Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé
It was November 2nd 1982 at 8:30 am when it happened. A year and...
It was November 2nd 1982 at 8:30 am when it happened. A year and...
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Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé
It was November 2nd 1982 at 8:30 am when it happened. A year and a day after one Petunia Dursley found her nephew, Harry Potter, on her doorstep in a Moses basket with naught but his baby blanket and a letter. Since then, Harry learnt that crying brought no comfort, relief, or anything really. Three times a day he'd be fed and have his nappy changed. Outside of that he'd either be stuck in a playpen with the slightly older Dudley, or in the cupboard under the stairs for his naps/night-time sleep. As an up and coming salesman for Grunning's Drills, Vernon Dursley was sent all over the UK and Ireland for demonstrations and face to face sales. As a father with a (two) toddler(s), he was able to take his family with him occasionally, as the company didn't mind shelling out a little extra for a double room rather than a single.
At this time the Dursley family were staying in a small holiday home in Cappeen West in County Cork, Ireland for a fortnight so that Vernon could do a tour of the nearby industrial areas, dentists, and a few other interested companies. They were there rather than in the town of Bandon was due to the fact that the company was able to rent the property for the same price as a single room in the town. Petunia left the front door of the home open while she kissed her husband goodbye for the day. This hadn't been a problem for the previous couple of days, however she'd just changed Harry and hadn't put him in his highchair yet. So when a glint of gold shimmered outside the toddler staggered to his feet and toddled off outside trying to catch it. It would be half an hour before Petunia noticed that Harry was missing, as Dudley took priority and was a messy eater.
Harry ran across the road with his hands outstretched as the golden glow darted into the fallow field through the hedgerow. When he slipped the first time, he pulled himself to his feet silently and carried on running. When he slipped the second time the glow made a sound like bells and he giggled. As he slipped, slithered, and crawled his way across the field his laughter became freer and freer as did his fascination with the golden glow that sounded like bells. The light led him a merry chase into the nearby wood, where his clothing caught on brambles and branches. As and when he got caught, he just wiggled his way out of the offending garment. By the time the light leads him out of the woods into another field, he is as naked as the day he was born. When the light finally enters the fairy fort, Cahervagliar, just before sunrise, Harry is covered in mud and grass, and has just started to shiver, though he was having too much fun to notice. When the golden light reached the centre of the fort, it disappeared, where a normal toddler would have just stopped, a laughing Harry follows it into a forest glade. On any other day, this would have been true of Harry too, however, it was a year and a day to the minute since he was taken in by Petunia.
As many people will tell you, a year and a day has a special significance in magic. It is the first, and often the only, break point in many bindings, curses, and arrangements. In this case it was the only time that Harry could object to the placement at the Dursley's home, and the enchantments that would prevent others from removing him from that place.
There the golden light turns into a tiny person with butterfly wings as it stops and giggles.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Ephis laughs to herself as it's been decades since she's so much fun with a mortal. Most of them no longer get caught by glowing lights or they have someone looking over them. It's a shame that one is so young, it will probably die before someone finds it given the frost on the ground. The sound of human laughter is all the warning she gets before the mortal tries to catch her.
As she flitters up out of reach of the giggling child, Ephis mutters to herself, "Well that's different."
Turning around she tries to return to the fort, but at that moment the first rays of sunlight land on the centre of the fort, closing the entrance to her for a day.
"Oh bother, what am I going to do with you?"
Harry just gurgles in response and tries to catch her. Sighing she continues to lead the child on a merry dance around the clearing as the temperature warms and dappled sunlight fills the glade. Eventually, Harry gets too tired to continue chasing the fairy and plonks backwards onto his bum before lying down to nap. As she hovers over the sleeping toddler, Ephis comes to a decision and starts to sing and dance in the air. As she does, vines and leaves make their way out of the forest to form a basket with a leaf blanket. Once the basket is finished, it floats up off the ground and starts to bob gently along after the singing sylph. After a short time and many miles, Ephis approaches the abode of Mórrígan, and pauses as a red cap regards her while licking its lips.
