Mind games
The Excalibur started to say something, but whatever he was going to say was cut off, literally, as Lissandra slashed out with both hands and odd elongated rectangles that sat on the backs of her arms slid into her hands to become pistols. Odd pistols, but from how they hummed? Powerful ones. It felt right to take aim with them.
"Jermaine! NO! STOP!" An unexpected voice shouted as Lissandra took aim. Hayden Tenno stepped into view, his empty hands upraised as Lissandra growled, her aim point the Excalibur who had frozen in place. "Mikhail! Drop it!"
That was a command and the Excalibur did as instructed. His Braton clattered to the floor even as Lissandra spun in place, seeking targets. Every single warframe had frozen in place as she had drawn her odd weapons. All of then had weapons, but none seemed to dare draw them. Wise as keyed up as Lissandra was. She felt nothing but readiness that sang in every cell of her being.
"Jermaine..." Hayden took a slow step forward only to freeze as Lissandra's aim centered on him. "I know you are confused. I know you are angry. You have cause. Lilly is alive. She won't be for long, but we can save her, Jermaine."
"That is not my name." Lissandra felt nothing. Nothing at all made it through the white in her mind.
"It was." Hayden said very softly. "Once, long ago. Before you were taken from here, that was your name. Jermaine Anyo."
"That is not my name." Lissandra said flatly. She took a slow, careful step and stood over Lilly who moaned in pain. "Whatever Nef Anyo is paying you is not enough." She broke off as Lilly tried to move and could not. The Kubrow whined in pain and fear. "He shot my companion."
"He did." Hayden slumped. "This isn't what you think. This is virtual, not physical! I can help her!" He pleaded.
"And I should trust you." Lissandra wanted to snap that, but it came out dead calm.
"You won't after everything." Hayden said very slowly. "I don't blame you. Mikhail, seiza. Now." That was a command and the Excalibur nodded before kneeling in place. "I can help Lilly!" He pleaded. "I have already made Liriel and Lynn mad enough as it is, let me help her!"
"You move? You die." Lissandra replied.
"I am already dead. If I don't help her? Lilly dies." Hayden sighed deeply. "And if that happens? You probably go nuts and have to be put down. Liriel is far smarter than anyone gives her credit for and everyone gives her a lot of credit for brains." He shook his head. "Anyo messed up and he knows it."
"Do I care?" Lissandra asked.
"No. But there are those who care about you, Lissandra." Cass' voice preceded the soldier into view. He was glowing blue, but that paled beside the transparent golden form who stood beside him who was glowing gold! The female Tenno was furious!
"I thought I knew how many ways you could be stupid, Hayden." The female Tenno ignored Lissandra to kneel beside Lilly, her hands gentle as she checked the Kubrow. "I didn't have a clue, did I?"
"I didn't do this, Lynn!" Hayden retorted.
"Oh?" Lissandra could still feel nothing as Cass moved to stand beside her. He was unarmed, but his hands glowed with blue code. "Then who did?"
"All the records of Cell Free were gone, destroyed. Anyo thought to spread his faith by a mental virus spread by a video game." Hayden said very softly. "He didn't know what would happen. How it would evolve once it was out of the incubator." Lynn scoffed, but he wasn't done. "I didn't do this! Alicia and I didn't have a clue about this until we brought the two of them to him. I know why you feel the way you do about me and frankly? I agree. What I did was wrong. I wanted to try and make it right but I can't."
"Got that right." Lynn snapped as she did something and Lilly relaxed. "Easy there, little puppy. You are going to be okay." She reassured the distraught Kubrow.
Something is wrong with Mistress! Lilly begged. Help Mistress!
"If I can, I will." Lynn promised and Lilly relaxed. She finished what she was doing and rose slowly to scrutinize Lissandra who hadn't moved, hadn't relaxed her aim. "You think she can fix this?" Lynn demanded of Hayden.
