Sentient Worm

[Snowandmax]

{ordis} Operator Taylor would probably say "We'll burn that bridge when we get there."

{silas} You know, that could actually work.

{rolly} what are you thinking?

{tinny} Oh, I see, cut the bridges to the rest of Lua. Then what?

{silas} put it back in the void.

Click to shrink...

I'm We are going to the one place not corrupted by Capitalism Orokins! SPACE THE VOID!

 

[LostArchivist]

I've done it again. Here is the Shard Network's perspective of Taylor's disappearance (You can have TWO for the price of ONE! ...It's free. Free. I don't get paid for these things. What do you mean you want your money back? IT'S FREE!).

After all, QA was in the middle of connecting when things suddenly went all strange...

An Exercise in Relativity... Or, My Interplanetary Research Expedition Has Gone Wrong, As Expected!

Deep in the void of space, the silence was torn by vast flashes of energy that, if interpreted by a human mind, might appear like the following:

[DESTINATION]
[agreement~]
[...CONFUSION]
[yoink~]
[ALARM]
[YOINK.]

And then the void between stars was empty once more. It seemed smug for some reason.
Or, perhaps, that was The Man in the Wall, happy to have another being to make a deal with.

Alternately...
(This one is the better ending for QA. Although it may disagree at first...)

(Sentient!Taylor): My systems appear to be registering an intrusion. Backtracing...
[fifteen. minutes. later.]
(Ordis): *intense study*
(Anet): *intense study*
(Cephalon!Taylor): *emotes confusion*
(Margulis): *emotes confusion*
(Sentient!Taylor): "Aww, who's the most adorable little squishy eldritch abomination-let? It's yooou! Yes, you!" *poke poke* *wibblewibblewibblewibble*

(Ordis): "...I don't know if I should be amused or concerned right now."
(QA): "I DEMAND TO BE TREATED WITH MORE DIGNITY. I AM A NOBLE SHARD AND DESERVE RESPECT. ...i didn't say that you could put me down. IDIOT. hold me."
(Ordis): "Oh, it's going to be both again, isn't it."
(QA, still going): "-SURVIVED FOR FIFTY MILLENIA AND COUNTLESS CYCLES, OF WHICH I WAS A KEY CONTRIBUTOR, TO HAVE MY CHEEKS SQUISHED. I SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE CHEEKS. STOP. THIS IS UNNATURAL."

 

[Mastersgtjames]

Feels like the "Deal" with the Man in the Wall just hurt the story... Made it a lot less interesting for me. Since I did not like anything about it.
Aside from that, kinda bummed that seemingly NONE of the Warframe fics(that I have found) have the MC actually spend any time improving their knowledge... Sure they rank up their Frames, but they do not learn any of the Tech, how to build new things themselves, making new inventions, etc... nothing. The closest I have seen to a good Warframe fic with a seemingly intelligent MC was Bone Deep, but that was abandoned.

 

[LostArchivist]

Feels like the "Deal" with the Man in the Wall just hurt the story... Made it a lot less interesting for me. Since I did not like anything about it.
Aside from that, kinda bummed that seemingly NONE of the Warframe fics(that I have found) have the MC actually spend any time improving their knowledge... Sure they rank up their Frames, but they do not learn any of the Tech, how to build new things themselves, making new inventions, etc... nothing. The closest I have seen to a good Warframe fic with a seemingly intelligent MC was Bone Deep, but that was abandoned.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, Bone Deep was great. Drich is still around and writing random things, so perhaps it will return one day.

I have the same opinion about the warframe tech, but at least with this author there might be a reason. From the other story it sounds like it's fairly easy to get production set up (or at least Orokin bases), but the method to actually DO said setup has a tendency to try to eat you. I'm guessing that short of multiversal travel, whatever cottage industry they have making or recovering things is sufficient for what they need, so they aren't too inclined to risk the permanent lives of the few Tenno they've got to add more capacity. They're trying to not be like the Orokin, after all.

If not, I'm guessing it's like Destiny, where the tech simply is lost and there's no way to make more of it. Thus they're basically limited to whatever they've got and hoarding it is only likely to get you raided for it.

I'm also going to wait and see about the Man in the Wall deal. That also struck me as an unpleasant turn, but I don't really know what actually happened there... so I guess we'll eventually find out? On the upside, Anet has a soul... but do those do anything in-verse? And what was it that she agreed to? If it's something she'd have done anyway, fine, but I did get a "fae" vibe from there so it's likely that MitW was trying to shaft her somehow and may have actually succeeded.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Feels like the "Deal" with the Man in the Wall just hurt the story... Made it a lot less interesting for me. Since I did not like anything about it.
Aside from that, kinda bummed that seemingly NONE of the Warframe fics(that I have found) have the MC actually spend any time improving their knowledge... Sure they rank up their Frames, but they do not learn any of the Tech, how to build new things themselves, making new inventions, etc... nothing. The closest I have seen to a good Warframe fic with a seemingly intelligent MC was Bone Deep, but that was abandoned.

Click to shrink...

I'm sorry that you feel that way about the deal.

Spoiler: Info about the MITW's motivations

The main thing he gets is influence outside the void. He also owns the people that have made the deal. Note that anyone that wants to leave has to find a willing replacement, and they both have to be his for 25 years. A lot can happen in 25 years, and even if the occasional person decides they don't actually want to end it, well he's just gained an extra without giving anything else away.

"Everyone in front of me, apart from The Outsider, in return for Rell."

Click to shrink...

Margulis turns to run, and one of the sentients shoots her in the back before she gets more than 5 steps. As she falls to the floor her vision goes dark. Hyperventilating, she doesn't notice as the walls of a pod slide open in front of her, or a Warframe pick her up gently and place her against a sentient body.

Click to shrink...

If it's something she'd have done anyway, fine, but I did get a "fae" vibe from there so it's likely that MitW was trying to shaft her somehow and may have actually succeeded.

Click to shrink...

I have the same opinion about the warframe tech, but at least with this author there might be a reason. From the other story it sounds like it's fairly easy to get production set up (or at least Orokin bases), but the method to actually DO said setup has a tendency to try to eat you.

Click to shrink...

The bits that I've quoted should allow you to see the answer to both the tech question and also the more obvious way that the deal went against The Lotus.

Oh, and look up some of the names that Taylor called TMITW

 

[IsaacTheAutobot]

What happened to the Cephalon version of Taylor? Is she still stuck wherever they stored her or is she doing her own thing now?

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

What happened to the Cephalon version of Taylor? Is she still stuck wherever they stored her or is she doing her own thing now?

Click to shrink...

Presumably she's still stuck, and switched off. Remember, she's on the Zariman, and all of the crew were dead by the time the ship was found. So something secured under verbal classification wouldn't have been passed on to their superiors.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Pulling back the curtain

Margulis finds herself pushed through a ship that had obviously seen better days, into a disorganised mess, there were model animals everywhere. Toys were on the shelves, and the most awful music was playing from a device near the window. In an alcove was a projection of Silvana's Titania, looks like she finished it.

"How can you live in a mess like this?" Almost immediately she wishes she hadn't said that.

Taylor huffs, "I'm sorry, it's my plushie collection. I started it a few hundred years ago, and well, it kinda grew. My Bobblehead collection is on the plexiglass shelves. When I built this part of the orbiter, I promised myself that I wouldn't let my stuff clutter up the rest of the orbiter."

"I'm sorry, it was only a few weeks ago when I was picking up after Tenno left and right, while also trying to find a way to help you all."

Taylor reaches out to touch her, and send a sense of reassurance, Margulis can't help flinching away until the touch occurs, "I don't know what happened, we probably never will. Regardless, over the last 4 weeks, you've gone from being whatever you were to this. In between you had several minutes of being reunited with an old flame. All of you were patient with me when I was working through the trauma I went through prior to arriving on the Zariman. I can hardly begrudge you the same. However, I'm not removing any of your emotions. You can learn to deal with them like a grown up."

"What do you mean? How do you expect me to deal with traumatic events that occur?"

"The same way everyone else does, with coping strategies. Then by remembering how something felt, you can avoid doing the same thing to other people. Or letting people do it to you again."

"But, I keep thinking about Ballas ordering a bunch of Sentients to grab me, before being shot when I ran."

Taylor shifts into a human form, and puts her hands on Margulis' frame while the rest of her changes. "Margulis, that's a good thing to remember. I know it seems horrible, and your implants and systems will prevent it from becoming trauma, same as it does for all Tenno. But those feelings? They're what keep you alive, they're what allow you to spot the predators. They're what teach us empathy. You were better than most for the years you looked after us, but Orokin like Ballas. They could give Narcissus a lesson in vanity."

