Warps

Quais was thankful for the silence as Olim led the way into the quarantine enclosure. The girl lay unconscious on the bed, her garb sufficient for modesty purposes if little more. Then he went still. He heard a girl crying!

"You hear it too, don't you?" Olim's words were not really a question. Quais nodded and Olim sighed. "All this time looking and a potential falls right in my lap. Figures that life's sense of irony is unchanged." Quais went still. Olim had been seeking... The Cyberlancer nodded. "If you can hear her... and you can... The you have the ability. But as with all things, just the ability isn't enough. You will need training. The Tenno need more of us."

"I... do not understand." Quais said after a moment. "I have the ability to...what?" What little he knew of Cyberlancers smacked of magic instead of technology. He knew the old saw about 'any sufficiently advanced technology looked like magic to any less advanced person' but still...

"I hope to explain." Olim said heavily. "But for now, this girl needs our help. If I do... fail... Riana, shift to his warframe." This was a command. Then he groaned. "No. I am totally serious, Riana." He said sharply to someone who wasn't visible. "He will need you."

"You are needed." Quais said quietly. "Do not borrow trouble. Or aggravate your sister unduly." Olim looked at him and he shrugged. "Hey, I know better than to anger an AI. I do not wish to slay you. Cyberlancer."

"Well, I do not want to die either." Olim agreed. "Too much to do. Maybe..." The Frost Prime held out a hand and the Ash took it. "Yes..." The Cyberlancer mused. "You do have the potential. But you will need training."

"And you are the only one who can train me." Quais was not sure about this at all. "True?"

"True." Olim agreed sourly. "What a mess. I can get into her mind, but... I don't know what I will find."

"So you need to scout the area first." Quais said with a nod. "Can you use me?"

"I...am not sure." Olim said slowly. "I can get myself in fine, but anyone else?" He shrugged.

"Well..." Quais said slowly. "The girl has three mental wavelengths in her head, no?" Olim nodded and Quais continued. "Can you bring them out here so we can talk to them?"

"That..." Olim paused and then nodded slowly. "That might work." He stepped forward to touch the girls head and froze as she sat straight up, her eyes suddenly wide. "Uh..."

Quais went for his weapons, the girl wasn't supposed to be able to wake up!

"This... isn't right..." The girl said slowly and the world vanished in a haze of golden energy.

Quais kept himself calm through sheer discipline as the world solidified around him. A virtual world. He could see and... now he could feel the edges of it. Code. Golden code. But... where was he? He remained where he was, every sense hyperaware. The sound came first. A girl crying. Then another voice.

"It is not your fault, child." The older female voice was soothing, calming. "None of what has happened is your fault." Quais went still as a bed appeared in front of him. A young looking woman was sitting on it, her face in her hands. From her posture, she was crying. A familiar armored form stood beside the bed, her hand outstretched. To comfort? Or something else. A glint showed in the armored form's hand. "You should not be awake. I can help." The older woman said gently.

"Everything is off..." The girl sobbed. "Everything is different! I feel...wrong. My body is wrong..." Quais was about to move, to do something when the armored woman spoke again

"You were losing control." The other said gently. "It isn't anything you can train for. There isn't anything wrong, girl. It is who you are. In my world, you would be a mutant or a psyker, but you are not." Her tone was sad now. "My world is not this one. This is your reality. Yours. You are a young human with gifts."

"This isn't a gift!" The girl screamed. "I want to go home!"

"Abigail." The other chided her gently. "You know you can't." She looked to where Quais stood frozen and nodded. "The explosion hurt her, us. The damage was done and likely cannot be undone. But she -we- were taken because..." She paused as Abigail's form suddenly started to glow. "Abigail!" She said sternly. "Be calm!"

"I wanna go home!" Abigail said, wilting. "I wanna go home!"

"Abigail! No!" The older woman cried as the world started to dissolve. "Don't!"

Quais was in motion before either of the others could move as a door appeared on one wall of the virtual world. It yawned, darkness on the other side. He moved to block the door. The portal to oblivion for the girl's mind. If Abigail died in here...

'Abigail.' An unfamiliar male voice called from the door. "Abigail... Time to wake up, honey.'

"Dad?"the girl asked, her face suddenly coming up. Tears were falling unchecked as she stared at the door. "I... No... No, you are dead. I..."

"Abigail! Please!" The older woman said urgently, but Quais had seen enough.

"Stop." Quais said firmly. "Both of you. Stop. Wait." Both turned to look at the Ash and he continued slowly. "Abigail... Your name is Abigail?" The girl nodded jerkily and the Ash nodded back. "Mine is Quais."

"I...thought Tenno did not speak..." Abigail managed to grate out as the voice from the door kept calling. She made to rise, but the older woman sat on the bed and hugged her tight. "No... I... Dad is calling..." She said weakly.

"That is not your father, Abigail." Quais said firmly. "You created this virtual world. You brought us here. If you die here, we all die with you." Abigail stared at him, her face ashen. "If you truly do wish an end, no one will gainsay it. But not at the cost of other lives."