"I know she can." Hayden replied a bit uneasily. "She was intended to be the Healer for this group. The nurturer. But she was taken by a traitor when she was less than a day old. He was killed by the security systems while trying to escape and she was thought lost when his ship crashed outside the facility. Instead? She found her way to Fortuna."
"Because she is immortal." Lynn sighed deeply. "Moronic little twits always trying to make humans immortal! It never ends well!"
"No." Hayden agreed. "It doesn't. Lynn, we have our differences. God knows, I earned your wrath, but she doesn't deserve this hell!"
"Who did this?" Lynn demanded as she eyed the kneeling warframes.
"Anyo." Hayden sighed deeply and slowly knelt as well. "What better guardians for his faith than undying bio-metal? He managed to get a set of Transference controls working. Then he found several half built warframes and had a brainstorm. He set out to make his own users, his own debased copies of Tenno." Lynn hissed and Hayden nodded. "Yeah."
"That is insane!" Lynn snapped as Lilly sat up and tried to move to Lissandra, but she couldn't. Lynn sighed and picked up the Kubrow, cradling her gently.
"He thinks he is better than the Orokin, Lynn." Hayden replied. "That he can do better than they did at their height because his faith says he can." He sighed. "I agree it is insane. I have been talking to these since I discovered them here. They do not and will not trust me, but I am trying to help them."
"'Help', sure. Of course, you didn't tell anyone." Lynn said savagely as she soothed the distraught Kubrow. "Because why try to help them when you can use them."
"The game won't let them go, Lynn." Hayden snapped right back. "The only one who can free them is Jermaine here." He nodded to Lissandra who did not react.
"That is not her name." Cass moved to flank Lissandra.
"It was!" Hayden retorted. "She was intended to be their leader. Their healer. Their nurturer. Their Game Mistress."
"Hayden..." Lynn slowly shook her head and then sighed. "You know I cannot trust a word you say."
"I know." Hayden Tenno slumped and then nodded. "I hope you can help her. She doesn't deserve this. None of them did." With that, he vanished.
Cass jerked, but no one else moved. Lynn stood there, Lilly in her arms for a long moment before turning to Lissandra. When the shade spoke again, it was slow and careful.
"This is virtual, young lady." The ancient Tenno kept her voice calm and quiet. "None of this is real. You can hurt us here, but you cannot kill us. Do you wish to hurt us?"
"He hurt Lilly." Lissandra managed through her mental fog.
"Yes, he did and she could have died." Lynn's glare should have rendered the Excalibur down to ash. "I am glad I was here. These days are filled with horror, fear and pain. It is all too rare that I can heal as I so wish to."
"Yes. I… I feel that too." Lissandra took a deep, shuddering breath and then she fell to her knees, crying. Cass took hold of her carefully as the pistols on her arms retracted back to their resting places. "What am I?" Lissandra begged.
"I do not know." Lynn was sad now. "From what I have seen, you are not evil. People keep pushing you which seems somewhat unwise." Lilly made a noise and Lynn set the puppy down on unsteady feet. "Easy there, little one. You are going to be weak for a bit. This is all in the mind, but the mind and body are one. You nearly perished. I am glad I was here."
Me too. Lilly sounded abject as she staggered to where Lissandra was crying. Don't cry, Mistress! I am here.
"I nearly got you killed!" Lissandra opened her arms and Lilly swarmed into them.
You needed help. I gave it. Lilly replied. We are together.
"I… Yes." Lissandra relaxed fully and nodded to her companion. "Yes, we are." She bowed her head to Lynn. "I apologize for being rude."
"Don't start!" Lynn said in such along suffering tone that both Cass and Lissandra had to chuckle. "This is not a good thing. You are trapped with them in a virtual world." She looked at the Excalibur who was eyeing her. "How long have you been here?"
"I do not know." The Excalibur replied. "Time has little meaning here. We have been waiting for Jermaine to lead us out of the game." He sounded unsure now. "But the other? Hayden?" He inquired and Lynn nodded, face severe. "He called us Tenno, but we are not."
"No." Lynn agreed. "You are not. To be Tenno, you would have to follow their Code and you do not, do you?"
