Twists

Lissandra was not asleep. She wanted to be, but she was not.

Cass had stayed up talking with her for quite some time. The Reverend Mother had not wanted to leave, but she had many duties. Liriel had simply vanished, cutting her hologram without even a 'goodbye'. The kind Tenno Healer had come and taken both Cass and Lissandra from the discussion that had erupted between the other Tenno after the Clergy leader had left. She had made sure that both Lissandra and Cass had eaten, given both a fairly intense physical exam and then led them back to sleeping quarters with orders to 'get comfortable'. Iriana had been smirking when she had said that and Lissandra had blushed, but Cass had been a perfect gentleman. He hadn't pressed and Lissandra had appreciated that. She was reeling. Lilly was asleep on the bed between Cass and Lissandra, the Kubrow's faint snores calming after such an exciting day.

Lissandra wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. She knew that. But she couldn't. Something was wrong. Someone was crying. She looked around, but there was no one-

She jerked as her world suddenly shifted in a way that she had no words for. She screamed, but no sound came and then a voice that she sort of remembered spoke up.

"Oh dear!" That was the voice from the female Tenno! The one who had-

Lissandra was suddenly in another room, sitting on a comfortable chair as the world solidified around her. It shimmered in ways that were profoundly unnatural. She should have been afraid, terrified, but she wasn't. The hands that held hers were flesh and blood, warm and gentle. She looked up into worried dark eyes.

"Easy." The voice was familiar, but the face was not. The woman in front of her looked oddly ageless, dark hair and brown eyes surrounding face that was lined from both sorrow and laughter. "Easy, girl. You are safe. I won't hurt you."

"You hurt the other." Lissandra wanted to pull the words back in as soon as she said them, but the other was not offended.

"I did." The being who others had called Nyx or Galina said with a shrug. "I would again. What was done to you was wrong in so many ways. That Hayden and Alicia did it to you? That is worse. Far worse."

"I don't remember what was done." Lissandra said weakly. "I woke up in Anyo's custody and I barely remember that." The Tenno nodded, her face grave. "I… What happened?"

"You are lucky you do not remember. I tore the information on what was done from Alicia's mind." The Tenno looked away. "I am not proud that I lost my temper, but after seeing what had been done to you and the sergeant?" She shook her head. "I have always tried to do the right thing, but I am just as fallible now as I was when I was human, so long ago."

"You were angry." Lissandra tried to reassure the other and the Tenno smiled at her.

"I had cause, but what I did was extreme." The other sighed and then sat in a chair that formed for her to do so. That didn't bother Lissandra for some reason. The other was still holding Lissandra's hands. "My name is Galina. I was called Nyx for a very long time. You may call me either. May I know your name?"

"You know it, don't you?" Lissandra asked, confused.

"I am trying to be polite." The Tenno replied, her entire posture dejected. "I scared you very badly, and that was wrong of me. I took control of you to keep you calm. Taking control of others is never right. Sometimes it can be needed, but it should never be the first choice."

"My name is Lissandra." The girl replied with a nod. "I am pleased to meet you under better circumstances." Galina smiled at her, but it was sad, that smile.

"I would say 'Well met', Lissandra, but this is not a good situation." Galina shook her head. "Hayden had to be the one who kept the copy of Cell Free. No one else would have dared." Lissandra felt her eyes bulge.

"You know about that?"

"Nikis and his mate have been working to put me back together and they have kept me informed." Galina sighed deeply and nodded. "But yes. Liriel and I talked a bit too. She likes you. That may or may not be a good thing."

"Everyone was afraid you are gone for good." Lissandra said weakly. "You are not, are you?" She asked, fear rising.

"I am not a ghost, if that is what you are asking." Galina smiled just a little. "That said, I am not alive either. I am energy form. My energy was dissipated and damaged, but it is being repaired. I couldn't just leave you in such dire straits however. You are in grave danger, girl."

"So what else is new?" Lissandra managed snark somehow and Galina actually chuckled.

