Safety devices
Lissandra was praying.
The room was not small, but it felt that way. Eudico had finally managed to get Zuud to leave but did not even bother to try when the others arrived. Ali stood to one side, an oddly indistinct Nyx Prime warframe at his side. Another Tenno stood by the door. He was odd too. He hadn't spoken at all, but he hadn't had to. The dark brown Loki warframe had never taken his hand off his pistol the whole time. Frankly? That was a comfort! Lissandra knew to within millimeters exactly how far she would go, especially now. She knew just how hard it would be to stop her. The Clergy had learned and so had she. Was that a Snipetron slung across his back? Not a common weapon at all. He was a member of the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno, that was clear from the hologram on his shoulder that matched the one on her own space suit's shoulder, but other than that? She knew nothing about him.
The other two people in the room were distinctly uncomfortable. The Voice clearly wasn't happy with all of the incredible violence that was ready to happen at a moment's notice. The Clergyman who knelt at Lissandra's side ignored the hostility that surrounded him to aid Lissandra and no one had gainsaid his presence. At least, not yet. Sooner or later, someone would. He was Corpus after all, and such were not welcome in Fortuna after all of Anyo's excesses. That said? He was Clergy. Not one of Anyo's goons, so everyone would also give him a bit of space. Wise.
Lissandra finished her prayers and nodded to the Clergyman who smiled at her, but his smile was melancholy.
"They helped." Lissandra reassured him. "Thank, you Brother Crisotofer." The warmth in her tone was not faked and everyone relaxed as the white that smothered Lissandra's mind receded from the power of her faith. It was not gone, but it was pushed back a bit further and she could function.
"You are quite welcome, Sister Lissandra." The Clergyman rose and held out a hand that she took. She shook her head a she rose, but he did as well. "That is who you are now. What was done to you destroyed the woman you were."
"The monster I was cannot be destroyed except with my own death." Lissandra said very quietly. "Not even mind wipes work." She said sadly. "They tried." She made a face when Eudico gasped.
"Gee… I..." Eudico began, but Lissandra and Cristofer both shook their heads and the floor boss corrected herself. "Okay. Lissandra." She said firmly. "Everyone thought you were dead. You vanished after… After your mom was found." Her cybernetic head bowed. "All they found was your board." Lissandra shrugged and Eudico continued. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I went after the ones who did it." Lissandra said quietly. "I found them." Her tone left nothing to the imagination as to what had happened when she had found the ones who had killed her mother. "Then I tried to die. I failed."
Calm. Clear. Matter of fact. Horrifying!
"The Corpus caught you and they made you into a tool." Eudico sounded sick as Lissandra nodded. "And then… The Clergy…?" She inquired.
"The scum who had her crossed more than a few lines that are not to be crossed. We took steps when we discovered what had been done to her." Brother Cristofer said with a growl as he patted Lissandra's shoulder. "What happened to Lissandra was a horror, but also a miracle. We are torn about her. She is in pain and will be for the rest of her existence, but she is a miracle as well. We all love her." He face turned sick. "We are sharply divided about her repeated requested for euthanasia."
"You do not want to live like this." Eudico said, her tone musing.
"Would you?" Lissandra countered. Eudico shook her head, but did not comment further and Lissandra sighed. "My past is not germane at the moment. If that program breaks the data quarantine, we haven't seen bad yet." Ali, Nyx and the still unnamed Tenno in the Loki warframe all nodded. "Cass will need my help to end the program."
"You know what to do?" Eudico asked carefully. "Every attempt to enter that area gets shot at or shot down. The automated defenses are no joke. We stay away from them." She admitted.
"Oh, I can get in." Lissandra shrugged as Eudico stared at her. "Did they reply?"
"They did, but I honestly do not understand what they told me." Eudico sounded baffled now. "Their whole lexicon is hard to decipher."
"Intentionally." Lissandra shrugged. "I take it they want to talk to me in person?"
"Outside." Eudico said weakly. "But..." She broke off as Lissandra patted Brother Cristofer's arm and started for the door. "Um..." Eudico looked at the Tenno who shrugged. "You do know what the outside is like, right?" She was clearly not expecting Lissandra to chuckle. "What?"
