Summary: Meetings and research discussions. What was the blasted chip that was once in her head? Jynn had her suspicions and hoped they were not true.
More missions, more raids, a few facilities were hit, and many many meetings. Just like the old days.
The month barely felt like it had even started as XCOM was bouncing back and forth between Africa and Europe. Their search for Mox was still going on. It seemed like Jax-Rai was moving him around constantly to keep them guessing and it was slowly starting to grate on Commander Reeves. Just as they were on the cusp of locating him, they would move him again. They found numerous other POWs, but they needed Mox. Betos was understanding if they couldn't recover Mox, as was the nature of war, but she held out hope that they would rescue him.
And as they searched for Mox, they finally ran into the Hunter. Kon-Ris. Commander Reeves still couldn't believe the Chosen just let their scouts go. He wounded one of them, shattering their knee with a well-placed shot. But he let them go. He was going to be an interesting wild card.
Then they finally had an encounter with Dhay-Vol when raiding an outpost and pulling out a defector. The Warlock. The fight was brutal, but they managed to repel the mad psion, but at a cost. Dhay-Vol ensnared the mind of Havok, turning her against her allies. She killed the defector, and severely injured Taggert before they could free her. They were able to stabilize Taggert and get him to the Skyranger for a quick evac. Once back at the Avenger, the doctors had to put him into a coma because of the trauma he had suffered. So far, he was touch and go.
In between all that happening, they forged an alliance with the Sanguine Shrapnel. Commander Reeves still couldn't believe he was an old associate of Dr. Raymond Shen. And thankfully, once she passed Lilly Shen his information, the two hit it off and started trading information back and forth. Hopefully, that would give their Engineering staff a much-needed boost to complete some projects. Especially anything dealing with analyzing the armor of those ADVENT MECs.
Just another faction united under the Resistance's banner. Who knew how many more would follow?
April 20, 2035
127lbs / 5'11" / 3 laps around the Avenger (Fresh air is fantastic) / 5s-6r Jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches / 3s-5r 5lb weights
Well, what happened five days ago was surprising. Who would have thought Uncle Vikers was still alive? Well, he's a tough bugger, especially seeing that he lost his arm from what he mentioned was a Berserker. Man, those things were nasty before the Elders modified them more. Wonder if it was an old or new one that tore into him. Voting on the new one. Nasty things.
Glad I eventually remembered who he was. Still hate that my memory is still shot in some places, but not much I can do about that. Still mildly annoyed by John decking him, but looking back, it kinda was the right thing to do at the moment. At least Vikers took that in stride. And good thing Issa had some rags. Not surprised by her comment that it happens fairly often. Uncle really likes to get under people's skin from what I can remember. Still wonder how he and dad became best friends. Miss ya dad. Miss ya family.
And then talking to Rajan was a surprise.
Still have to talk to Betos. Still trying to locate Mox. Jax-Rai has been playing hide n' seek to find him. Hopefully, we can find him before she extracts too much valuable information and disposes of him. Hopefully, time is on our side.
Also, now we have to deal with Dhay-Vol. Juggling the Assassin and Hunter, was already tough and now him? Have to get Shen to speed up the work on those mind shields. He is relentless with mind control. Havok is still shell-shocked from having her mind taken over by him. Still blames herself for Taggert's coma. Gonna be a while before we can field her again. At least we've avoided a soldier getting captured, but that defector… Have to be more vigilant for the future.
Also, the marks have disappeared again. Wonder for how long. At least I have my neck free today. Way too hot for a scarf or turtleneck right now.
And hope what I heard the other day was nothing… I was just up for too long that day.
"So far, finding the facility Mox is located in has been elusive, Betos."
Commander Reeves was just about finishing up her call with Betos. It had been about a month and some weeks since their initial meeting and Mox's capture. She wasn't happy that it was taking so long, but the tides of war were always fickle. At least that had the Reapers' full support for the search, which helped speed things up. But so far, they were finding nothing.
