"Recovery is a spiral, not a circle. You may return to the same patterns, but you will break free." —Eris Morn
The Professor had made her way back to the Prison - alone this time. Relying on memory, Meren navigated the dark fortress and found her way to the Warden's control room. She raised her hand to the access panel, but paused as a creature somewhere below gurgled to itself in the gloom. As the sound faded, Meren took a moment to center herself. She couldn't be distracted. Not now. Her mind had to be sharp if she was to be successful in her errand.
Meren took a moment to reflect on what had brought her here in the first place. The past few days, if you could even call them that in the Reef, were a blur. Not days, Meren reminded herself, cycles.
Once the Palamon dig site data had arrived, Hiro's fastidious bookkeeping had kept her going. She pored over one map after another. A trace of a scorch cannon here, a shard of a skiff there; Hiro had meticulously documented every find in such detail. No wonder Meren had lost track of time.
She had been tired, but she knew that she was so close. Only when she was on the verge of losing hope did the maps give up their secret. There it was - a huge perfectly spherical object entombed in the ice. She had triple checked, then, to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. It had to be a Servitor.
Meren had jotted down the Earth coordinates. 51.9322092, -115.7604943. Thank the Traveler for Hiro. The datapad was cast aside, then, and she finally fell into a deep sleep.
The problem that had presented itself after she woke was a different matter entirely. How was she supposed to recover a Servitor frozen under four feet of snow up in the mountains? She had, in a brief moment of insanity, considered going all the way to Palamon. Maybe she'd dig it out herself. And then what? Meren had no ship, no flight clearance. She didn't even own a coat.
That left her in a quandary. She deliberated asking for assistance. But who the hell was going to help her?
Most of her contacts back on Earth were academics. Stealing from an archaeological site was out of the question, not to mention logistically impossible. She knew members of the Vanguard, of course. Even if someone like Cayde would agree to help her on this fool's errand, he'd want to know what she planned to do with the damned thing. He'd follow her trail to the Tangled Shore - find the Spider. And then she'd be right back where she started.
Marked for death. It wasn't an enticing prospect.
Meren had mulled over a cup of coffee, then. A sudden rush of caffeine sharpening her focus. The wording of her agreement with the Spider had been ambiguous at best. She had promised that he would have a Servitor, not that she would bring it all the way to his doorstep.
Eliksni were nothing if not resourceful, Meren knew. The Spider would have to settle for the detailed coordinates and go dig the damn thing out himself, she concluded. There simply wasn't another option.
It was a bold proposition. The Spider liked bold, Meren sensed that much. Respected it, even. But even this plan posed problems for her. How was she supposed to get the coordinates to him? There was no way she was going all the way back to the Tangled Shore and marching right up to the Spider to hand them over in person. That would be suicide.
The only feasible way to navigate this mess was to send the coordinates to the Spider herself from the safety of the Reef, and hope he took the bait. But even that wasn't so simple. The Eliksni were notorious for relying on heavily-encrypted communication networks. Networks to which she had no access.
Her coffee had cooled before she remembered that she knew someone who certainly did have access to the Tangled Shore's comm networks. He had alerted the Spider of her visit, after all. She needed that encryption key, and Variks was going to give it to her. One way or another.
It had been time to put her plan into action, then. She had dodged her escort and come all the way back to the Prison. Through the winding labyrinth, up the endless stairs, making her way back to the Warden who so despised her.
Now, steeling herself outside the Prison's control room doors, Meren felt as ready as she'd ever be. She had one shot. This wasn't likely to be pleasant.
A single tap to the access panel, and the doors hissed open. The Queen's most loyal servant was right where she left him.
"Hello, Variks."
Variks looked up when she entered the room. He wore the same mantle of fur, the same tunic. The way he was standing, grasping his staff, made him look positively benign. His glowing eyes met hers.
"Variks is...glad Meren is baack," he croaked.
Meren very much doubted that. She crossed her arms.
He continued, "Ready for teach-ing?"
She should have been excited by the prospect of learning something from the Eliksni, but she found herself angry instead. Variks had played her for a fool last time. It wouldn't happen again.
"No, I'm not ready for teaching," Meren replied calmly.
Variks blinked, one eye closing at a time. He hadn't expected that answer.
She made a conscious effort to stay out of arms' reach as she spoke. "I'm ready for an explanation."
"Ex-pla-nation?" He tilted his head innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Variks." It was a struggle to keep her voice even.
"Variks does not understand."
"You sent me to meet your good friend, the Spider," Meren humored him, "Remember?"
"Spider was good to Meren, yess?" His eyes glittered.
"No," her response was flat, "he wasn't. You deliberately tried to get me killed."
Variks acted surprised, tapping his staff on the ground. "Not my intention!"
The Spider had been right about Variks' "ridiculous accent". It may have fooled the Awoken, but now Meren could see right through it. Why hadn't she realized it sooner?
"Enough, Variks," she sighed.
He said nothing and just looked at her, his claws twitching in annoyance.
"Don't you ever get tired of putting on this act?" she looked at him earnestly.
He growled. "It is no act-"
She cut him off, then. "Your charade may be fooling the Awoken, Variks, but you're not fooling me."
Her voice sounded bolder than she felt. Meren had the Queen's promise of protection. She just hoped it was worth something here.
"Meren is mistaken," his voice was a growl, "Variks is loyal to-"
"To the Queen?" she snapped, "Mara Sov might be interested to hear the truth about her scheming warden."
