Serenity versus anger
She had said the Oracle was going to be angry. She hadn't lied.
But she hadn't quite expected this!
She stood in the middle of a virtual room, surrounded by extremely powerful energy barriers. Those...were not just to bind her. Her powers were nullified while she stood inside of them. Half a dozen Tenno stood in the room and all had weapon in hand. Aimed at her. She knew them all.
Will was a statue, his Braton aimed at her head. Alicia's Burston Prime was rocky steady, locked on her center mass. Aeron stood beside the, the Loki preternaturally still. His Snipetron might have been too long to use in close quarters for most, he showed no sign of it as he aimed. She didn't doubt that if he fired, the bullet would hit exactly where he wanted it to. Olim had two pistols in hand, some variant of the Furis, she thought. She didn't know the one. Mori held a Phage. The shotgun would tear right through the unarmored Reverend Mother like plasma through a sheet of cardboard. But it was the last one that hurt the most.
Karl stood where he had been since Janet had called him, his Hek aimed at the Reverend Mother's head. He hadn't moved. Hadn't spoken. Indeed, if she hadn't seen him arrive, she might have taken him for a hologram.
"We need Iriana!" The Oracle said sharply to the other person in the virtual world. "Whatever they did to her can be undone."
"Oracle..." Horatius said softly. "She chose it."
"No she didn't!" Janet snapped. "She wouldn't have! She would not have betrayed us all by choice!"
"I did not." The Reverend Mother risked a soft voice that carried across the room. "Betray you that is." She kept her hands still by sheer force of will. The Tenno aiming at her would not -could not- miss at this range. "They never asked and they knew when I was brought in what I was and who. They never mindscanned me or interrogated me."
"YOU WERE SCREAMING IN PAIN!" Janet shouted loud enough to deafen. "I saw you! On the ship! Then... you vanished... I... I couldn't track you..."
"They had to sequester my memory for the tests, Oracle." The one time the Reverend Mother had called Janet by name, the other woman had not reacted well. That had been when the Tenno had arrived, called. It had gone downhill from there. "And such rapid healing hurts. As for not tracking... I do not know. Maybe some form of shielding that we know nothing about? The Convent is old. Very old."
"Serene..." Janet begged softly.
"I am no longer that female Tenno." The Reverend Mother said calmly. "I am the Reverend Mother. Servant to the Clergy, mouthpiece of the same. But... I honor the Code still."
"You do not look to the Lotus." Janet said savagely.
"If she answered when I called..." The woman who had been Tenno Serene said sadly. "I would tell her the same. Once I became... I had access to all of the information. All of my memories and all of what was done to me. I was in full possession of my faculties when I made the choice. They told me it was needed, but it was my choice. I made my choice. Now I have to live with it." She sighed and glanced at the silent ring of warframes. "Or not." She sighed again and then slowly and carefully knelt into seiza avoiding the barriers. "Commander Horatius. Go."
"Ma'am..." Commander Horatius was torn, that was clear.
"You cannot stop them by force, Commander. The children need you. Please." She pleaded. "Go?"
"I should stay." Horatius said quietly. "If just as a witness."
"Commander, if they want me dead, I am." The Reverend Mother said softly. "They do not. Tenno do not hesitate when it comes time for violence. They act as the Code and their hearts demand." She shook her head slowly. "My heart was torn to pieces. I love Sara. I love Rocky. And I love René. This horror must be stopped and we cannot do it alone. You know it. I know it."
"We can get a line on them!" Horatius said with a snarl, but then he sighed. "And then they will change the transponders again." He bowed his head too. "I should stay."
"Far be it from me to try and get you silly Special Forces to do anything..." The Reverend Mother muttered, not at all under her breath. "Even if it is smart."
"Me grunt." Horatius did the perfect 'dumb' voice with a straight face. "Me no do smart." The Reverend Mother had to chuckle at that.
"Whatever." The Reverend Mother turned her head to look at the Oracle. Janet... looked good. Virtual world avatars generally mirrored the person's real world form unless effort was made to change things. She had files on Janet from before Janet had left the Clergy. Scans, histories, journals. Family photos. And... more. It... hurt. "Oracle, please. Let me explain?"