"Though intel says he is most likely alive as we've been tracking a few facilities that have had a high-priority VIP being shifted around."
"We know he is still alive," Betos said, slipping off into a slight growl, "Jax-Rai, butcher of my people, has grown more brazen in her attacks."
"I presume she's testing out each bit of information she gets from him on your defenses?"
"It looks to be so." She nodded.
"I'll see if I can have the Reapers step up their end of the search a bit more to pinpoint which facility he'll be at. The Void Walkers are completely useless for this, as they don't want to be 'found' by the Chosen." Commander Reeves shook her head. She understood why, but they couldn't stay neutral forever.
"Hmph, cowards." She scoffed.
"And I'll check if the Sanguine Shrapnel has heard anything." Commander Reeves added. "I'll keep you posted if anything comes up, Betos."
"Thank you, Commander Reeves. And I will do the same if anything comes to us."
"Thanks. And try to go easy on my men with the training." Commander Reeves chuckled. She quickly learned that joint field training exercises for her soldiers with the Skirmishers were like hell. "Broken bones are a tad counterintuitive."
Betos laughed. "They learned, did they not?"
"Yes, but they don't need extra time in the infirmary."
She laughed. "I will try to keep that in mind and relay it to my people."
"Please do. Commander Reeves signing off."
With that, the transmission ended.
She let out a deep breath, leaning against the console heavily as a headache came on. "Oh, not again." She winced.
Since the beginning of the month, she had been getting headaches off and on, and they were growing in frequency. And then she felt a faint tickle on the back of her mind. Like something was trying to get into. Claw into it.
"Coffee? Or Tea?" A female voice asked.
"Hm…" The voice was faint to her because of the headache.
"Coffee? Or Tea?" The voice was a little closer.
A coffee mug suddenly appeared under her nose. The aroma, sweet at first, tickled her nose before quickly becoming sour as the headache increased.
"Argh." It snapped her out of her senses, causing her to recoil away from it. Who did that? A fist formed as she gritted her teeth. "Centra–Oh…" As she turned, she saw who it was.
"Officer Dimitri." Hazy light brown eyes and soft metallic shimmer near them caught her attention. It was one of the Communication Officers that Central had been training to take over his position if he was ever indisposed. She felt a tad embarrassed. She quickly relaxed her fist and rubbed her hands.
"Sorry about that, Dimitri." She apologized. Her eyes studied those metallic stripes under and around her eyes. She wondered what augmentation that came from. A question she would have to ask her one day.
"It's fine, Commander." Dimitri smiled. Not put off by her reaction. She then raised a pair of mugs, one in each hand. "Coffee or tea?"
"Tea." She reached for that mug. "Again, sorry."
"Yer fine ma'am." Dimitri handed over the mug. "I should be the one apologizing," she chuckled, "just mimicked something Bradford would do when you would zone out."
Commander Reeves sighed when she mentioned that. She really hated when Central would do it, but as of late when she would zone out, the smell of coffee usually brought her out of the state; though not with the best attitude. Coffee would usually increase the intensity of the headaches. She took a sip of the tea. "Good tea, thanks."
"Welcome." Dimitri smiled. "Fresh supply."
"So, any updates on your end, Dimitri?"
"I got a few, Commander."
Dimitri set down the coffee mug and brought out her tablet. There was an update from the Reapers. One of their operatives believes they finally found where Pratal Mox was being held. He told them they needed to act fast, as he wasn't sure how long they would hold Mox at the location. For now, he would scout out the location and wait for XCOM's response.
"Huh, looks like I will call Betos back after putting together a strike team to go save Mox." Commander Reeves was happy to hear that. Hopefully, they could sneak in and snatch Mox out of the prison with little trouble.
Then Dimitri told of a report from the Sanguine Shrapnel. Vikers Dunbar reported that refugees from a recent haven attack had arrived safely at one of their camps. Something positive, though the Commander wished they could have saved more. Vikers also said they would be sending over one of their engineers, per Chief Engineer Shen's request. ETA for the engineer was around 3 days.