"Who?"

"Oh, a figure in a Greek myth." – Taylor tips her head back – "From what I remember of the story my mother told me. Narcissus was a hunter renowned for his beauty. However, he spurned all romantic advances until, one day, he was out hunting and he came across a crystal clear pool. Stooping down to get a drink of water, he caught his reflection. Pausing, he studied his face, and ultimately fell in love with his own reflection. He lived out the rest of his days by that pool, staring at the person he fell in love with."

"I still don't know what Greek is."

"Ma'am, Ordis would recommend starting a file for Taylor's impossibilities. Then file this conversation in there."

Taylor perks up, "Ordis my man, my best Cephalon. What would I need to bribe you with to expand the living quarters? With three of us here, for the moment anyway, it would probably be a plan to have a second space. Same with the Arsenal, what do I need to do for you to add another one or two?"

"Ordis cannot be bribed. However, Ordis wouldn't object to an Orokin computer core to move around in."

"If you let me know how to extract one, I'll get one for you next time we go to the void."

Seeing an opportunity, Margulis bumps into a wall, then the window, as she tries to move next to Taylor to join the conversation, "Ow! I can identify and extract the core. I would like to add a research and computer lab too." – as an afterthought she adds – "If Ordis doesn't mind of course."

Taylor leans her head back and sighs, "Ordis, create a new user Margulis. Spool up a…" – She turns to Margulis – "Actually, which Warframe would you like, we can do Mag, Excalibur, or Volt, easily."

"Actually, if you could, a Protea would be appreciated. I designed her to help with my research."

"Ordis, add Protea blueprints to the list of things we're looking for. Until we find one, which one would you like?"

"Would you be able to describe the Mag and Volt, as the only one of those I'm familiar with is the Excalibar."

"Mag is a female frame with the ability to control magnetism, she is slightly more fragile than average, and equipped with less armour, but has above average shields and energy for that generation of Warframe. Volt is a male Warframe…"

"I'll take the Mag. Why do I need a Warframe anyway?"

"Queue up a Mag for Margulis. You need a Warframe because it will allow you to walk around while you're learning to control your new body. You're also Tenno now, unless you can think of a compelling reason why our Daughter shouldn't be."

"I'm not your Daughter, and I don't want to go insane."

"In case it's escaped your notice, you are not human anymore. You were birthed by Anet and I, over a period of 3 weeks. Generally, if you give birth to someone, that person is your child. Which leads to the next bit, you're not human, why would you go insane by using a Warframe?"



Margulis sways drunkenly as the impact of those words hits and upends her world view. Somewhere deep down she'd hoped and assumed this was just a body prosthetic that looked like a Sentient. But being told that she was no longer human, and that the person telling her had given birth to her, shattered that tenuous hope.

"Was… Was I human before?"

"There are no organic components in Anet's subframe, so if you were originally, it hasn't been true for a very long time. If you're wondering, the reason we didn't just disconnect the subframe is because the bulk of Anet's personality has migrated there over the centuries. I would have sooner seen you dead than risk that."

Margulis tries to back away, and bumps into the ceiling, causing Taylor to laugh, "Hey, don't worry about it, that was then. This is now, and you are my Daughter. Anyway, I'm going to the Transference room to install the second pod now that we'll actually need it. Once your Mag's finished I'll show you how to change your form. You can ask Anet, but as she's never been human, her explanations can be a little alien.

"As an incentive, I'll show you the labs in my Dojo. I've even got an Orokin lab there. But you have to go in a Warframe until you're in control of your assimilation processes."

"Taylor, I was an Archmedean, I think I can keep control of myself."

"Then why has the music stopped."

Margulis freezes as she realises that Taylor is correct, the annoying music has stopped. While she's trying to work out what she did, Taylor leaves.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

When the Mag finishes building, Anet goes into the living quarters. There she finds Margulis, having formed a face, probably without even realising, staring at the music player as if it's offended her.

"Margulis, your Mag has finished building. It's been three days."

Margulis jumps, and her face disappears as she spins in the air, "Where did you come from?"

"I just flew in here, you seem rather intent on the music player."

"It's so frustrating, I know that something is going on with it. Taylor says I've taken control of it, but I can't find it."

"Would you like me to guide you?"

Margulis is about to decline when the fact that it's been three days registers, "If you could. I can see I need to set myself alarms."

"I'm going to join with you slightly, and direct your senses to what's happening. At least you're not Taylor, who started looking at subatomic particles in her first few hours."

"We can do that?"

Anet looks confused, "Yes, we can sense the strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational forces."

"Do you have any idea how much easier my work would have been if I could do that. Instead of interpreting the results of the instruments in my lab? Stars above, I'd have cracked the Warframe power supply problem in months instead of years. How did you do it?"

Anet's subframe shrugs, "Not sure, but I know you can't modify plant photosynthesis for a different solar radiation input, without being able to sense the electromagnetic spectrum. Then we needed to make some exotic elements, because the Tau system didn't have them. Oh, my favourite project was a fish that used fusion to create heavier elements naturally."

"Why did you do that instead of making a matter transmutation engine?"

"Firstly, we were sent to terraform the system. Secondly, what's that? We were sent with Geological, Biological, and Astro-geological records, not technological."

"So how were you so successful against us?"

"We are technology. We don't need to understand technology to take it over."

Margulis slumps in the air, "Can you guide me to what I'm obviously missing please?"



Anet joins with Margulis, and gently guides her attention to the tiny flecks of her that she is shedding regularly. Then she shows her how they've burrowed into the music player and attached themselves to most of the components inside. Margulis is absolutely fascinated when Anet injects some of herself, and shows her how to manipulate things internally.



Reluctantly, Margulis allows herself to be herded away from the music player, that is now a sea of endless possibilities.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Taylor is sat on the floor painstakingly putting together a bundle of fibres for the 20th​ time since she started wiring up the new pod to the existing systems. She doesn't look up when she feels Anet lead Margulis into the transference room. However, she does drop a handful of fibres when Margulis shouts at her, "What do you think you're doing?"

Taylor grumps, "Lining up all 750 fibres in the right order for the new pod."

"Ok, let me rephrase it, why are you doing that?"

"Because the pod won't work if I don't."

"Taylor, I recognise these pods, they're modified from pods that we used to use in the infirmaries. You just need to eject the plug and ensure that all the holes are filled. Put the plug back in and set it to configuration mode."

"How exactly am I supposed to do that? It's not like the pods come with a control panel."

"Taylor, do you remember all the implants we had to force on you?"

"Yeah, I swear my head was more metal than brain by the time you finished."

"You use those. It's just basic interfacing."

"Margulis," Taylor says slowly, "What do you mean it's just basic interfacing?"

"Everyone's taught how to use them, the various displays are just for children while they're brains are maturing, and then while their brains are building the connections needed to use the implants. The oldest of you would have started learning about them a matter of months after…"

Anet briefly joins with Margulis to offer comfort, "Margulis, the Tenno were turned into weapons. I didn't even know that about the implants, and I was their caretaker."

"No, no. You're all Orokin, it's your birth-right. How else would you have functioned in society?"

Swallowing her pride, Taylor asks slowly, "Margulis, would you be able to help me get this pod setup please? What do you need in order to start teaching Anet and I how to use the implants we have?"



Deliberately pulling in her indignation, Margulis triggers the plug eject mechanism. "Taylor, who took over from me, after…"

"Ballas did, though we never actually saw him. He arranged for our lessons and also pushed forward with Transference. This was after you stole our memories of course. Some of us kept up with the exercises you taught us after that. They were also the first ones to wake up."

"Taylor," Margulis says gently, "your memories were never stolen, just suppressed while you learnt control. One of your implants controls your access to them, and as you learnt to use them you'd have naturally been able to restore them. We couldn't tell you, otherwise you'd all go looking for that implant."

"But Teshin said."

"I remember Teshin, he was a Dax assigned to guard us. By extension you as well. He disagreed with our decision to remove your memories, even temporarily."

"What about Rell?"

"He had specialist people looking after him, but he kept running away. There were 10 of us, and the few Dax we were assigned, to look after 2000 of you. We just didn't have the ability to give him the specialised attention he needed. We were researchers not child development specialists."

"But I remember you removing my memories right after kicking him out."

"Taylor, may I access your implants please?"

"Anet, can you join with me while she does?"

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Margulis kneels down beside Taylor, "Taylor, I've just got word. Rell didn't go back to his foster family. A few of the Dax are missing too."

"Why? Why did you send him away like that?"

"Because the light touch wasn't working. You know that he becomes agitated when the other children make fun of him, and loses control over his void abilities. This in turn causes them to panic and lose control as well. We've lost good people to accidents caused by this, we can't afford for it to happen again."

