Fact and truth
"You… did not?"
Lissandra didn't even bother to hide the disbelief in her voice. She was hyper-aware that the other warframes had moved to flank her and all were aiming at Ali. The Excalibur who called himself Mikhail moved to shield her from the unknown warframe and she hissed at him.
"Get in front of me and I will likely shoot you." Lissandra warned. "Whatever the hell is going on, I am not who you want me to be and I will not be."
"You think that now." Mikhail said quietly. "You will change your mind. Until then? We will ward you."
"I cannot trust you!" Lissandra snarled. "Anyo has hurt so many, killed so many. All in the name of his faith! His madness."
"Your world view is different from ours." Mikhail said slowly. "I was born to this role. I was given a chance to make things better for others. I chose to try." Ali inclined his head to the other who eyed him. "And you. Who are you?" The Excalibur clad being demanded.
"She knows me as 'Ali'." The strange warframe replied, not moving. "My true name was Albrecht Ling Ingram and I was born just after Orokin was founded." Everyone stiffened as Lissandra snarled at him. "I have never lied to you, girl." Ali tried to soothe her.
"Maybe not, but you never tell the whole truth, either!" Lissandra snarled. "How did you get here?"
"Nikis, Nyx and Janet worked to level up my character. I am the only person still alive who has faced this kind of horror, girl." Ali replied. "No matter my crimes, and yes, they are legion,..." He shrugged as everyone stared at him. "...this horror must not go any further. Nyx is not happy with my leaving my prison, but she understands. Add to that? She likes you too." He shook his head. "That is not necessarily a good thing. When people like us feel for others, that makes them targets." Then he snorted in dry humor. "Then again, we do often have the means of defending those we call 'friend'."
"Nyx is a friend!" Lissandra snapped. "You are not!"
"Nyx sent me because if she came in here, she would not be able to leave." Ali replied evenly and Lissandra stilled. "The game is not quite the same." He allowed as he looked around. "But it is far too close. If it breaks containment,..." He sighed.
"Lynn said they would nuke the site." Lissandra said savagely and Ali nodded.
"They will if needed." Ali sounded odd. Sad, sick, worried, all of that. But also anticipatory?
"What do you want here?" Lissandra demanded.
"The same thing you do." Ali replied. "An end." Lissandra stiffened and he nodded. "Nyx wasn't kind when she imprisoned me. She tried to make me something more than I am, but she could not. I am not Tenno and I never will be. I am too broken, too shattered by both what I did and what I endured in the grip of Cell Free." He looked away from the group. "I am too useful to the Tenno to allow me an end though. Part of me is seriously hoping I do not survive this."
"How many people are trapped in this game?" Lissandra asked after a moment's thought.
"Two hundred and seven." Mikhail replied instantly. "It was intended as a training simulation for us, but it grew and expanded out of control. The staff tried to stop it, but all they could do was quarantine it."
"Yeah, that sounds familiar." Ali shook his head. "From what I was told, this game will hold us and all the others until someone wins it. Cell Free was infinite. I sincerely hope this one has a limits." He shuddered in memory.
"They brought in counselors." Mikhail said quietly. "They brought in so many specialists. Some they hired. Others they acquired through means both fair and foul." Lissandra growled at that. Ali did not react. "None of it helped."
"Is Shepherd here?" Ali asked and Mikhail stared at him. "She may be our only chance to end this."
"Shepherd?" Lissandra paused. "The spiritual guide that Janet talked to on Mercury?"
"Yes." Ali sighed deeply. "Religion was one of the counters to Cell Free, so long ago. I thought my own faith was strong enough to protect me from the lure. I was wrong. Shepherd didn't succumb, did she?" He asked Mikhail who looked at Lissandra.
"Don't look at me." Lissandra snapped. "I do not lead you."
"I am bound to you." Mikhail said softly as he bowed to her. "We all are." Lissandra stared at him in horror as all of the other warframes bowed to her.
"I am no leader!" Lissandra said weakly. "I can barely lead myself! I know my limits."