"Begone foul creature, I am here to see the Lady with urgent business."
"I smell human child, you may enter if you leave the morsel behind."
"Nay, the child is the business, and that business is with the Lady not with you."
Grumbling the red cap steps to one side, "Very well, though the Lady has been in a mood recently."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
With some level of caution, Ephis flitters into the round house and pauses just inside the entrance. The makeshift basket bobbing behind her, occasionally bumping into her as if it's mirroring her nervousness. As her eyes adjust to the gloom of the interior she is able to make out the skins and cloths that provide decoration and furnishings. The dull red glow of the banked fire in the centre of the house provides almost as much light as the smoke hole in the roof. Out of place in the building, a richly appointed divan sofa on the far side of the fire pulls the eye, shortly followed by the occupant, a tall woman with red hair and short nails. She's wearing a dark linen shift and is reading a paperback book, beside her a clay vessel filled with sweet meats sits, and she idly reaches down to snag a bit of meat before turning the page and chewing on the treat.
The sound of Harry turning over in the basket draws the woman's attention like a gunshot at the far end of an alleyway and her head jerks around suddenly as she flows to her feet, a spear materialising in her hands ready to strike.
"Who dares disrupt my reading time?"
Ephis ducks in the air, "Forgive my intrusion Mórrígan, this sylph has a matter most vexing that must be brought to your attention."
"Speak, and remember I'm not as forgiving as Brighid."
Ephis swallows, "I was playing in the dawn light this morning and I caught the attention of a human child. I led it on a merry chase and brought amusement to both of us."
Using her spear to point, Mórrígan says, "You are bothering me with this why?"
Ephis backs up against the basket and squeaks, "It followed me through the ringfort and then it was sunrise so I couldn't get it back."
Putting the butt of her spear on the floor and leaning on it, Mórrígan says more gently, "Repeat that again, slowly."
"I led the child on a merry chase and returned to the ringfort just before the local sunrise. When I returned here, it followed me. I tried to get it back, but the gate closed."
"I see, show me the child."
With a gesture, the basket moves from behind Ephis and over to the Mórrígan. When it arrives, she reaches through the leaves and lifts Harry out. Sleepily, he wakes up and grasps her braid while saying, "Ma ma", before falling asleep again. Wards created by love, sacrifice, and wild magic; perverted though forbidden blood magic; and anchored to a squib and a baby; move on this most special of days and settle on the one Harry just called mother.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
In a castle tower in Scotland, a silver device that's puffing grey smoke with red streaks hiccoughs and briefly expels a stream of green smoke before starting to puff grey smoke with little autumn-coloured ravens in it.
In a holiday home in Ireland, an irate Petunia straightens up as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders before turning to the phone and calling the police. It won't be long before the police start a manhunt in the area before finding Harry's clothes and tracks. A few weeks later they will come to the conclusion that he fell into a hole in the wood and succumbed to hyperthermia.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Mórrígan looks down at the toddler in her arms as the weight of the wards settle on her shoulders, implicit with that event is a duty to raise the child and protect him. Compared to her other obligations the weight of this one is a negligible, but still noticeable, drain on her reserves. "Well, it's been a few centuries since we last had a changling" she murmurs before baring a breast and drawing a dagger. With a brief effort of will, the breast starts to lactate. Then, with a slight tighting of her eyes, she draws the dagger across the top of her areole just above the nipple. Jiggling the child, she wakes him up enough to latch onto the nipple and start to suckle on the mixture of milk and blood. As Harry feeds she cleans off her dagger before pointing it at the sylph that's edging closer to the door.
"You, sylph. You will swear your name to this child, to be his companion and teacher in our ways while he grows as my son." – As the sylph looks to be ready to bolt, she adds – "Or I can bind your blood instead in payment for the debt you have incurred in saddling me with him."
Ephis swallows hard before flying over to the suckling child, the audible buzz indicating her irritation and fear. Leaning in to the childs ear, she whispers, "I, Ephis, sylph of the spring court, grant you my name and promise to be your companion until you are grown." She shudders as she can feel her true name settle into the mind of the young child.