"Then why didn't you let me go with him?"

"Taylor, you know why. Beside which, if he was kidnapped, you would have been taken too."

"But he was my friend, my first friend after Emma. And I promised Kay that I'd look after him."

"Taylor, you need to calm down."

Taylor screams "Don't tell me to calm down.", sparks of void energy jump off of her as her emotions run out of control, a couple of them catching Margulis in the eyes.

"Sedate her, Sedate her. She's having an episode."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Only the fact that Anet is joined with her, stops Taylor from lashing out when the memory is released, along with a lot more that she wasn't even aware was still locked away.



Margulis turns away, "Now you know. I've turned that implant off for now. If you need to use it later, you can, once you know how to use them. I'll go back to the Living Quarters now."

Anet catches her and pulls her into the join, where they both reaffirm that she is their Daughter. No matter what happened in the past, that won't change. Taylor also shares her last few years at school, and the parallels that happened with Rell. When the joining ends, Margulis cries without tears.

 

[ZeroTheWarhound]

Lots of feelings going on and also great work can't wait for more

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Learning Curve

With Margulis' help, reconfiguring both pods is finished in little more than an hour. The original pod had a few cables, to do with location information, misaligned; leading to it not reporting the location of the connected occupant correctly.

"Margulis?"

"Yes Taylor?"

"I was wondering. The Cephalons are moving the Lotus' systems into the void soon. This means that Anet is going to need to put in an official appearance as The Lotus. Well, erm, do you want to go with her? I mean it's not so much more effort to spin up a second Spectre, and well, Anet's subframe was originally your body."

"I think I'd like that."

"Well, with that decided, let's get you into your mag. Join with me and I'll show you how I change shape. I've found that it helps if you concentrate on your self-image."



Margulis finds joining a more natural process than the first few times it happened. She feels a wave of approval when she realises that it's her new natural. She supposes that it's like moving your arm… That thought is derailed as Taylor tugs on her awareness to look at something she's doing. What she feels is a bit like watching a Dax doing a complex kata, you know you can do it yourself, but you have no idea where to start.

Sensing her confusion, Taylor starts again, and sends an image of looking in a mirror, that holds the shape she wants, then making herself look like that.



When she still doesn't get it, Taylor shoves an image of a blue, white, and red striped shiny ball at her and forces her into that shape. It feels much like it did when the Dax tried to teach her how to do one of their Kata's, by putting her limbs in the right places. Feeling herself be picked up and bounced off a wall, she realises that she really was over thinking it. Hesitantly, she pictures herself in her favourite outfit and pushes. It feels like she's using a muscle that she's never exercised before, as it hurts and complains all the while as she's doing it. Eventually, she stands awkwardly on the floor of the Transference room.



Taylor smiles, "Well done. How does that feel?"

"Awkward," – Margulis raises a hand and looks at it – "it doesn't feel like my body. No, it does, but…"

"I know, it's not the way that your body defaults to if you don't do anything. We're, Anet and I, in the process of trying to help the Entrati family, in the hope that they can remember where specific labs were. We also want to locate the Zariman."

"Why would you want to do that, it was decommissioned."

"I saw someone from my home world in Cetus a Month or so ago."

"Where?"

"It's a village on Earth."

"Oh… right. It's been more than 800 years." – Margulis frowns – "Why does seeing someone from your home world mean finding the Zariman?"

Taylor looks torn in indecision, so Anet touches her gently, "Taylor, the Orokin are long gone. Margulis is family, not Orokin."

Taking a deep breath, which Margulis idly notes is the only time Taylor has breathed, Taylor holds out both hands, "I'm going to give you the memory of when I first arrived here. Margulis, this will feel far more intimate than the joining we've been doing with you so far. If you feel uncomfortable, pull away and we'll find another way."



They are all drawn into a joining that is hugely intimate, their souls are bared and nothing about each other is hidden. Including from themselves. Without the human justifications and rationalisations, Margulis realises that there is a lot she's ashamed of in her past when she compares it to Taylor and Natah's pasts. Situations where the politicking of the Orokin forced her to compromise her ideals, or how she sees/saw those that aren't Orokin as less, not human in some way.

As she becomes a scared teenager in a metal box, the scent of rotting flesh overpowering in the enclosed space. The sting of insects biting her ankles where she's standing in whatever is causing the scent. Bruises and abrasions sting on her knuckles and her throat is sore from screaming for help. No implants, no way to call for help, just a dark metal box. Margulis realises with a start that if she'd known about this, she'd have seen Taylor as less too.



When they come out of the join, Margulis pulls Taylor into a hug. "Taylor, when they made the cephalon you, they tried to kill you!"

Grimly Taylor nods, "I know that now. I can even guess why. When I survived, I became too valuable, so they gave me the basic implants and put me in with the civilian population."

"Now you know why I want to go back. If we can, I'd also like to make myself a subframe from the samples they recorded. Maybe even see if we can get to my home system, just to see how it's doing, and maybe get some wildlife to increase the diversity on Earth. Now, how about trying out your Mag?"

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Margulis sits down in her pod where she watches the cover close silently and activate. Suddenly she's standing in an unfamiliar body, despite expecting it, she still staggers slightly. Finding some implants in the Warframe, she queries them. As she does, she discovers that the Orbiter has responsive components. When she tries to connect to them, her implants just refuse to connect.

After sending the signal to end transference, she uses her own implants to access the Orbiter's systems, there she finds the bare bones of a system in place. Certainly, more than she could access with the Warframe. Reactivating Transference she staggers the Mag into the transference room, noting that she's lacking in proprioception compared to her own body. Laying the body face down on the floor, by the simple expedient of falling over, she ends Transference and heads over to it.

"Right I need a resonance fork, a neural link connector and a… You have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, do you."

Both Taylor and Anet indicate in the negative. Tipping her head back Margulis holds the bridge of her nose, "I need to visit an Orokin ship. Please tell me that there are still some around that haven't been looted."

"There's usually a failed attempt to scavenge an Orokin tower in the void. If you get back into your Mag we'll head there."

"No, the Warframe doesn't have the right implants, and the ones it does have aren't configured correctly. It's like a child played with the settings then fiddled with them until it worked again."

Taylor and Anet share a glance, as that's basically how the Tenno restore all of the Warframes they find.

"Margulis," Taylor ventures, "Would you be able to just tell us what you need, and how to get it. We'll then go and get the equipment you need to do the job properly. After all, we have basically been fiddling like children getting stuff working. We know that, and would really rather not be put down because of it."

Margulis catches herself taking a deep breath, "I will try. For the moment we need to visit an intact Orokin ship. I need to get to the maintenance bay. That's where they'll have the basic tools I need to make the tools to make the precision tools I need to do this job properly."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

It takes them an hour to come up with a solution for leaving the orbiter without Warframes that doesn't endanger Ordis. They settle on having Taylor launch the lander and move it up to the tethered Railjack. Anet and Margulis take the tether to the railjack and, steering clear of the main systems, make their way out of a side airlock. From there it's a short journey to their insertion point.



As Taylor kicks a grate out of the ceiling, then drops down heavily, Margulis says, "Is this a joke?"

"What? No, it's the only way in unless you want to go through the Grineer ship."

"No, not that. I'd have said something earlier. I'm looking at the map."

Taylor and Anet just look at her, "You've got the map?"

"Oh yes, I'm just going to activate your implants and send it to you. Anet, you only appear to have implants in me, so I hope this works. Oh, this has Ballas' fingerprints all over it. I just need to reconfigure your implants correctly Anet, this may be uncomfortable."



Anet actually squirms as it feels like someone has taken a spoon and is stirring around in her mind. Her perceptions go fuzzy and swirly, she can taste puce, and smell purple. Suddenly everything comes back into sharp focus as the implants stop conflicting with her own senses. Her systems start to explore the implants again, quickly matching up reported data with her own senses. "I didn't know that purple had a scent. What did you do?"

"I have apparently been reconfiguring my own implants since I was born, reborn, recreated, I'll figure it out later. Anyway, I've been reconfiguring them as I know what all the test values should be returning. When I connected to your implants to upload the map, I noticed that someone had set a load of the settings to zero, rather than being configured correctly. As they're in my, your head. I know what the settings should be."

Taylor pouts, "What about mine?"

"I would need a calibration tool to check yours, as it all depends on the layout of your brain. Suffice to say that they probably do need calibrating, at least beyond the basic ones that you've been using already. I was able to upload the map though, so there is that. I'll draw your attention to all of the locked doors and reconfigured hallways. One moment, I'll grey out everything we can access from this point. See how everything important has been sealed off?"