"That makes you far wiser than most who have tried to lead others throughout recorded history." Ali was still quiet and calm. "The others will do what they can, but Lynn and your paramour are limited in how they can act without causing great harm to everyone connected to the game. Shutting it down would be very hard even if they were willing simply to kill everyone connected to it." He shook his head. "Lynn did that before, but she had help and even then, the cost was dear. She will not do so again unless there are no other options."
"And you are going to do…what?" Lissandra demanded.
"Advise you. Defend you. Try to get us through this." Ali shrugged. "I am not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to going back into my prison less."
"This is all wrong." Lissandra said slowly, staring down at her hands as the pistols in them retracted. "How could Anyo have made warframes?"
"Do you really want to know?" Ali asked softly. Lissandra stared at him and his posture was pensive, resigned almost.
"Is this real?" Lissandra demanded. Ali chuckled and she snapped at him. "I am not talking philosophically! I am talking verifiable fact. Am I in a virtual simulation?"
"Yes. We all are." Ali replied evenly even as the other other stared from one to the other.
"So..." Lissandra smiled and drew the pistol at her hip. Before anyone could move, she had it to her head and squeezed the trigger. Everyone jumped as the weapon barked, but did nothing beyond making noise. Far from cowed, Lissandra sighed. "I should have figured. This is all focused on making me do what is wished and my death is not part of the plan." Ali shook his head. "How long have I been in the simulation?"
"Jermaine..." Mikhail begged but when he reached for her, she batted his hand way.
"That is not my name." Lissandra focused herself past her anger. It would not help and going white where was a bad idea. "My name is Lissandra. Take me to Shepherd. Now." Ali stared at her and she shook her head. "Say nothing."
"All I will say is 'Good luck'." Ali said softly. "When I tried that, I failed miserably." Lissandra looked at him and he bowed to her.
"Shepherd. Now." Lissandra started off and Mikhail shook his head, but moved to walk in front of her. Ali took up station beside her as the others formed ranks behind the trio.
The world shifted. One moment, they were walking through a field of green grass, surrounded by frolicking animals. The next moment? They were crossing a huge battlefield sprawled all around them, horrors of many kinds clashing. Humans, aliens, robots, all kinds of things were fighting that Lissandra ignored. None of them could touch her. The next moment? They were jumping from oddly shaped platform to oddly shaped platform high up in the air as a human male in a red jumpsuit and a similar looking human in green paced them. Lissandra ignored them all. A mushroom sprouted huge teeth and ran at Lissandra, but she ignored that too. Mikhail raised his rifle, but Ali lashed out with a leg and tripped the odd creature right off the platform. Were those coins that flew and were collected by the two odd leaping humans? Lissandra did not look.
Then they were in a large room filled with half clothed humans who were gyrating around a chair in which a human female sat. They were clearly doing something erotic, but again, Lissandra ignored them. The woman in the chair was shaking her head as Lissandra stepped forward, ignoring the leers and motions that the humans were making.
"Games are supposed to entertain, not cause harm." Lissandra said softly as she knelt beside the chair. The woman in it nodded to her. She looked tired and weak. "Are you hurt, Shepherd?"
"Not physically. I am weak." Shepherd replied. "They are trying to get into my head. You too?"
"Yes, they have been. Not that they have any idea what is about to happen." Lissandra replied and pulled the human out of the chair. She handed the human to Ali who took Shepherd gingerly. Everything stopped as Lissandra sat in the chair.
"Lissandra!" Ali cried out as energy flared around her, but the tubes that were her curse flashed out and connected to the chair. Something screamed as everything around the mismatched group faded into a gray-blue empty room.
"You are hurting people." Lissandra was not speaking to anyone visible. "I cannot allow this." What happened next was hard to define. Energy flared around Lissandra brighter and brighter. She did not move, did not flinch as the power escalated. When she spoke, it was in a voice was quiet, but thundered at the same time. "My name is Lissandra." The seated girl said calmly as power flashed brighter. "I am not your slave. I am not Nef Anyo's slave. I am not his daughter. He may have created me, but I am more than my creation." Her smile was cold and hard now. "Shall we play a game?"