Harry opens his eyes and looks at her with his killing curse green eyes, as he does a ring appears around the outside of his iris the colour of fresh arterial blood. Another, unnoticed ring, also appears around the pupil, the colour of a ravens feather.
With the proof that the blood has taken hold looking up at her, Mórrígan puts some of her magic and authority in her voice, "I Morrígu, The Mórrígan of the Tuath Dé name you Yvor and take you as my son."
The only sign of discomfort that Harry makes is tears forming in his eyes, Ephis is not so lucky as she collapses to the floor under the terrible weight of The Mórrígans voice.
"Rise Ephis, at dusk you will return to the human realm and place a simulacrum hidden in the forest. You will then find where the child came from and claim anything that belongs to my son. When you return, we will visit my husband as my son has the smell of fate around him."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Petunia paced around the living room, distraught, at the thought that her nephew was missing. Without the pressure that had been pressing down on her, or the twinges of pain and fatigue she was inflicted with whenever Harry tried to do some minor accidental magic, she was able to think clearly. What she knew is that her nephew's disappearance had something to do with her feeling better, which made her feel worse. Now he was missing, and she'd been so weighed down it was all she could do to look after Dudley.
There was a police car outside the house, and they had been so understanding even though she felt like it was her fault for not noticing that Harry had run out. A knock on the door startles her, and she rushes to answer it. Almost blotting out the sky, a giant of a policeman stands in the doorway holding a cheap pair of blue polyester trousers.
"Mrs Dursley, one of our men just found this in the wood. Do you recognise them?"
She sags against the wall, tears of hope and dread fill her eyes, "Yes, they're Harry's. When Dudley was born we were gifted with enough clothes to keep him clothed for a couple of years, but he's bigger than Harry, and also harder on his clothes. I picked those up cheap in C&A."
"Thank you for confirming this, it's not too late we might still find him."
"No, thank you for looking. I'm sorry it took me so long to pick up the phone. I was sure he was in the house somewhere just hiding from us. He's done it before at home."
"No, I understand. My sister has a little one, and he went missing once and they looked all over the flat. Eventually they found him asleep on top of the wardrobe."
It was November 2nd 1982 at 8:30 am when it happened. A year and a day after one Petunia Dursley found her nephew, Harry Potter, on her doorstep in a Moses basket with naught but his baby blanket and a letter. Since then, Harry learnt that crying brought no comfort, relief, or anything really. Three times a day he'd be fed and have his nappy changed. Outside of that he'd either be stuck in a playpen with the slightly older Dudley, or in the cupboard under the stairs for his naps/night-time sleep. As an up and coming salesman for Grunning's Drills, Vernon Dursley was sent all over the UK and Ireland for demonstrations and face to face sales. As a father with a (two) toddler(s), he was able to take his family with him occasionally, as the company didn't mind shelling out a little extra for a double room rather than a single.
At this time the Dursley family were staying in a small holiday home in Cappeen West in County Cork, Ireland for a fortnight so that Vernon could do a tour of the nearby industrial areas, dentists, and a few other interested companies. They were there rather than in the town of Bandon was due to the fact that the company was able to rent the property for the same price as a single room in the town. Petunia left the front door of the home open while she kissed her husband goodbye for the day. This hadn't been a problem for the previous couple of days, however she'd just changed Harry and hadn't put him in his highchair yet. So when a glint of gold shimmered outside the toddler staggered to his feet and toddled off outside trying to catch it. It would be half an hour before Petunia noticed that Harry was missing, as Dudley took priority and was a messy eater.
