Warframe is not owned by me. You might notice because Warframe isn't about people talking.

For some reason I confused the Liset lander with the Lith relic's name. Correction is on the way.

"So, our engines are busted, the Liset is stuck, all Warframes besides Excalibur are in cryo, long distance com is fried and we need how long until the next… anything?" Ria asked as she stepped out of the shower. After the incident, she had accompanied a laughing Sindr back to her room, ordered Sicarius to do a full scan of all ship functions. Then she had taken a shower. It was important to keep relaxed and level-headed.

"230 years until we reach a relay and can be tugged in, Operator." Sicarius answered. "The engines are completely gone and we only move through inertia."

Ria looked into the mirror. She looked into her eyes: Green circles around white glow. Did it get stronger? Was the Void calling her? Pulling her? Feeling its touch so close to her body… like an icy hand caressing… no not a hand, something else! Bad memories. She reached for the comb. "How are repairs going?"

"Well, Operator. The damages are mostly from rifts opening in tight places. Cables were cut and pipes were broken. I can replicate everything with the foundry and use the sentinels to install them."

Her hair was the adorable blue mess that she wanted it to be. She put the comb back. "So, cryo sleep is an option?"

"Indeed, Operator. Your transference chair is fully equipped to keep you alive for centuries."

'But we only have one of those and two people… a wonderful dilemma. I guess Lotus has become a prophet…' The Tenno mused and reached for her lipstick. 'Don't let this get to you… just do your routine, keep your calm and focus.' She sighed and asked. "How long will repairs take?"

"Let me see, Operator. Liset-bay: Impossible without heavy machinery. Warframe chamber: 2 weeks until parts are forged, 1 day installing. LD-COM: 1 month until parts are forged, 3 days installing. Engines: 1 week until parts are forged, 1 day installing-"

Ria's hand twitched and left a long, blue smear down her face. "Did you just say that you can get the engines back on in 1 week?" she asked with trembling hands.

"Yes, Operator. Most damages are clean cuts. I will simply create new pipes in the foundry and replace those that we can't braze with the sentries." Sicarius answered.

"Sicarius, in your calculations, have you considered that we might USE the engines once they are repaired?"

"Oh… OH! Operator, you are a genius!"

"No, Sicarius, I'm tired… so very tired…" The Tenno moaned. "Run self-diagnostic… trice. I'm seriously worried."

"Operator, I-"

"No, Sicarius, no Operator! I am tolerant." Ria said harshly "I don't mind your eagerness to learn Orokin stuff, your little eccentricities and your tendency to do things without asking, but this was an obvious mistake! We can't afford those! Not on the field and not while we're adrift. Diagnostics, now! If there is a glitch, repair it!"

"Yes, Operator. But I will not be available for the time being."

"That's ok…"

"Oh and before I go, your guest left you a message and her limb is fully analysed." The Cephalon added quickly. "I left it on a pillow next to the foundry."

"Thank you, Sicarius." Ria sighed. "Just… I'll be fine, I promise."

"Very well, Operator. Prepari-" Sicarius stopped. "Just one more thing, Operator. You called the device a name tag. Why?"

Ria finished her make-up and turned away from the mirror. "You know how you put name tags and an ID number on personal luggage when you're on a station or a ship? So that the staff can return it when they find it? Same thing. They put a blueprint on the arm, you build a communicator and bam… drones come and fetch the lost equipment. Or why do you think they didn't attack?"

"Insightful, Operator, I will start diagnosis now." Sicarius said and his emblem, two vertical rows of three circles with 8 beams extending from the middle turned into a loading screen.

The Tenno put on her transference suit and leaned against the faucet. Then she pushed a button. A hologram appeared from her hand.
1 Message. Audio. She opened it.

"The fuck I want to leave a message! Tell that half-pint that if it wants to talk to me, it better not show up with one of those fucking blunts again!" A very familiar voice yelled.

Ria let out a snicker. She might as well. The way to the cell was much too short and the side-track to grab the arm didn't help much. She had no idea how to tell Sindr that the two would be spending the next week together. And she didn't have Excalibur's quiet confidence with her. "This will suck so hard…" the Tenno mumbled and pressed the speaker. "May I have a moment?"

"Whatever!"

Ria opened the door.

Sindr was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She took a deep breath and looked up. She had not dreamed. A little girl with dark skin, glowing eyes, blue hair and blue lips was holding her prosthetic arm on a pillow.

"Your arm." Ria said after a short bow.

"You're already short enough, no need to go deeper."

Ria's face hardened. "Let's take off that junk on your legs and let's see who is bigger then."

Sindr let out a snort. "First: Still me! Second: Sore spot?"