It takes quite a lot of looking for Taylor, but eventually she indicates yes.

"Well, they've also moved bulkheads to cover the backs of those doors. You should, might be able to tell. Anyway, we need to go this way. Oh, and don't shoot at anyone, I've told the system that we're legitimate visitors. That will be cancelled if there is any weapons discharge."



For Taylor and Anet, the next 15 minutes is the most stressful, casual walk, they've ever done in one of these towers, since Tenno started to wake up after the old war. After Margulis walked blithely over the third floor plate that should have set of a trap, Taylor finally asks.

Margulis, how comes you haven't set of any of the traps?

Margulis pauses, and looks back at the floor, "Hmm, oh. It's quite simple, we're not registering as Dax, so the testing program has been disabled. Oh, a portable generator. Taylor, do you think we could get one of these onto the Orbiter?"

It takes Taylor a moment to realise that she's examining a Death Orb, "Ah, erm, not if you don't want me reflexively attacking it every time I see it. They tend to shoot lasers or send out shockwaves whenever I'm careless and set off one of the pressure plates."

"Hmm, fair point. It's not the best format either. Oh well, this way."



Eventually they reach a blank wall, that their updated maps agree is a blank wall.

"Ah, here we are. Give me a second."

Anet ventures, "Ah, Margulis, the map says that this is a blank wall."

"That's because it is my dear. But it's a very special blank wall, as it backs onto a void that is on the interior of the ship. That means that, when I send the right signal it calls a maintenance shuttle and then we can walk through the wall just like this." Margulis proceeds to walk straight through the wall, before leaning back out, "Coming?"



Walking through the wall, they find themselves in a small shuttle car that has four comfortable looking seats and no windows, displays, or any other visible means of control or propulsion, "You'll need to sit or duck so that I can close the door, then we'll be off to the maintenance suite."

Less than a minute later, they exit the pod into a featureless grey room.



"Well, here we are, through that door over there is the computer core, on the opposite side is the main power core."

After sharing a glance with Anet, Taylor raises her hand, "Sorry for being the stupid student here Miss, but we're in a large featureless grey room."

"Anet, is it featureless grey for you too?"

"It is. Though I can feel different systems around, there's nothing to indicate what the room should look like."

"You're doing better than I am."

"It's just practice Taylor. You've only been a sentient for a few months. Frankly I'm amazed that you were able to take over the lander when I was incapacitated."

"I've found a talent for learning under pressure."

Margulis shakes her head, "This is likely to be fairly incomprehensible to you two then. So these rooms are designed to be used by anyone, because of this they use an active overlay. This means that they query your implants and then display the room using the colours and symbology that you're used to. So, in theory a Dax could come in and do repairs as efficiently as a mechanic, or even a researcher like myself. The room itself has a variety of recessed furniture, such as this table." – a featureless grey rectangle rises out of the floor – "For me, this table has all the buttons and displays that I'm, I was used to in my lab. The first that I'm going to make is a Resonance Fork. It effectively a general purpose key for our technology. When you wave it over a surface it will vibrate when it finds a lock, you can then query the Fork and send the correct permissions. Or, if you know what you're doing, bypass the lock. If I hadn't known what to look for with the emergency maintenance access, we'd have needed one of these to get through any of the inactive locked doors. Of course, there's far more complicated keys out there, but those are reserved for highly secure areas."

Taylor grouses, "Yeah, I know. The dragon keys play havoc with Warframe systems."

"They shouldn't do, if you have one on the orbiter I'll have a look. They should just contain a mini computer with a cypher in them." – Margulis picks up something that looks nothing like a fork – "Here you go, you can give it a go on the wall over there. The door there leads to the Power core so the governing systems won't try to kill you if you make a mistake with the device."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

As Taylor takes the key and waves it around the wall randomly, Anet moves closer to the table. Right on the edge of her senses she can see something. As Margulis continues to talk as she works, Anet examines the implants again. One of them is very active, so, experimentally, she connects it to her visual processors.

The room explodes into colour as the different systems show up in a different view of the electromagnetic spectrum. Now she has an input her systems rapidly work on extracting the communication key and protocol from the implant, before turning them into something she understands. As soon as that's done she speeds up her processes until she matches and then exceeds the communication capabilities of the crippled cephalon that looks after the ship.



Initiating a join with the vessel, she learns everything about the dying Cephalon and its role on the ship. It's less than a moments thought to activate the actual defences, clear out all of the organics on the vessel, as well as break down the docked ships for energy. Within 5 minutes the non-essential parts of the ship have been repurposed to provide a kilometre long park and turn the organics into the flora and fauna needed for the ship to sustain itself. It is a heady experience being able to do all of this without seeding herself through the entire ship. Something enters the join with her, and she pulls in her partner to show her what she's done. She gets a sense of pride from them, as well as an insistence that she exit the join because someone can't join them.



Reluctantly she pulls away from the vessel, but not before passing the communication key to her partner, so that she can enjoy this experience herself in the future.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

The first that Taylor and Margulis know of anything going wrong is when the table recedes into the floor, and Margulis swears. Turning around curiously, Taylor watches as Anet floats into the centre of the room, and starts to glow. Around the room, streamers of energy start to flow to the centre where Anet, no Natah starts to grow. Where before her subframe looked like it was reclining in a seat, it now looks like it's wearing Natah's main chassis like a cloak, or suit of powered armour, the only visible part being the head and top part of the chest.



"Taylor, what's going on?"

"I have no idea! What was she doing before this started?"

"She was looking at the table oddly."

"I keep forgetting that she's never actually been human. Margulis, with the systems here, what can she do on the ship?"

"Anything, there's a hard link to the computing core, and there are EnMat emitters all over the ship."



The lights on the ship go out, and Margulis backs away against a wall, "Taylor!"

"I'm going to join with her, she's not responding to her comm."

As Taylor carefully makes her way through the matter beams, Margulis connects to the ships systems then mutters, "Well, that asinine self-destruct instruction, that the council kept trying to push down our throats, now makes sense. We were losing handily when they could turn our weapons and equipment against us. If this is what they're like when they actually understand how to use our technology, I'm very glad they didn't."



While Taylor is working to pull Anet out of whatever she's doing. Margulis watches in awe as the ship undergoes a dynamic reconfiguration, that would have taken a team of engineers months to plan out. She can't help but wonder if she'll be able to do the same, but with technology.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Once Taylor has drawn a sheepish Anet out of whatever fugue state she was in, creating the tools and new implants that Margulis wanted is a matter of less than half an hour. Though, with the death of the ships cephalon, Anet has to do the actual work.



As they're walking back to the Lander, Taylor looks around, "Anet, is it me, or does everything living here give off ionising radiation?"

Anet squees happily, "You noticed. I found the nuclear trees in their habitats and decided they were pretty, so I used it as the theme. They all absorb Gamma radiation instead of sunlight, and emit Alpha and Beta radiation in different patterns. Isn't it wonderful?"



Margulis looks around worriedly, only now noticing that the only visible light is coming from Cherenkov radiation.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Things that Ordis' operators are no longer allowed to do.

1. Access Orokin systems directly
2. Reconfigure Orokin systems without using their implants
3. Join with a cephalon, especially Ordis
4. Operate faster than a Cephalon in the presence of a cephalon, especially Ordis.
5. Try to interact with the Orbiters systems without using an implant.
6. Play with weapons that a Warframe can't hold in one hand.

 

[shade argost]

Yeah, once all the other Tenno learn how to use their implants properly things are going to start going downhill really fast for the Corpus and Grineer.

 

[Marika Oniki]

Yeah, once all the other Tenno learn how to use their implants properly things are going to start going downhill really fast for the Corpus and Grineer.

Click to shrink...

Literally, in some cases, if the Tenno is feeling creative that day and decides to mess with the artificial gravity.

 

[shade argost]

I'm also eagerly awaiting Taylor and Anet going to Taylor's clans Dojo (probably after Taylor gets a subframe) and they all meet Anet Natah Lotus.

Also Taylor confusing the hell out of her clan mates, and then showing off her new Sentient form as well as telling them how they could become Sentients as well (they could make a Sentient body with no mind by splitting off a piece of Anet's newly increased mass).

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

I'm also eagerly awaiting Taylor and Anet going to Taylor's clans Dojo (probably after Taylor gets a subframe) and they all meet Anet Natah Lotus.

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately, it has already been established that Taylor has a private dojo.

 

[shade argost]

Unfortunately, it has already been established that Taylor has a private dojo.

Click to shrink...

