Ghost in the Machine

Raphael hadn't needed Leonardo's worried lecture this morning to tell him that something wasn't right with Luna. He was bonded to her after all. He could feel it just as well as Leo could. Or rather, not feel it. She had clamped down on their connection. Cut them off from her emotions.

It had started when they brought her back from the old lair. Leo had left her to rest in the infirmary and she slept for 36 hours straight. Over breakfast, Michelangelo asked Donatello if she was ok; but all he got was a sad shrug before Don mumbled "I hope so" and hurried back to his lab.

Mikey exchanged surprised looks with Raphael.

"He isn't checking on her?" Mikey asked. "I mean, she just basically had a heart attack, right?"

"His main priority right now is to get that shield up and running as soon as possible." Leonardo said. "I'm watching over her. She just needs rest."

Leo turned and left, tea in hand, to return to her.

Raphael furrowed his brow. "I know Leo's got d'at healin' thing now, but I'd still feel better if Don was keepin' an eye on 'er."

Mikey agreed.

A little later, when Leo went to check on the shield progress, Mikey made her a tray of food and tiptoed in to check on her. She was asleep, so he left it with her and quietly let himself out again.

Raph brought the tray back to the kitchen hours later when he stopped by to see if she was ok. She'd set it out in the hall untouched. When he'd tried to look in on her, the door was locked; something she'd never done. She wouldn't answer his knock.

Not that a locked door would stop a family of ninjas if they wanted to get in, but it was an obvious signal that she wanted to be left alone. So they worried quietly but tried to respect it.

That was yesterday. This morning, there had been an argument behind that closed door; followed shortly by Fina and Sol being evicted from the room. The brothers were equal parts shocked and concerned. They didn't know who she was arguing with. Another family member? Sol and Fina? None of them could really make out what it was about.

Leo had tried to speak with her, but all she did was mutter "I'm fine" through the door; refusing to see him.

Raph retreated to his room for a few hours, but was unable to stay away. He finally sat in the doorway so he could watch over the infirmary below. Eventually Fina floated up to stay beside him. Raph's temper finally got the best of him and he broke the silence.

"Ok, Fina, listen up," Raph snapped. "I wanna know what's goin' on with 'er and I wanna know now."

luna doesn't want raph to know. Fina said bluntly.

"Who does she want ta know? It ain't Leo, cause she already sent him away," Raph spat.

no one. sol won't tell leo either. Fina said.

"You've gone against things she's asked you to do before. Tell me what's goin' on!" Raph said.

this is different. luna has forbidden sol and fina to speak of it.

Fina's reply was bitter and the way it emphasized the word 'forbidden' implied Luna had reinforced this command somehow. It also obviously thought Luna's decision was wrong. Raph growled, frustrated.

"Is she ok?" Raph asked.

no.

"Is she sick?" Raphael pressed.

in a way.

"Right. I'm helpin' 'er whether she wants it or not." Raph declared.

Fina gave a little hiss, the sound of water droplets hitting fire, that Raph had learned was it's equivalent to a sigh.

not sure raph can.

Nevertheless, Raphael leapt to his feet and pounded down the stairs. Leo and Mikey looked up from where they were consulting in the hall. Sol hovered nearby, flying worried patterns between the two of them. Raph stopped just outside the closed door of the infirmary and shuffled his feet nervously as Fina orbited his head like a little moon.

He raised his hand to knock, then dropped it; then raised it again.

luna's not gonna bite raph's head off for knocking. just do it already! Fina snapped.

He glared; then waved it away from him.

"If ya ain't gonna be helpful, just stay out 'ere." Raph said.

luna won't let fina back in anyway. Fina replied.

He knocked. There was no response.

"Luna, I'm comin' in there." Raph said, loud and rough. "Either ya' open this door for me or I'll let myself in."

"Dude, you're threatening a goddess," Mikey said in an undertone. "You don't think she can shield a door or reinforce a lock?"

"She ain't the only one with powers," Raph growled in return, flexing his shoulders and preparing to try a physical assault on the door first. But he didn't need to. There was a sudden soft click and the door opened a tiny amount. Raph glanced at his brothers then slipped in and shut it behind him.

Something odd was going on in his lab and Donatello didn't like it.

If he'd continued his normal routine, it would have taken longer to come to his attention but Don had been eating here, sleeping here, and in general living in his workspace for a few days, so he was bound to notice.

If he'd been asked why he was practically absent from his family's lives right now, he had logical and sound reasons. First, he had to complete the shield device, which was coming along nicely. Second, he needed to study that damn collar, which almost ended Luna's life, to see what he could use. And third, a whole new coding language had to be invented and compiled for the program he was supposed to write.

But mostly, he stayed in the lab to avoid Luna.

Donnie was embarrassed by what happened in the tunnel, though that wouldn't stop him from formally apologizing. He was just trying to figure out what to say. After all, it was his assumptions that had hurt her in the first place and if he could help it, he didn't want to hurt her again.

He'd always been an individual who self-corrected when he realized there was a problem. He thought that's what he'd been doing. Observing her behavior had led him to believe she was uncomfortable and unhappy with him so he tried to fix the situation; but it seemed his underlying assumptions had been completely wrong and that made all further extrapolations useless.