"A bit…" The Tenno admitted crestfallen. "Your arm."

"Yeah, I see…" The Grineer answered. Her gaze hardened. "Ok, enough foreplay, what the fuck is going on!?"

"Where should I start?"

"Well, how about here: Not too long ago, I was a proud and loyal Ballista with one Tenno kill on my belt and commendations up the wazoo. Now I'm some kind of freakish monstrosity with impeccable health and it turns out my mortal enemy is something that we'd shove back into the clone tube until it's done."

"Technically, I'm 29 years old." Ria said calmly.

"Hey, I know you people think we Grineer are all dumb because we wake up grow up, but you don't need to raid a colony to know that you're not an adult."

"When we Tenno operated our Warframes, our bodies were kept in Cryo-sleep. I've been alive for literally centuries." Ria answered coldly. She approached the other woman and offered the arm.

"Why unfinished ones? I mean… kids?" Sindr asked as she took the limb.

"Tenno were touched by the Void when we were small. It changed us. Twisted us. It gave us the power of transference and allows us to do amazing things. And the Orokin harnessed us as weapons." A hint of darkness went over her features. "They had a talent for messing with lives."

The Grineer sat up and put her arm in place. For a moment, Ria mused why the legs needed two hands while the arm needed just one. Sindr flexed her fingers. "So… what now, you're going to kill me so I can't tell anyone?"

The Tenno let out a laugh. "What is it with you and asking me to kill you? No, it's not that big of a secret anymore. The Red Veil has clues and Corpus higher ups as well as your Queens know." She tilted her head slightly. "And would you believe yourself?"

"Fuck, no!" Sindr laughed "Right now I think that I'm still on our old ship and tripping hard on bad stims. I mean… who has ever heard of this void-shit giving you an in-built Nukor, glowy eyes and dyeing your skin?"

"Wait! What? Where did it dye my skin?"

The Grineer pointed at Ria. "You're all brown."

The Tenno's jaw dropped. "You are messing with me!"

Sindr's confusion was obviously honest.

"You have never… you don't know that black people exist?"

"You're not black! You're really dark brownish."

"I'm black! That's what we are called!" Ria was close to screaming. "I can't believe it! You don't know that humans have different skin colours?"

"I'm a Grineer! Have you ever seen one Grineer? Cause if yes, then you've seen most of us!" Sindr growled back.

"Yes… but… Have you never seen people of colour on colonies or in videos or anywhere?"

"How should I know? Have you noticed that most berks run around in jumpsuits and face-masks? There isn't exactly much skin to see!" Sindr sighed. "So fine, you're black… whatever." She gave Ria a weird look. "What other colours are there?"

"Am I really having this conversation?" Ria asked the universe. "It goes from really pale white to slightly darker than me with beige-brown in the middle..." She paused "And I think Orokin were blueish, but my memories are fuzzy. And they used so much gene-tech, there was little natural about it."

"No reds or greens?"

"Not naturally! And can we change the subject?" The Tenno massaged the side of her head "I think my brain is trying to escape my head through my nose!"

"Fine… just curious." Sindr sighed. "So what was that back there?"

"My Cephalon assembled an Orokin beacon, void rifts opened, drones came in… you saw the rest." Ria answered. "Now the ship has taken more than a bit of damage. We'll be stuck in here for at least a week while it does repairs."

"I should probably mind this way more than I do…" Sindr mused and let out a snicker. "This is the nicest place I've ever been to. And you did save my ass twice."

"You laugh a lot when things look grim." The Tenno noted with a slight smile.

"My head has been getting fucked for I don't know how long, now it needs a cigarette and a cuddle." The woman answered with a sigh. "If I don't laugh, I might start screaming and never stop." For a moment, Sindr seemed to swallow something that didn't fit into her neck. "So, when are you gonna introduce me to the rest of the crew?"

"Rest of the crew?"

"You know… the big guy's driver."

"That was me too."

"Oh… so, the technicians?"

"Fully automated…"

"So it's just you, me and the idiot."

"Well, he'll be quiet for a while. He is self-diagnosing."

"You know, you are supposed to start with the good news." Sindr snickered. She relaxed a bit, pulling up one leg to her chest. "So, anything else?"

Ria felt herself tense up. Technically this was it. Technically, she could just leave, meditate, check on repairs, read, do whatever came to mind. No Sicarius, no Lotus. All alone. With the fresh memory of the Void tugging on her.
"Until Sicarius is done, entertainment will be a chore. We could keep each other company…" she suggested as calmly as possible.

Sindr raised her eyebrows. "Touching screens is a chore to you?"

"Looking through a few thousand files is… so what do you say?"

