Conflicts of capital
"We cannot allow this."
The Reverend Mother was tired, that was clear to anyone with eyes. She had been very quiet after Rachel had brought her back to the Citadel. Rachel hadn't said a word and the Reverent Mother had known that the elder Tenno was upset by this. Both by what had been done and by how it had been done. But it was not Rachel who spoke. Saying that Elder Mavri was upset did not do his emotions justice.
"You cannot stop it, Elder." The Reverend Mother sat, a steaming cup of tea in her hands. The First did not get many human visitors, but they did remember the rules of hospitality. "This is an internal Corpus matter and it should not bleed out into the rest of the system. We will try hard not to let it anyway." She tried to reassure him, but it fell flat in the face of his anger.
"You just declared war on another Corpus executive!" Mavri snapped. "How can that not have repercussions across the system?"
"It will." The Reverend Mother took a sip of her tea and smiled at Rachel, but said smile was melancholy. "And worse is yet to come. Unlike Anyo, we will try to keep it from flaring up all over, but he won't care. He thinks we have Lissandra and he will do anything he can to take her back. I am astonished that he didn't tell everyone what she can do." The nun said softly. "That is not typical behavior for him."
"He does not want to share." Tiana spoke up from where she stood by one wall. She had been called in when Alicia had been detained. Not that Alicia was capable of doing anything but sitting and crying right now.
"It is more than that." The Clergywoman replied absently. "None of my sources or analysts can give any reason for him not to gloat about what she could do. If he did, all of our enemies would line up to attack us." She shook her head. "He has to know he cannot win against us. His armies and fleets are massive, but he cannot kill what he cannot find any more than he can kill Vox Solaris and..." She paused, her eyes going distant. Then she hissed. "Oh dear."
"What?" Rachel, Tiana and Mavri chorused.
"You know we were given a number of recovered files from the lab. Most heavily encrypted." The Reverend Mother said slowly. All of the others nodded. "Marlena left. She didn't want to strain your patience or take the chance of running into Miguel. Smart of her."
"And?" Mavri demanded, only to pause and look at Rachel who waved his transgression away. She led here, but she was just as curious apparently.
"And I need to talk to 'Ali'." The Reverend Mother rose, leaving her cup on the chair. "Now." Her tone changed from tired to worried, frustrated, scared and angry all in one. All three Tenno stared at one another and she shook her head. "He hasn't left." Not a question.
"Galina's sacrifice, final or no, sent them to him." Rachel said slowly. "He feels obligated. And with you telling everyone that humans did not steal Lissandra and Cass... Things just got ugly."
"The knowledge that it was Tenno who managed to breach our security was already out there. The breeding colony had the best security in human space." The Reverend Mother said with a shrug. "No human could have managed such. Not even Maroo. Many have tried and they have all failed. It was a calculated risk. The Corpus know that our security is not perfect, but they also know, now, that Tenno could get in and out undetected." She smiled grimly. "If you can get in there, you can get in anywhere." All of the Tenno stared at her and her smile became a smirk. "What? I am not allowed to enhance your reputation now?"
"And the fear you engender will be useful to you." Mavri growled. The Reverend Mother shrugged.
"Probably." The Clergywoman was neither agreeing with nor dismissing the concern. "I need to talk to Ali and then we need to see if Alicia is capable at all. We need to know where the two were supposed to go."
"Why?" Mavri demanded, anger rising again. "You started a war! And now, you want to talk about it?"
"The war began when the First Tenno abducted Lissandra at Anyo's orders." The Reverend Mother corrected him grimly. "Now? I know why." She made a face."That idiot. That insufferable, stupid, clueless fool!"
"Who?" Rachel asked and then shook her head. "Ali is on his way. Timothy and Isha are warding him."
"Anyo." The Clergywoman growled. "There are things that are sealed away for a reason!" She shook her had. "Specifically Orokin things. But his Void has told him to open any and every silly little Orokin box he finds. So he does and then he wonders why all hell breaks loose around him. I do wonder when his people will realize that he is stark raving mad."
"They likely already know." Tiana said quietly. "But where can they go?" The Reverend Mother looked at her and Tiana shrugged. "How many of them have read all of your corporate guidelines?"
"Not enough of them." The Clergywoman seemed to wilt a bit. "It is not in their overlords' best interests to let them know all of the facts. We do what we can. It is not enough. They do not know their rights nor their options and their masters won't let them know. They are not supposed to be slaves, but they don't know nay better. We try to tell them and we get silenced far too often." She shook her head when all three looked worried. "They learned not to kill our teachers the hard way. They can be blunt and sometimes rough, but they do not kill our teachers."
"I don't want to know what the Clergy did, do I?" Rachel asked. The Reverend Mother shook her head. "Then I will not ask. But this… What has he done?"
"Something moronic. Something very simple, very easy to start and almost impossible to stop." The Reverend Mother nodded as the door to the room opened and two warframes escorted the cloaked and masked Ali into the room. The Trinity Prime and Limbo Prime nodded to Rachel and stepped out, the door closing behind them. The Clergywoman nodded to Ali as he growled at Rachel.