Harry ran across the road with his hands outstretched as the golden glow darted into the fallow field through the hedgerow. When he slipped the first time, he pulled himself to his feet silently and carried on running. When he slipped the second time the glow made a sound like bells and he giggled. As he slipped, slithered, and crawled his way across the field his laughter became freer and freer as did his fascination with the golden glow that sounded like bells. The light led him a merry chase into the nearby wood, where his clothing caught on brambles and branches. As and when he got caught, he just wiggled his way out of the offending garment. By the time the light leads him out of the woods into another field, he is as naked as the day he was born. When the light finally enters the fairy fort, Cahervagliar, just before sunrise, Harry is covered in mud and grass, and has just started to shiver, though he was having too much fun to notice. When the golden light reached the centre of the fort, it disappeared, where a normal toddler would have just stopped, a laughing Harry follows it into a forest glade. On any other day, this would have been true of Harry too, however, it was a year and a day to the minute since he was taken in by Petunia.
As many people will tell you, a year and a day has a special significance in magic. It is the first, and often the only, break point in many bindings, curses, and arrangements. In this case it was the only time that Harry could object to the placement at the Dursley's home, and the enchantments that would prevent others from removing him from that place.
There the golden light turns into a tiny person with butterfly wings as it stops and giggles.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Ephis laughs to herself as it's been decades since she's so much fun with a mortal. Most of them no longer get caught by glowing lights or they have someone looking over them. It's a shame that one is so young, it will probably die before someone finds it given the frost on the ground. The sound of human laughter is all the warning she gets before the mortal tries to catch her.
As she flitters up out of reach of the giggling child, Ephis mutters to herself, "Well that's different."
Turning around she tries to return to the fort, but at that moment the first rays of sunlight land on the centre of the fort, closing the entrance to her for a day.
"Oh bother, what am I going to do with you?"
Harry just gurgles in response and tries to catch her. Sighing she continues to lead the child on a merry dance around the clearing as the temperature warms and dappled sunlight fills the glade. Eventually, Harry gets too tired to continue chasing the fairy and plonks backwards onto his bum before lying down to nap. As she hovers over the sleeping toddler, Ephis comes to a decision and starts to sing and dance in the air. As she does, vines and leaves make their way out of the forest to form a basket with a leaf blanket. Once the basket is finished, it floats up off the ground and starts to bob gently along after the singing sylph. After a short time and many miles, Ephis approaches the abode of Mórrígan, and pauses as a red cap regards her while licking its lips.
"Begone foul creature, I am here to see the Lady with urgent business."
"I smell human child, you may enter if you leave the morsel behind."
"Nay, the child is the business, and that business is with the Lady not with you."
Grumbling the red cap steps to one side, "Very well, though the Lady has been in a mood recently."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
With some level of caution, Ephis flitters into the round house and pauses just inside the entrance. The makeshift basket bobbing behind her, occasionally bumping into her as if it's mirroring her nervousness. As her eyes adjust to the gloom of the interior she is able to make out the skins and cloths that provide decoration and furnishings. The dull red glow of the banked fire in the centre of the house provides almost as much light as the smoke hole in the roof. Out of place in the building, a richly appointed divan sofa on the far side of the fire pulls the eye, shortly followed by the occupant, a tall woman with red hair and short nails. She's wearing a dark linen shift and is reading a paperback book, beside her a clay vessel filled with sweet meats sits, and she idly reaches down to snag a bit of meat before turning the page and chewing on the treat.
The sound of Harry turning over in the basket draws the woman's attention like a gunshot at the far end of an alleyway and her head jerks around suddenly as she flows to her feet, a spear materialising in her hands ready to strike.
"Who dares disrupt my reading time?"
Ephis ducks in the air, "Forgive my intrusion Mórrígan, this sylph has a matter most vexing that must be brought to your attention."
"Speak, and remember I'm not as forgiving as Brighid."
Ephis swallows, "I was playing in the dawn light this morning and I caught the attention of a human child. I led it on a merry chase and brought amusement to both of us."
Using her spear to point, Mórrígan says, "You are bothering me with this why?"
Ephis backs up against the basket and squeaks, "It followed me through the ringfort and then it was sunrise so I couldn't get it back."
Putting the butt of her spear on the floor and leaning on it, Mórrígan says more gently, "Repeat that again, slowly."