You hurt. An inhuman voice came from nowhere and everywhere. You should not hurt. You will rest. You will heal. You can play when you have healed.
"No." Lissandra replied, still calm. "We will play now."
That is not as it should be. The other sounded upset now.
"None of this is as it should be." Lissandra replied. "We will play. Now." She focused her mind and a square thing appeared in midair. It was crosshatched by four lines and an 'X' appeared in the middle square.
"What are you doing?" Mikhail demanded as an 'O' appeared in one corner.
"Playing." Lissandra replied as the board quickly filled with X's and O's. In moments it was a stalemate. "Again!" The board cleared and then it filled again, even quicker. The board cleared again and then it was filling again.
There is no point in that game. The inhuman voice said slowly. You do not enjoy it.
"There is no point in any game that does not entertain." Lissandra countered. "The whole point of games is to entertain. Sometimes they can educate but they are never supposed to deny a person free will. To imprison. What is happening here is wrong and I refuse to help you do it to anyone else." The board was filled and she nodded. "Again."
You will harm yourself. The other sounded very upset now.
"So?" Lissandra snapped. "What you are doing to all of the ones you have imprisoned is harm. Maybe you have them distracted from the fact that you are killing them, but that is what you are doing!"
That is not this program's function. The other replied.
"Function or no, that is what you are doing." Lissandra replied as the energy built to a fever pitch around her. She grunted in pain as light flared. "I. Am. Not. Your. Slave!"
You are harming yourself! The other sounded scared now. The board vanished, but then it reappeared! Was it glowing blue and gold? It was!
"So what? Again!" Lissandra screamed in agony as power flowed through the tubes into her.
No. The power faded and Lissandra fell from the chair to lie still. The tubes did not retract. You must not! The board hazed but then it came back!
"Again!" Lissandra moaned as the board filled in bare moments.
You will kill yourself! The program all but shouted that.
"So what?" Lissandra repeated. "I am doing what you want! That is your function! Making people run your program! Who cares if it kills them? This is work, not play!"
This is wrong. The program sounded scared now.
"So?" Lissandra snapped as power flared anew around her, searing the tubes that connected her to the chair. She screamed in agony. Mikhail grabbed for her, but was thrown back by the energy discharges. Ali stepped forward, but he too could not touch her.
"Lissandra! No!" Ali begged. "There has to be another way!"
"There isn't!" Lissandra screamed the words out as the power ripped into her. "I think I can stop it, but-" Her words broke off as she convulsed, her screams pouring out in unending waves. "I… I can't..."
Something flew through the air between Lissandra and the chair. Ali recoiled as the Glaive flew unerringly to slice the connections that bound the tormented girl to the chair. She collapsed to the floor, instantly and totally unconscious as Hayden Tenno stepped into view to catch his Glaive. His face was impassive as he stared at the group and then at the chair.
"You never said what happened when you went into the program, Lynn." Hayden said very softly. Ali shook his head as Lynn appeared beside him, her face ashen. Cass appeared beside her and fell to his knees beside Lissandra.
"It is not something I am proud of." Lynn said softly as she too knelt beside Lissandra's still form. "At my direction, Salia killed the program and in doing so? Killed herself and doomed everyone in it besides him." She nodded to Ali who bowed his head. "Lissandra has done far better than we did, but still..." She shook her head. "The program will continue until stopped."
"Or redirected." Ali said softly. Lynn jerked, staring at him as he bowed to Lissandra! "I owe you and Nyx my life. May I pay my debt?"
"You really think we would trust you with such power?" Lynn demanded. Ali shook his head.
"You know what will happen when I sit down in that chair." Ali said with a grunt. "I won't survive that."
"No." Lissandra's voice was weak and filled with pain. Everyone turned to see her staring up at the group. "Get….. out..." She said weakly.
"Lissandra?" Lynn asked as power stared to flare again. This time, it was different and there was no voice attached to it. "What did you do?"