"Well, we will be here awhile between prepping to infiltrate the Blacksite, and then Shen has been picking up a strange radio signal and is attempting to decode it." Commander Reeves spoke her thoughts. She wondered what they were going to find at the hidden facility. Had to be something good with how well it was hidden.
"Anything you wish for me to relay to Vikers and 'em?" Dimitri asked.
"A thanks and tell him I owe him some scotch."
"Will do that."
"Anything else?"
"Yes," Dimitri tapped on the pad, "Dr. Tygan requests your immediate attention down in Research."
"Ah," she rubbed her chin. "Must be done researching the Captain's chip and possibly part of the shattered crystalline weapon." She thought.
She had been messing with the shards of the weapon, but they didn't do what had happened that day she bought it. She still wondered if she had just imagined things. As long as those "cursed shards" caused no problems, she'd find a way to display them in her room. They looked pretty as is.
"And the Void Walkers have left us a parcel at these coordinates." Dimitri showed them to her.
"Ah good. Please get one of the retrieval teams to get it."
"Will do Commander." Dimitri made her leave.
Alone for a moment, Commander Reeves mumbled under her breath, thinking of everything going on. What team would she put together to save Mox? They needed to have tact and know how to be sneaky. She had a few on her mind that could work. She then sipped her tea. Nice, warm, and peachy.
"Now to go down to Research.
"I wonder if my suspicions about the chip are correct." Commander Reeves mumbled under her breath.
With mug in hand, she made her way down to the belly of the ship. As usual, she had her occasional stops to chat with the soldiers. A few promises to eventually join some card games and to have longer chats. She even stopped by the infirmary to check on the wounded; that usually made their days. She cared about them deeply. Tensions were still a bit high on the ship as some did not trust Elena — who didn't help with being abrasive at times — and weren't too thrilled about Mox eventually joining as soon as they rescued him but thankful the soldiers knew how to behave when she came around.
But as she headed down, her mind drifted off to the chip that was pulled from her head and some theories she had been reading from Tygan, besides what she had suggested that day. She was dreading some of her suspicions were correct. The Elders using her to fuel their Tactical Information Network. She really hoped it wasn't true, but as of late, she had been noticing some things. Troubling things.
There had been a few havens, den mothers, and fathers that looked familiar to her, but she knew she hadn't met them. Some weren't born yet when she was alive. But she had been having dreams late, more or so disjointed nightmares, where she had seen these havens. Where she had seen their faces. Their terror-stricken faces. Afraid of something. She felt like she knew what they were afraid of. ADVENT cleansing raids. But the details of those nightmares were always hazy. They felt so… simulated, yet simultaneously real.
She took a long sip of tea and let out a heavy sigh. "Hopefully, I'm wrong. I pray I'm wrong."
As she came closer to Research, she felt her headache increase. Insistent throbbing, light sensitivity, vision blurring, and shooting pain were kicking it. It was escalating to an all too familiar migraine for her. Like a drummer was going at it against her skull. It felt like it was going to cave in. She gritted her teeth and powered through it. It wasn't going to stop her from talking with Tygan.
"Probably just need a nap... Haven't slept for over 24 hours. Damn nightmares." She closed her eyes for a moment to get her bearings as the migraine spiked again just a few rooms away from the main Lab. Another spike happened again, only having moved a few feet. This one had her stopping to lean against a wall, her eyes were firmly shut.
"Ah, Commander, you received my request." The all too familiar voice of the Doctor rang in her head.
"Huh?" Her eyes quickly flew open. Her vision was blurry for a moment before quickly clearing. She saw Tygan and Bradford. She was in the Lab. No, how could she be? She still had another room to cross and had stopped to lean against a wall. Looking around, she noticed she was leaning against one of the consoles in research, not a wall. The migraine was still there, but a bit softer now. "The hell?" She muttered.
"Everything all right, Commander?" Bradford noticed her confused look.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She raised herself up. "Just something on my mind." She came over to the group. She eyed the counter, seeing the crystal shard was in containment under the scanner. Looked like he was still working on that. She then eyed the dead Captain on the table.
