Reports

Cass felt very strange walking into the large room. The garment he wore looked like a Corpus space suit but it was far more advanced than even his Special Forces issue armor had been. He could feel the tech in it and talk to it even better than the best Corpus nueral linkages. And he wasn't using a link! Healer Iriana was hovering, but not too close as he stepped forward and both of the people who had been waiting turned to see him. He gulped as he realized that both Commander Horatius, the leader of the Special Forces and the Reverend Mother of the Clergy were present in the flesh! There were also several Tenno, three in warframes, two not. A Saryn Prime. Rachel of the First. An Ember Prime that he recognized as a Caretaker. Jasmina. A Nyx Prime who stood stiff as a board. The two unarmored Tenno were mixed, a male and a female. The male had a beard and the female, a horrifically scarred face.

"Sergeant Cass, reporting." Cass said with a nod to the Commander who sighed.

"Don't start, Cass." Horatius said with a growl. Cass had to smile as Horatius turned to the Reverend Mother, a sick look on his face. "May I?"

"I am not the one you need to ask. I am a guest here just like you are." The Reverend Mother said mildly. She turned to where a Saryn Prime warframe leaned up against the wall. "Rachel?"

"Don't break anything." Rachel shrugged "And try not to kill him after all the work Iriana put into fixing him."

All eyes turned to the Healer as she threw up her hands. "Why do I even try?" Her groan was long suffering. "Go ahead, get it out of your systems, children! No blood or I take some of my own."

"Hmmm." Horatius turned back to Cass with an evil glint in his eyes. Cass shrugged. "You know what that means."

"Yeah, I do." Cass held out a hand and Horatius took it. Their fists clasped together and everyone gawked as the two soldiers started thumb-wrestling. In moments, Horatius had Cass' thumb pinned and Cass shook his head. "Good enough?"

"Its not like you to give up, Cass." Horatius said quietly and then, with a deft move, twisted Cass' hand and tried to take him to the floor. Cass countered with a twist of his own and the two men struggled for a moment. Neither could gain any leverage over the other and both were equally trained. Neither wanted to kill the other, or even cause real harm, so they were limited.

Cass spoke again. "Been a bad week."

"Yeah." Horatius agreed and then released one other to step back, neither breathing hard. "Do it right."

"Won't they take offense?" Cass asked, nodding to the Reverend Mother and then Tenno.

"The Healer will." Horatius shrugged. "The Reverend Mother won't. I warned her. The others? I don't know. Why don't you find out?" Cass glared at him and then sighed. The lower ranked Corpus solider nodded, strode to stand in between Horatius and the Reverend Mother and then he started to sing!

And what he was singing...!

'I am the very model of a proper Company Corporal
I've information vegetable, mineral and animal
I know the rules of Profit, and I quote the fights historical
From Orokin to Jupiter, in order categorical…

Iriana was gaping as the Reverend Mother smiled widely and Cass continued. His singing was faster and faster.

'I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical
About binomial theorem I am teeming with a lot o' news
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse '

Now all of the Tenno were staring as well. The ones not in warframes looked stoic, but was a smile on the male's face? Yes. The old bearded being was shaking his head, but he was smiling as Cass continued.

'I know our mythic history, Betrayers and Orokin
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for contradiction
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of all the Tenno

I know the rules of-'

"Enough!" The Reverend Mother snapped as all of the Tenno stiffened. Cass broke off mid-word. "They don't need to hear the rest. It is him. No one else could sing that with a straight face." She said with a smile that was not feigned. She shook her head. "You lot and your recognition codes."

"It is next to impossible to fake such and if he had been tampered with? He wouldn't have been able to sing it. Be glad it wasn't Violet." Horatius said with a wide smile and Cass shuddered. "Hey!" The Commander protested. "She never hurts anyone."

"No, she just does her damnedest to give all the guys heart attacks." Cass replied, assuming a parade rest stance. Everyone stared at him and he winced. "Please don't ask."

"You know that simply makes us all curious. What does she sing?" The bearded Tenno inquired carefully. Cass looked at Horatius who shrugged. He looked at the Reverend Mother who sighed.