"I don't know." The other replied, clearly upset. "I… I am Mikhail. Named for a warrior of antiquity."
"I am Lynn." The golden shade replied. "I do not believe that we are enemies, but that does not make us friends. You may or may not have known what you were doing, but if you had slain this girl's companion, everyone here would have likely been hurt by her wrath." She made a face.. "Add to that? You do not want to know what the Queen of Cats would have done. She likes Lissandra."
"Her name is Jermaine!" Mikhail protested.
"No, it is not!" Cass, Lynn, Lilly and Lissandra chorused that.
"She is who we have been waiting for." The voice from the Excalibur was young sounding now. Young, scared and confused. "Every scan says she is who we have been praying for! Our Guide!"
"Boy, Mikhail..." Lynn groaned a little. "Whatever madness Nef Anyo plans, this girl is not the key to it. She has been hurt enough!" The last was fierce as Lynn move to flank Lissandra, her posture firm.
"We do not want to hurt her." Mikhail pleaded. "We want to follow her!"
"I am no leader." Lissandra said into the silence that fell. "I have never been a leader. All I have been is broken. Less than sane."
"From what little Cass has told me, you have gone through several versions of hell." Lynn laid her hand on Lissandra's arm. The touch didn't do anything, but comfort the distraught girl. "And now? More that you don't remember. What do you remember first?" She asked.
"First?" Lissandra asked. "I..." She paused and then she made a face. "I woke up in Vent Kid hideout. One of them had found me and taken me there. When I healed, I joined them. I was five? Six?" She shook her head. "I don't know."
"You were three days old when you were stolen from us." Mikhail said very quietly and Lissandra stilled. "From your family."
"You are not my family!" Lissandra snarled. "You… My family is dead! My father and then my mother! Both dead!" She shook her head as Cass laid his hand on her other arm. "My father died trying to keep me from being corrupted and my mother?" She shook her head savagely. "What you Corpus did to her… You had no RIGHT!" She screamed that.
"What did they do?" Cass asked softly as he laid his arms around the furious girl.
"They put bits of her into some kind of guardian proxy!" Lissandra snapped, still fighting for control. "Killing her wasn't enough? She was a nurse for god's sake! She healed people!" She shook her head. "And now? She is a huge spider. They made her a monster just like they did me!"
"Oh dear." Lynn sighed as Mikhail recoiled. "You know what she is talking about, don't you?"
"The Guardian is our protection." Mikhail said weakly. "She is kind to us. She protects us, keeps our physical forms from harm." He shook his head. "She… She sings to us when we are distressed. Our Father said he saved her."
"Saved her from life, no doubt!" Lissandra snapped. "From free will! From having a chance at a real life or love!"
"We love her." Mikhail replied and Lissandra cut off whatever else she was going to say to stare at him. "She has been very kind to us. She doesn't need to be but she is. What happened to her?" He asked.
"She..." Lissandra's rage fled as quickly as it has come. "There was a battle. The last pitched battle between Anyo's forces and insurgents. I was far away, doing a nasty job when I heard about it. I came as quickly as I could. I was too late. The insurgents were slaughtered but they did not die easily or quickly. It was a horrible fight. She wasn't an insurgent. She was paying off her debt and her husband's. She wasn't happy with all of what had happened, but she had never been violent. Ever." Lissandra slumped. "I was."
"But if she wasn't an insurgent..." Mikhail sounded even more confused now. "Why hurt her?"
"She wasn't one of Anyo's goons and she was on the battlefield, so she had to be an insurgent." Lissandra snarled. "It didn't matter that she was treating both sides' wounded as she found them. I tracked her." She bowed her head. "It was the debt, you see. The more she healed, the more money she made. She was trying to support me as a single mother. Not easy at the best of times and I did not help."
"It was not your fault, girl." No one was surprised when a huge spider form appeared behind the warframes. "None of it was."
"Let them go!" Lissandra said sternly.