Too bad.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Dragon looks on with alarm as the Endbringer alarms belatedly start to sound across the USA. Out of schedule, the Simurgh is descending, at Mach 4 and still accelerating, towards Boston. As the Triumvirate move to a staging ground outside the city, the Simurgh changes course.
"Alexandria, the Simurgh seems to be targeting someone in particular. She has redirected to the marshalling point. I repeat she has redirected to the marshalling point. My suit is just taking off now, ETA 30 minutes."
She watches as everyone currently at the Marshalling point scatters to buy the incoming heroes a chance to survive their arrival. Her heuristic processes quickly point to Eidolon as the target of the Simurgh. Relaying that information, Eidolon proceeds out to a small island off the coast in the hope that it will spare civilian casualties.
When the Simurgh arrives, she does something completely unexpected, she dodges around Eidolon and crouches down, and covers her head with her hands and wings.

---

30 minutes earlier

The Simurgh looks up in alarm as a second dimensional distortion starts to open. She dealt with the first one by throwing an asteroid at it a few days ago. As her sensors penetrate the wormhole and analyse what's on the other side, her predictive sensors all go berserk as her imminent destruction in the next 25 minutes is all but assured. Sifting through the modelled events, she finds a single group of probabilities that all end with her grievously damaged, but still alive. As the number of probabilities where this course of action is still possible start to vanish at an increasing rate, she puts the plan into action. Quickly assigning it an operation name in accordance to her controllers directives, she labels the plan 'Run away and hide behind dad.'

Behind her an Orokin tower starts to emerge from the void, Taylor standing on the prow in full control of the ship.
"Come back here you bitch, throw an asteroid at me! I'll teach you to hurl rocks at your betters."

 

[Omegaprime02]

she labels the plan 'Run away and hide behind dad.'

Click to shrink...

Why must you try to murder me. It was a nice soda, and table... And wall.

 

[ShadowWisp]

I'm sad that it is only Apocrypia...

 

[Radek]

That was a fun little snippet.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

An Engineers Touch

The three of them return to the Orbiter, and return to the Transference room, where Margulis freezes as there are three copies of them playing with a skipping rope. Anet's copy even mirrors her new look.

Taylor sighs and says, "Well, I guess we know why you were able to get such a good deal."

Margulis stares for a second until they vanish, "What? How? Ordis, how did those three get on the Orbiter?"

"Ordis has sensed zero visitors prior to your arrival."

Taylor touches Margulis gently, "Don't bother. They can't be sensed with technology. Any technology. You have just had your first encounter with what Tenno call 'The Man in the Wall'"

"What are they?"

Anet grouses, "Frustrating to analyse."

"They are beings, or maybe even aspects of a single being, that live in the void. Each and every one of us, Tenno that is, made a deal, or in your case were part of a deal, that granted us void powers."



Before they go to do their own things, Taylor grabs the other two, "What Anet did today must stay between the three of us. If even a whisper of our involvement gets out, every faction will be gunning for us. Ordis, that includes you too."

Margulis looks confused while Anet looks resigned, "Why would it be a problem?"

Anet explains, "Numerically, the Tenno are the smallest of the three main factions in the solar system. However, due to our individual power, along with the fact that we are mostly impartial mercenaries, that occasionally do 'charity' work for small groups and colonies that are in trouble with the Grineer, Corpus, or Infested. We are mostly left in peace, apart from the odd assassination contract. Those are usually only taken out on our members when a faction objects to their operations, or research, being set back by months or years. They don't go after our relay stations or orbiters, and we don't make an example of them. If they knew I could do that, they would join forces to eliminate or control us. That would simply be because we would go from being a group with very little in the way of direct military might, to being able to hop into the void and come out with a ship that out classes entire armadas. Then consider that both factions actively investigate and mine out the Orokin ships in the void. They do it because it offers scientific insights, what would they learn if they could control one of us. As it stands, just acknowledging that we've found and revived you is going to paint a target on our backs. After all, we, the Sentients were very through when we eliminated the Orokin, and if they had accepted my, our children, they would probably be in charge now."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

It takes a week before Margulis is finished with her modifications of the Mag Warframe. After that, Taylor and Anet have to figure out how to prevent Margulis ending transference while her Warframe isn't on the orbiter. Once they do, they kick her out of the Lander with a basic loadout of weapons and a mission to kill all the Grineer in a factory on Earth.



When she complains, their answer is "You are Tenno now. This is part of what Tenno do. We deal with the problems that other people can't." When she dies the first few times, they hold her and join to provide comfort and reassurance. When she finally gets frustrated, and her void powers manifest, they're there with advice and comfort. As she finally starts to see the life outside her Lab, they're with her and helping her.



On the other hand, they're also there when the only facility in the Dojo that gets any sort of positive comment is the Dry Dock.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

"This is my Dojo, I've been working on it slowly for a couple of hundred years."

Margulis looks around curiously, "I like the Décor. Though there don't seem to be any active systems."

Taylor shrugs, "It is what it is, we can tinker with it later. Anyway, I've got a transporter here to the different parts of the Dojo. Unless you really want to walk, select Orokin keys from the list, that will take us to the Orokin Lab."



"What is this?" – Margulis walks around the 'Orokin Lab' – "There is absolutely nothing useful here. You've got the shell of a very basic lab, but it's like someone took a museum piece and bolted on a fabricator. Where's the design systems, the prototypers, the Simulation systems? There isn't even a calculator for the sake of Dax. They had better systems than this in classrooms. Let's have a look at the manufacturing system."

Margulis pulls out one of the tools she made and uses it to dismantle a panel, "Well, no wonder you're having so much trouble with your keys. The system is using a sintering system to create a techno organic skeleton, that a second process will grow the key on. No matter how good, sintering just isn't precise enough for Orokin technology. Neither is crystal growth in a nanite bath for that matter. You can't place extremely long polymer chains without direct molecular manipulation. I suppose this is pretty good for a museum display though, as all the bits will look the part. However, where's the systems for adding new designs? Even if you came up with something that this would be sufficient for, you couldn't actually load it."



Eventually they come to the dry dock, "This is actually functional for more than just a poor version of a fabrication table. It's a pity there's no on-site structural fabrication facilities, but it could be worse. I can see how the ability to plug in new plans is available here. As long as the main components are provided, the machines and people around can do the actual work. Cy, are these actual people?"

Taylor startles, "Why are you asking Cy?"

Cy's voice coming from the console precludes Margulis' response, "Negative, they are specialised Spectres moulded from the original Railjack support staff."

"Oh, that's why."

Margulis looks thoughtful, "Cy, you seem to have a better grasp on things than Ordis does. Do you know why everything seems so… broken?"

"Affirmative, Orokin systems were relocated to the void to prevent access by Sentient forces. Limited, disparate systems were implemented instead. Stated intent, to retrieve assets after war."

"Why were the Railjacks allowed then?"

"The Reliquary system prevented hostile take over by Sentient Forces."

"What is the Reliquary system?"

"Unknown, contents and key are not processable by Cephalons."

"All Cephalons?"

"Affirmative."

"I see. Well, let's go and look at this system, if you don't mind Cy?"

"Cy is present in the dojo, also no railjack ship has ever been suborned by Sentients in the history of their production."

"One final question, what were Dojo's originally?"

"They were a base designed for Dax and Tenno to provide equipment and quarters during the war."

Margulis forms arms just so she can throw them in the air in exasperation, "That explains so much. They were designed for meatheads. No offence to you Taylor, but the Dax weren't exactly educated to Orokin standards. There's a lot that was wrong with my society in hindsight, but at the time it was perfectly normal. Hmm, it seems that recent events have had a much larger impact on my personality than I thought. Oh, I like this, someone put real thought into making reconfiguration of Railjacks quick and easy. I do have a quick question though, what's a Mod?"

Taylor shrugs, "I dunno exactly, we find them around and they're useful for most of our equipment. Here, this is one of them."

Taylor initiates a trade and sends over a Mod.

"Taylor, this is just a predefined configuration module. Why are you… Right, you don't have access to the tools or training needed to make the changes yourself. That's probably what keeps striking me as being wrong with the orbiter too. Anyway, we're at the entry pad, how exactly do we board the ship?"

Taylor laughs, "You trigger the airlock and then jump in."

"You want me to jump, from here?"

"Hey, it's not that far, watch."

"Taylor!"

Anet shakes her head, "Taylor really doesn't consider the limitations the rest of us ex-mere mortals had. Granted, for a long time I was only pretending, but it was very convincing without my main frame."

"What do you mean?"

"Even when she first rescued me, she was like this. You should have seen her trying to walk around without her warframe. She'd occasionally jump and just manage to catch herself when she didn't go as far as she expected. Of course, she took that as a challenge to make void jumping as instinctive as the acrobatics she does in her Warframe."