"The suit I am wearing, the one Brother Cristofer brought me..." Lissandra smiled at the Clergyman as she patted the life support belt of her suit. "It looks like a regular Corpus space suit, but it is much better than any standard gear. Yes. I know what the Vallis is like. I am bit out of date, but I do know what to do and how."
She made her way to the door and it opened for her. Outside, a small crowd had gathered. She ignored them to stride the halls as if completely unconcerned. Eudico and the Tenno followed. Brother Cristofer and the Voice did not. Out the hall, up a ramp and to the main elevator that led from the sheltered area tot he Venusian wasteland called Orb Vallis. Lissandra strode to the elevator and ignored the male form that appeared from a shadowed alcove nearby.
"Girl. I..." The Business said softly. He broke off as Lissandra shook her head.
"I do not know you." Lissandra pointedly did not look at him. "Be very glad of that."
Again, calm. Clear. Matter of fact. Horrifying! Everyone stilled as the Business backed up a step.
"Business?" Erudico asked softly. "What did you do?"
"It is the past." Lissandra said as she waited for the elevator. "It cannot be changed any more than I can go back to being who I was. What I was."
"All I can say is I am sorry!" The Business said quickly as the elevator dinged and Lissandra stepped forward. She stopped halfway in, the Tenno and Ali beside her. She still did not look at him!
"Your 'sorry' cannot bring my parents back." Lissandra said with a growl. "It cannot bring my humanity back. But if you ever do that to another lost and hurting little girl, I will find you."
Again, calm, cold and matter of fact. More than one person shuddered at her utterly dead tone.
"What?" Eudico said weakly, staring from one to the other. None of the Tenno moved as Lissandra stepped fully into the elevator.
"The end justifies the means." Lissandra held the elevator as the Tenno and Ali entered. "The end was freedom so the life and soul of one little orphan girl who was praying for a family was immaterial. The fates of her foster parents were also immaterial." Eudico hissed as The Business bowed his head. "Do not think I do not know why my foster father died, Business. Do not ever think that."
"I never heard this." Eudico sounded upset now.
"I did not know the truth myself until I was trying to find closure." Lissandra unbent just a little. "Trying with all my heart and soul to put the demon that is inside me somewhere safe. To make myself safe to be around others. To find a better way. I had to face my past to begin anew. The Clergy had access to all kinds of records. All kinds. I had no idea what I would find. The Clergy had no idea. If they had? They never would have let me start looking if they had known. It took years of therapy before I could go out again after that."
"What happened?" Eudico moved to the door, her hand coming up, only to fall as Lissandra shook her head.
"Let the past remain where it is, Floor Boss Eudico." Lissandra said firmly. "Cassandra's daughter Gee is dead. Let her stay that way. Many people will breath heartfelt sighs of relief. I am not her. Be very glad of that."
"I am." Eudico said softly. "For what it is worth? The end may indeed justify the means, but I know that even the most grievous of hurts do not make the means right sometimes."
"Good." Lissandra stepped forward and took Eudico's hand in her own. "Not everyone gets a second chance, Eudico. I hope you make the most of it." She ignored the Business as he held out hand to her. Eudico batted it away, her posture half fear angry, half fearful. Lissandra ignored that too. "Good luck to you, Eudico."
"And to you, Lissandra." Eudico gave her hand a squeeze and then released it to retreat, blocking access to the elevator.
Lissandra smiled a bit forlornly as the door closed, cutting off Business' protest.
"Will it hurt the clan?" The Loki finally spoke. Lissandra looked at him and he shook his head. "Your past?"
"I doubt it but I am not entirely sure." Lissandra admitted. "I never expected to come back here at all. It is a big solar system, after all. I never expected the white to surface again." She slumped a bit. "I should have."
"It is a coping mechanism, not a death sentence no mater how much one may wish such." The Loki replied and she stared at him. "I too know the curse, sister."
"Then you know what to do if I cannot stop myself." Lissandra said quietly and was relieved when he nodded. "Thank you."
"I will try not to kill you if I can help it." The Loki promised. "My wife would kick my butt and I don't even what to think what Iriana would do to me." He shuddered dramatically enough that Lissandra had to smile. But then she sobered.