"Sergeant Violet gets an unholy glee from shocking people." The nun said with a shrug. "What she does to prove it is her and not an impostor is best described as 'pornographic' and leave it at that." She muttered something else under her breath that sounded like 'Please dear god, leave it at that!'

"I was tampered with, Commander." Cass said quietly. "Did you undo it?" He asked Iriana who nodded, her face grim. It relaxed as he bowed to her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." Iriana unbent and stepped to Cass' side as he slumped a bit. She produced a scanner that she swept over him and nodded. "And no blood. I confess to shock."

"Healer." Horatius and Cass both protested, but Iriana just put her scanner away and crossed her arms.

"Sergeant." The Reverend Mother spoke up when no one else did. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Cass replied. "I knew whatever was going on was bad, but I had no idea." When he looked at her, his face was grim. "This will hurt the Company, won't it?"

"I don't know." The nun admitted. "Probably. Our analysts are stumped by this. We all knew that Anyo has been trying to find ways to break the resistance on Venus. For all of his fanaticism, troops and money, he cannot kill what he cannot find. He had repeatedly demanded our aid and we have told him that he made the mess, he can clean it up."

"You know what he will do if he doesn't find them. He did it before." Cass said very quietly. The Reverend Mother nodded. "Did he know about my past and Lissandra's?"

"No." The Reverend Mother promised. "Neither did I until I accessed the secure files left for me by my predecessor. I knew Lissandra had been orphaned, but I had no idea why. I..." She broke off and bowed her head. "That is no excuse. I am no more a goddess than Oracle Janet is, but this hurts, Sergeant Cass. I like Lissandra and I cannot help her."

"No one will harm her." Rachel said with a growl from where she stood. "No one will bother her if I have anything to say about it." That was a clear warning to everyone.

"She will likely appreciate that but be warned, the girl has a stubborn streak a kilometer wide." The Reverend Mother smiled a bit faintly and nodded. "Right now? The sergeant is our problem. You are healed now, Sergeant and you likely have a lot of questions." Cass nodded. "We are here to answer what we can. Whatever Anyo did to you, Marlena's companions wiped the records of that facility and killed all of the staff before Hayden attacked them and we hope whatever evil was recorded is gone for good. I don't think he had time to back the records up anywhere else. Which is a good thing." The nun said firmly. Everyone nodded as Cass looked at them. "As Jesse said, this is far too powerful."

"I have never understood what Cyberlancers do. I always thought it was just more Tenno ultra high tech magic science stuff." Cass admitted.

The Reverend Mother looked at Horatius who shrugged. They all looked at Rachel who nodded. For her part, she turned to the bearded Tenno who nodded to her. He spoke.

"Sergeant, my name is Mavri and I am a historian of sorts." The older looking being said calmly. "'Cyberlancer' is a term that was coined by the first one. She was infected by the Technocyte virus but she was not subsumed or changed entirely. She was not a trained warrior like the First Tenno, but she was no less dangerous when pressed." Cass nodded, still mystified. "She had to call it something and she likely did not intend it to be taken seriously, but it was. It is."

"Considering what happens every time anyone from the Company faces one, I would say it is fairly serious." Cass replied, still clueless. "But… I mean, it is obviously a Technocyte derived power. Am I infected?" He asked Iriana who shook her head.

"No." Iriana promised. "That was the first thing we checked." She smiled at him and he relaxed a bit. "You are not and you won't be." The Ember Prime nodded, but remained silent. "We have a lot of resources making sure that you and Lissandra are safe here."

"I can't stay here." Cass' tone was flat and everyone looked at him. "I am a threat. I am not cleared for all of the sociopolitical things going on and I am very thankful for that. I know more than I should about more than I should. Would wiping my memories-?" He broke off as Iriana, Rachel and the Reverend Mother all shook their heads in unison.