"What is to explain?" Janet demanded. "They took you. They changed you. Now you are one of them."
"Yes I am." The Reverend Mother said firmly. "But that is not all I am. René gave birth. I was there. I don't remember much more than that. But I was there." Janet stared at her. "You and I have both born children into the world, Oracle. You know the joy. You know the pain. René's brothers are killing children. And you know it." This last was hard. Oracle winced and the Reverend Mother nodded. "I could not just stand by and let it happen. I could not. If that means my life is forfeit, then so be it. They will elect another if needed."
"Serene..." Janet said slowly. "I... I can't..."
"All I ask..." The Reverend Mother said firmly. "Is that you help Horatius or whoever find the other children that were made from me and stop them. They will not limit their predations to the Company and you know it. They will..." The Reverend Mother stilled as Janet did. "They have struck again, haven't they?"
"They have." A new voice sounded and the Reverend Mother went still as Nikis appeared from nowhere. He was... not happy. "You were always headstrong, but this?" He hawked and spat.
"Who was it that taught me 'Follow your heart, not just your orders'?" The Reverend Mother asked calmly and Nikis stared at her. "Or was that some other ancient curmudgeon?"
"You never lacked for spunk, girl." Nikis admitted. "How long were you collecting pieces of Banshee?" The Reverend Mother frowned, but there was no point in subterfuge. Not here. Not now.
"All my life that I remember." The Reverend Mother said softly. "Just after I left you, I found a piece and it...she... asked me to find others. I did."
"And you never said what you were doing." Nikis wasn't speaking to her. Or anyone present! "Not to anyone."
"She only talked to me the first time. I figured out who she was a lot later." The Reverend Mother said with a shrug. "I didn't...feel any different for a long, long time. And by then..." She made a small throwing away gesture. "I had a reputation."
"Ain't reputations fun?" Nikis asked sourly. "You are in trouble, girl."
"I know." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "Commander Horatius. Do nothing." She said firmly. "Grandmaster Nikis... do what you must."
"You really want me to do this?" Nikis asked, his tone oddly gentle.
"No." The Reverend Mother admitted. "But no one will accept any other verdict but hers."
"If I call her..." Nikis said softly. "She will act. One way or the other, she will act."
"And I accept that." The Reverend Mother said calmly. Nikis sighed and his hands started glowing.
"Reverend Mother..." Horatius protested, but froze as she raised a hand partway.
"Commander! Do not move!" She commanded and he went still. "You life is in greater danger right now than it has ever been!"
"Wha-?" Horatius' reply was cut off into a gasp as a form suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Inside the barrier with the Reverend Mother.
It was... a Nyx Prime warframe. But not just any Nyx Prime. The Reverend Mother met Nyx's face plate with her eyes calmly as the other drew an insubstantial axe. A Scindo Prime. An executioner's weapon. Then again, she had been the designated Tenno executioner more than once in her lifetime. With the ability to see into other's minds came the ability to do what was needed. Judge. Jury. And often executioner. The Reverend Mother could feel the tendrils of the other's mind seeping in. The power... she had no chance. But maybe the truth would suffice.
"About Banshee... I did not tell anyone what I was doing." The Reverend Mother said as Nyx raised her axe. "I felt a kinship with her, my distant ancestor. She was... torn. She saw her love beaten down in front of her by a pack of rabid animals in Orokin form." She bowed her head, clearing her neck for the deathstroke. "Shades or no, what they did was wrong. What she did was well, but I understood it very well. I wanted to help her. Just as I want to help the children that... my children are hunting and killing. My fate... is bound up with the Clergy now. They need me." She slumped, arguments finished. She jumped as the points of the axe buried themselves in the floor in front of her. She stared up as Nyx slowly bent to one knee and held out a hand to her. "I cannot, Nyx..." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "I... I am not worthy..."
Instead of answering, Nyx vanished. The Reverend Mother stared as the barriers... vanished and all of the Tenno slowly lowered their weapons.
"Nyx disagrees." Nikis said drolly. "But she doesn't feel Banshee in you. Neither do I."