"You rang?" Ali's tone held sarcasm mixed with curiosity. Rachel, Mavri and Tiana all bristled, but the Reverend Mother did not react. He looked at her and his posture was speculative. "You would be the Reverend Mother of the Clergy." His tone was somewhat more polite now.
"You knew me by another name, but that name is gone alone with that identity." The Clergywoman replied. "Rachel?" She inquired.
"You asked to talk to him." Rachel sighed. "He makes us all very angry. And yes, we know it is totally intentional."
"Tenno cannot allow themselves to be blind." Ali said softly. "I am not of you and will never be one of you, I do know that. Galina tasked me with trying to keep you lot from falling into blind fanaticism like I did. I have tried."
"You have succeeded more than you have failed." The Reverend Mother reassured him and he stared at her. "I remember our long talks on 'good' and 'evil'. I had lost my way and you helped me find it again. For that? I thank you." She bowed to him!
"I only ever talked to Tenno." Ali sounded confused. He looked at Rachel who shrugged. "I do not know you."
"I look nothing like the female Tenno you talked to." The Reverend Mother replied. "I sound nothing like her, but I do remember our talks on darkness. On what lurks deep within the soul of certain beings. On what lurked within her soul after so long walking in darkness alone." Ali staggered back a step and when he spoke again, it held both awe and horror.
"You…?" Ali actually gulped. "What happened to you?"
"I was needed." The Reverend Mother replied. "Three words that do not convey the pain, the sadness, the loss. I was needed, but it hurts even now to see myself as someone that cannot be trusted by people I loved. I ask that you do not spread that. Far too many will take advantage if my previous identity becomes known." She glared at him and he nodded.
"I can see that." Ali gave himself a shake. "You asked to talk to me?" He looked at the others and they all shrugged.
"What do you know of 'Cell Free'?" The Reverend Mother asked and Ali recoiled.
"How do you know about that?" The masked being demanded. This wasn't a calm, considered being. No, rage in his tone. Old rage. Old pain. Old regret. "No one knows about that!"
"My analysts just decrypted Anyo's securest files from the lab." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "Three of them will undergo voluntary mind wipes as a result. That cannot get out. You know it cannot." Ali nodded.
"Voluntary?" Rachel and Mavri spoke in unison. Rachel continued. 'Why?" She demanded.
"You do not want to know!" Ali snapped. "What has he done?" The masked being asked, slumping.
"He opened it and tried to use it." The Reverend Mother said sadly and Ali hissed. "Yes. He is an idiot. Tech is his tool after all. It isn't like the tech has a mind of its own. Is it?"
"Only when people start playing with things they have no business playing with." Ali replied. "I do not and will not agree with Tenno on much, but that? No one today will remember. Maybe not even Nikis. He was not involved. Galina was involved in the cleanup. Did she know?" He mused. "She might have."
"It was never an attack on the Tenno." The Reverend Mother and Ali might have been the only ones in the room. "Would any of them have cared?"
"Salia did." Ali said very quietly. "It impacted our recruitment. We took steps." He shook his head. "Looking back? I think that is what gave her the idea for the weapons in the first place. 'Cell Free' Oh, my god. We are in trouble." The Reverend Mother nodded.
"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked, her tone careful.
The human and the not-Tenno in the green mask eyes one another and then the Reverend Mother spoke.
"Anyo has been having a great deal of difficulty on Venus." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "What he has done in Fortune is awful. The Corpus are all about Profit to the exclusion of all else. When one falls into debt, there is little recourse if one does not have assets. And if one is born into a debt that they have no way to ever repay?" She sighed. "He dresses it up nicely for Board meetings, but it is slavery in every possible, ugly way. The environment is too hostile for normal workers, so they have to get heavy body augmentation simply to survive, even before they start working and that costs as well."
"'Don't call me Saint Peter, cause I can't go'..." Ali sang softly and the Reverend Mother nodded as everyone else looked blank. "...'I owe my soul to the company store'."
"As far as Anyo and most executives are concerned, the Solaris do owe their souls to the Company." The Reverend Mother said with a growl. "We have tried to help, but Anyo brooks no trespass and under the Guidelines, there is little we can do unless certain strictures are passed and we are notified." She nodded to the Tenno. 'I know Tenno have done far more, and for that? I thank you. What is happening there is a blot on our history." She bowed her head. "What has happened there and will again if we let it. Anyo thinks he owns their souls and I for one find that thought incredibly repugnant."
"So, what is going on?" Rachel did not demand that. Close but not quite.
"As slaves with brutal or idiotic taskmasters have throughout history, the Solaris are fighting back." The Reverend Mother replied. "Not all of them, but enough. They may not have the resources of a Corpus executive, but they have guts, sense and the ability to hide in places that few can contemplate. Insurrections are no joke at the best of times. There? It is a mess. Anyo tried to show his ability to a group of investors and instead showed his incompetence when he nearly got the entire Vallis turned into molten slag. He blamed the Solaris for that, and wanted vengeance. Tenno stopped him." She smiled at Mavri who frowned. "A good thing."
