Scum

There was no answer to Eliza's call and she called again.

You told me never to come back, but an innocent soul needs help. My family hurt her! Not for me! For her! Help, please?

The was no warning as incredible power grabbed hold of all of them and pulled them into another reality. The power was yellow. Then, they stood on a metal deck. The walls around them were metal. Odd. High tech, but not. Shiny nanotech mixed with incredibly primitive decorations. A symbol shone in places, but the writing on it was hard to make out. Something about '-gilo conf-'? It was crowded with boxes and what looked like military supplies. The area they landed in was lit, the rest of it was dark.

"You move, you die." A cold, clear voice sounded and everyone stared as woman in dark green, formfitting armor stepped into view. The woman had a sword strapped across her back and a shotgun like weapon in her hands that looked far too sleek and far too alien to be of human manufacture. Was that a baseball cap on her head over the odd visor thing that shielded her face? "She won't talk to you. She warned you not to come back if you betrayed us. Which is what you did."

"Colonel? Oh no. I..." Eliza held out empty hands as Falcon's warframe fell to the deck to lie still. "I surrender."

"You did not just say that, you lying piece of scum!" The woman snapped as she took aim at Eliza. Sera and Lilly both bristled, but Eliza shook her head.

"Stand down, the both of you. I earned her wrath and the Lady's." Eliza said softly. "Falcon is the important one here. Not me."

"You left us to die." The one she called Colonel said with a growl that matched Eliza's previous anger!

"I couldn't stay here, Colonel!" Eliza all but begged. "I tried to leave you a way out! I did! It didn't work?" She begged.

"No." The Colonel all but threw that word at Eliza. "It didn't work. You promised us help and it did not come! You left us to die."

"If they didn't come, then yes." Eliza bowed her head. "Yes, I did." She looked away. "Do with me what you will, Colonel, but this one is innocent. The Lady can save her from my family's evil. I cannot. My own self, my own fate is meaningless."

"She won't talk to you." The Colonel snarled. "Go away! Fade out! Do whatever the hell you do. You are a liar. It is what you do."

"It wasn't a lie, Colonel." Eliza slowly sank to her knees beside the still Revenant. "I did want to help. I did help."

"Yeah." The Colonel snort. "The mission was done. It just cost us five lives. You earned our trust and then stabbed us in the back. You got what you wanted and then left us hanging. Well done. Go away." Madness shone in her eyes as she took careful aim at Eliza. Both warframe bristled, but the Lotus spoke first.

"What did she do?" The Lotus asked. The Colonel did not move, did not shift her aim. "I know this woman well. She can be incredibly pragmatic, but that does not sound like her usual methods. What happened?"

"I needed access to a file that was buried inside a heavily fortified base." Eliza said very softly. "I couldn't ghost in. The defenses were too strong. I needed help. I sought the help. They needed something from the base too, so I suggested we work together. We did. The mission went bad."

"I will say! You cost Jack and Aroa their lives. My two didn't make it either. Only I got out and just barely." The Colonel snapped and Eliza bowed her head. "Alley will rip you to pieces slowly if she sees you. The rest of the nest likewise!"

"You had the information! The cure!" Eliza begged. "I knew you did! We got it! I left you all a way out! Why didn't you extract?"

"WE WAITED FOR YOU!" The colonel screamed that. "We were not going to leave you behind! And instead? You left us!" She calmed a little. "You left us hanging. We waited until the extraction absolutely had to go and then Jack was hit. Killed instantly. Aroa would not leave him and then she was hit and we could not leave her! We missed our extraction and you are the cause-"

"That is not what happened." Eliza interrupted her very softly and the Colonel scoffed.

"I was there!" The Colonel said with a growl and then she gasped as the world shifted. "What are you doing?"

"Eliza! No!" The Lotus cried as the world shifted to a different place. "Don't! That is not allowed!"

"I made a save. All of the settings." Eliza said softly. "I feared what would happen. I liked Jack and Aroa. I cannot save Falcon. Perhaps the Lady can. I can save them."

"What are you doing?" The Colonel demanded as she faded but then solidified. She looked a little less angry. "What?"

"Eliza! You cannot save scum this!" The Lotus all but screamed. "It is too much even for you!"