"I don't understand." Abigail said slowly as the older woman hugged her tight.

"Abigail..." The other woman said slowly. "The Emperor's blessing is only to be given to those who cannot be saved. You can be. If you choose."

"What happened?" Abigail asked, if anything even more dazed as the older woman held her gently. "I had... gone to sleep. My training was underway... Everything was... I was... My hands were glowing, but I managed to hide them and..." Quais paused as something suddenly made sense.

"How long have you been able to tap the power within you, Abigail?" Quais asked quietly. Both woman stared at him and the Tenno shrugged. "At the core, everything is energy. You tapped it early, didn't you?"

"I have always been able to make computers do what I want." Abigail said weakly. "Broke some, but learned fast. Learned to fix things before anyone reported them broken. Even before the machinery could. I... I am bad. Wrong."

"No, you are not." Quais kept his voice quiet. "You learned to do something that not many humans do. That made you exceptional at your chosen craft. You do not even need to try hard." It was statement, not question, that last. Abigail wilted further. "Abigail..." Quais said with a sigh, this was not his thing. "It is nothing wrong."

"Listen to the Tenno, Abigail." The older woman said urgently. "Please. Close the door. I don't care what anyone says. You are a good girl. You were abused. Tricked and hurt. But that does not change who you are!"

"I... I don't know..." Abigail said slowly. "I wanted to serve... to make a difference..."

"You can." The older woman promised. "If you do not extinguish yourself." She bowed her head and then let Abigail go. "It is your choice, Abigal. Not mine, not the Tenno's. Not the other's. Yours. Emperor be with you." She rose and moved to one wall where she bowed her head and waited.

"Other?" Abigail asked weakly.

"Yes, Abigail." Another voice, just as soft and gentle preceded another form appearing. Quais had his rifle in hand and aimed as Abigail gave a shriek. This one wasn't human. "I am no threat to you, Abigail. Nor to you, Tenno. But the Hospitaller and I... do not agree on much. Our arguments would hurt you, girl and neither of us want that." The female alien had blue skin!

Her green robes were cut to flow easily. The color worked well with her skin tone. She was unarmed, although a belt of odd looking machinery or tools hung at her waist. Her eyes under the raised eye ridges were orange and pupil-less, but somehow conveyed compassion nonetheless. The odd 'Y' shaped ridge that creased her face seemed to do nothing as she smiled. She held up empty hands that had only three fingers and an opposable thumb on each.

"Hello Abigail." The odd looking woman said calmly. "My name is Ab'gal'ui. I serve the Greater Good."

"You are... alien..." Abigail said weakly. Quais did not move.

"Well, duh." The other said with a recognizable smile. "I am not real, Abigail." All of the others stared at her and the not human shrugged. "We are in your mind, girl. I am part of you. So is the sister here. You needed the help."

"I don't understand!" Abigail snapped. "I..." She shivered as a female voice sounded from the still open door. "Mom..."

"None of this is real, Abigail." Quais said quietly. "This is a virtual world. You have made these before." Again, not a question. Abigail wilted further and he sighed. "Abigail..." He chided her gently. "It is not your fault."

"Um..." Olim's stunned voice preceded the Cyberlancer into the midst of the odd tableau. "Hi?" His sister appeared beside him, seeming more real in this place and time. She stared from the Hospitaller to the Tau to the girl and back, silent.

"Hi." Abigail said in a small voice. "I... Um... What have I done?"

"Your cry for help was heard." The Tau said quietly. "Brother Abrahaim extracted you before the cult who had you realized what you were. Your Special Forces allies would have tried to protect you. They would have fought for you."

"And died..." Abigail was crying again. "Everyone I love dies. Everyone! I just... I don't... Not again..."

"Close the door, Abigail." The Hospitaller said quietly. "The Emperor knows his own. We love you."

"Close the door, Abigail." The Tau repeated. "The Greater Good would be diminished without you. We love you."

Abigail gave a long, drawn out scream. Pain, loss, rage, sadness, fear, horror. All of these mixed in one, long drawn out wailed cry of regret and remorse. The door closed and vanished. The tension in the virtual room seemed to drop dramatically. The only sound was Abigail sobbing.

"I don't..." The girl cried. "I don't want... I want things to be as they were! I was... I was liked for who I was... For what I could do! Not for my genetics! Not for my flesh!"

"Abigail." The Hospitaller said quietly. "The one absolute truth in life is change. Even death itself is only a form of change. A final change as far as we know, but a change. You have changed. You will change."

"But I don't want to!" Abigail screamed.

"Abigail..." Ab'gal'ui was just as quiet as the Sister Hospitaller had been. "What we want is rarely what we get." She paused, looking at the silent Tenno. "But you called for help. Help is here. Will you accept it?"

"I...called for help?" Abigail asked, confused.

"You did." The Tau replied calmly. "In the waking world, you do not remember. Here you will. In your dreams you cried out for help and talked to a woman whose face was shrouded from you." Abigail jerked. "You could not see her face. But when she touched your cheek, her hand was burned." Abigail jerked again.

