of us."

"That…" Juil and Kol chorused. Then both stilled and smiled the same hard, cold smile. Juil continued. "That is why Tenno destroyed Orokin!"

"Yes. Esther never told you?" Jac asked, curious.

"We were mostly focused on the 'now'." Juil admitted, a little sheepish. "Ancient history was fascinating, but the problems of the modern world dwarfed it generally."

"Don't let Krisil hear that!" Kol actually shuddered and Juil nodded. 'When Jac looked at the male lich, he scoffed. "Krisil is our historian, such as he is. He focuses on that and will talk your ear off for hours."

"Days." Juil interjected.

"I know the type." Jac's face fell. "I don't know if Cecelia was on Avalon when it fell or not, but she was the same way." She gave herself a shake. "Check the other warframes? I will see about disposing of this one."

"I can handle that, Operator." All three jumped as Ordis spoke up for the first time in a while. "Apologies. I have been thinking."

"No apology necessary, Ordis." Jac reassured the Cephalon. "I didn't mean to ignore you."

"The less ripples the better." Ordis said and everyone stopped. "You straddle a hard path, Tenno Jac. There are rules for a reason."

"That is why I really need to find Ess." Jac agreed. "When Victor showed up, called by Elizabeth's distress apparently, he introduced himself. It was a hell of a shock. He said he had the warden's permission to be here as long as he didn't make too much of a mess. But I cannot talk to them without Ess. I do not know if he is telling the truth or not."

"Lies are generally beneath him." Kol said flatly and both females stared at him. "If he is who he seems, then he is one of the most powerful people where he comes from. Ruler, scientist, magician, diplomat and dictator, he was and is the ultimate bad guy. So… to have him here, acting like this… This is not good."

"Lorinos Orokin had allies." Jac said quietly. "One of whom rescued him from the prison he was trapped in. Another must have allowed the Sentients access to Avalon. The defenses there should have held off even them. The only way in…" She broke off as Juil made a noise of understanding.

"...was if someone shut off the defenses." Juil said finished the thought, her eyes hooded. "Was this some kind of inside job?"

"It had to be." Jac replied. "The defenses there were unreal. It was the Emperor's hideaway! It had everything you can imagine and many things I sincerely hope you cannot. That I wish I had never seen. The archives alone were massive and their loss will be felt. They couldn't do much, but they did help. They even helped Grineer and Corpus occasionally."

"You are joking!" Juil did not quite spit that. Jac shook her head and Juil stared at her. "Why?"

"If I may, Operator?" Ordis asked diffidently and Jac nodded. "Maintaining the status quo was always the primary function of the Royal Family. Under Orokin, if one faction got too powerful, their enemies often found themselves empowered in some odd, clandestine way. No agents or agencies were ever seen or heard, but their actions were felt."

"True. At least until things got really bad and then the Marines went in and if they failed?" Jac might have been a statue now. "Tenno appeared and did things. Often odd things, but always messy things. That said? The one thing that every Orokin was forbidden to do, on pain of death no matter their caste, was try and breach the barrier around our reality. Anyone caught doing such was put to death. Period."

"Really?" Juil questioned and Jac nodded.

"Tenno and Orokin had rules and laws to keep their societies in check. Some were based on common sense, others on maintaining fear." Jac sighed deeply. "The highest caste were generally above such silliness as rules and Tenno often ignored rules to get their work done, but there was one rule that no one broke. One that was inviolate. At least, until the Collapse." She blew out a deep breath. "I get that survival will always trump morals, but if they did? It was insane."

"How many knew the rule existed?" Kol asked and Jac looked at him. "After all, what we see is pretty much what most would know, true?"

"That…" Jac paused and then frowned. "Perception. That is a very good point. Most wouldn't have a clue. 'I' know it existed because of a couple of messes that I heard about. Messes that my former clan were instrumental in helping fix. Before that? I don't think I ever paid any mind to it, not even in training with Nikis." She gave herself a shake. "That is a thought, but for later. For now? I need another warframe and to get rid of this one."

"How do you 'get rid' of a warframe?" Juil asked, not sure she wanted to know. The lich had seen Esther collect parts for several in her time with the fallen Tenno. Warframes defined the word 'durable' and were hard to construct. Nothing in the modern world had any way of making the biotech machines.

"Not in any normal way." Jac replied and then paused. No, she froze! Utterly still. Juil and Kol tensed, but then Jac smiled. The expression was odd, both tender and sad. "And I just heard from an old friend who can help with such."

"And you trust this 'friend'?" Juil inquired.

"With my life and my death." Jac replied and turned to step deeper into the orbiter. Both liches hurried to follow and found Jac up against a door that had remained sealed when they had investigated the area. The lights around the door were all red and it looked 'wrong' in some odd way. It had been locked when Juil had checked it and her code hadn't been up to opening it, but Jac just rapped once on the door and spoke aloud. "I hope you don't mind that I brought guests."

The door opened to a flash of power and then horror. Juil and Kol both recoiled at the sight of Infestation all over the area behind the door! But that paled beside what stood from a horrific looking chair to move to the door! What was that on the wall behind the chair? A malignant plant growth? A huge mouth? Both?

"I don't." The white Nidus warframe bowed to Jac. "Hello, Jac." Jac returned the bow and her smile was wide.

"Hello, Karl."