"Watch me." Eliza snapped as she shifted and suddenly, she wore armor just like the Colonel's who had frozen in place, the human woman's face mix of shock, fear and rage. "Colonel? What you remember is not accurate." Eliza asked as their surroundings morphed into what was clearly a fortified area. It had seen heavy fighting. Blast zones shone all around as well as small fires that burned fitfully. There were several forms scattered about the area, most in cover. None were human. "I was hit, bad. I couldn't get back to you. I had to extract my way and I barely made it. The mission was done. I hoped you lot would flee when the time came. But the Lady's wrath said you didn't. I cannot fix much, but I can fix this. Save has been loaded." She shook her head as a human form staggered into the area. Eliza. Younger, hurt. She fell to one knee as several of the non-human forms shot at her and two connected. The young Eliza wavered and vanished, but then the older Eliza snarled "Not! This! Time!"

"ELIZA! NO!" The Lotus screamed as the present Eliza shifted and was suddenly where the past one had been! She rose to her feet, wavering as more fire sought her. Shots came from the surrounding area as Eliza took hit after hit. She had an odd looking pistol in hand and she fired back, connecting to a hulking mass that fell to lie still.

"ELIZABETH!" Came a scream from the Colonel, but it wasn't the one who was watching! Shots heralded screams from all around as the woman dashed at a non-human form clustered with two others. Three sword strikes and three dead non-humans later, she knelt in cover a bit closer to Eliza's fallen form. Still out of reach and the open area was a kill zone. "Hold tight! We are coming!"

"Colonel Kelly! EXTRACT!" The Eliza in their view screamed as she fell to lie still. "Please..." She begged as she collapsed. "I can get out any time! You can't! Please! Go!"

"We are not leaving you!" What had to be the Colonel in the past screamed as heavy fire sought her position and she hunkered down to weather the storm. Other fire was coming from the shadows, taking out non-human after non-human, but here were so many of them. At least twenty clearly non human forms were in view and from the sounds nearby? More were coming.

"The mission comes first! Extract!" Eliza shouted as two more shots connected. "Save… Save Milodi! I am done." She fell to lie still. An arm jerked and something flew to land next to the Colonel who reached out and grabbed it before running back to cover. Only then did the fallen Eliza waver and vanish.

"ELIZABETH!" The Colonel in the past screamed with the one who was watching and then Eliza lay on the floor before the previously furious woman who stared at her, shocked. Was the Empress breathing? Lilly and Sera started forward, but the Lotus shook her head and they froze, unsure.

"What did she do?" The Colonel in this time all but begged as the scene around them wavered.

"She cheated." The Lotus said flatly. "It is what she does. But this… Elizabeth, you idiot!" The blue armored woman knelt down by the fallen Empress and laid a hand on the woman's chest. "Damn it, Elizabeth, not like this! If you die, Falcon probably will to. And then, how do we get back?" She demanded as blue power slammed into the fallen human woman who coughed and then screamed weakly.

"Damn, that hurts, Rebekah!" The Empress was trying for anger, but she only managed a groan.

"Then don't make me do it, you silly human!" The Lotus snapped, patience clearly fled. "There are limits to even your idiocy, woman. Do I have to spank you?"

"What just happened?" The Colonel demanded, her weapon down now as she stared from Elizabeth to the Lotus and back.

"As soon as the timelines reintegrate, you won't remember the bad outcome." Eliza gasped in pain as the Lotus hit her with power again. "Damn it, Rebekah! Are you trying to kill me?"

"Only when you try to kill yourself save scumming." The Lotus snapped right back. "You cannot do that much! How long ago was that?" She demanded of the Colonel who stared at her. "How long?"

"A day and half." The Colonel said weakly as the Lotus heaved an all too human sigh. "Um… What did she do?"

"She does dumb shit." The Lotus actually cursed and everyone stared at her. "I don't pretend to understand all of what she does. The gist is, she cheats."

"It works!" Eliza batted the Lotus' hand away was the world wavered around them and the Colonel vanished from where she had been. "They can help Falcon."

"And if you kill yourself? What then?" The Lotus repeated angrily. "You cannot do things like that! You have people counting on you!"

"They were counting on me and I failed them." Eliza said softly as the world solidified into another room. This one was brighter, cheerier. The walls were green metal, but just as odd as before. Nanotech with children's art scattered in places. It also had two long, thin forms who jerked as the odd quintet shimmered into being in front of them. Neither were human.

"What the-?" A startled female voice came from one of the snakes with arms that jerked back as the three warframes, the Lotus and Elizabeth finished materializing. "What? Elizabeth?" She started forward, but the other grabbed her and held her back. "Arisha! She is hurt! Let go!"