Don thought almost obsessively about what happened.

He thought about it while he pieced together ancient alien science and melded it with 21st century technology. He thought about it as he hacked again into the collar and downloaded it's contents to create a base language for his script. He thought about it as he examined his work under specialized scanners, electron microscopes, and x-rays.

He thought about it as he went to bed and he thought about it as he woke up, wishing once again that he was getting more than 3 hours sleep.

And after all that thought, he still hadn't decided what to do or say.

So he threw himself into his work as a distraction and a penance. If he finished this shield, at least she would be a little safer and perhaps a little more comfortable.

Since the other aspects of the work were coming together at a fair pace, Don started devoting serious time to the program that would control the shield itself. That's when he discovered that not all was as it should be. Previously he'd been writing and testing the code whenever he had a spare moment so he hadn't really noticed things like line count. Now that he was concentrating the majority of his attention on it, he realized each time he logged back in there was additional code that he didn't recognize or remember writing.

As a precautionary measure, he'd run an entire systems check to see if his network had been breached somehow, though he doubted it. He'd built the security protocols himself and everything was triple encrypted. As he expected, nothing turned up.

So he put a monitoring subroutine on the machine and left for coffee. When he returned to the lab there were 150 new lines added to his program. Now he was really concerned. Someone was definitely tampering and it was time to find out what exactly was going on.

He proceeded to close up everything for the night as he usually did. He turned off the monitor, the lights, and laid down on his cot by the door. It was a good thing Don had a lifetime of practice staying awake while hiding in the dark, because it was a long time before anything happened.

A small chiming noise from the terminal attracted his attention. First the monitor lit up, then it began to glow a strange soft pastel purple color. As Don watched, a figure crawled out of the screen.

If turtles had hair, his would be standing on end.

Don rolled out of bed and crept closer. The figure was small; child sized. And looked very tiny in Don's oversized computer chair. It didn't touch the keyboard or mouse, but just stared at the screen intently as line after line of glowing violet text scrolled across it.

The tiny figure was almost totally transparent. Much more ghostlike than the immortals and gods he'd encountered so far. Don wasn't sure what it was but he didn't like it messing with his equipment.

Still, it seemed to be helping. The code it had added earlier, solved a problem Don had been wrestling with. So perhaps it was a friend. Maybe it knew Luna.

Don rose to his feet, cleared his throat, and flipped on the light. The glowing figure was even paler in the overhead fluorescents. It looked up at him frantically and Don just had time to absorb a small heart shaped face with wide familiar eyes before it stood on the chair and dove head first into the glowing screen; disappearing.

"Wait!" Don called "I just want to talk."

He dashed over to the computer and opened a blank text document.

"I know youre in there," Don typed. "Dont be afraid, I just want to talk."

He waited, eyes narrowed, starring impatiently at the screen for a long moment.

"Please, just tell me who you are," Don typed.

A one word reply in violet text lit up the page.

MEDES

At last! Contact! Don typed his next question hurriedly before the being had time to retreat.

"How did you come to be in my computer?"

This time the answer was more immediate.

STOWED AWAY. IT WAS THE ONLY WAY OUT.

"When I hacked the collar you came along for the ride?" Don typed. "Why have you stayed, if you are now free?"

HELPING.

"You are a friend of Luna's?" Don typed.

I AM THE GODDESS.

Raphael felt an odd tingling sensation as he crossed the threshold. It felt cool, sort of like diving into a pool on a hot day. It wasn't unpleasant, but he shivered with the unexpectedness of it. She had obviously erected some sort of shield, but it's purpose eluded him. It wasn't like any that she had been teaching him.

What he found inside the shield, was not at all what he expected. From Fina's worried projections and everything else that had happened, he had anticipated finding Luna bundled in bed, in pain, weak or in any number of other unpleasant conditions.

That couldn't be further from the truth. The room was pitch black and cold. Only the fact that Raphael was far too familiar with it's contents kept him from bumping into anything as he made his way further in.

Out of nowhere, the smallest ray of silver light penetrated the darkness and came to hang directly in front of him stopping him in his tracks. Slowly it solidified, assuming the same small teardrop shape as Luna's soul pieces.

Raphael couldn't take his eyes off of it. Unlike Fina or Sol, this little flame shape was iridescent and pulsating; containing all colors and yet, none. He felt a powerful urge to hold it. It seemed so small and vulnerable hanging there. He needed to protect it with every fiber of his being.

He reached out both hands and cupped it gently; shielding it's tiny shimmering form from the darkness.

The moment he closed his hands around it, the heartbeat began. A low thrumming that was at first imperceptible to the ear and could only be felt in the blood and bone. The sound slowly grew in strength as he gazed in helpless thrall into the tiny light.

It settled into his palm, making small, happy chirping noises and rubbing gently against his thumb. In a way he couldn't explain, holding this small light felt like the most fulfilling thing he had ever done in his life. The light grew brighter the longer he held it and beautiful, rainbow patterns formed and dissolved before his eyes.

He was so enraptured with it that he didn't even see the man in the room until he spoke. But that was understandable, because a moment ago the man hadn't been there.

"Release her," the powerful male voice commanded. "now!"