"Yes." The Reverend Mother said weakly, stunned by this sudden change. "I do not have the pieces in my anymore. I do not know what happened or when. Just that when I was done, I wasn't as angry. Her anger was gone. They could have gone any time after I shot myself."
"Just as well." Nikis said with a scowl visible eve through his closed faceplate. "I do not want to destroy a sister for some stupid Orokin scum. Could the soul catcher have them?"
"I checked." The Reverend Mother said as she rose slowly. "It is empty. When my injuries were healed, it emptied into me. And now? It is back in the vault and the vault is sealed. Good riddance."
"I should ask you to surrender that." Nikis said mildly. "It violates a bunch of rules."
"Better to have it and not need it..." The Revered Mother said with a wince. "...Than need it and not have it. If you demand it, we will probably surrender it. Better for all if we are not in conflict. But it did save my life when I shot myself."
"And of course you won't tell us where said vault is." Nikis said with a ghost of a chuckle. The Reverend Mother shook her head. "Probably just as well. I bet that is not the only thing in there we would take offense to." The Reverend Mother did not reply and Nikis snorted. "Figured."
"This is not what I wanted, Grandmaster Nikis." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "I miss Sara. I miss Rocky. I miss them so bad it hurts." She was crying. Tears her augmentation could not stop no matter how hard it tried.
"No need to be so formal with me." Nikis said softly. "Reverend Mother."
"I am sorry..." Janet sounded abject now. "I just... I saw you... screaming... And..."
"I know." The Reverend Mother rose with a nod. "But they gave me every chance to back out. They were completely open with me." She sighed. "There is... one major loose end."
"Sara wants to talk to you." Janet said softly. Then she smiled. "You wouldn't..."
"How many problems would it solve, Oracle?" The Reverend Mother asked with a smile of her own. It faded. "How much did he get from her?"
"Everything she knew." Nikis said quietly. "She is a mess."
"I went through it once myself." The Reverend Mother said with a frown. "You know... maybe that helped...Maybe we should..." She shook her head. "A thought for later. I need to talk to both Sara and Jennifer H-10. Preferably at the same time."
"Sara is gonna be mad." Nikis said softly.
"She has a right to it." The Reverend Mother said quietly. "Two?"
"Recovering." Nikis said with a nod. "I took the piece out that was in her. She and Amelia will be here later with Iriana."
"I had hoped I hadn't infected her..." The Reverend Mother said soberly. "But there is a piece in René as well. I will figure out a way to get her to you." Nikis grunted. "I bet the boys have them too. Sara? Rocky?" She begged.
"Nothing in either." Nikis reassured her. "They are fine. But they miss their Ma."
"I know." The Reverend Mother said sadly. She bowed her head again. "I...regret what I have to do. But Sara would not be safe. Rocky either." She went still as two new forms appeared nearby. The Ember Prime stood silent, but Sara... Sara was crying. "Oh Sara..."
"If you are my Ma..." Sara said angrily. "What did I make on the 'Go' board?" The Reverend Mother had to smile although it hadn't been humorous at the time, being imprisoned for nearly losing her mind. Sara, Iriana and Two being imprisoned hadn't helped.
"If they mindscanned me, they would know it was a heart, Sara." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "They did not, but you cannot trust that. I understand. I love you Sara and this will hurt you. Hurt you badly. Other children need me."
"They told me... I can see why you would... but... I wanna be selfish!" Sara cried. Jasmina laid a hand on her arm. "I do!"
"So do I." The Reverend Mother bowed her head. "But Sara... there is something you can do for me. It will be hard. Very hard."
"Me?" Sara asked, confused. "What can I do?"
"I do not ask forgiveness for me, Sara." The Reverend Mother said softly. "There can be no forgiving... leaving you." Sara gave a cry and the Reverend Mother nodded. "Iriana will need help. Mishka will need time and help. You will need help. Lis is... unavailable. We better not tell her..." Heads nodded around the room.
"She will jump right out of the pod." Sara gulped and nodded. "So... who?"
"Lis was a renegade Tenno, Sara." The Reverend Mother said with a small, sad smile. "We rehabilitated her. I know a woman who... made a bunch of mistakes." Sara stilled. "A woman who lost her daughter and... lost perspective because of that. She did a number of things that angered a bunch of people."