Her eyes focused on the crude cranial surgery Tygan had performed on the Hybrid to access the chip. Reminded her of dissecting animals for class in middle school. Mentally, she shuddered. Glad they didn't have to do that to her to get her chip out. She noticed the cables running from the port in the back of its skull. What were those for?
"Right…" Bradford doubted that, but for now, he wouldn't ask questions. He turned to Tygan. "Well, Tygan, what were the results?"
"The results… it's best if you see for yourself." Tygan walked over to the large monitor and tapped it, changing the screen. A comparison of the chip they extracted from Commander Reeves and the chip extracted from the Captain. "My autopsy of the ADVENT Captain has confirmed the existence of an implant similar in design to the unit I extracted from the Commander. But there are differences."
"Differences?" She asked
"What kind of differences?" Bradford questioned.
"The data you see is being pulled directly from this ADVENT Captain's implant." He started to explain.
"Explains the cables." She noted.
"Yes," he nodded, "the sequence here, is essentially you Commander. Or at least the tactical information they were processing through your mind." He gestured back at the screen.
"What." She didn't know why she was surprised. She had a feeling that was what he was going to say next.
"As you can see, the date is nearly identical. It seems that your previous speculations were right, Commander." He pointed out the duplicate data from both streams of information.
Her suspicions were confirmed. Her fears were confirmed. "Joy…" She sighed through gritted teeth. That migraine was slowly ramping up again.
"They were using you against us." Bradford held back the anger in his voice. He turned to look at her. He was happy she wasn't shaking this time. "You were right."
"Wish I wasn't."
"However…" Tygan gestured back to the screen. "The ADVENT data shows signs of decay. Removing the Commander from their Network has likely caused significant damage."
"Network?" Both Bradford and Commander Reeves asked. Seemed the speculation of some sort of damage done was also correct.
"Yes," the enthusiasm picked up in Tygan's voice, "what we are seeing here is a psionic network. These implants are capable of receiving and transmitting information — a great deal of information, somehow encoded in a stream of psionic energy." He tapped the screen changing the images.
"Truly questioning how my brain didn't get fried now." She winced, seeing all the data and then the portraits of the soldiers. Part of her couldn't imagine her tactical knowledge being streamed into hundreds if not thousands of ADVENT soldiers constantly. She winced again and grimaced, leaning against the table. The drummer was back at it. Bradford took notice but kept quiet.
"My working theory - ADVENT uses this network to augment the tactical readiness of its troops as well as disseminate orders from its Central Command. Observe." Tygan tapped on a portrait, one that had the deceased Captain's face. A moment later the body of the Captain moved, an eerie moan escaped its lips as its entire body twitched around like a meat puppet, clattering in its armor.
The sudden movement made both Bradford and the Commander hop back.
"My…" Commander Reeves raised a hand to her mouth. That made her skin crawl.
"No rest for the dead." Bradford remarked.
"Even in the subject's diminished condition—" He gestured towards it.
"That's one way to put it…" Commander Reeves shook her head. "Continue."
"Mm hm," Tygan cleared his throat, "the implant continues to have an effect. A truly astonishing achievement."
"Or a weakness." Bradford stated.
"Potentially – but I'd need direct access to their network to know for sure." Another hint of enthusiasm was in his voice.
"Direct access?" She questioned.
"I'm guessing that won't be easy." Bradford said.
"We'd need an active link. And that would mean having a live ADVENT Officer."
"Like I said, not easy." Bradford shook his head. "Still, it's the best lead we've got. Your call, Commander."
"First, I am curious about how we will hack a live ADVENT Officer." Commander Reeves eyed Tygan. She felt like he wanted to share more just from the look in his eyes. He had enthusiasm just like Dr. Vahlen, but was much more reserved. "Second, I don't think it's viable for us to capture one right now. We're still working on those holding cells and have to make sure the psionic shielding on them is airtight."