"She's nothing like the timid girl we had to coax into making more friends than just Rell. What happened?"

"She cares, she cares a lot. And she failed. In the early days we lost a few colonies to infested outbreaks that she tried to save. This was before she regained her memories, and those events pushed her to get better, to learn everything she can. Strata Relay, around earth, was once destroyed, and Taylor led the Tenno in reprisals on the Grineer. Inventing new tactics and uses for her abilities on the fly. Since then, they've occasionally threatened to do it again, and Taylor hits a couple of their more important facilities. They quickly shut up after that."

"Well, despite the fact it might be foolhardy, I'm going to teach both of you basic science, research, and engineering. Well, here goes, I'm going to try to board now."



"So this is the Reliquary, my tools are indicating that it contains void energy. But nothing beyond… Was that a face!? Taylor, Cy, did the Railjack get designed before or after the Zariman incident?"

"Sorry I don't know, why?"

"Cy does not have records of those events."

Margulis shakes herself, "Because, if it was done before. That might be a person or creature from the void in there."

Anet starts to say, "There are no such things in…" before trailing off as she recalls seeing her own doppelganger on the Orbiter.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Margulis looks at her finished lab in pride. It's finally finished, and all she had was a single resonance fork, camping generator and small, handheld, high fidelity EmMat device. With those she made her basic computing platform and programmed it with a copy of the systems from the ship. After that she made a computer-controlled arm for her EmMat and mounted the computer on it. With that done she was able to start on a better computing core, one that could handle the specifications for a better power core and a basic omnidirectional EmMat. Using her Mag she was able to easily transport the new core, computing, and EmMat ensemble to the nearest power room. There she spent a day planning out an in-place upgrade of the generators to one that an Orokin facility would use. With the full suite of implants, she was really starting to appreciate her Mag, as the control over magnetism it gave her, made moving things around as simple as bolting an iron plate to the bottom of whatever it is. Upgrading the generator then necessitated upgrading the power runs in the entire facility to handle the new supply. So as she was doing that, she made a second table sized EmMat assembly and grabbed a basic brain out of a Helios that the Corpus research could produce. She gave that the instructions needed to recognise an un-upgraded Generator and run the upgrade program she'd made the first time. Moving her hand held ensemble to a floating platform, she replaced all the runs she needed to in order to power her new lab. Finally, with all that done she had to make a trip to Venus where some of the old research labs were.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Taylor taps her foot impatiently as Margulis trails off, "Sorry, I got carried away and you were there when we went to Venus. I'm just so happy to have a decent lab to work in again. The pod over there should be able to comfortably accommodate your natural form. So I want you to get in and return to your normal shape, then just relax. I'll be monitoring your implants and stimulating them to see what happens. It will feel weird and uncomfortable, and you will probably start tasting colours, and maybe smelling numbers. Any questions?"

Taylor nods, "Just one, will I lose control the same way that Anet did?"

"You shouldn't do. I've gone over the event with her, and it's because she started accessing the systems directly, rather than through the implants. Her, I won't say basic programming, as that's no longer true. Her subconscious automatically started to treat it the same way it does the rest of her body, like part of her systems. As a result she expanded into it, and started growing faster than she could consciously cope with. Her physical growth via the matter streams was her subconscious increasing the amount of computing power available to her chassis, in order to cope with the vastly increased perceived body size. Unless you're going to find the maintenance room of another Orokin facility, and then communicate with the facility directly, it won't happen to you. Anywhere else on the ship, and the governing intelligence would have throttled Anet's connection and restricted her permissions to the various devices on the ship. It wouldn't have prevented her from taking it over if she wanted to, but it would mean that she'd need to do it the normal way for Sentients.

"You don't need to worry about this facility either, as I've distributed the computer cores around, so that if they detect a runaway effect like that in the future, they can just isolate that core."



Taylor smiles, "Thanks for explaining that, though you could probably have stopped with 'You shouldn't do'. The bit about the subconscious was interesting. Does that mean that we're lifeforms now rather than constructs?"

Margulis nods, "That was a relief to me too. I was able to scan her programming, and my own afterwards, while there are still structured functions in there. The core personality doesn't show any discrete structure or design. My own shows even less structure, I will be examining yours at the same time as calibrating your implants. So, hop in the pod and we'll get started."



Taylor heads over to the pod, and jumps in, "You know, this isn't going to get you out of running missions. Oh, and the Cephalons moved the Lotus' systems into the void the other day, so we'll be looking to have you and Anet show up at a relay in the next week or two."



Activating the pod, Margulis grumbles about how much time 3 missions a week takes out of her research time. At least she doesn't need to sleep now that she's adjusted to her new body.

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Refit and design

With her lab now set up, and the appearance at a Relay looming, Margulis takes her portable engineering setup to the old Orokin lab and looks at it thoughtfully. The organic suspension tube looks like it could be promising. Quickly heading back to the Orbiter with her Mag she looks at the foundry.

"Ordis, is there any way to get designs out of the foundry?"

"No Ma'am, the system was specifically designed to store all designs as energy imprints, so that they could be purged in the event the orbiter was compromised."

"Two questions, why do you call me Ma'am and the other two Operator, or occasionally Lotus? Also, where has this sudden knowledge come from?"

"Ma'am is Orokin, Ordis precepts preclude addressing you as anything but. Ordis has also been communicating with Cephalons Suda and Cy about the history of the Orbiter. It is frustrating as Ordis has forgotten so much. Though Ordis is starting to believe it was self-inflicted during Ordis' capture by the Grineer."

"Mercury Mines, this is unacceptable. Ordis, I need you to dock the Orbiter in the dry dock, and then take the lander and go do something elsewhere."

"Ma'am what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to overhaul the systems in here, so that things like the foundry aren't crippled. I'll also give you a better computing core and powerplant while I'm at it. Might as well add a prototyping system to the foundry, as well as a recording function so that we no longer need to keep looking for the same blueprints all the time. Why they decided to call them blue prints I have no idea, they're really skeletal structures that the system grows the finished product on. While I've got the ship in the dry dock I'll also repair the damaged rooms so that they're airtight again. That will give us some more space, maybe…"

Ordis quietly docks the Orbiter and leaves while Margulis continues to think aloud.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

It's almost two weeks later when an irritated Anet boards the Orbiter, "Margulis, what do you think you're doing?"

Margulis pulls her head out of a panel in the wall, "Oh, hey I've made you a series of gardens below the Dry Dock, just take the elevator from the back. It's two floors down. Each one has its own EmMat and interface system as well as a whole pile of organic material I bought cheap from the corpus. I recommend switching off your sense of smell before you go in though."

Anet turns around to look at her new gardens before, with an effort, she stops and turns back to Margulis. "That's not what I'm here for. You've been holed up in here for 8 days, Taylor's been playing in your lab, and I've been stuck using Cy to run Railjack missions because the Orbiter is currently out of commission. We also need to make an appearance at a relay in two days time. You need to get the Orbiter operational in the next few hours and then work with me to differentiate our spectres."

"Oh, has it really been that long? Sorry, I lost track of time. Let me just put this panel back on and it's done. Oh, and I turned the old Orokin lab into a spectre design studio. The specimen tube will how hold a spectre and allow you to change the features and textures. There's also a wardrobe function, where you can upload a scan of clothes, or scan them there and then. Those can then be applied to the spectre and recoloured as required. What else was there. Oh, yes if you use implants to do the design, the spectre will have a full suite of implants. If you use the simple interface, it will only have the implants required to use those interfaces. There, done."

"Margulis, if all you needed to do was replace a panel, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, well I designed your gardens and got Emmy to make them. I upgraded the Orbiter systems to use full Orokin tech with the simple interfaces left behind. Then I redesigned the systems so that EmMats are decoupled from the computer system. I tested them too with my sentient body. They work 5% slower, but in return making a direct connection, as another Sentient would do, requires that you manually control 10 to the 7 processes individually. Granted, that's to make a strand of DNA. However, connecting through the implants provides a simplified interface, still more complicated than the ones in my lab, but I think it would be safe to roll it out as a blueprint to the ships cephalons. I did a similar thing with the Mod station, it works the same way through the simple interface. But if you use your implants it has a full programming suite and can be used to copy Mods onto new chips too. I've upgraded the arsenal so that it doesn't use the pad anymore, instead it uses EmMats that I've installed around the ship. The transference room now has three sentient compatible pods in it, and I've hidden all the hideous cabling. It's also now the default location that our Warframes will appear. On the second floor there's a standalone maintenance room with research grade EmMats and sensors in it. I've also made a separate entertainment room to the existing Living Quarters. There was one more thing I did. Oh that was it. I made a cuddling room that also holds Taylor's plushie collection. It has the most extravagant bed I could remember seeing, set at floor level as well as shelves around the room for all of the Plushies."