The Grineer smirked. "Sure, whatever. I'd offer you a seat but there isn't exactly a lot of chairs."

Ria nodded. "It's fine…" She took a step back and sat down on the floor, back to the wall.

"Sure, the whole floor is a chair." Sindr laughed and stretched her metal legs "Is that even comfy?"

"It's relaxing." The Tenno answered with a wry smile.

"So… what do you want to talk about?" A twinkle shone in orange eyes. "What do Tenno do when they aren't killing us?"

"Killing Corpus or Infested…" Ria answered calmly. "And sometimes Corrupted. And also Sentients since recently. We do a lot of killing. What do Grineer do in their free time? You must have plenty of it when you're shipped between planets."

"Is that some attempt to gain critical information?" Sindr asked half serious.

"Yes, when I overload the next reactor, knowing what those marines were doing before I showed up will give me just the edge." The Tenno answered in a deadpan. "I'm just curious."

Sindr searched Ria's face for a moment. She wasn't sure what to expect when she had first seen the little figure, but it wasn't this. There was no regret anywhere. Grineer were engineered and indoctrinated and they embraced that. They were well aware that humans had qualms and inhibitions. That's what made them weak. But there was nothing of the kind in this girl's eyes.
"The usual… you know." She answered. "Doing drills, patrolling, maybe repairs, fighting, fucking… that kind of thing."

"What? Fighting and… coitus?"

"Do you need a picture? It's boring as fuck. And every moment some Tenno scum might show up and kill everything. You're constantly on edge… You bet we make the best out of it." The Grineer snarled. Again, she found no remorse on the Tenno's face.

"Well, sorry, I just didn't expect Grineer to have such an active sex life." Ria answered coldly. The thought that those ugly abominations got it on more often than her was depressing.

"Tenno don't? I mean… it's fun." Sindr said with a smirk. "Want me to show you?"

Ria raised one eyebrow for exactly 1 cm.

"How come you're not as easy to mess with in person?"

"Because Excalibur is a prude!"

"What? Who's that?"

"The Warframe. They have… how to put it… they have personas. They are not simply empty husks. When I control them, their… I don't know… soul? Whatever it is, it resonates with me." Ria explained awkwardly. "Excalibur is a proud and noble soul. Kind and valiant. But he is also a complete prude and so entrenched in chivalry that I had to wrestle him down to give you some sass."

Incredulity filled Sindr's face. "You tell me that those things have... personalities or whatever?"

The Tenno took a breath. "Did you ever have a functional item that you held dear? Like… a gun, a prosthetic… anything?"

"What?"

"You know. Like a rifle that worked better than others or something like that?"

The Grineer thought hard. "My second Vulkar on Mars post 15." She said after a while. "I think something was wrong with the barrel but the bullet would go slightly slower. You had to lead the target by a lot and it was really annoying, but Void, it had oumpf!" Sindr punched in her artificial hand. "A challenge to hit but, man, was it a thrill when I did. I miss it a bit…"

"You can compare it to that. They all fill similar roles but they have this small details that make them different." The Tenno smiled to herself. "Rhino is a strong and devastating force, but he can be a real softie. Ash is a perfectionist, stealthy and cunning, and you feel his anger when you get spotted. Really a bit of a pedant."

"Well, at least the things killing us by the thousands are special."

"You have to try harder to make me feel guilty for opposing a war of genocide." Ria said coldly.

Sindr sighed. "I noticed. And to be frank… I'm kinda glad you don't bawl your eyes out. Couldn't stand the idea of some bleeding-heart, whiny… you know, what I mean… I couldn't stand it if one of those wimpy losers was slaughtering us." She let out a sardonic laugh. "At least you have some guts. Even if you don't actually fight yourself."

"To be fair, until recently, I thought I was my Warframe." The Tenno said with a wry smile.

"Even if you have more of them?"

"I just… I thought I was some kind of wandering consciousness, bound to the Warframes, existing to battle alone for eternity." Ria said with a bitter laugh. "I had no body, no real self… I did nothing but fight and slaughter."

Sindr laughed. "Ok, I admit, that is fucked up."

"Sometimes, I miss it."

"What?"

"When you go from a being of precise slaughter to… this." She dismissed herself with one hand. "A bit of a step down."

"And I thought the Gustrak defective were fucked in the head!" Sindr said coldly.

Ria shrugged. "I'm a bio weapon too. I'm just classier."

"Seriously? That was better than food, sleep and sex?"

"Technically, the Warframes are equipped." The Tenno shook her head. "I don't know why and I have no intention of testing, but I know they have them."

Suddenly Sindr pushed herself to the edge of the cot. "What is having a dick like?" She asked eagerly.

"Weird! Next question!"