"Ma..." Sara said softly. "I..."
"Sara, I am not asking you to do anything. All I am asking is that you try. Nothing more." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "Rocky needs a Ma, and frankly..." She smirked. "You need a minder to protect everyone else from you.." A chuckle swept the room at that.
"Ma!" Sara exclaimed, her face red.
"Tell me I lie." The Reverend Mother shrugged. "I mean... ducts, portals, toilets..." She grimaced.
"Toilets?" Nikis sounded curious.
"That was not my fault!" Sara exclaimed, her face even brighter red. "It wasn't!" She said with a wince as the Reverend Mother crossed her arms. "I... It wasn't my fault!"
"Sara..." The Reverend Mother gave out a long suffering sigh. "There are certain environmental setting you can change with impunity. The sewage collection system is not one of them."
"Do I want to know?" Nikis asked, his tone speculative as he looked at Sara who, impossibly, blushed brighter.
"Let's just say that any troublemakers at the Relay Vina is in charge of will have their work cut out for them for a while cleaning up." The Reverend Mother said with a snort. "She backed up every single toilet on the Relay." All eyes in the room landed on Sara who was obviously trying to turn invisible or into a hole in the floor. "And yes, she will be helping."
"That is... impressive." Nikis said to general chuckles.
"It... was ..." Sara slumped. "It seemed harmless."
"Key word there, 'Seemed'." The Reverend Mother sobered. "Sara, where I go, I cannot take you or Rocky. It will never be safe for you. Iriana, Jasmina, Two, Amelia... All of them will help. But I cannot be there for you. If... If someone else can..."
"Her, Ma?" Sara sounded dubious.
Instead of answering, the Reverend Mother turned to Oracle who nodded, her face grave. A human form appeared in the middle of the floor. The old woman was hugging herself tight, shuddering, crying. A white armored form appeared beside her. The Loki Prime nodded to the Reverend Mother and stepped back.
"Jennifer." The Reverend Mother said gently as she knelt by the crying woman. She laid a hand on the woman's arm. There were no wounds. Physical wounds anyway. But the mental feel... Sun was nothing if not thorough. And there was no gentleness in the Interrogator. None. "Oh, Jennifer..."
"Told everything..." The old woman's voice was tremulous, weak and scared. Hurting. "Please...tell Oracle... Let me go... Need to... join Lilly..." Janet stared at the broken woman and blanched.
"No, Jennifer." The Reverend Mother said as she laid a hand on the woman's brow. "Easy... Easy..." She let a bit of her own inner calm seep into the woman. "Easy. It's okay." She said quietly. "It is all right."
"So tired..." Jennifer H-10, the former Reverend Mother said weakly. "So... tired..."
"I know." The current Reverend Mother said softly. "Here. This will help." A hand cupped the back of Jennifer's head and power flared. Jennifer shuddered and went limp. She turned her head up.
"Do I... know you?" Jennifer asked.
"You ought to." The Reverend Mother said with small, sad smile. "You recruited me to take your job." Jennifer went still and then she wilted and started to cry. "Oh, Jennifer, it's all right. It's all right." She comforted the other.
"No it is not!" Jennifer said weakly. "It is not right! I... I had no right!"
"No, but you had a need." The Reverend Mother replied, her touch gentle as she stroked the woman's hair. "Jennifer... You are still needed. But not by the Clergy. You have too many enemies who will kill you if they find you. The Clergy would not be able to hide you. Too many people among the Corpus and elsewhere want you dead. Almost anywhere you could go in Corpus space, they would find you. And you would die."
"Let me die." Jennifer begged. "Please? My daughter... I can't..." Sara jerked from where she stood, her face ashen. The Reverend Mother nodded to the girl and Sara stepped forward.
"Jennifer?" Sara asked softly. "You lost your daughter?"
"And my mind!" Jennifer sobbed into the Reverend Mother's arms. "Too emotional. Too distracted. Too...wrong. I can't... I can't go on!"
"You saved my sister's life." Sara said softly. Jennifer went still, her head slowly turning to look at Sara. Sara knelt down beside the crying woman.
"Maybe I can save yours."