Warframe belongs to DE
The procedure done in this story is not WHO approved. Don't use parasitic infections as a cure!
She was strapped to a morphing, melted slab. Talons danced a hypnotic dance in the corner of her eye and soon, she knew, she would feel their touch. And yet this wasn't the thing that crept Sindr out the most. It was the air. That stagnant, stale, completely tasteless air. By all accounts, she would expect this room to be moist, mouldy and the like, but it wasn't. And that disconnect made it just a slight bit worse.
A tremor went through the slab, and Sindr felt the backrest split in half. Her spine was exposed. And her butt was cold.
"Now don't worry." Ria said from the side "It will depressurize the back to hold you in place. That helps with the precision."
Sindr would have nodded, but the sudden pull all along her spine stiffened her neck. "Comfy…" She remarked humourless.
"I'm sorry." The Tenno muttered "This thing is supposed to maintain and repair Warframes first and foremost. And those are a lot sturdier than humans. But your augmentations should soften the punch… I mean-"
"Ria, can you please put me under? I know, you're trying, but seriously, this is fucking freaky!" Sindr groaned loudly.
Ria bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I can't."
"What?"
"Your new liver is too strong. I don't have any drugs that could keep you down." She explained with an awkward expression. "And even if I did, I kinda need you to put up a fight in case the Chungus acts out. So I'm going to put a current through spinal cord's major nodes to short out your receptors. The upside is that you'll be awake and you won't feel a thing… the downside is that you'll be awake and… won't be able to move at all."
Sindr's groan let the whole ship vibrate. "Congratulations, you just manage to replace all that freaky fright with complete and utter annoyance…" she said in a deadpan.
"I'm sorry…"
"Hey, you're doing this to save my life, so I shouldn't complain…" The Grineer answered "Even if I want to."
Ria nodded and pressed a button. "I'm beginning, please, tell me if-"
"One thing!" Sindr interrupted quickly "Erm… am I going to empty anything if I don't have any feeling in my… you know… I don't want to sit in my own-"
"Oh, no. The system will put your muscles down there into lock-down. Though, you might be a bit sore afterwards."
"Good, but trust me, I've had a few, way more fun ways to have a sore as-"
"Sindr! You're embarrassing me in front of the parasitic hive-mind!" Ria hissed harshly. She took a deep breath. "I'll switch on the paralyzers now."
The Grineer took a breath and suddenly, she felt a small jolt. Followed by nothing. Anywhere below her chin. She tried a few times to move, but there was just nothing. No feeling, no mental feedback, no anything. She didn't even feel the shivers that were probably running over her back right now. "Wow… fuck…"
Ria popped in her field of vision for a moment, worry in her features. "I'll try to make it quick, but it might stay like that for a bit, even after we're done."
Sindr tried, but she didn't manage to nod. Or smile. "Just get started."
The Tenno nodded and pushed a few buttons. One of the talons disappeared for a moment and Sindr felt movement. Like something was yanking on her body. A loud scraping followed that made her teeth hurt.
(Our beauty… your perfection… we welcome you…)
"The procedure has begun." Ria stated quickly "Do you want a real-time hologram to examine how it goes along?"
"I'd rather have a fresh Index match or a few raunchy videos of you. But since we're out of both, I'm fine…" Sindr said with rolling eyes.
"Operator, if necessary, I have video data of you doing stretching-"
"Sicarius, you only speak in case of emergency!" Ria yelled and groaned "Seems like you're dealing with it pretty well." She muttered toward Sindr.
(Join…)
Sindr felt a tingling in her… brainstem? Whatever part of her head it was, it was tingling weirdly. "Hey, I think the thingie is acting up!"
The Tenno nodded and held up a hand, whitish energy dancing on her fingertips. "Controlled shock at the ready."
(We obey, Void Demon…)
The tingling stopped.
"We're at a quarter." Ria said calmly, eyes on the screen.
It didn't exactly soothe the Grineer's nerves. It had begun freaky, but now she was utterly terrified. Being at the mercy of the fucking Cephalon was bad enough, but now it was freakish flesh-fungus monster.
(We can soothe all worries. We are the devourer of fear, the executor of doubt. Join and the demon will take your pain away…)
"Did you hear that?" Sindr asked, surprised that Ria didn't respond to being mentioned.
"No, but I better hear the next time!" The Tenno said loudly and stomped at the glass floor, scaring the ichthyoid creatures below.
(Your pain shall remain… until you wish to join… we are always welcoming… someday… We are part of you now…)
"Halfway done!" Ria announced.
"Hey, can you do me a favour?" Sindr asked, eyes wide. The thing was silent for now, but something inside her own mind was drawing a terrible picture and she needed a distraction. Anything at this point. "There is a blueprint in my personal files. I've spent months saving up the parts and it's a bit expensive, but can you build it for me? It would mean a lot."
"What is it?"
"It's a surprise. The name is GrandakkaE6."
Ria nodded. "Sicarius, can you find and build the object."
There was a moment of silence. "Operator, I am not sure if this is-"
"It's harmless!" Sindr interrupted "And don't spoil the surprise!"
"Operator, I have to-"
"You heard the patient, Sicarius. We have to respect the wishes of the infirm." Ria answered with a wink.
"It will need a neural sensor, Operator. And quite a bit of plastids."
"We can afford that. Get it done." The Tenno ordered.
"As you wish, Operator." Sicarius muttered and turned silent again.
"And only give it to me, got it!" Sindr added "It's a surprise!"
Ria looked at her with a wry smile. "Should I be worried?"
"Yes! Now, how long until we are done?"
"A bit more. The infection is done with its part. It will now apply-"
"AAAAAH! Cold!"
"The healing gel… and it smeared it a bit too far up…" Ria said apologetically.