"You can't fault a woman for being curious." The Grineer looked to the side. "Now I feel kinda stupid for putting a move on that thing." She returned with a grin. "I mean, what sentient being could ever resist a romp with me?"

"Are you always this sexually aggressive or do you want to get a rise out of me?" Ria asked as calmly as possible. "It's getting old."

"As a low level grunt, I had three joys in life. Killing, eating and fucking." Sindr said with a shrug "And since I'm not gonna mess with my kind host's health, I'm down to one out of three." She laughed "Unless you plan to provide…"

"I could find you a generator to sit on."

"You have to FIND one? I'd have given each one a name already!"

"Can we go back to talking about my skin colour?"

"Are you black everywhere?"

"I can shoot Void-beams, you know!"

Sindr let out a laugh and her features softened. "You know… I'm enjoying this way too much. You're a riot when you're not inside of that bore."

Ria tried to ignore the fact that her heart had just skipped a beat. Sincere compliments from other humans were rare and gaining Sindr's respect made it somehow even better. "Well, I can't say that I dislike our verbal sparring either. Even if it's almost sad how hard you try to push my buttons."

"Hey, all Ballistas are bitches! That's why they keep us far away from the troops as they can." The Grineer laughed for a moment and became serious. "And it's the only way to resist at this point. I have no clue why you keep me alive, but strength is justification enough. And you are plenty strong."

"I think this is the point where I prove my morality by offering to let you go… but we are stuck here…" Ria let out a sigh and shifted position.

Sindr looked her over. There was almost affection in her eyes. "So what's with the lipstick?"

"Isn't strength justification enough?"

"For cobalt blue hair and lips? There isn't enough strength in the Fomorian fleet to justify that!"

"You really are a bitch!" Ria laughed. "I like it, ok? When we interact, we Tenno have a strict code of conduct. Civility, etiquette, honour. You wouldn't recognize me… But we are always in our Warframes when we do. And I like the idea that nobody knows that I wear this."

"Seriously? That gets you off?" Sindr giggled.

"Haven't we already established that I'm messed in the head?" Ria asked. The two women looked at each other for a silent moment. Quiet acknowledgement that they had it pretty good.
"I think I should see how the diagnostics and repairs are going…" the Tenno said after a while. She got up and stretched.

Sindr allowed herself to stare for a moment. It wasn't as if Ria was underdeveloped. She gotten rid of all her baby fat, but was just naturally short and would probably never exceed a b-cup. Though Sindr did enjoy the soft curve of waist that was enhanced by the suit's markings. She was nice and slender. Enjoyable to look at, even.
"Wait." The woman said as Ria was about to walk through the door.

"Yes?"

Sindr got up and let out a small sigh. "Thank you."

"For what?" Ria asked, seriously confused.

"You didn't have to spend time with me." The Grineer said and her awkwardness was tangible. "Or tolerate me giving you shit. Heck, I would have thrown me out of the airlock an hour ago."

"How come this is more awkward for you than rather graphic sexual things?" The Tenno deadpanned.

"That embarrasses you more than me, this is the other way around." Sindr answered and took a step forward. "So thanks…" She offered her left hand.

Ria looked up at the tall woman and smirked. "What? No hug?"

"You asked for this!" Sindr laughed and moved forward. Before Ria could wiggle away, she had her arms under her armpits and lifted the Tenno into a tight embrace. Ria's legs dangled helplessly as the Grineers massive breasts squished against her face. For a heartbeat, she was ready to fight. To call the Void's power and blast her assailant. But the embrace was without malice, just tight enough to hold her firmly and gentle enough to let her breathe. Strong, warm arms that held her tightly. Something began to boil in her chest. Her breath sped up and her eyes closed. Ria swung her arms around Sindr and pressed her cheek against her chest. Warmth, another's heartbeat… closeness. Ria squeezed tighter. She gasped as shivers went down her spine.
The Grineer looked down in quiet shock. This was supposed to be a joke. A goof between two warriors. It wasn't supposed to end with the Tenno holding onto her so tightly, she could let go and Ria wouldn't fall off. A tremble went through the small woman's body, followed by sniffling.
"Hey? You ok?" Sindr asked as gently as possible.

Ria looked up. Glowing eyes were overflowing with tears.

Both women panicked. Ria shoved herself away and Sindr let her go. The Tenno stumbled a few steps back and almost fell over. Her breath rattled and hear heart beat up to her throat. Every ounce of her body seemed to burn. "I… I have to… repairs!" she stammered. Trembling hands reached for the door-controls.

Sindr opened her mouth and the door slammed shut.

Yes, the only reason why Ria is black is because I thought that Sindr not knowing what black people are was hilarious. I needed some levity for this!