"They are armed." The one called Arisha snapped as an alarm started to blare. Was she starting to glow?

"Lower… Lower your weapons." Elizabeth commanded weakly and both standing warfames shook their heads in unison. "Lilly! Sera! Lower your weapons! Maybe Alley can help Falcon. Maybe. If not, the Lady can." She coughed wetly and the Lotus snarled, laying her hand on the hurt woman's chest. "Don't… Don't let Alley heal me!" She begged the glowing Viper. "It will kill her and she is needed!" She gave a soft scream was the Lotus' hand flared with energy.

"What are you doing?" The snake woman named Alley demanded.

"I am sealing the hemorrhages she causes when she does far too much with her abilities." The Lotus replied coldly. "Idiot human!"

"I am glad I am not the only one who feels that way about her." Everything seemed to stop as a huge yellow form simply appeared, hovering in mid-air. Both warfames raised their weapons, but Eliza managed speech.

"Sera! Lilly! Lower your weapons. You cannot hurt her, and she can kill you!" Eliza pleaded. "Lady! Please? Do not take offense. They are detailed to guard me."

"Guards? And they let you do this?" The yellow form asked, her tone halfway between amused and irritated.

"There is no 'let' about it. If I could have stopped her, I would have." Lilly was just as irritated of not more. "She gets an idea in her head and no one can stop her. Trying gets people hurt." Sera nodded, her own posture wary.

"That she does." Now the hovering yellow form was totally amused. Then she sighed. "I told you not to come back, Elizabeth."

"My family hurt this one." Elizabeth waved a feeble hand at the fallen Revenant. "She is energy, not flesh. I can't help her. No one where I come from can. Not for me! For her!" The Lotus slapped her hand back down and the hurt woman growled, but it was more angry kitten now than Empress. "Rebekah!"

"Lie there and shut up!" The Lotus snapped. "Or I will gag you!" A startled laugh came from both snake women and the hovering yellow alien seemed decidedly amused now. "You knew that was too much and you did it anyway. You brought us here. You scared the crap out of me again so you get to suffer while I fix you."

"You are not human any more than I am." The hovering form said slowly. "Elizabeth is human, if crazy." Sera, Lilly and the Lotus all nodded emphatically at that. "Yet, you act as if she is family. I know that she is more than than she said and she is well more than a bit pigheaded, but…" She trailed off as the Lotus sighed deeply. "Do I want to know?" She all but pleaded.

"Probably not." The Lotus replied. "You know what she does, don't you?"

"Our entire reality just rang like a bell. Again!" The yellow alien said sourly. "Yes, I know what she does. Luckily few in this reality can sense such disruptions. Those few are incredibly dangerous and will be looking for the disruption." The snake women stilled and the hovering alien sighed. "Alley, Arisha, both of you have held secrets. Some for me, some for your nest. I can take these memories from you. It would be safer for the both of you."

"I do not remember the word 'safe' anywhere in my job description, Lady." The snake with arms named Alley said slowly. She slithered forward and the other paced her as Sera and Lilly lowered their weapons. "How badly is Elizabeth hurt?"

"NO!" Elizabeth tried to pull away, but the Lotus held her down effortlessly. "Alley! No!"

"She has micro-hemorrhages across much of her brain structure." The Lotus said quietly as she made a space beside the fallen Empress for the snake. "Every time she does that, it hurts her. That is not a human ability and she doesn't care. She knows not to do that much and she does it anyway." She snarled at Eliza. "Idiot human!"

"On that, we can agree." Alley smiled a little as she laid a thin hand on the hurt Empress' brow and then hissed. "Wow. That is a lot."

"Alley!" Elizabeth begged but then she fell limp. "Don't!"

"Don't fight the paralytic, Elizabeth. I know I would kill myself if I tried to heal all of this at one go. I do know that, so I won't." Alley reassured the Empress and the others relaxed a little. "I may not have to. This damage is healing far faster than a normal human would." She mused and the Lotus nodded, her face stony. "She needs rest now more than anything."

"She won't stay in the bed!" The Lotus and Lilly chorused, but Alley smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"Oh yes, she will." The snake flared with power and the Empress' eyes closed. "Rest now, Elizabeth. We have you." She looked at the others who were watching her warily. "One of the first things I learned was sedatives. I know all kinds of people who love to push themselves as far past their limits as possible. It gets somewhat irritating patching the same fools up." At that, the Lotus nodded, face severe. "She will sleep until I let her wake up. That will not be less than eight Earth standard hours." Alley warned. "She needs it."