"I led the child on a merry chase and returned to the ringfort just before the local sunrise. When I returned here, it followed me. I tried to get it back, but the gate closed."
"I see, show me the child."
With a gesture, the basket moves from behind Ephis and over to the Mórrígan. When it arrives, she reaches through the leaves and lifts Harry out. Sleepily, he wakes up and grasps her braid while saying, "Ma ma", before falling asleep again. Wards created by love, sacrifice, and wild magic; perverted though forbidden blood magic; and anchored to a squib and a baby; move on this most special of days and settle on the one Harry just called mother.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
In a castle tower in Scotland, a silver device that's puffing grey smoke with red streaks hiccoughs and briefly expels a stream of green smoke before starting to puff grey smoke with little autumn-coloured ravens in it.
In a holiday home in Ireland, an irate Petunia straightens up as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders before turning to the phone and calling the police. It won't be long before the police start a manhunt in the area before finding Harry's clothes and tracks. A few weeks later they will come to the conclusion that he fell into a hole in the wood and succumbed to hyperthermia.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Mórrígan looks down at the toddler in her arms as the weight of the wards settle on her shoulders, implicit with that event is a duty to raise the child and protect him. Compared to her other obligations the weight of this one is a negligible, but still noticeable, drain on her reserves. "Well, it's been a few centuries since we last had a changling" she murmurs before baring a breast and drawing a dagger. With a brief effort of will, the breast starts to lactate. Then, with a slight tighting of her eyes, she draws the dagger across the top of her areole just above the nipple. Jiggling the child, she wakes him up enough to latch onto the nipple and start to suckle on the mixture of milk and blood. As Harry feeds she cleans off her dagger before pointing it at the sylph that's edging closer to the door.
"You, sylph. You will swear your name to this child, to be his companion and teacher in our ways while he grows as my son." – As the sylph looks to be ready to bolt, she adds – "Or I can bind your blood instead in payment for the debt you have incurred in saddling me with him."
Ephis swallows hard before flying over to the suckling child, the audible buzz indicating her irritation and fear. Leaning in to the childs ear, she whispers, "I, Ephis, sylph of the spring court, grant you my name and promise to be your companion until you are grown." She shudders as she can feel her true name settle into the mind of the young child.
Harry opens his eyes and looks at her with his killing curse green eyes, as he does a ring appears around the outside of his iris the colour of fresh arterial blood. Another, unnoticed ring, also appears around the pupil, the colour of a ravens feather.
With the proof that the blood has taken hold looking up at her, Mórrígan puts some of her magic and authority in her voice, "I Morrígu, The Mórrígan of the Tuath Dé name you Yvor and take you as my son."
The only sign of discomfort that Harry makes is tears forming in his eyes, Ephis is not so lucky as she collapses to the floor under the terrible weight of The Mórrígans voice.
"Rise Ephis, at dusk you will return to the human realm and place a simulacrum hidden in the forest. You will then find where the child came from and claim anything that belongs to my son. When you return, we will visit my husband as my son has the smell of fate around him."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Petunia paced around the living room, distraught, at the thought that her nephew was missing. Without the pressure that had been pressing down on her, or the twinges of pain and fatigue she was inflicted with whenever Harry tried to do some minor accidental magic, she was able to think clearly. What she knew is that her nephew's disappearance had something to do with her feeling better, which made her feel worse. Now he was missing, and she'd been so weighed down it was all she could do to look after Dudley.
There was a police car outside the house, and they had been so understanding even though she felt like it was her fault for not noticing that Harry had run out. A knock on the door startles her, and she rushes to answer it. Almost blotting out the sky, a giant of a policeman stands in the doorway holding a cheap pair of blue polyester trousers.
"Mrs Dursley, one of our men just found this in the wood. Do you recognise them?"
She sags against the wall, tears of hope and dread fill her eyes, "Yes, they're Harry's. When Dudley was born we were gifted with enough clothes to keep him clothed for a couple of years, but he's bigger than Harry, and also harder on his clothes. I picked those up cheap in C&A."