"Iriana and the others will do what they can, but there are a lot of people who will see your ability and only that." Galina warned her. "I have touched your mind. I know your pain. I know your fear and oh my god, I am sorry!"

She pulled the human into her lap as Lissandra started to cry. She held the girl, muttering soft things that made little sense, but were soothing and eventually, Lissandra calmed a bit. After a time that might have been minutes or hours, Lissandra felt something soft wiping her face, cleaning her tears away. She looked up at Galina who smiled at her.

"You needed to cry. To let it out." Galina said softly. "Here and now, no one but me can see you. No one can hear you. No one has the right to deny you your grief." That was cold and hard, but for some reason, Lissandra wasn't afraid. Not of this odd being. "As bad as what I went through was, you have been just as battered and torn. You have been alone so long and now you are not. I have seen the sergeant's mind and he will not forsake you. Anyo's evil may have a benefit or it may damn you both. Only time will tell."

"Why?" Lissandra asked sadly as Galina rocked her gently. "Why do this to me? I am a mess. I know I am a horror, but-"

"You are not a horror!" The Tenno replied heatedly, but for some reason, Lissandra was not afraid. "I am a horror! I am not human, not even really Tenno now. I am a tiny remnant of a dead woman. Maybe 'ghost' is a good descriptor." She mused. "Although this is technological, not spiritual."

"I don't understand." Lissandra said weakly. "I thought you were gone."

"Hayden struck me down, yes. My mind was linked to Alicia's when Hayden hit me with his Glaive." Galina relied. "He was trying to send me back to the database, but if I had gone? I would have dragged parts of Alicia's mind with mine. She never would have recovered from that." Galina sighed. "I was angry, but there were limits. I didn't want her destroyed or worse, halfway destroyed."

"What did they do to me?" Lissandra asked. "Anyo's control did not work." Galina shook her head. "They did something, didn't they?"

"Hayden did." Galina slumped a bit. "I knew he was pragmatic, but this…" She shook her head. "I was looking for Hayden to talk to him, but then the Oracle called me and told me that you and the sergeant had been taken by people with far better stealth than humans." She made a face. "I knew instantly that Hayden had done it. I had no idea."

"Why me?" Lissandra asked. "Why not wipe my mind? I mean… The sergeant, if he is becoming a Cyberlancer, they cannot be brainwashed, or so I have heard." Galina shook her head. "But me? If it is done right, it will take." She said weakly.

"It did." Galina said very quietly and Lissandra stiffened. "You do not even realize how changed your mindset is." Lissandra stared at the Tenno and Galina bowed her head. "That is the worst part of it. You would trust Hayden if he appeared here and now. You have no reason to and many reasons not to. You wouldn't think anything wrong of doing anything he says."

"I..." Lissandra swallowed hard. "The Reverend Mother? She didn't pick that up?"

"She is stressed." Galina hugged the girl again. "She has cause. You and she shared an awful time. She cares for you a great deal and she is fighting a war for you as we speak. Anyo had no idea what he was doing. Hayden did."

"This was planned?" Lissandra said weakly. Galina nodded. "But… why?"

"Because Nef Anyo is insane." Galina gave Lissandra another squeeze when the girl gave a soft cry of alarm. "Insanity is unpredictable, but insane people can be easy to manipulate if you know how and if you are careful. Manipulations on that scale are what Hayden did to keep us alive for so long, it is what he does."

"But why?" Lissandra begged. "What can I do? Yes, I may be immortal, and yes, I can clean toxins or whatever out of bodies or forms or whatever, but what can I do against Anyo or Tenno?"

"You by yourself? Nothing." Galina said with a scowl. "But you will not be alone. The sergeant and the one who you know as Ali will not leave your side." Lissandra opened her mouth, but Galina put a finger to her lips. "No. That name will serve. You do not wish to know more. Not yet, perhaps not ever. I cannot aid you more than this. I am recovering here and will be for some time. When I do, Nikis will throw me back into the database." Something in her tone bothered Lissandra.