"It wouldn't work." Iriana said sadly. "Cyberlancer minds are not quite like human or Tenno minds. They are very quiet about the actual changes, and only recently have any of the rest of us seen any of the actual changes happen, but they are happening inside your skull. Slowly, but inexorably. Any memories you have now will be backed up in far too many places and ways to wipe completely."

"Am I still human?" Cass pleaded. Iriana laid a hand on his arm and he could see his hand trembling.

"Yes." Iriana reassured him. "You are still of species homo sapiens."

"Is Lissandra?" Cass asked and no one replied. He looked Iriana in the eyes and the Healer met his gaze. "Is she?" He asked, his tone tight.

"I don't know." Iriana admitted. She looked at the Reverend Mother who sighed.

"Sergeant Cass, the answer to that question is complicated. The usual definition of a species is a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding." The nun said very carefully. "After what was done to her, Lissandra cannot bear young. A fact for which I am sad and at the same time, quietly grateful, because any children she has would likely bear her curse." Cass stared at her in horror and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "That was the very first thing she demanded of my predecessor, Sergeant. Not to let her have any children who would suffer as she had." She looked away. "Not that it mattered, what the madman did to her rendered her sterile."

"She is a good… A good woman." Cass said weakly.

"She is a good kid." The Reverend Mother corrected him, face grim. "She will be a kid until she dies. Her body does not age. We protected her for ten years and now we have failed her." When she turned back to Cass, rage sang in her eyes, but not in her voice. "Anyo will pay for what he did to her and you."

"That still does not answer my question." Cass protested. "Is she human?"

"Am I?" The Reverend Mother demanded.

"I..." Cass paused and looked at everyone else, but no one offered aid. "I honestly do not know." He admitted.

"Neither do I." The Reverend Mother admitted. "I know that eventually, according to the Guidelines, I will have to bear another child. To raise in the Company way." Cass stiffened along with Horatius and Iriana. None of the others reacted. "But I can't. Not yet. The doctors all tell me I am physically capable, but I can't. After what happened with Sara, Sierra, Sheila, and then René and her brothers… I don't think I am ready and the mental professionals among us agree. They have filled out all the forms, given me extensions and what assurances they can. I talk with them regularly and they say I am making progress, so I hope to have the answer to that someday. To whether or not I am human. I am needed doing what I am, so I will. Someday, I will find out if I can bear human young. Physically, I am capable. Mentally? I am not."

"No one blames you for that." Cass said softly. "I…" He gave himself a shake. "So, my way with computers allowed this to happen? I was always good with them, but this is way more than I anything I dreamed of in my worst nightmares."

"With all the records wiped and all the staff dead, we don't know what they did." The Reverend Mother said heavily. "The First Tenno had to be involved, but beyond that? I don't know."

"Am I a threat to the Tenno here?" Cass asked Rachel who did not reply. "Please?"

"Anything can be a threat, sergeant." The bearded Tenno said with a sigh. "As you are now? No. You clearly do not wish harm to any here. But you heard and saw what happened." Cass looked at the floor. "Tenno Rachel has to worry about all of her people."

"And some may benefit from Lissandra's touch." The Reverend Mother actually growled that and Cass winced as everyone looked at her. "Don't even try to argue that." She warned. Rachel met her glare and slowly nodded.

"I want to say 'No', sergeant. Reassure you that it won't happen." Rachel was very quiet. "I can't. I am not more infallible than the next Tenno, as recent events have proven." Cass stared at her and she shook her head. "You missed a mess."

"Am I going to explode?" Cass asked Iriana who pursed her lips and then shook her head.

"As far as I can tell, no. But a lot of what is going on is above my head." Iriana gave his arm a squeeze. "Sergeant, none of us want to push you. You have been abused. If not quite as badly as Lissandra was, then just as thoroughly."

"I am going to ask something and it is going to bother everyone." Cass warned and Iriana stiffened, but nodded as everyone else did. "Can Liriel kill Lissandra?"

No one moved and then Horatius slowly shook his head.

"She probably can." The Commander of the Special Forces said softly. "Would she?" He winced. "I do not want to be the one to ask her such a thing."