"The Oracle?" Olim asked, hushed. Both the Hospitaller and the Tau nodded to him. "I see."

"She...was vague." The Hospitaller and Tau both said in unison. Both glanced at each other and did not comment.

"She has to be." Olim replied slowly. "So... Abigail was taken and... her mind sequestered?"

"Until she could reach help." The Hospitaller agreed. "I am a construct. I was built to help her adjust. This is not... how this was supposed to work. I was to keep her calm, try to speak to Tenno. But I was distracted by the wounded." Shame sang in her voice now. "My distraction nearly cost you your life, Abigail."

"Not your fault." Abigail said firmly. "And you?" She asked the blue skinned alien.

"I am an interface." The other said calmly. "A normal human mind cannot handle such power as you have been wielding, Abigail. I am... the bridge for you until you can learn to use the power yourself. If you choose to. If not? I will fade away in time."

"Why?" Abigail asked weakly. "Why give me the choice?"

"Because as we see it the only person who has the right to choose what you do..." Olim said firmly. "...is you." He shrugged as Abigail looked at him. "I am willing to bet your body was altered to hide you. To give you a chance to start a new life if you wish." Both the Tau and the Hospitaller nodded. "You do not have to choose now, Abigail." Olim said quickly as Abigail hissed in fear. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"And check for traps." Abigail's voice was firmer now.

"That too." Olim chuckled a little "But I am trying not to be tacky." He ignored Riana's mutter of 'trying'.

"I do not think I am a trap." Abigail said slowly. Her eyes going distant. "But there are trackers... odd trackers..."

"Abrahaim does not trust anyone." Sister Abigail said heavily. "Space Marines are trained not to. One reason it is impossible to ambush a Space Marine. All you do is fulfill their expectations."

"Just to be clear here..." Olim said slowly. "You know that you are figures from a game?" His tone was very careful.

"We..." The Tau waved to the Hospittaler who nodded. "Are mental constructs based off the thirty fifth edition rules of the Warhammer 40000 tabletop boardgame. We are intended to help Abigail through her trials. No more. No less. If we were actually the people from that game? Sister Abigail would have had me killed for being a xeno, Abigail for being a host to a Deamon and you two for being mutants."

"I wouldn't have killed Abigail!" The Hospitaller protested. "I would turn her over to the Inquisition." The Tau just looked at her and the Hospitaller winced. "Okay, okay... point taken. And you would be converting people to your odd creed and reporting everything to your superiors. Who would then use said information to conquer."

"Words are usually cleaner than guns." Ab'gal'ui replied evenly. The Abigail on the bed just chuckled a bit wetly. "They cannot trust us, Abigail." The Tau said gently. "Not without more time. We have time. You have time."

"I was... happy." Abigail said weakly. "Part was the programming, I know. I could... feel it happening. But..."

"We are not going to program you, Abigail." Olim said firmly. "We have to be completely sure. But we do not have to be rough about it. And we can teach you about using the power you have. Or we can block it off permanently." Both the Hospitaller and Tau tensed as Abigail's face brightened. "Abigail..." Olim warned. "Do not rush into any choices. You have time." He echoed the others. "But once that choice is made, it cannot be undone. And frankly... you would miss the power as soon as it was gone. So do not make any hasty choices."

"It feels good." Abigail said weakly. "When it comes out. It feels so good. Natural. But... It isn't is it?"

"It is." Olim said with a shrug. "As far back as humans recorded history, there were craftsmen and craftswomen who 'felt' their crafts. Who could do wonders beyond any normal person's ability. Some were called geniuses. Others heretics." The Hospitaller winced at that, but everyone pretended not to notice. "Tenno take it one step farther. We can teach you how to use it and when. If you so choose."

"But not right now." Abigail said quietly as she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

"No." Olim agreed. "Can you wake up or do you want me to wake you?"

"I can." Abigail said quietly. "But... I... I don't know... What to do."

Just like that, the two Tenno were standing over the girl's bed in the quarantine ward. Alarms were sounding and Olim made a cut-off gesture as Abigail put her hands over her ears.

"We are okay, Iriana." Olim said aloud before Iriana could speak over the intercom. "And I have someone you need to meet. Well... three someones." He held up a hand and two holograms appeared nearby. "Healer Iriana, meet Sister Abigail of the Hospittaller Order of Serenity and Ab'gal'ui, Earth Caste technician of the Tau Empire." All three of the aspects that had resided in Abigail's head looked at him and he shrugged. "Hey, I read a lot."

"And he cheats." Riana's dry voice preceded her appearing nearby. "He had me look it all up. I am Riana by the way, his minder."

"Riana!" Olim said with injured dignity as all three other females laughed.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be a very long explanation?" Iriana asked over the intercom.

"Not long at all." Abigail said with a smile. "I needed help. I asked for it and got it. If not...quite..." She stared down at herself. "...what I expected."

"At least you can laugh about it." Sister Abigail said with a smile that faded. "As dark as the game was?"

"This world is just as dark in some ways and Brother Abrahaim will make it more so."