"And what will you do then?" The human girl shrank back as the Tenno smiled. It was a cold, feral smile of awful promise. "Please! Don't!" Lissandra begged. "Whatever you plan, there is enough horror already!"

Galina stared at her and then relaxed with a sigh.

"I know." Galina made a face. 'I am angry. I likely always will be, but what Hayden did will send shockwaves throughout my people. We all trusted him and he betrayed the first of us. Lynn was the very first of his followers and he betrayed her." Lissandra bowed her head as Galina slumped a bit. "I am… tired."

"You are hurting." Lissandra felt her body react to her words and Galina recoiled, just a hint too late. The tubes connected and Lissandra felt her power flowing as Galina gasped. "You don't need to."

"No!" Galina gasped as Lissandra's power soothed the energy form and then she was crying as Lissandra held her. "No! Anger is what I am!"

"No." Lissandra reassured her. "You are more than that. I can help you… I just wish you could help me." She smiled as Galina stared at her, slumping in relief as Lissandra's power pulled energy from her to soothe the Tenno's rhythms in a way that the human could not define.

Then Galina was crying as Lissandra held her. The power flow stopped and the human just held the crying Tenno.

"How long have you been in pain?" Lissandra asked softly as she did for Galina what the Tenno had done for her. Soothed her with gentleness.

"Too long." Galina said weakly. "I… Why?" She pleaded. "You hate what you do."

"Do I?" Lissandra asked. "You are a mind reader. Was I manipulated into this?" Galina stared at the human and then she gasped. Lissandra smiled and shook her head. "Whatever programs were put in my mind, this was all me. You were hurting. Now, you are not."

"You are far more dangerous than you look." Galina said slowly. Lissandra shook her head.

"You think I do not know how easy it would be to make people worship me?" Lissandra asked in a very soft voice. "I can heal things that no one else can. So many, in so many places, would call my horror miraculous. You know this." She looked away. "But it would be wrong. I am not a goddess and I refuse to be used as one. I have begged, pleaded, sworn, yelled, kicked, screamed… No one will kill me."

"I can." Galina said softly and Lissandra stilled. "If… I do not wish to slay such a wonderful being as yourself, but if you ask me, I will. Anyone could wipe your mind, end your current self's suffering, but no one wishes to lose the good person who you are. Whoever grew in your stead might not be so altruistic." She hugged Lissandra gently. "I can end your pain permanently. You have but to ask. For what you just did… I feel like myself for the first time in eons!" Her hug turned fierce. "Thank you!" She was crying hard now and Lissandra hugged her back. "I feel like myself for the first time since I died!"

"I am glad I could help." Lissandra was reeling. "Part of me really wants to take up your offer, but if I do? What happened on Venus?" Galina stared at her and Lissandra bowed her head. "The only thing required for evil to triumph..." Galina knew the ancient quote. The pair chorused the end.

"...is for good women to do nothing."

The two mismatched beings stared at one another and then they shared a grim nod.

"The offer stands." Galina said with a growl. "I will not break my word to you."

"I may take you up on that, but for now?" Lissandra sighed. "What is going to happen to me?"

"Various groups are debating that." Galina sighed. "If I was who I once was, my voice could add weight to the ones who wish you to be free to seek your own destiny. Any other choice is unethical."

"Why can't you?" Lissandra asked and Galina looked at her. "What is a name, Tenno?" Lissandra asked with a small, sad smile.

"You want to have a philosophical argument now?" Galina asked, incredulous.

"No." Lissandra reassured her. "You are who you are. Who you follow does not define who you are. You chose to take up that mantle, did you not?" Galina nodded, manifestly against her will. "That means that you are still who you were. No one can take that away from you except you. You are still the being you were when you came to try and aid me and the sergeant. Do not let anyone else change you." She reached out to hug the Tenno again. "Nyx."

"I..." Galina sighed deeply and then slowly nodded. "I was so angry. At Hayden, at Lynn, at myself. At the kids and it certainly isn't their fault!"