"You wouldn't." Cass replied and everyone stilled as he sighed. "I know she can kill me. Would she if I asked?"

"Sergeant! No!" Iriana protested and the Reverend Mother took a step towards him, but stopped as Cass shook his head again. He laid his hand on Iriana's.

"You are a Healer." Cass said softly. "Your dedication and devotion to your calling puts any of my peers to shame." He gave Iriana's hand a squeeze. "But healer… I am threat. To the Tenno, to humanity, to the Company that I am sworn to serve and protect. I need to make sure that I can be stopped and I owe Lissandra my life." He met the Healer's suddenly glistening eyes with his own. "That wasn't a lie, was it?"

"No." Iriana said in a suddenly husky voice. "Even with the best healing, such injuries leave traces. She saved your life. Sergeant, please!"

"I am not one of those characters from the old historical romances." Cass reassured the distraught healer. "I am not going to do anything dumb. I need more information. I want to help her if I can and I do like her."

"She likes you." Iriana said weakly and then her tone turned sly. "After the surgery, our sedatives didn't work and she woke for a bit. I soothed her back to sleep, but her first words were 'What has Sergeant Cass done now?'" Cass pinked and everyone chuckled.

"Love at first sight." Horatius started, only to pause as the Reverend Mother slugged him in the arm! "Hey!"

"Lissandra deserves any comfort we can give her." The Reverend Mother said sternly enough that both Cass and the Commander stiffened. "We did not do that to her but the Company did. That she is remotely sane is a testament to the girl's love for her fellow beings and her devotion to her calling." She looked at Iriana who frowned. "She is the closest thing we, the Clergy, have to a Healer and it has cost her dearly over the years."

"It is not a small burden, no." Iriana sighed and then nodded. "Do you want me to talk to her when she wakes?"

"I would appreciate that." The Reverend Mother smiled but it was melancholy. "Sergeant Cass… The Queen of Cats probably could, but she won't. Nikis could have, but he wouldn't. None of us have the right to kill her." She slumped a bit. "I sat with her during her latest episode and it hurt me to watch her suffer. Healing you has let her be free from pain for the first time in months. She will react. You better be ready for such."

"Is she going to make advances on me?" Cass asked. "She did." The Reverend Mother sighed and nodded.

"The girl understands all of the physical parts, but she hasn't dared let anyone get close." The nun smiled suddenly. "Until you." The smile she gave him was heartfelt, but there was clear warning in her eyes. The warning came though loud and clear in her next words. "If you hurt her, Sergeant, you will answer to me. Do I make myself clear?"

"Reverend Mother." Cass said weakly. "I… I can't… You know how badly I was hurt and..." He stilled as Iriana laid a hand on his arm. "Healer?"

"Do you want to?" Iriana asked very quietly. "She needs more help than any of us can give. You and she are bonded in several ways. You can help her cope and she can help you."

"I would love to, but I can't! I don't have them anymore!" Cass protested. He froze as most of the others in the room chuckled. All the ones with visible faces were smiling. "What?"

"Who are you talking to, Sergeant?" The Reverend Mother looked as if she swallowed a bug, she was trying so hard to keep from laughing. "Did you hear any of what happened when her daughter wound up in the Clergy's care?"

Cass stared at the Reverend Mother and then at Iriana whose face was set in a grim line. But the edges of her mouth twitched as if she too wanted to smile.

"Uh..." Cass swallowed hard as he stared down at the legs that he had been taking for granted. Legs that had been twisted remnants the day before. "Um… I… I saw some of it." He swallowed and then forced himself to relax. "Healer… I… I don't..."

"Come on. Lissandra will wake up any minute." Iriana took hold of his arm and started him towards the door. It was testament to his confusion that he did not resist at all. "She will prefer you there and the three of us need to have a long talk. Alone." That was to everyone else who nodded. "It has been a while since I did 'the birds and the bees', but I am a mother. I can manage."

"Someone shoot me?" Cass pleaded, but everyone just laughed as Iriana led him away.

"No!" Everyone but Iriana chorused. "We don't want her mad at us!"