"If it comes down to it, do not hesitate!" Lissandra warned him. "I will likely regenerate any damage, although it may take a while, depending on how catastrophic the damage is. That is why he wanted me as a tool, The Business did. A kid who cannot die? Oh yes. He and so many others wanted that tool and weapon. I... So many things..." She shuddered in memory and Ali laid a hand on her arm.
"Do not take more upon yourself than is yours to bear, child." Ali's tone held faint reproof. "The universe may not care if you break, but there are many who will. Whatever evil you have done before, now? You are not evil and you can chose your path forward."
"Would that I had been half as wise when I was a child." Lissandra said sadly. "If I had realized the truth, my foster father might not have died trying to protect me." She shook her head as the elevator dinged. "Time for reminiscing later. Let me do the talking."
"Gladly." The Loki said fervently enough that Lissandra had to grin again as she closed her helmet.
Just outside the door, there they were. Two small forms in badly fitting armor that wasn't anything that anyone had mass produced. Not that the Vent Kids ever mass produced anything but chaos. Before either could speak, Lissandra did.
"I know what it looks like, but I ain't no boxhead." Lissandra said with a snap that was unlike her. Both kids stiffened as she spun to the side, striding for a corner of the huge smelting facility. "You is Rocky and Boon." She said as she walked. "Pobbers and Kubradons?" She scoffed. "Pathetic, the lot o' ya."
"Ya talk big, oldster." The girl replied with a snap of her own. "You gots skill to match that grunt?"
"I did." Lissnadra was looking at a particular corner of the facility, up underneath a set of pipes. She smiled as she reached up under and her fingers found a hidden switch. "Been awhile, but ya don forget."
"No old Corpus broad can match skill of a Vent Kid, let alone a Kubradon!" The boy replied, anger rising. He sneered at the Loki who had followed when Ali and Nyx had not. "Some of the glintys got skill, but few got any flash."
"For them, it most bout results." Lissandra said as she started off again. Everyone else looked at one another and then followed her, the girl jumping up on a K-Drive that swept here and there as Lissandra moved to a blank wall. "Most gots no past and no future, so they focus on nows, not might be's."
Everyone stiffened as she removed her right hand glove and laid her bare hand against the cold metal of the facility. The Loki jerked as if to start forward, but she shook her head and the metal glowed. The patch showed a hand print, far too low to the ground to be sized for an adult. Everyone gawked as a thin piece of metal shot to the side, showing a dark hollow. Lissandra reached in with her gloved hand and pulled something out. When she laid her bare right hand on it, it flashed to life and both of the Vent Kids gasped as the K-Drive started to hum. It was not a normal one! Where a K-Drive was usually a flat board with two drive units at back, this one was curved on the bottom and had three drive units. It also had an odd, almost beak like prow. Was that some kind of bird painted on the underside? A metal bird?
"That..." Boon sounded shocked. When she looked, he had paled. "That.. That Twister's Board!"
"Yeah, it is." Lissandra smiled as she laid the board down and then slid her glove back on. She would need it. The Metal Raptor was not easy to operate at the best of times and she was very rusty. She had little time however.
"How'd ya nick that?" Roky demanded, her tone furious.
"Any fool try to nick this gets boomed." Lissandra retorted as she jumped up in old reflex and her feet found their places. She looked at the Vent Kids who were clearly expecting an explosion. "Been tried."
"You..." Roky shook her head savagely. "Ya ain't Twister! Twister dead!"
"Yeah, Twister is dead." Lissandra said sadly and then, without warning, she kicked her controls. The board shot into the sky where she did two cartwheels and a half clutch spin before landing perfectly. She sighed deeply as both both Vent Kids gawked. She keyed another control and music sounded. Something about 'We're not going to take it'! Both Vent Kids were on their boards now as the Loki produced one of his own and mounted. All of them seemed wary as Lissandra hovered and spun in a full 360 degree copter. She laughed at the old familiar feeling of freedom as she landed just as perfectly as before. "Been a long time. Name is Lissandra. Got to see if I still got it. Try to keep up!"
With that, she took off and left everything in her dust.
Elsewhere
Cass swam back to consciousness, aware of Lilly whining in pain and fear. He remembered tossing Lissandra into an escape pod and then, nothing. His senses cast out, hearing and code both. He jerked as the code was rebuffed.