"They need you." Lissandra said firmly. "Your people need your core of knowing what is right and what is wrong. You chose to fight him. You chose to try and stop him from doing evil. Your Hayden and Anyo both."

"I did." Galina said with a sigh. "Did such a great job, didn't I?" She asked, her smile a bit self deprecating.

"Cell Free needs to be stopped." Lissandra said softly. "Can I do it?"

"With the sergeant's help? Probably." Galina heaved a deep sigh. "I do not know how. Lynn was very closemouthed about what she did. Liriel, likewise. I know that hundreds died when they let loose what they did, humans and Tenno alike. The survivors were scarred for the rest of their lives."

"Ali is still scarred." Lissandra agreed softly.

"The being you know as Ali is not a good being." Galina warned. "Even now, after so long imprisoned and with me trying to rehabilitate him, he is not a good being."

"Which is what we need." Lissandra replied and Galina stared at her. "Sometimes it takes very bad people to do good. Doesn't it, Nyx?"

"I like you." Galina,- no, Nyx!-, hugged Lissandra tight enough to hurt and her form morphed into the warframe that Lissandra has seen before. "My offer stands, human Lissandra. You have but to ask. I do not wish to, but I do know what is right and your pain is wrong." She gave Lissandra one final squeeze and released her.

"But needed." Lissandra smiled as Nyx retreated a bit. The world was shimmering.

"There are limits and I know where they lie. The rest of my kin will know where those limits sit as well before I am done." Nyx promised. Then her tone hardened. "Do not trust anything Hayden promises you. He is a master manipulator. The best I have ever met."

"Is there anyone I can trust?" Lissandra begged as the world fell away.

"Yes." Nyx's mind gave hers a final caress. "You will like them."

Lissandra sat up in the bed, but then slowly sank back down as Lilly gave a sleepy growl. The human stared at the Kubrow and then at Cass. Lilly rolled over and was asleep again. Both slept peacefully but Lissandra was wide awake. She did not react as the door opened and a form in a white gown entered the room. The face was distorted by a hologram and Lissandra nodded. One of Amelia's Voices. She stiffened as the Voice reached up and undid her face covering. The red skinned face that was revealed was young. Ageless, but young looking. Familiar! Lissandra had never met the being, but she did know who this was! Every Clergy medic had been briefed on the horror. She nodded to Lissandra's stunned look.

"Hello Lissandra." The Voice said with a smile as another entered the room and took up station by the door. This one did not remove its face covering. "We need to talk."

"I cannot help you." Lissandra warned as Cass jerked awake. He stared at the Voice and then paled.

"Lis?" The sergeant stammered as Lilly woke up as well. A quick look had the Kubrow sitting on the bed between the two Voices and her humans.

"Lis F-43. Or, that wasn't your name. Just a cover identity." Lissandra stammered. The unmasked Voice nodded. "I… Oh… I wanted to help you. I could not before. They were debating if I was needed or not."

"I didn't need you. I needed Harriet." Lis said with a shrug. "I would have hurt you, maybe killed you accidentally and that would have been a shame."

"And you are here now…? Because…?" Cass inquired very carefully.

"Because Shepherd is in trouble and she needs your help." Lis replied. "She went to Venus to help the residents of Fortuna with spiritual problems and she disappeared there. We have reason to believe that Anyo has her in the lab where he released Cell Free."

She stilled and then her hand flashed, her face covering back in place as Hayden Tenno appeared in a corner of the room! Physically stepped out of a hole that appeared in the wall! Before he could speak, the Voice did.

"Be ye gone, Tenno." The Voice snapped. "You have done enough."

"This does not concern you, Voice." Hayden Tenno said to the Voice as he looked at the pair on the bed. Lilly growled but he was unmoved. "I will keep my people from splintering."

"Too late." Lissandra was hardly the only one to freeze as Nyx strode in the room through the door that the Voices had used. Not a hologram! She was physical again! Other waframes started filing in behind her. All golden. All First. All in physical form. All furious!

Oh dear!