"Anyo's fleet is in orbit and makes approaching the planet in anything other than a heavily stealthed craft suicide. They cannot see through the cloud cover any more than anyone else can." Tiana mussed. "So, he has a ground war that he cannot win." The Reverend Mother nodded. "He cannot find the enemy. Tenno or otherwise." She winced. "That is not a good thing, is it?"
"No." The Clergywoman sighed. "He has the manpower and firepower to level the entire Vallis. He knows where Fortuna is, but the colony is a massive investment on his part. He won't blow it up unless given far more cause. He didn't before." She slumped a bit. "God knows, that would have been kinder than what he actually did."
"So..." Rachel mused. "He found another way to stop them?"
"So he thought." The Reverend Mother sighed. "I always knew he was an idiot, but this? This stretches the limits of idiocy. I can almost see him being that desperate, especially now. He didn't know what he was unleashing. He had no idea."
"No one was ever supposed to. We were promised that all copies were destroyed." Ali growled. Then he sighed. "I… I may be the only one who remembers. Who knows just how dangerous Cell Free is." Everyone looked at him and he shook his head. "Records don't do it justice. It affected everyone. Human, Tenno, Orokin, everyone." At that, Mavri and the two warframe clad Tenno goggled at him, but the Reverend Mother nodded.
"We will need to explain to everyone, but we have to be very careful." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply. "We have to keep this quiet. If Anyo is pushed into a corner, he may very well nuke the entire Vallis. Using force is what his kind knows when thwarted. And this?" She slumped a bit. "I bet the Grineer would react exactly the same way."
"Tenno did." Ali said very softly and everyone stared at him. "That never made the histories."
"No, it wouldn't." The Reverend Mother agreed. "I need to talk to Cass, Lissandra and any available Cyberlancer. I need to do it privately." She made a face. "I know what Lissandra will say. Cass, probably likewise. But, oh my God! I don't want to throw them into this. This is not a fight they can win."
"No alone, no." Ali took a deep breath and then he bowed to the Clergywoman. "But this is a threat I understand. Trust will never happen and no matter what some may wish, I cannot be redeemed. What I did can have no forgiveness. I am not Tenno, but my penance is eternal for all the lives my mentor and I snuffed out."
"Lissandra has suffered enough." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "I don't want to put this on her."
"A medic and a tech." Ali slowly shook his head. "Just like the last time. Was any of what I was briefed on actually true?"
"Most of it was a cover story." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "I can have hard copy files hand delivered to a secure Tenno archive. There will be no unencrypted electronic copies of this. At least Anyo did that right." She growled. "That insufferable idiot! If he had simply asked… But oh, no.. The Void demands and the Void takes. Well this time, it took a bit too much and a certain fool will draw back a bloody stump." She paused and then her face held shock. "Wait… I declared Holy War, that means I can act and no one will think twice if I take extreme measures." She shook her head. "This was planned for. That is way too convoluted to be Anyo's work. Who...?" She gave herself a shake. "Later. I will think on that later."
"What do you mean?" Mavri demanded, then winced, looking at Rachel who sighed.
"Maybe you should lead us, Elder Mavri." Rachel half joked. Mavri recoiled, his face ashen, but she waved his worry away. "Joking. I am joking, but trust me, if I found a successor? I would draft them in a heartbeat." She looked at the Reverend Mother and then at Ali. "Can you say what the threat is?" She inquired carefully.
"It is not a threat like you would define one." Ali said softly and the Reverend Mother nodded, her face grim. "There are no physical enemies to kill or intimidate. Which makes it far harder to combat."
"Is it a disease?" Rachel inquired.
"Eh… Sort of?" The Reverend Mother groaned as Ali shrugged helplessly. "It is hard to explain. At its core, yes, it is a disease, but treating it is like trying to treat the ancient common cold. There were so many things that caused the symptoms that were defined as 'a cold' that it was virtually impossible to treat. That is the problem here too. It is not an illness, per say. It acts as one and..." She slumped. "...it probably looked like a weapon to someone like Anyo."
"Idiot." Ali growled and the Reverend Mother nodded.
"No argument here." The Clergywoman agreed. "I… I know Liriel is talking to Cass. She will likely remember. Call her in. If… If she wishes to hurt or slay me, I will pay that price." All of the Tenno stared at the Clergywoman as she slumped.
"Reverend Mother..." Mavri spoke into the silence. "You would let her kill you?" The nun nodded. "Why?"
"Because if we do not stop this, now, then the entire system may fall to it." Ali said very quietly. "I do not know if it worked on Infested or not…?" He asked the Reverend Mother who slowly nodded. "Oh dear."
"Anything with a functioning, higher level brain." The Reverend Mother said softly. "I bet even the Sentients would not be immune. It all comes from inside, there is nothing to adapt to."
"What the hell kind of horror is this 'Cell Free'?" Rachel demanded. "What kind of insane person makes a disease like that?"
"An Orokin made it." Ali said very softly as the Reverend Mother started to pray quietly. "But as for what kind of horror?"
"A video game."