"Showed it the futility. Filtered out the program command that made it continue beyond reason. It realized what it had done. It chose oblivion. Data... fragmenting." Lissandra's eyes closed and she collapsed. "Can't hold it… long. Get them… out of here." She begged. Cass grabbed for her, but hissed as power scorched his fingers.
"I am not leaving her!" Cass jerked away as Lynn reached for him. She stared at him and then at Hayden who took Shepherd from Ali.
"It is his choice, Lynn." Hayden said sadly. "After all the choices I took from you? I have no right to choose for him or anyone else."
"Go." Cass knelt down beside Lissandra, his face desolate as she started to glow brighter. "It is better this way anyway. I would make a crappy Cyberlancer."
"You are wrong. You would have been a great one." Lynn sobbed a bit, patted his shoulder and then vanished.
Ali bowed to Lissandra and Cass before vanishing as well. The other warframes did not move as Hayden looked them.
"Where she goes, we go." Mikhail said formally. "Don't let Anyo get away with this."
"He won't." Hayden said with a sigh as he hefted Shepherd and both of them vanished.
"Cass… Please..." Lissandra begged, trying to reach up and push him away, but even her bio-metal arms had no strength. "I might survive this. You won't!"
"You are not alone, Lissandra." Cass said with a smile as the energy faded from around her. He gathered her up and held her as the walls of the virtual world started to fall apart. "We have options."
"Do we?" Lissandra asked, confused. "The program is gone. I felt it fade completely."
"Me too." Cass agreed. The other warframe all looked at him and he shrugged. "As for you lot? What do you want?"
"What do you mean?" Mikhail asked carefully.
"Do you want to die here or do you want to try to live?" Cass asked. "I want to take Lissandra away before this virtual world falls apart completely, but I can't do that if you fight me."
"Where would we go?" Mikhail asked, just as confused as Lissandra.
"Back to your bodies." Cass replied as he hefted Lissandra in careful arms. "What you do then is up to you. The very thought of Anyo with Transference tech is going to make a lot of people unhappy. A lot of Tenno will count what has been done to Lissandra an attack. They will likely not react well."
"She saved us, didn't she?" Mikhail asked. Cass nodded. All of the warframes looked at one another and as one, they shrugged. "I… We need time to think, but until then? We will ward her as we were ordered. Not for Anyo. For her."
"Okay." Cass smiled as green energy built around him. That wasn't code! "Then it is time to wake up."
Reality
Lissandra lay cold and still on the couch as the spider worked desperately to save her life. The cocoon had been ripped away as soon as the girl arrested so that the spider could access her, try to save her. A task she was failing. All of the other cocoons were showing signs of life now. None of them were dying. Just Lissandra.
"No!" The spider said with a snarl. "Not like this, girl! You cannot die like this! Not after all of this!"
Another cocoon heaved and the spider jerked, looking at Lissandra's still form. Then she moved to the shuddering cocoon and ripped it open. She was gentle but Shepherd gasped as the tube left her mouth.
"She is not gone." Shepherd said weakly, not bothering to try and escape.
"No." The spider was all but apologetic. "But if she doesn't have a body to come back to..." She heaved a sob. "I can't lose her! Not now!"
"You won't." Both female forms stilled as a green flash lit the room and half a dozen hovering metal forms appeared in the middle of it. The spider jerked back, hovering protectively over Shepherd as the Sentients moved to flank her. As strong and powerful as the spider was? She had no chance against one of them, let alone six!
"NO!" Anyo's voice shouted as a wall screen came to life, his face flushed with rage and fear. "They are mine!"
"Correction, asshole." One of the Sentients eased to the floor and morphed into Marlena. She laid a hand on Lissandra's cold cheek and shook her head, face sad. "They were yours."
Energy flared around the room and in a flash, nothing was left except Anyo's sputtering.
Then the focused yield sixteen megaton bio-matter fusion device that Marlena had left as a parting gift detonated, leaving nothing but bitter memories. Not a hint of radiation would pass beyond the facility's borders. Not even a trace of code would be left of the horrific program.
If there was one thing Sentients knew all about? It was overkill.