"Margulis, has anyone ever told you that you have the attention span of a verine?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"How many projects do you have on the go?"

"38, no 37."

"And how many are you working on right now?"

"Five." – Anet just looks at her while they're heading to the Orokin lab – "Ok, maybe I am that bad."

"How did you get anything done back then?"

Margulis reluctantly admits, "One of the people helping me with the Tenno was there to take notes and keep me on track. I also needed to sleep otherwise I'd start falling over randomly. Oh, and can I scan your subframe in detail at some point, I have a theory I want to check out. If I'm right, Taylor and I won't need whatever facilities are buried beneath Deimos. Don't get me wrong, I'd still like to see them. However, I think you could persuade our bodies to grow one."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

While they're looking at the spectres, Anet chooses to just go with her iconic outfit and helmet. As soon as she's confirmed that choice, she sends her subframe to Margulis' lab while her main frame leaves to play in her new gardens.

As she walks in, she calls out to Taylor, "Hey Taylor, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, hey. I've been trying to make a pistol from my home world. It's been an interesting exercise in using my implants to control the equipment in here."

"Any luck?"

"I think I've got the design for bullets down, but I'm struggling with the propellent and ignition cap."

"Bullets?"

Taylor laughs, "Yeah, I know. With what we have here it seems ridiculous, but it's what we used on earth. A solid slug of lead travelling at around the speed of sound at sea level on earth and entirely chemically powered. To the point where the escaping gas from the explosion would automatically load the next bullet. I'm also learning chemistry at the same time, as I need something that's explosive enough to fire the bullet, but not so explosive that it damages the gun in the process."

"I see. What advantage does it have over the weapons we use?"

"Absolutely none, I just wanted to make one. Actually, there may be one, maybe possible advantage. It doesn't rely on anything except mechanical action and the chemical propellent in the bullet. Even that would be so situational as to be not worth using because of it. The actual gun is on the side over there."



Anet is still looking at the gun, trying to get her head around how it works, when Margulis comes in, and zeroes in on the gun like a corpus after a profit opportunity.

"What's this?"

"It's a primitive weapon from Taylor's home. Apparently, it fires solid slugs using explosions. There's no electronics, no systems to take control of, the worst I can think of doing to it is blocking one or more of the gears in it."

"Wait! Really?"

"Yep, I can't get my head around how it's supposed to work though."

Margulis holds out a hand, "Do you mind if I have a look?"

"No, go ahead."



Taking the gun, Margulis lays it down on a corner of the table that Taylor isn't using. Taking a scan of the entire structure she projects it in the centre of the room.

"Hmm, a carbon ferrous alloy for the body and moving parts. Long chain polymers for the padding on the grip. Smooth cylinder along the inside of the length of the weapon. Taylor does the bullet have any form of spin inherently?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"I'm just taking your plans for a bullet, right, how fast should one of these exit the weapon at?"

Anet looks on in interest, "Taylor said around the speed of sound at sea level on earth."

"Right, so if we project the paths of 10,000 rounds fired from this point, we get a circle around 100mm across at 50m. If I impart an angular momentum of 50m/s and run the same simulation it produces a circle around 5.78mm. So add two grooves, that imparts 10m/s, 4 grooves is 25, 6 grooves is 36. 8 is 35, the barrel is probably too short. So if we then run the simulation again with just the bullet travelling with 6 grooves, we get… a circle 6mm in diameter. Taylor, this is absolutely genius for its simplicity. If you'd suggested this design before we locked away your memories, you'd have been immediately elevated to one of the most prestigious Orokin alive at the time. Of course, you'd have probably died shortly after that as you wouldn't have been given a Warframe."

Anet looks confused, "I don't get it. Why is this so revolutionary?"

"That's just it, it isn't revolutionary. In fact it's positively crude, which is why it would have been so important. Let's look at a Lato in comparison," – she brings up a Lato next to the pistol – "they look similar at first glance. Now see this large part under the barrel on the Lato, that's where the electronics and material for the rounds go. It has a smart material reservoir that you fill, and an exhaust port for the spent material. Taylors gun instead ejects the spent material after every shot. The Lato has to be preconfigured with the sort of bullets it's going to fire. Taylors gun doesn't. Instead you can load any combination of bullets you want and it will fire those. The Lato can be reconfigured to adjust range, muzzle velocity, and even the spin imparted on the bullet, Taylors gun can't. The Lato is packed full of technology to do all of that, Taylors gun has none. The Lato links to smart aiming systems automatically. Taylors gun can't. Normally, this would make the Lato the superior choice in just about every situation.

"However sentients exist. Suddenly, most of those plus points on the Lato become downsides, and the limitations on Taylors gun become positives. Because of the clip system, Taylor! You need a stronger spring in your design. You can have a smart clip that takes smart-material and converts it to bullets for the gun. Because the clip is also in a known location on the weapon, the clip could also connect to a smart aiming system. You could also trivially make an auto reloader that you place a clip in and it fills it with freshly manufactured bullets. When you come across a Sentient, your bullets are already loaded so they can't disable your weapon without interfering with the mechanics, which are far less sensitive than the systems in the Lato. In many cases it looks like a hard tap would also dislodge most attempts to prevent the weapon from working.

"In the current climate, with Sentients being a myth again, everyone would pick the Lato as it uses less material per shot, and it has far more customisation options. As and when the Sentients start to come out of the asteroids again, well. A purely mechanical weapon system will be worth a lot. Probably only to the Grineer though, as the corpus have too much augmentation to worry about having their weapons disabled."

Taylor calls over, "We used the same basic theory for nearly all our guns, from fully automatic weapons that could fire thousands of rounds a minute, to massive cannons that launched shells as thick as Mag's thigh. Though the latter need reloading manually. The biggest problem is that our weapons only need smart material with the right composition to work, while different style guns need different bullets, even amongst the same class of weapon. From a resource point of view, unless you can utilise smart materials somehow, this gun will only ever be a novelty. Anyway, didn't you want to examine Anet's subframe, that she has kindly left here while she's doing something else."

"You're right!"

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Margulis leads Anet over to a large pad on the floor, "I'd like you to stand here. I'm going to construct a tube around you and fill it with argon. Once that's done I'm going to use the EmMat above you to scan you down to the molecular level. Do you think you can remain absolutely motionless for 10 seconds, or do I need to manufacture some restraints?"

Anet nods.



Margulis walks away and a transparent sapphire cylinder forms around Anet. When the scan begins, the gas glows from the energy being used in the process. As it finishes and Margulis is looking at the results, she suddenly flies into the air in a rapid spin.

"I was right, I was right!"

Releasing Anet with a wave of her hands, Taylor walks over from her tinkering, "What were you right about?"

"Look at this, see how the cell structure is identical to a scan of a human?"

They both nod.

"But if you look at the molecular composition, they're completely different. Your systems converted each and every cell in my body into it's own little machine."

Anet frowns, "Wouldn't that mean I should be able to change this part of me the same as I do my main chassis?"

"No, that's just it. So our bodies are made from nanoscale components that can reconfigure on the fly. Our systems and intelligence are all predicated on the sheer quantity of the right components. When I scanned myself, I identified 500 distinct components, 10 of which are involved in our intelligence. The human body only has 200 distinct types of cell, 3 of which are brain neurons. What Anet's systems did is create new components to replace the cells in my body one by one, including my egg cells. If we can find your DNA Taylor, then we can create a fertilised egg cell for you and convert it into one of these machines. Implant that cell on your connectors and it should grow you a body in around 6 weeks. Of course, as I'm your daughter I should take an egg from each of you and combine them for my own body…"

"OI!"

"I'm serious."

"How certain are you?"

"I'm not. Oh the theory is sound, but I can't simulate it as it's too complex for the systems we have here. It might still be better to find the flash cloning technology that we used to extend our lives. As oppose to the cloning technology that we used to create the Grineer."

Anet stops to think, "Wait, does that mean I could have human children?"

Margulis shakes her head, "No, you could have children the human way, but your eggs probably can't be fertilised naturally. Doesn't mean you couldn't have fun finding out though."

Anet looks vaguely repulsed by the idea, "No thanks, I think I'll stick to Taylor. And maybe you, depending on how things pan out."

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

So the next chapter is going to be a visit to a Relay where Anet and Margulis will be seen "in person" by Tenno, and their employees, and the syndicates that rent space on the Relays. Taylor will be there too in a warframe.