"None of that, young man." A firm female voice sounded nearby and then his code was tossed back into his body by something that felt golden? He opened his eyes and froze. He was lying on a bed in a room that screamed 'Company' but not. The walls, floor, lights, all of that was Corpus metal and plastic. But the rest of it was not. The bed he was lying in was definitely not company standard. It was three times the size of even the largest Corpus executive bed that Cass had ever seen. It was also connected to several pieces of very high tech medical gear. Things that would not have been out of place in any Orokin tower. That paled beside the golden hologram that sat beside his bed. The female looking being smiled at him. She looked human, but there was something off about her. Oddly familiar. The voice too. He knew her. Or something. "Back with us, sergeant? You scared us."
"Um..." Cass looked to the side and found Lilly lying on the bed beside him. The Kubrow had been hurt. That was clear from organic wound dressings that covered her side, but she was not hurt now. She just seemed unconscious. The other did not seem hostile and Cass felt no injuries but he was wary. He went with his gut feeling. A feeling that had never betrayed him and right now, it was screaming 'Trouble'. "Getting shot down doesn't feel good."
"No. It doesn't. I have been shot down a time or two myself and it never gets fun." The woman smiled at him, but it too was wary. "I know what your IDs say you are and I know basically what you are. The question is, why are you here of all places?" She shook her head. "And before you ask, you are a prisoner."
"Yeah, figured." Cass shrugged at her expression. "I mean, if I wasn't a prisoner, you wouldn't have sedated the Kubrow, would you?"
"She was not in restraints. She hit a wall of the pod hard when you landed, if you can call that a landing. She needed surgery." The other replied. "She should wake up in a few minutes fairly hungry. But you? What do we do with you?" She shook her head. "I mean, a new Cyberlancer is all well and good, but not a Corpus one." She made a face. "Even Special Forces."
"I won't survive this." Cass replied and the other sat back, apparently nonplussed. "Will I?"
"You can." The other was not faking her unconcern. "It is not easy, and I would have to-" She paused and then she scoffed. "And you don't know any of that, do you? He did it and didn't tell you a damn thing, didn't he?"
"I do not know who you are talking about." Cass replied, not daring to move. He had to be under observation and probably guns as well.
"Don't try, sergeant." The other was angry now. "There is only one being who ever learned that Cyberlancers can be made. He never learned how, thank god!" She grimaced. "I wonder how many Hayden killed trying."
"I don't know any of that." Cass replied and shrugged as the other glared at him. "Why would I?"
"That…" The woman sighed and relaxed. "...is a very good point. Hayden is a lot of things. Sneaky might very well have been his middle name. He likely told you bugger all. I am Lynn." She said by way of belated introduction.
"Cass." The sergeant offered. "But you knew that."
"Yes. I knew that." Lynn replied. "Mind telling me something I don't know?"
Cass stared at her and then took a huge gamble. If half of what he heard about this being was true, then she was far more powerful than him and also far more ethical. If she was involved in this, humanity was dead. Period.
If she wasn't…
"We are not in a Corpus lab, are we?" Cass asked. "We didn't crash at the lab, did we?" Lynn just looked at him and he sighed. "We were shot down by automated defenses from a Corpus lab. We are not there, are we?"
"Why?" Lynn asked, suddenly wary.
"Because if you are involved in what is happening in that lab, we will become enemies." Cass said as he sat up. Lilly made a half moan, half growl from his side as she tried to sit up and couldn't. He patted her head and she subsided a little, but her gaze never left the holographic woman. "I do not wish that, but if you are… Then my wishes are moot."
"No." Lynn said slowly, clearly thinking hard. "Your pod crashed a good three kilometers from any functional Corpus structures." She shook her head. "We did wonder why a Corpus facility shot down a Corpus ship."
She did not say where he was now, he noticed.
"I don't know either." Cass said with a shrug. "All of the codes were supposed to be current and it was believed that everyone inside was disabled."
"'Disabled'?" Lynn queried. "How?" She stared as Cass bowed his head. "What?"
"Question: What killed a Cyberlancer and medic to stop it last time? Answer: Nef Anyo has apparently duplicated the horror known as Cell Free." Cass asked and then his world turned bright golden as Lynn, formerly the Tenno known as Trinity, screamed in both horror and rage. When she spoke, it was tightly controlled but golden code sang around her in waves that roiled with her emotions.
"Talk."
That was not a suggestion.