"Correct Commander, capturing a live subject would be ill-advised." He responded.
"So how are we going to go about 'hacking' an ADVENT Officer?" She questioned. "Because I sure as hell know trying to get a specialist's Gremlin near one would end in a disaster."
"Well," Tygan turned and went over to the screen and opened up a new image, "Shen and I have been collaborating on a solution. Soon to be entering the prototyping phase." The new image looked to be schematic for a weapon of sorts. It looked somewhat similar to the Ripjack the Skirmishers used.
"A wrist blade?" Bradford asked.
"In a way, it is. Chief Engineer Shen and her team have affectionately called it the 'Skulljack'."
"How does it work?" She gestured for him to hurry up. Her migraine was killing her.
"Similar to the blades mounted on the Skirmishers Ripjack, with the exception that our soldiers will be targeting this area," using himself as an example, he pointed under his chin towards where the neck and head connect, "plunging the blades deep into the Officer's skull to gain access to the Officer's augments."
"Crude." She commented.
"Dangerous." Bradford added.
"Once our soldiers gain access, I will have access to ADVENT's psionic network." He finished.
"I assume you're preparing for that?" She asked. "I know they will be quick to boot out intrusions."
"Yes," he nodded, "Shen and I have already put together contingency plans to prevent them from accessing our systems."
"Good, good," she let out a grunt as she rubbed her temples, "I'll see if construction on the Proving Grounds can be sped up to get this item made sooner."
"Hell…" She soon muttered. She leaned heavily on the table as the migraine increased again. Her vision was blurring again, her breathing became shaky."Great…"
"Hey, are you all right?" Bradford placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She lied. She knocked his hand away as she raised herself back up. Her eyes were bloodshot. "Just a lot on my mind."
"Commander… Jynn…" There was a slight growl in his voice. He could tell she was pushing herself. "You don't look fine."
"I'm fine." She glared or did her best too. She was more or so squinting.
"Really now?" He crossed his arms. "How long have you been up? Have you even taken a rest today?"
"I'm fine, Bradford, how long I've been up doesn't factor into this." She got defensive.
"Please answer the question, Commander." He glared.
"I don't have time for this." She growled. She turned her back to him and started to leave. "I'll be on the Bridge if you need me."
"Commander, just because the doctors have been giving you good marks for your health doesn't mean you need to immediately start running yourself ragged." He quickly gave chase. He was going to get through that stubborn skull of hers.
She ignored him as she continued to make her leave. She was just about to cross the opening of the door when a sudden wave of pain hit her. This time, her ears began to ring, and the back of her throat ached. The scar was acting up.
"Argh…" She quickly caught herself against the door frame, resting her head against the cold metal. A temporary relief as her skull felt like it was about to crack open.
"Commander!" He knew something had to be wrong.
"I'm fine, just a headache." She pushed him away.
"A headache wouldn't do this to you." He shook his head and tried to help her once more. "I'm taking you to the Infirm–"
We found you, once again. A wispy voice filled the Commander's head.
"Argh…" She closed her eyes tightly as the voice reverberated in her skull. Once it passed, her eyes opened in a panic. Whose voice was that? Where did it come from? Why did it feel familiar? Terrifyingly, oh so familiar. All she saw was Bradford. Tygan was half paying attention, as he had gone back to his work. "What did you say? Who said that?"
"I said I'm taking you to the Infirmary. No butts." He took advantage of her confusion and slipped his arm around her. How she was acting was even more concerning to him. "Tygan, you may want to tag along."
Dr. Tygan looked up from his work and nodded. "I will come to the Infirmary immediately once I'm done here."
"Alright." He nodded. "Let's get going, Jynn." He forcefully moved her, but she was being stubborn.
Come back to Us. The wispy voice returned again. This time, more voices accompanied it, forming a chorus. The migraine was becoming unbearable.
The Commander's eyes continued to dart around the room, trying to find the voice. Then her eyes fell upon that suit. Her old prison for 20 years, tucked off to the side. Something filled her with dread. Something was emanating from it, and she could feel it.
