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- Chapter 1 -

Interview / Awakening

"What is your name?"

"Manmi."

A large blueish-grey hologram floated in the air before the young woman. Its entire form was that of a large cube flanked by smaller cubes. The cubes floated in a pattern that Manmi could not clearly identify, posturing themselves thoughtfully. As if pondering the small human's answer, her presence, and her very existence.

"Manmi… what?"

The young woman looked straight forward, arms behind her back and legs together in a regal stance. She had been led here by a friend and intended to answer the Cephalon's questions as honestly as she could. Unfortunately, some parts of her memory had yet to recover. Whatever The Corpus had done to her was still preventing her from recalling parts of her past. Parts of her identity.

"Unknown, ma'am." Manmi said. Normally she would cringe at not being able to give a more helpful answer, but it was easy for her to keep her nerve when talking to a Cephalon. Something about their analytical tone of voice and lack of judgement. There were no eyes peering at her. No pressure. No presence.

"Hmm, fascinating." Suda said, "Tell me what you do remember. Start from the beginning."

"The beginning?" Manmi asked, "My childhood?"

"No," Suda said, "I have ample data on the Zariman Ten Zero to categorize. We will revisit that another time. What do you remember from waking up after the Old War? This is new information."

"Waking up…" Manmi repeated, trying to get her thoughts in a row and reaching back into her memories. "I remember… smoke. Bright flashes of light. Energy weapons. I was in a… container?"

"A cryopod perhaps?" Suda offered, "Those have been surfacing in greater numbers lately."

"Yes, a cryopod." Manmi said, "I was put in-"

"I know why you were placed in cryostasis, Tenno. What happened when you were awoken?"

"Apologies." Manmi said with a slow nod of her head, "An alarm woke me up first. The cryopod power was failing. There was shooting going on around the outside. Then I went back into stasis. When I woke up next, I was on a table…"

Dark green eyes slowly opened, resisting the fatigue of mind and body that demanded they remain shut. Curiosity kept her awake as she slowly turned her head from one side to another. The room was slightly obscured by her Zariman suit, but that was a small comfort for her. That it was still on gave her a sense of security. That was a much needed feeling since her surroundings were far from comforting.

It appeared to Manmi that she was in a medical facility of some sort. Her movement was restricted; flexing her arms and her legs yielded no results as powerful metal bands on her wrists and ankles prevented her from budging even slightly. She could not even lift her head; a collar around her neck allowed for some turning but that was it. The motion in the room was by three automatons that looked strange and yet familiar in design; something new forged from something old? She could not place it, but they appeared to be trying to find non-destructive ways to cut through her suit.

When she began to move the machines had immediately ceased their actions and backed away. A fourth machine hovered into view; a platform projecting a hologram. A man's face with more eyeliner than should be legal and… was that a painted-on mustache? Manmi was not entirely sure what she was seeing. There was too much going on for her to keep up.

"Praise the Void!" the hologram said, its enthusiasm almost sickening to the confused Tenno, "The Tenno lives! I was worried the doctors would have to force their way through that remarkable suit of yours to make sure you were all in one piece. Dreadful about the forced decryostasis you had to go through."

"Decryo… what?" Manmi asked, her words slightly slurred as muscles she had not used in a millenia struggled to keep pace with her overstimulated mind.

"By the Void it was a nasty business. Your cryopod was found by one of our crewmen during a routine scan of a shipping lane, but when it was logged a Grineer freighter came snooping around for it. One thing led to another and before ya know it there was a firefight at Tesera Outpost! You cost us quite a lot of assets, but I am certain you'll be able to more than make up for the investment we made by saving your life. OH! On that note, don't-"

Manmi had stopped listening to the face ramble as she tried to escape. If she could not pull herself free of the gurney, she would break free of it with Vauban. She closed her eyes and focused on her connection to her Warframe, on the Transference and the Somatic Link. But as soon as she did she felt a sharp, burning pain shoot into her neck and travel down her spine. Every nerve ending in her body fired at once in pain the likes of which Manmi had neer experienced.

"AHHHH!" Manmi screamed as her body convulsed and her vision blanked out. The pain lasted only a few seconds, but those seconds felt like forever. She laid still for a moment before realizing she had stopped breathing and gasped for air. The first thing that Manmi saw when her sight returned was the face shaking from side to side while making a 'tisking' sound.

"So impatient! Remember Tenno, you are now an official Investment of the Corpus. We can't have you vanishing out of here, so we fixed a little accessory to you. Any attempt to use the Void in an unwholesome manner will have certain repercussions. But let's not dwell on that; let's rejoice in your awakening! Now we can take you to some place more comfortable for your recovery."

The hologram moved away and Manmi felt a release of the tension on her limbs. She lifted her arm and saw the metal cuff still around it. Before she could think about moving anything else her arm whipped to the side without her will and the thin metal band clanged against a gloved hand of someone in a technical jumpsuit. Manmi was quickly 'helped' off of the gurney by the force of one person and an identically clad other. Were they people though? She could not be sure; she saw no skin on them; just plain bulky jumpsuits with metal hands, boots, and covered heads.

"Crewmen! Take our Investment to Cell 7226," the hologram said before blinking off. Manmi was dragged out of the medical ward and into a narrow hallway. They did not move so fast that she could not keep herself on her own two feet, but they did not give her enough time to ever actually catch her balance. Her legs were hard to move as her motor skills were still rebooting and she stumbled and fell when she was released from the crewmens' grip into a small room with a bed and a light.

Manmi crawled up onto the bed and rolled herself into a sitting position as she looked around. A lot had just transpired that she was confused by. A few words stuck out in her recent memory; 'cryosleep' and 'Corpus'. She needed tie to think. Fortunately, it appeared she would have plenty of that.

"Hello there!" a chipper voice came from the walls around her. Manmi jumped to her feet out of reflex but immediately regretted it as she fell to the floor again.

"Oooo…. You should probably not do that for a little bit. Your body is still waking up! We can do some light exercises from the floor if you're more comfortable there though!" the chipper woman's voice said.

"Who are you?" Manmi asked as she worked to crawl back onto the bed.

"Amita!" the voice answered. A red glow appeared at the four corners of the ceiling of Manmi's room and a pinkish collection of geometric lines formed in the air in front of her. A small red pyramid that continuously folded in upon itself surrounded by the undulating lines of a four-dimensional cube in motion. "Your personal security Cephalon! Well I say 'personal' but I'm in charge of all of the prisoners in the 7,000 block! But you're the only prisoner here now so let's just say I'm your personal Cephalon for now!"

"Prisoner?" Manmi asked, "But that guy said I was an Investment?" As she said this Manmi realized that it sounded stupid, but her brain was still playing catch up to the real world.

"Hahaha, yes, that's Nef for you. He's a little eccentric. But I assure you that you are most definitely a prisoner. And it's my job to make sure you stay sane and stay fit while in confinement. So! If I say 'pretty please' will you extend your legs out in front of you and try to touch your toes?"

At the moment, Manmi did not want to do any stretches or exercise. She had experience with Cephalons before and vaguely recalled that it was not going to benefit her much if she tried to refuse. With a million questions in her head, Manmi proceeded to follow Cephalon Amita's instructions.