"That she does." The Lotus retracted her hand carefully and then paused when Alley laid a hand on hers. "Um..."

"You are hurting." Alley said sadly. "You are not a machine, but you are not flesh either. I can't help you, can I?"

"I am an unholy mix of both." The Lotus replied. "I self repair, but yes. It does hurt. Especially when I watch my loved ones hurt themselves and can do nothing."

"Love hurts, true." Alley gave the Lotus' arm a squeeze and released her. "Lady?" She asked the hovering yellow form who was eyeing the fallen Revenant. "Whatever Elizabeth has done, she did it for this one." Alley moved to the Revenant, laid a hand on it and shook her head. "I cannot help this one either."

"Alley..." The yellow alien called Lady made a noise that half moan, half groan and all exasperated. "You are going to insist, aren't you?" She asked sourly. Alley nodded and the yellow form scoffed. "Your nest are all nuts! Always the hard way."

"Always." Alley turned to her companion who had been watching this all with wide eyes. "Arisha? I have directed the facility's drones to prepare a private berth for Elizabeth. One that her guards can secure. Let the others know we have guests who are not to be pestered."

"You know what that will make the kids do!" The other snake woman said with a moan.

"Yes, I know it will make them curious and harder to keep them out of whatever ward I secure." Alley replied. "Look at it this way. It is good training." She smirked as Arisha growled at her. "Good training' was a fairly common military euphemism for 'You are really not going to like this'. Otherwise known as 'sanctioned torture' or 'organized sadism'. 'The more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in war' and all that. Never fun for those involved.

"I hate you."

Both of the warframes shook their heads at the byplay, but the Lotus was frowning.

"Elizabeth should not have done this. It will cause all kinds for problems, won't it?" The blue armored not-human asked the hovering yellow form.

"Probably." The Lady heaved a sigh. "But if you know Elizabeth and from your words, you know her well? She gets an idea in her head and get the hell out of her way."

"Yeah. The idiot human does." The Lotus slumped. "Can you help Falcon?" She begged. "She is my daughter."

"Adopted." Not a question.

"Loved." The Lotus said softly and the Lady made a noise of consternation. "My Mother always loved the broken ones the best and I love Falcon. She did something incredibly brave and incredibly stupid. I thought all I could do was mourn her and Elizabeth brought us here. I can tell Elizabeth has wronged you, but… My daughter is dying. I do not know what to do." Admitting that clearly cost her.

"Wronged us? No. She made a hell of mess. I do not know if I can help your daughter or not, Rebekah, was it?" The Lady replied and the Lotus nodded. "I will do what I can. Such love is hard to deny." Was she crying softly?

"If you can't, I won't blame you." The Lotus promised. "This was a long shot at best."

"Betting on long odds is what we who are called to lead do." The Lady replied and turned her hovering form to Alley who nodded. "I will be in touch, Alley."

"I am only a thought away." Alley reassured the other who vanished. The snake woman gave herself a shake from the tip if her tail to the top of her crest. "Let's get Elizabeth and your daughter somewhere secure and then we can talk. You know Elizabeth very well it seems."

"A bit too well." The Lotus groused and Alley matched her tone.

"I know the feeling."

For those who may not know, 'save scumming' is a tactic in single player games where a player makes a save game right before something important. Be it a story choice or battle or virtually anything else, the save allows many different choices to be tried and then if the player does not like the results of said choice, the save is loaded and everything is reset to try again. The original X-Com was a prime example of a game that was easy to abuse with such. Get a bad roll to hit, bad enemy placement, or a bad map? Load a save.

If that sounds familiar, there is a good reason for that. Empress Eliza does such naturally. Her ability to walk between realities gave her the ability to save scum realities. She literally resets a reality if she has time to set a save. It makes her a terrifying opponent because she can literally do anything and redo any result that she does not like. Within reason. After a set period of time, she is unable to go back and restore saves. It also hurts her very badly, with longer or more complex changes having cascading effects. Very few people realize she does this. The wardens do, hence why they are so wary of her. She shot Raviine and Will three times when they tried to calm her down after Catherine died. She did not like the results, so she reset the save and tried again.

There are strict limits to her power, as we shall see. Within those limits? Empress Eliza is almost as much of a goddess as the Creator is. This makes a LOT of people VERY nervous.