"I can't." The spider replied. "My programming holds me just as the game program is holding you right now. I remember. I regret. I rage in my bonds but I cannot break them. Maybe you can." The spider turned to scrutinize the golden form and the blue one. "You are not supposed to be here." She said slowly.
"Nor is she." Lynn nodded to Lissandra. "She is not who you think she is. She has not been for a long time. If you push this, bad things will happen." She warned.
"I am not surprised." The spider actually chuckled! "Bad things happened a lot around her." She heaved an all too human sigh. "I cannot stop this. Can you?"
"Not without causing irreparable harm to her mind." Lynn replied. Lissandra stared at the golden form and Lynn sighed as well. "It likely wouldn't kill you. It would in all likelihood drive you mad."
"Part of me would welcome that." Lissandra said softly as Lilly whined in distress. "So I am supposed to be some kind of half Tenno thing?"
"I do not know exactly what the Master intended." The spider replied. "What records were here were damaged fairly thoroughly when you blew the place to hell along with the garrison." Everyone stared at Lissandra as she shrugged. The spider's tone turned sly. "Making her mad is a bad idea." More than one person chuckled as Lissandra choked. Then the other turned serious. "And then you vanished out of here before anyone could try to explain. To help you."
"I was taken." Lissandra replied coldly. The spider and all of the warframes stiffened at that. "Turned into what I am now against my will because I healed fast. I could survive the implantation. He wanted a fairly specialized slave healer."
"That..." The spider made a noise that half rage, half despair. "And then? You are clearly not a slave now." Lissandra just looked at the spider and it made a noise of pure despair. "We need to end the program! If it breaks containment..."
"If it breaks containment, the area gets nuked." Lynn interjected and everyone stiffened. "EMPs, regular nukes, conventional artillery, anything and everything else that people can throw at it. For some things, there is no overkill."
"No." The spider said slowly. "For some things, there is not. Mikhail, stand down. Without her? We are doomed. We have to persuade her with words. Nothing else will work."
"You cannot persuade me!" Lissandra said with a growl that Lilly matched. "Not after what Anyo did to you! What his one time subordinate did to me!"
"Nef Anyo was trying to make immortal, incorruptible guardians for his faithful." The spider was still quiet. "What he did and how is all wrong, but why? Standing between those who cannot fight and those who wish them ill is not a bad thing, is it?"
"If it was by choice, no!" Cass snapped. "I chose that role, she did not!" He hugged Lissandra. "And anyone else who tries to subvert her to any role she does not choose for herself will face my wrath."
"Our wrath." Lynn agreed as golden power flared around her.
"Human? You care for her." The spider said weakly. "Does he make you happy?" She all but begged Lissandra who stared at the huge form in shock. "I… I am happy you found someone. I hope he makes you happy."
"Why?" Lissandra demanded.
"Because no matter what else happens, life goes on." The spider replied. "Whether we stand here or fall, life will go on. From what I saw my daughter endure and what I have seen in your scans, you will likely survive whatever happens even if the rest of us fall. I hope and pray you do not do so alone."
Whatever Lissandra might have said in response was cut off as energy flared all around them.
"No!" The spider screamed. "The game is reacting! It is pulling us in!"
"Not all of you." That was Ali!
Lissandra had a bare moment to scream herself as she was pulled into a tiny ball of energy. She landed on her feet, still in her warframe. A dozen other warframes appeared beside her, all seeming to be as shocked as she was. Ali appeared beside her and he dropped his cloak before pulling off his green mask. The warframe that stood revealed as not a design she knew. He didn't seem to be armed.
"The only way out of the program is forward." Ali said with a shrug as everyone took aim at him. "Will you stand here or try to escape?"
"And you are here… how?" Lissandra did not move or lower the pistols that had slid into her hands.
"With some very odd help." Ali replied, unperturbed by the hostility of the others. "I expect neither trust nor forgiveness for what I have done and what I may do, but I can assist in this and I will. I like you, girl."
"How did you get here?" Lissandra demanded. "How did you alter the game?"
"The answer to both of your questions is the same thing." Ali replied.
"I did not."