"I feel less than one centimetre of my neck and it had to… urgh!" Sindr winced.
"Sorry…" The Tenno muttered and pulled a lever.
Sindr felt movement again and her perspective changed a bit. She was being moved slightly up. Now she was staring at the deformed ceiling. The talons had returned, twitching happily next to her head. The darkish grey hid it, but she was sure there was her blood on them. All the good-natured quipping in the system couldn't make this-
"Ok, I'll go and get Excalib-"
"What?" The Grineer screamed "You're not leaving me alone in here!" She tried, but she couldn't even move her head from side to side.
"It will only be a mo-"
"No!" Sindr interrupted loudly "Don't leave!"
"But-"
"I… I can't take this place all alone!" Her breath sped up "You have any idea how scary this is WITH you around? I can't take this all alone, Ria! Please, don't go…"
She heard footsteps and Ria's face appeared in her vision. The soft glow In the dark. Like seeing the stars after a long sandstorm. "But I can't carry you out without my warframe." She said slowly "And I really don't want to stay in here either."
The Grineer's eyes begun to sting. "Look, I… just… how long until I can move again? I… I'm so scared and…" She let out a sob "There is a Cephalon who wants to kill me and that hive-thing that wants to eat me… I… I don't want to be alone with them! I… just… just stay… please!"
The Tenno leaned closer and gently stroked Sindr's cheek. She could feel the Grineer relax under her touch. Of course Sindr was terrified… this was all around horrifying. Slowly, she leaned her forehead against Sindr's, hoping that taking her full field of vision and some skin contact would soothe her nerves a little. A tinge of sadness hit her. Usually, a strong hand would have reached up and…
The Tenno closed her eyes. What she wouldn't do for just enough muscle to carry the big woman out.
She heard a sniffing sound and when she opened her eyes, she saw tears run down Sindr's cheeks.
"I want to hug you so much right now…" The Grineer muttered.
"And I wish you could feel me." Ria answered. She wiped a tear away. This was grating. She wanted to get Sindr out of this room. Just back to her bed, where both felt safe. Why couldn't she be stronger? Why couldn't she control her warframe from a distance? Why couldn't sh-
"Operator?" A familiar voice asked loudly.
"What?" Ria hissed. Void's sake, couldn't this piece of jun-
"I'm measuring transference signals."
The Tenno's eyes went wide. "What? What's the source? Is someone trying to-"
"No, Operator. That is the issue. You are the source! You have been for a few minutes! Your warframe is-"
The opening of the main door interrupted the Chephalon. Ria turned. Excalibur was standing in the doorway. He was slumped backwards, his left leg was dragged along and just a few shambling steps into the room, the proud warrior fell over. The Tenno blinked, mouth open.
"Whu… how did that happen?"
"I have a theory, Operator. Would you like me to-"
"No, thank you Sicarius. We can talk after Sindr is feeling better." Ria interrupted and pressed a quick kiss onto Sindr's cheek. She returned just heartbeats later, a glowing hand firmly on Excalibur's arm.
"I don't get what's going on, but I am glad." The Grineer said with a slightly more honest smile than before. She had to fight a tinge of vertigo, when Excalibur lifted her in his arms. She couldn't even steady her own head and Ria had to use her free hand to keep it stable. And Sindr was grateful. Feeling nothing but her Tenno's hand keeping her safe was exactly what she needed. Another flutter of joy joined in her brain when the two left that nightmarish realm of twisted steel and… whatever those fish were. And yet one more flutter jumped though her brain when the pair reached Ria's quarters. Sindr couldn't feel the soft sheets beneath her body, but she could smell her Tenno's all familiar scent sticking to them. And Ria's declaration of "privacy mode" almost made her overlook the earlier trauma.
Still, she was confined to looking at the ceiling and for the moment that it took Ria to move Excalibur out of the room, Sindr was alone with her thoughts.
(The demon will take the pain away…)
Ria was the void demon… right? How did she take the pain of infected…
"Hey, how are you doing?" A familiar voice asked and tore Sindr from her thought. She felt the vibration of Ria climbing onto the bed.
"I'm on my back in your bed with a clenched butthole and I can't feel anything down the neck." Sindr answered with a sigh "I want to make a sex-joke, but this isn't comparable to anything. I've ever done." She gave a wry smile "Well… glad I have one first time with you." Her features turned serious "But let's get this straight: How long do I stay like this?"
"The shock has already stopped working." Ria said and cuddled up next to Sindr's body. Touching those muscles when they were so limp and weak. It felt wrong. "But it'll take a bit longer until the swelling goes back the infected crystal is reintegrated. So, I'd say at least one or two more hours."
Sindr grimaced. "Hey, can you either move my head or get in my field of vision? Your ceiling isn't very interesting." She paused for a moment "Or maybe those videos of you stretching…"
There was a lot of shuffling and suddenly, Ria's face appeared right in front of Sindr's. "I hope I'm not too heavy." The Tenno muttered.
"I've said it before: I've worn ARMOUR that was heavier than you are!" The Grineer sighed. Annoyance was kicking in again. That cute, brown face was right in front of her. Two pouty lips begged to be kissed and nibbled and Sindr couldn't move. And she didn't even want to think about how much she wanted to feel that perky, little body that was resting on top of her. "So, what now?"
The Tenno grimaced. "I suggest we switch off the lights and take a nap until your nerves start playing again." Her cheeks became a tinge more colourful "And then… how did you call it?"
"Victory Fuck?" Sindr answered with a giggle.
"Yes, that…"
Sorry for the long delay. Having a full time job and going to evening school is a bit taxing as it seems. But it's a bit less hectic now. Hope you enjoyed. R+R and all that