"Thank you for confirming this, it's not too late we might still find him."
"No, thank you for looking. I'm sorry it took me so long to pick up the phone. I was sure he was in the house somewhere just hiding from us. He's done it before at home."
"No, I understand. My sister has a little one, and he went missing once and they looked all over the flat. Eventually they found him asleep on top of the wardrobe."
Taylor Hebert: Tenno
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Taylor Hebert: Tenno
Taylor's struggles to open the door to her prison became weaker and weaker as despair and exhaustion caught up with her. Just as she was about to black out she sees two enormous beings circling around each other shedding parts of themselves. One of those parts is falling towards her, so she reaches out towards it like you might reach towards a falling star you were making a wish on. As she does she falls into the void between all things and lands on a metal floor before blacking out.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Taylor's eyes flutter open to the sound of people moving around and the occasional beeping. Above her is a clear canopy through which she can see a patterned blue ceiling. The walls are white with gold highlights and the occasional blue light tracing through it. As she turns her head to one side she can see a row of additional pods, all of which are in a vertical position with the lids open.
"Hello?" she croaks, immediately a man in some sort of uniform and says something incomprehensible to her in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't understand you."
The man smiles at her and says something that she assumes is reassuring before reaching up and touching something out of sight. As he does her vision goes black again.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Taylor wakes up in the pod again to the sound of a couple of men talking "…fascinating. You say that she has had absolutely no genetic modifications or nanite treatments prior to being found on our ship?"
"Yes sir, we were able to take a complete genetic scan as well as a digital copy of her brain without any loss of life or data. Let me introduce you to cephalon Taylor."
She hears her voice coming from a nearby wall, "Hello? Hello? Why is it dark? Where am I?"
The second voice answers her, "Hello Taylor, you're in a computer at the moment as we took a copy of you before we administered the standard nanite treatments and inoculations just in case there were any unknown side effects. You'll be happy to know that your original self is fine and should be waking up soon."
"Oh, is that why I can't feel panic?"
"It is, and congratulations, you're the first cephalon that has ever been created without killing the host. When we place you into a proper vessel you'll have your emotions back and so much more."
"Please, tell me where am I?"
"You are on board the Zariman Ten Zero. I'm going to place you on standby now until we can get you your own cube. It will be like going to sleep."
The first man speaks up again, "Fascinating, and you got her genetic data too?"
"We did, when we get back to real space this will revolutionise the cloning process. Her people still had 28 chromosomes, and absolutely no signs of any genetic tampering. We're not currently sure if she's a time traveller or fell into the void from another world, but what is clear is that she is Orokin, though from an older genetic lineage than anyone currently alive. If we could get hold of a male from the same place it would completely revolutionise cloning. As it stands this should allow us to develop automatic corrections to flash cloned people."
"Good, I need you to classify this data under T0V-oral protocols. We'll inform our superiors when we return to real space. What of the girl?"
"I've given her the required treatments to allow her to survive in our environment. When she woke up last time her vitals were all steady, so I activated the flash learning program to give her the basic knowledge that she'll need to participate in our society."
"Very good, place her with the families in the unshielded parts of the ship. She can be part of the experiment on void exposure. We need to know if void travel is safe for us as it's our only possible advantage against the sentients at the moment."
"I understand sir. We did find one thing though, she had an anomalous growth in her brain that contained non-human mitochondrial DNA. We've excised it just to be safe, but it lends credence to sideways travel rather than time travel. She also had a variety of insect life and additional human DNA around her feet. It was somewhat degraded, but we have enough that we could make viable clones of the female donors."
Whatever the response was going to be is cut off by a beep coming from the wall, "I'm sorry sir, but that's the timer that I activated to indicated when the programming should finish. It's likely that the first thing she'll do when she wakes up is open the canopy, so we shouldn't be talking about anything classified."
"Understood, we really need to develop a way for the computer to tell the difference between training brainwaves and conscious brainwaves."