Come back to Us.
A purple mist came from the container that held the Stasis Suit. No. It wasn't a mist; that made no sense. It was psionic energy.
The energy soon took form, a form all too familiar to her. The form of an Elder in all their finery. From under the robe emerged an arm that reached out to her. Her eyes lit up. Pupils became pinpricks as she let out a strangled gasp. She felt all her nerves firing off across her body from the mere gesture. Even more pain was in her brain as she felt several hands and voices claw at it. She let out a cry of pain as she dropped to her knees, dragging Bradford down with her.
"Jynn!" Bradford cried out. Something wasn't right. He hadn't noticed the psionic energy. Or perhaps he nor Tygan could see it.
"››Get back!‹‹" Commander Reeves snarled, but not at him. She moved away from the Elders' form, pulling Bradford along in the process. And she had suddenly switched over to the alien language. That Elder speech.
"What the hell, Jynn!?" Bradford managed to wrestle her back under his control. His eyes followed hers and saw nothing."What the hell is wrong?"
As the commotion increased, Tygan started coming over until something caught his attention. A slightly audible ping and a hum rang in his ears. He looked around, searching for it, and noticed the shard under the scanner vibrating. An eerie purple glow was resonating from it. "Hm."
Come back to Us and be reclaimed. The Elder continued to reach out to her. From its hand emerged a purple stream of energy. It quickly darted out towards her and swirled around her, enveloping her. She cried out in pain again. She could feel a connection grow and more voices entered her head.
"››Get the hell back!‹‹" She threw her hand out at it. A stream of blue-purple psionic energy shot out from her hand and struck the Elder. It recoiled in pain.
"The hell?" Now Bradford noticed what she did and finally saw the once invisible psionic energy currently enveloping her. Then he noticed it. His heart dropped, and anger arose. "Tygan!"
"This is intriguing…" Tygan took note of how the crystal was acting before turning his attention to the ongoing commotion. Then he saw it. "This is not good…" He caught the tail end of what she had done and saw what was now there. He quickly fetched a scanner and psionic scrambler.
We will reclaim you both. Our greatest Assets! It snarled as it forcefully reached out to her again. Several more streams of psionic energy attached to her.
"››I said,‹‹" she snarled as blue psionic energy erupted from her eyes, "››Get. The. Hell. BACK!‹‹" She threw out her hand against it. This blast was stronger than the last.
NO! It let out a distorted howl as the last blast struck it and caused its form to dissipate.
Once the connection was cut, the Commander felt something snap back before her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She went limp in Bradford's arms. Her breathing was shaky and was beginning to break out into a sweat. Her breathing was quick and shallow.
"Jynn!" Bradford shook her. No response "Dammit! Tygan, come now!" He picked her back up and quickly rushed her off to Infirmary.
"Right behind you. I've already informed them we are coming. I've also alerted Dr. Marin." Tygan quickly followed. He did a quick scan of the area and deployed the scrambler if they came back, and the results were interesting. "Hm. Need to check that crystal, too." He mumbled.
"Good." Bradford grumbled as they boarded the elevator. "What the hell is happening to you, Jynn?" He cast a glance at her. She was terribly pale and shaking like a leaf. Like when she was pulled out of that suit. He didn't like that. It pained him to see her like that. Then he noticed something. Something on her neck. Dark lines in a segmented diamond shape.
"That mark is back." That had him worried. Were there more?
They reached the Infirmary and immediately got the Commander in a bed and started running tests. Readings showed her brain activity was erratic. Tygan went over the results from his scan earlier and told the other doctors as they performed additional scans. Dr. Marin reported he was picking up increased psionic activity across her neural pathways and coursing through her body.
She was in a catatonic state and would be out for 24 hours, if not more. As the doctors examined her, more of those diamond-shaped marks were found all over her body. And they were pulsating, fading in and out. Starting from the inner diamond ring and moving outwards. They took notes.
