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- - - - Chapter 4 - - - -

Interview / / / / Relay

"Bobo and I made it safely to Fortuna without too much trouble." Manmi said, shifting her weight slightly. Standing for so long was starting to tire her, but she felt like it would be inappropriate to slouch or pace. The constant stream of hazy figures running in and out of view in the middle distance all around her was also unnerving. Did they see her hazy form? Did any of them make multiple trips and recognize that someone was just standing around? Was this unusual? All of them were very uncomfortable thoughts. Suda did not notice or did not care about Manmi's mood or comfort though.

"That implies there was some trouble." Suda said, her holographic form pulsing softly with light as she spoke, her voice coming from all directions at once.

"I… fell off the board at one point." Manmi hesitated to answer, looking down as she felt the sting of embarrassment heat her neck and tense her jaw, "It was when he took the turn by the lake; he went up on a rail and I was not ready for the sudden movement and I fell off and rolled through the snow a few meters. He came back and picked me up before another Corpus patrol got too close."

"The Ventkids seem rather reliable," Suda said, "Perhaps I should consider extending communication to them to acquire their services. Continue; what happened after you made it to Fortuna?"

"Boon was waiting for us by the entrance; he'd seen my fall and was amused. They showed me into Fortuna and took me to someone named Smokefinger; he saw the binds on me and offered to cut them off." One of Manmi's hands went up to her neck, now free of the metal collar that had been there since she woke up, "The first thing I did when they were off was try Transference, but it didn't work. I've been separated from Vauban too long." The realization of that had hurt back in Fortuna, but saying it aloud made it feel more real, and more painful.

"After that the Ventkids took me to their hideaway while we waited for Little Duck to check in on Blister. They insisted I practice my balance on a K-Drive using a system they had rigged together to let them board in place in the confined space. I was with them for about an hour before Little Duck came back. She told me that Blister was going to be fine and that she had found someone to get me off of Venus."

"Did they repair the cargo ship?"

"No, there was another Tenno there."

Riding along in a landing craft brought back a lot of memories for Manmi. Memories of war, of combat, of victories and narrow escapes. Her fingers twitched in the passenger seat as muscle memories woke up and her desire to pilot the craft wormed its way through her mind. The scenery around her was somewhat familiar, but the small details were off. Gaudy bright colors on every surface, floofs and decorations shoved into every nook and cranny; it was very cluttered.

Cluttered and uncomfortably quiet.

Little Duck had introduced Manmi to Estella by way of the Warframe that she was operating. Now she was seated close by Estella's Warframe in the small landing craft. Not Estella herself; no she was safely aboard an Orbiter on the far side of Venus at the moment. Estella's Warframe was a fleshy bipedal mass of Infected. Manmi had never seen a Nidus Warframe before and it made the small hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Estella was focused on flying the landing craft and said nothing, so Manmi was quiet as well, but the pulsing red veins on the greyish-brown bits made her feel even more uneasy than normal.

She was glad when they finally landed at Vesper Relay. Like the landing craft, stepping foot on the landing pad filled her with memories. Squads forming battle plans, wounded being carried to-and-fro. Like the landing craft, things were different. Warframed were running this way and that, but none of them looked wounded. There was a certain joviality to many of their movements. A freedom Manmi had not seen in a long time.

"This way," Estella said, her voice somewhat deepened and harsh coming from the Nidus Warframe. Manmi knew where to go; the layout of the landing pad was very familiar to her, but she did not want to act like a know-it-all to someone who had been kind enough to get her off of Venus and away from the Corpus. It had been a long day and she was not going to let her tired attitude make a bad first impression.

Manmi followed the Nidus through the entrance and into the north wing of the relay. She was taken first to Mission Control where the Nidus showed her the current operations of Tenno across the system. They then went to the Conclave where Manmi was shown the in-depth training simulations that the Tenno competed in. Both places were familiar to her, but Manmi was surprised by the extent to which the Tenno had gotten reengaged with the solar system after their long sleep; and the current lack of coherence among them.

She contemplated asking Estella about this but decided not to. She was already feeling out of the loop and thought that Estella seemed a little upset that she was having to show her around. Little Duck had told the other Tenno to give Manmi a tour, which was a nice gesture but Manmi already knew her way around. This place had not changed all that much. So Manmi opted to stay quiet and pay attention to what the Nidus was showing her and saying, nodding attentively at times like when they crossed the main concourse where other Warframes and non-Tenno were interacting in many ways; trading, talking, generally socializing around the massive statue of Rhino with cascading water all around.