Variks' whole demeanor changed in that instant. Her words had hit a nerve.
His eyes glittered fiercely as he straightened himself to his full height to lunge at her. Meren backpedaled, colliding with the viewport that overlooked the arena. The Eliksni was bigger than she expected, and he loomed over her.
Variks spoke then, without a trace of a growl this time, "You must think you are very clever by threatening to go to the Queen."
It was his real voice. The front he put on for the Awoken and the Guardians was gone.
"I am under her protection." Meren's words almost betrayed the fear she felt.
He rumbled something, maybe it was a laugh, "Where is your 'escort'? Who is going to protect you?"
"Petra will-"
It was his turn to cut her off. "Petraa will never find you in here," his masked face was inches from hers, "and Gulrot is very, very hungry."
He wouldn't, would he? She pressed her back harder against the cold viewport.
"Do it, then," Meren hissed, "feed me to your ogre."
She glared at him. If she was going to be eaten by some Prison beast, at least she wouldn't go out pleading like a child. His glowing eyes bored into hers.
Locked in a silent battle of wills, they held each other's gaze for what seemed to Meren like an eternity.
She felt her heart skip a beat. Variks turned away first, mandibles clicking in irritation.
She had called his bluff.
Meren let out the breath she had been holding and slumped against the viewport as the Eliksni stalked away. Her legs finally failed her, and she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
Across the room, Variks' back was turned to her, now. He was doing his very best to ignore her, but when she didn't immediately leave he spoke again, "Why are you still here?"
"I'm not leaving." Meren was grateful for the distance between them. "Not after I finally got you talking."
"I do not want to talk to you." He was idly manipulating something on the main console's display.
Why did he have to be so stubborn?
"I have all day, Variks."
Meren was determined to sit here and wear him down for as long as it took. She needed that encryption key.
It was another long moment before he spoke, glancing at her, "Did you come to the Reef just to annoy me?"
"No. I came to study..." Meren trailed off.
"Study what? The Eliksni?" He said the words she had been thinking. "You meddle in things you do not understand."
"I'm not trying to meddle," she began.
"Then what are you trying to do?" He turned, and was looking at her now.
"I'm trying to help," she said softly.
"The Eliksni do not want your help," he bit out the last word, "They are pirates and thieves. Most deserve the name you humans have for us."
The Fallen. The word went unsaid.
Meren just stared at him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He couldn't possibly feel that way. Could he?
"You have a very low opinion of your own people." she said slowly.
"That is none of your concern," he snapped, "Go back to Terra. Nothing for you here."
Meren was surprised at how much his words stung. Pushing herself up off the floor, she stood and took a few steps toward him.
"That may be true. But I can't leave now, even if I wanted to," she said calmly.
Variks tilted his head. Her words had piqued his interest. Meren wondered if she had said too much.
"Very foolish to make a deal with the Spider." His voice was full of dark amusement.
He knew.
"I didn't make any deal," Meren was caught off guard.
"You are lying," Variks purred.
Shit. Variks knew more than he let on. The Spider had probably told him everything already. There was no point in continuing to bluff.
"You're right." Meren eyed him sullenly. "I made a bad deal."
"How unfortunate," his voice was smug.
"You want me to leave?" Meren asked, "Fine. But I have one condition."
Variks eyed her. This was her chance.
"I need an Eliksni encryption key." she admitted, "Give it to me, and I'll go back to Earth. You'll never have to see me again."
Meren expected him to laugh at her. She braced herself for his vitriol. But it never came.
Instead, Variks' head abruptly snapped in the direction of the control room's main doors. Suddenly his whole demeanor changed. He hunched over to match Meren's height, and growled, "verry foolish, yess."
He was Variks, the Loyal again in an instant.
The doors hissed open - the Queen's Wrath had been standing just outside. Meren glanced at Variks' as Petra Venj stormed into the room.
"Professor Hale," her voice was stern.
"Petraa-" Variks croaked.
"Not now, Variks." she waved a hand at him dismissively, her eyes on Meren.
"Yasmin told me you were missing," Petra chided, "Why aren't you with your escort?"
Meren smiled at Petra's perfect timing. "You said Variks could keep watch over me."
"Well, yes." Petra looked annoyed.
Meren saw her chance, then, and didn't hesitate.
"He was just about to give me his datapad to help with my research." Meren said evenly, "Perhaps then you could escort me back?"
Meren had always thought Eliksni had the tendency to look perpetually irritated. It was just their biology. But that was nothing compared to the look that Variks was giving her now. His eyes were filled with utter loathing.
"Fine." Petra shot an impatient look at the Eliksni. "Hurry up, Variks."
"Variks is going." He shuffled over to the main console and retrieved the piece of Eliksni tech. He took his time crossing the room before holding it out to Meren.
She met his eyes and smiled as she took the datapad, "Thank you."
Variks said nothing in reply. Meren saw his lower claws clench as she turned to follow Petra from the room.
Pleased with herself, Meren held her prize close. This was the final piece of the puzzle. She was almost out of this mess. Maybe then she would go home.
As she silently followed Petra, the briefest pang of guilt nagged at her for swindling Variks like this. No, he would have done the same to you, she told herself.
He had tried to get her killed, after all. She had simply returned the favor by stealing his datapad. An eye for an eye. Now, as far as Meren was concerned, they were even.
AN: Thank you to Keltoi for the edits