For the time being, Bradford took over her duties until she was cleared by the doctors once more, but he was champing at the bit to know exactly what had happened to her. Out of precautions and paranoia, he had the Avenger moved from its current site. If those Elders were able to make a connection, They may have gleaned where the Avenger was.
Eventually, Tygan requested Bradford's presence down in his lab once he gathered his results. Dr. Marin was there too. The two were going over the results and had gone over them several times. At first, the results surprised them, but after some thinking and discussing, they found them to be plausible. The Commander had psionic capabilities.
"She's a what?!" Bradford was taken aback by the results.
"She's a psionic." Tygan explained, pointing at the results. "A naturally latent psionic."
"H–how?" Part of him didn't want to believe it. "How did this manifest?"
"Several markers in her DNA point towards her being a candidate of unlocking psionic capabilities under the right circumstances." Dr. Marin said. He was all too familiar with those markers.
"Besides, a few have been edited. And a few more we hadn't noticed before have been manipulated." Tygan added. "I believe we all know the obvious answer of how they manifested."
"The Elders. ADVENT." Bradford said through gritted teeth. "But what has them resurfacing now? And what the hell caused her freak out?"
Marin looked at Tygan.
"This is speculation on my part, but I believe when we pulled her out of the suit and when the chip was extracted, that cut off her psionic abilities for the time. Now, how they came back?" He shrugged.
"Time is another thing. Possibly stress." Marin said.
"Possibly that." Tygan gestured to the crystal shard. It was inert once more, but he had recorded some interesting readings from it before he left.
"Has she told you guys anything since she woke up?" Bradford asked. He glanced at the shard and shook his head. He doubted that played a role. It couldn't be cursed. He was too old to believe in such nonsense. "She's been ignoring me." He thought he would have grown used to her doing that by now, but he hadn't. It drove him mad.
"She hasn't. She claims to have no memory prior to her blacking out. With how guarded she is, I doubt that." Tygan said.
"And she's been rough to work with. Took forever for my team to get the EEG cap on her head." Marin shook his head. "And can't imagine her having the tolerance to sit in one of the Psionic chambers once it's completed." Their new Psionic Labs were nearly completed and he couldn't wait to run some tests on the soldiers that had hints of potential.
"Figures, probably too stubborn to tell us everything that happened." Bradford sighed, shaking his head. He doubted she had forgotten. "That mask she puts up for all of us…" He sighed once more. "That thing definitely looked like an Elder…" he mumbled.
"Indeed, it did." Tygan nodded.
"Are those marks still on her?"
"Those diamonds?" Both doctors asked.
"Yes, those damn things." He slammed his fist on the table. He needed to know. What did they mean?
Rarely offended by Bradford's impatience, Tygan turned and gestured to the screen before typing away at his keyboard. A moment later, close-up images of the markings appeared on the screen. A few were time-lapse showing them fading in and out.
"From her last examination today at 15:25, they are still there, but most have faded."
"Still have no clue what those things are and what they mean." Marin shook his head. "I know Dr. Tyler has taken skin samples and nothing has shown up on the tests."
Bradford could feel his anger welling up inside him, but also the sinking claws of fear were slowly taking hold. "What the hell are these things?" He shook his head. "Last time we saw these things on her is when we pulled her out of that suit."
"I am still running some tests to determine what they are." Tygan remarked. "They seem to be connected with the re-manifestation of her psionics."
"You think they've been showing up before the big blow-up?" Bradford hated to think she was keeping secrets. Especially ones concerning her health. She had her reasons too, but she couldn't put her life in jeopardy by putting on a false mask of confidence.
"That is a question you will have to ask her."
Not something he wanted to hear. "That's going to be like pulling teeth." He'd rather tango with a Viper.
"Right." Tygan turned back to look at the image scans.
"Her time on the Bridge is limited again. Perhaps some rest and time away will help her heal." Marin said. Something they all had agreed to.
"Right, maybe a bit of time away from there will help her." Bradford nodded. "She's not gonna like being restricted again, but she needs it."