As they went up the stairs towards the east wing of Vesper Relay, the Nidus Warframe pointed in the opposite direction and said, "That is the west wing. We're not going there because I am not on good terms with either the New Loka or Perrin Sequence syndicates."

"What are they?" Manmi asked, "The syndicates, I mean?"

"Factions of influence in the solar system who have ideological differences among each other," Estella answered, her voice flat and making Manmi feel like she had asked a stupid question, "I worked with Cephalon Suda and the Arbiters of Hexis a few too many times for the others to be comfortable with, it seems. And since they cannot take their frustrations out on each other, they take them out on Tenno like us."

"Cephalon Suda?" Manmi asked, a spark in her eyes and a bit more excitement in her voice. She enjoyed talking to Cephalons; it was easier than talking to other Tenno.

"Yes, she is through these doors," Estella said, gesturing for her, "If you wish to speak with her go ahead; she is always welcoming to new sources of information."

"I think I will," Manmi said, taking a few steps towards the door.

"Farewell," Estella said, walking away without breaking stride. Manmi hesitated, wishing to thank her but then thought she waited too long and it would seem weird if she ran after her to catch up. Instead she decided to walk into Suda's enclave.

"And that is how you got here, now." Cephalon Suda said, getting a nod of affirmation from Manmi, "You have had an eventful day, by organic standards, and there are a lot of recent events that you have yet to be informed of."

"What do I need to know?" Manmi asked.

"Another time. I have other things to attend to, but I invite you to return tomorrow or another time at your earliest convenience. I want to know more about your original training as a Tenno."

"I shall return," Manmi said, bowing her head before backing away. When she was far enough that the datascape of Suda vanished from around her and she was once again in the small enclave, where some of Cephalon Suda's assistants were discussing things with garishly decorated Warframes, Manmi turned and exited back out into the east wing. She looked left and then right as she tried to get her bearings. She knew where she was, but not what to do or where to go. From the unexpected escape in the morning to her adventure in Orb Vallis to her brief tour here and her extensive interview with Cephalon Suda Manmi had been too distracted to realize the one biggest problem for her; she did not know anyone.

The realization hit her like a ton of bricks and Manmi felt a sudden emptiness in her chest. An absence that somehow weighed more. A hollow mass. A black hole. A void that needed something. It left Manmi aimless for a moment. Aimless and uncomfortable. She grasped for the only thing that she knew at that moment; a small datacube in a pocket on her Zarimon suit. She slid her thumb across a recessed control and the small red cube began to glow with a purplish light as inner workings powered up.

"Hi again!" Amita said, a miniaturized version of her holographic display projecting above the cube in Manmi's palm, "So! Am I going to get a new ship? I can't wait to try flying again!"

"Not right now," Manmi said, "I'll try to, but I don't even know where to start."

"Welllllllllllllllllll let's start by figuring out where we are! I take it we made it off Venus?"

"Yeah," Manmi said, walking down the stairs back into the concourse, looking up from the hologram from time to time to avoid bumping into any of the Warframes milling about. "We're on Vesper Relay, in orbit around Venus."

"Yay!" Amita cheered, her inverted pyramid expanding to momentarily absorb the four-dimensional cubes, "Is the ship I crashed getting repaired?"

"Maybe," Manmi said, "But if it is I think Little Duck is going to keep it. We got a lift here by another Tenno."

"Oooo! Did you make a new friend? Can you introduce me?"

"I, er, don't think she liked me," Manmi said, walking up to a mid-level platform in the concourse to tuck herself into a small alcove in the wall.

"Aww, why would you think that? Who couldn't like you?"

"I don't know," Manmi said, leaning against the wall, "Her Warframe was kind of creepy but she just seemed really quiet. I didn't know what to say and it was awkward."

"You should go find her!" Amita said, "We could-"

"I think I need to sit for a little while," Manmi said, sliding down the wall until she was seated on the floor, "I'm really tired."

"Oh I bet you are!" Amita chirped, "Twelve hours ago you were doing your morning calisthenics! Your entire life… oh!" She noticed that Manmi's head had tilted slightly, and even though she could not see through the red and orange hood of the Zarimon suit it was quite apparent to her that Manmi had nodded off. "We can keep talking later."