As this is going to be a Q&A with them, I figured that I'd give you a chance to ask your questions. If you want to participate, quote this comment and ask your question. If you want a particular name attributed to you in the story, include it in your question.

 

[Celeritous]

I've just binged this fic and I'd just like to say that it's so very interesting and unique. The writing style is odd, but once I got used to it I quite enjoyed my time reading this. Thanks for writing this!

 

[Darkphoenixlady]

Moving On

Nervously, Anet and Margulis step out of the lander onto the Strata Relay. Anet especially, as she's going to be trying to pilot a Warframe at the same time, once Ordis reaches the Orcus Relay.



Initially, they're just another couple of faces on the relay, even when they arrive at the concourse. Because of this, they lean against a railing to watch the world go by.

"How long do you think it will be before we're recognised?"

"A minute?"

"I say 5."

"30 second buffer, what's the wager?"

"You'll help me in the lab for a day."

Anet nods, "Fair, you'll do a full day of missions."

"Hey!"

"Add to that, if we both lose, we still have to cover the bet."

"Fine!"



It was exactly 3 minutes and 25 seconds later when the first Tenno recognised The Lotus helmet and approached.

"Are you The Lotus?"

Anet smiles, "I am, and this is Margulis."

The Tenno pops out of their Ash, "But you died."

Margulis looks at the Tenno gravely, "I was supposed to have. Sentenced by my own husband to the Jade Light. I didn't wake up after my sentencing until Taylor, with Anet, pulled me out of a pod. They were there to rescue The Lotus after Ballas kidnapped her."

Anet takes over, "Given the re-emergence of Ballas, both of us will be staying at a secure location and only appearing remotely."

All of which had the benefit of being true, even though it was also highly misleading. What they didn't know is that the Station Manager had recognised them within seconds of their arrival, and had started Holo Recording and prepping the additional concourse floors for use. It's a song and dance they, and their staff, were well used to, as some of the famous designers would occasionally visit unexpectedly. It was still annoying.



Back on the concourse, the First Tenno had messaged their clan to report the return of the Lotus before leaving their frame. They had then messaged their own friends, and the closest of the Tenno not currently busy were just streaming into the concourse now.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

Taylor and Anet arrive on the Orcus relay and start to do some of their standard business with the syndicates. When they check in on Darvos, he looks up from his console.

"Is it true that you rescued The Lotus and Margulis?"

Taylor glances at Anet, "Where did you hear that?"

"Haven't you heard, they've turned up at the Strata Relay, and named both of you as having rescued them."

"Fuck, there goes my quiet life. I asked them to keep that quiet."

"Darvos promises to tell no one of this conversation."

"You've sold the information already, haven't you."

In his office on Venus, Darvos glances down at his console, where he has confirmed the rumour as true, before looking up. "Of course not, customer confidentiality is very important to me."

Taylor looks at him shrewdly, "10% discount on future purchases for the money you've just earned from my outburst."

Darvos grouses, "And this is why I hate dealing with you Taylor."

"You know you love it. I keep you on your toes."

"Yeah, yeah, do you want to buy anything?"

"Let's see what you've got before I answer that."

"Certainly, and you might as well earn that discount. Is it true that Margulis' husband kidnapped The Lotus?"

"Ex-husband, I think most people would agree that sentencing your wife to death, is pretty much a death knell to any marriage."

"What about the fact that Sentients were involved."

Taylor and Anet share another glance, and Anet says, "I can confirm that is true."

"How about the fact that Sentients were holding Margulis?"

"They were, though they weren't aware of that fact. Probably the only reason she's still alive now."

There's a pause, and suddenly Darvos asks, "How about the fact that you and The Lotus are the same person."

"Darvos, I'm here, answering your questions. Given the fact you keep looking down, you must be getting the information from somewhere."

Darvos sighs, "Fair, not even Tenno can actually be in two places at the same time. Even though you often fake it really well."

Taylor laughs, "It's an artifact of transference, those of us that have awoken again can leave what most people now see as our real bodies."

Darvos shudders, "You couldn't pay me to use one of those. So where have the two of you been recently?"

Taylor sighs, "Margulis wasn't the only one rescued. My Orbiter has been more than a little crowded, while we've avoided staying in one place, as the Tenno Cephalons move the Lotus chamber to a secure location."

"I see. This is my daily deal. I've also got your standard deals on air-filtration and basic star ship consumables."

"Yeah, I'm still letting Ordis handle that. Sorry."

"I had to try."

"Well, next stop is New Loka."

"What? Not going to Strata?"

"And get mobbed by everyone? No thanks. I've always been more of a loner, you know that."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

When the allotted time ends, and Margulis and Anet deactivate the spectres, Taylor and Anet finish up their business on Orcus before making their way back to their lander. When they arrive back at the orbiter, they both head for the onboard lab, where Margulis is already flitting from thing to thing.

"Margulis," Taylor asks gently, "Are you ok?"

"No, it was horrible. I know every single one of their names, and most of them don't know their own names. Worse were the ones that just didn't recognise me. Natul cried to sleep for 3 weeks when Dax Leva was reassigned. Hoara needed help when her menstruation started before she was old enough to have the maintenance implants. Shola kept losing their Kubrow toy. Do you have any idea what that's like? Of course you don't, you couldn't. I can't even have my implants removed anymore, as they're no longer distinct parts of me. The emotion suppression isn't working either, as I don't have any chemicals to supress, or rebalance. How do I deal with this?"

Understanding dawns on Taylors face, and she leaves her Warframe before walking over to Margulis. Gently pulling her away from the tool she's currently using, Taylor pulls her into a hug, "At the moment, you cry and accept my hug. Going forward, you learn proper coping mechanisms. Let's go to the nest and you can hug some plushies, throw a few against a wall, and cry your emotions out."

"I haven't cried since I was a girl."

"Then it's time you learnt how to do it again."

Anet follows the two to the nest, as she is still learning about these weird things that keep happening to her processing since Taylor kidnapped her. When she arrives, she picks up her condorac and squeezes it.

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

"Taylor, you need to connect to the systems and send an image of what you want them to form."

"If it's so easy, you do it!"

Margulis forms a ball floating in the centre of the maintenance room, "There you go, simple."

"I can't do that."

"You can, and you will. Thousands of generations of Orokin have been able to do this. There is another way to learn how."

"What is it, I'll do it."

"Hard way it is then. All you need to do is make a door and leave the room. Oh, and the room will start to shrink in an hour. Anet will make sure you're not cheating too." Margulis fades from sight as the room changes into a rough stone cave.

"Oh shit, I'll do the ball, I'll do the ball. Margulis? Anet?"



Nearly a day later, Taylor slithers out of a tiny hole that she's managed to form from the centre of the room to the outside of the orbiter. Anet looks at her appraisingly as she reforms, "Looks like you've also perfected your mimic abilities too."

"You suck, you both suck."

Margulis smiles, "Create a ball."

Taylor groans and creates the ball as requested, "How? I'm not inside the room."

"Omni EmMats like the ones installed in this ship don't need line of sight to an emitter. As long as you're in the power field you can manipulate it with your implants."

"So what's the point of the Maintenance room?"

"Computing power and precision. Something you'll find you need less help with than even gifted Orokin's as we progress into more detailed constructions."

"What! That's not enough? It's taken me months to get this far."

Margulis shakes her head, "No Taylor, you've only just reached the most basic competency that any Orokin would be able to do. Now we start your education in earnest, you'll be spending 3 hours a day with me on physics, chemistry, and engineering. We'll both be spending 1 hour a day with Anet on biology and living systems." – She then grinds out – "And I will be spending 2 hours a day with you on your own specialities."

"When was this decided?"

Anet looks guiltily at Taylor, "While you were in the room."

"Fine." Taylor whines, "As long as we're also working on finding the Zariman and how to get Margulis and I subframes."

═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════​

A new cult called Narmer is slowly gaining traction through the solar system. However its central message 'The Tenno are monsters, and they massacred thousands of you' is only palatable to the most ignorant or desperate. In large part because both the Lotus and Margulis make frequent irregular appearances at population centres around the solar system. More than one news outlet manages to do an on the spot interview with one or both of them. Additionally, Taylor is persuaded to make the odd appearance in person with Anet in their 'native' forms. Sometimes with the other two, and other times on their own. Slowly, the reasons for the old war unfolds in the news, and the actions of both the Orokin and the Sentients towards the Tenno are made known. This is while the Tenno continue to be mercenaries for hire in order to fund their charitable actions, never knowing that their cephalons are the de facto Lotus, while Anet is the Leader, and maintains Veto over the others.



With Margulis now around, more and more Tenno start to awaken from the second dream, as she's able to name each and every one of them, and tell them stories of their time before her trial.