"Mm hm."
"Thanks for the update, you two, and keep this only between us. No one needs to find out about this… Yet." Bradford said.
"We'll keep this quiet." Marin said, and Tygan nodded.
Bradford made his leave. The new information was hard for him to wrap his brain around.
"Psionics…Why is it always psionics?" He shook his head. This made him want to drink. Such a tempting thought. Oh, so tempting. He pushed the thoughts away. It wasn't the time for him to get drunk.
His mind thought about what the doctors had said could have caused it to violently manifest like this. Anger flashed across his face before it quickly became sullen.
"Remember, she's far from infallible." Bradford couldn't help but think of his own demons. He still had his issues from 20 years ago and current ones he was still sorting out. He struggled to imagine what was going through her mind. "Just as human as the rest of us… just hope she opens up when ready. Gotta get to the bottom of this."
A few days and several tests later, when questioned again about what happened before the blackout, Jynn admitted, if not outright lied, that she was having a flashback of sorts. She blamed it on the lack of sleep and stress she was currently dealing with. Another recent haven retaliation had not helped. Of course, it was a lie, but the doctors didn't know better. Bradford, on the other hand, knew better but would not press the issue for now. He wanted to question her at a later time, when she was more stable. He wondered if she would start hiding secrets from him and the others.
Bradford was right about her not being too happy about being on bed rest once again when she was moved back to her quarters. He was able to placate her a bit by giving her some pleasant news. During all the testing she was going through, Bradford gave the go-ahead for the rescue operation and they managed to retrieve Mox with the help of the Reaper who found the prison. They had a surprise visit from the Hunter, but made it out mostly in one piece. Mox was currently in the Infirmary and would be out of commission for a while, but he was mostly in one piece. It surprised him that Elena wanted to go on the mission and he let her. He mused that Mox made an impression on her right before his capture. Hopefully, their relations would stay positive.
Another piece of news he shared was their Templar liaison had finally contacted them. Jeriah said that their leader wanted to talk before they would fully join XCOM's efforts. But there were some conditions that had to be met. They had to meet face to face. That was going to take a while. XCOM was still tying up some loose ends in Nigeria and from the information Jeriah gave them, the Templars' main base of operations was somewhere in North America.
But it was good news, nonetheless to Jynn and kept her from sticking her nose into things when she needed to rest.
April 25, 2035
127lbs / 5'11" / Restricted / 3s-5r Jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches.
I'm still questioning what happened that day. I must have been hallucinating, it had to be exhaustion. I had been over-taxing myself. I hadn't slept in over 24 hours. And now I'm on forced bed rest. That's not going to stick for long. I need to work.
But I'm not, am I? I'm not hallucinating. What I heard, what I saw. I know what that thing was. And Elder. And I'm still hearing it. Them. Their incessant whispers. Their calls for me to return to Them. To be reclaimed.
How did They reconnect with me? The others can't find out about this. I can power through it, and block Them out. I can do this.
Now, let me go see if I can do some kind of work.
May 2 2035
125lbs / 5'11" / Restricted / 2s-3r Jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches.
Getting a little tired of the repeated check-ups. Hopefully, me breaking a nose will get the picture across to leave me the hell alone. I don't want to talk about that day. I'm fine. I can't concentrate with all the worry and check-ups. I'll eat when I feel like it. We need to get prepped for the raid on the Blacksite. No idea what will be there, but we need to be careful.
The whispers are still here, stronger some days more than others. Consistently They are weak, almost like background noise, when I'm around others. But the moment I'm alone, They come back with force. They're still repeating mostly the same things. Other times, subtle threats because of my defiance. Ugh, this is annoying. They're fairly loud right now. At least They can't track me. The connection is too weak for that. I can tell.
Adding to that, my nightmares are shifting again. Spotty as ever, but I'm remembering…. Remembering a time before I was in that blasted suit. A time when They were experimenting on me. I don't want that to ever happen again.
Back to preparing and blocking out this noise.