The second man laughs, "We can, it's just an invasive process to monitor the brain directly and has been shown to lead to death or paralysis in 60% of cases. Till then we have to rely on motion sensors and passive readings."
Taylor decides that this is now a good time to look at the inside of her pod rather than listening in, opening her eyes she's unsurprised that a tone goes off somewhere behind her. As hinted at, everything looks more familiar and she can see the access controls on the inside of the lid. Virtual controls as is normal for Orokin technology, but still there. Reaching up she presses the capsule release button. Reasoning, out of fear, that if they could give her knowledge of the language and technology, they could also take memories away. Taylor decided that she was never going to talk about what she just heard in the presence of anyone that might be military.
"Good evening Miss, I'm Doctor Jae-Hwa and this is Commander Monteiro, you are aboard the Orokin vessel Tamerin 10-zero. We are currently on the way to the Outer Gates, however we've had a drive failure so we're stuck while they try to repair it. What can you remember from before you woke up in the pod?"
Taylor panics slightly as the memory of being pushed into the locker returns with astounding clarity. The Doctor reaches over behind her and suddenly she's not panicking any more, and she's back in the pod rather than her memory.
"What did you do?"
"I instructed the pod to convert cortisol and adrenaline to saline and sugars. It also boosted your serotonin levels to counteract the dip you just experienced. Do you think you can tell us what happened now?"
Taylor takes a deep breath as the knowledge of the nanites floating in her body come to the fore, like something she learned as a child, and how these pods are made specially to interact with them. Taking another deep breath she thinks about the locker, it's strange being able to view it without the feeling of fear or panic. Almost like she'd seen it on TV rather than lived it. "This morning I was shoved into my locker before classes started. The bullies that did it locked the door behind me. I know I was in there for hours, as the class bell rang at least 4 times…"
Dispassionately she describes the feelings and situation she'd been in, as well as the vision she saw just before she landed on the 10-0. With her emotions being artificially levelled and the skillful questioning of the Doctor and Commander, she revealed details about Earth Bet, it's contact with Earth Aleph, as well as para-humanity and the End Bringers. Later, when her emotions were no longer being suppressed, she'd be glad that someone else knew, even if they couldn't do anything to help.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Some hours later Taylor follows the Commander into the civilian area of the ship, passing through some agricultural areas as well as what seem like parks. Finally they stop at apartment 83402-b.
"Taylor, thank you again for being so patient with us. Once we're under weigh again we'll be stopping at the space station by the outer gates. Until then I think that Kay and her son Rell will be a better fit than the military areas of the ship."
The aforementioned Kay opens the door, which slides into a recess in the wall, "Hello?"
"Good evening Ma'am, we have a last minute berthing change. This is Taylor of Brockton Bay, she has been assigned your unused room."
"Well come in then, do you have any luggage dear?"
Taylor shuffles awkwardly, "Ah, no. My arrival wasn't exactly conventional."
"Never mind, I'm sure that we can get some stuff from the stores. Commander, any idea what's going on with the ships drive?"
"Sorry, all I know is that the mechanics are having to refabricate some parts by hand as the void is playing havok with nanite replicators, and the ones that are working are too small for the parts we need to replace."
Over the next couple of weeks Taylor settles into life abord an Orokin vessel, with all the luxuries and downsides that entails. Even the fact that they have cracked nearly lossless matter/energy transfer and use it so casually becomes a mundane part of her life. Rell introduces her to the other children her age, and they start to teach her how to have friends again. Despite the abrasive nature that Rell gives out due to a complication from being a natural, she tries to keep him included in the stuff the other children are doing.
Kay explained it as a mental development disorder that's a rare side effect of having a non-nanite assisted pregnancy. The closest that Taylor could associate it with is Autism.
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"I remember. I Remember!" Taylor staggers out of her somatic link as the memories from her past are unveiled.
"Operator, what are you doing?" Ordis' voice comes out over the intercom.
"I remember Ordis, I remember."
"Oh dear, you seem to have lost your warframe. Maybe we should retreat to a safer part of the system."
"Tenshin! No, I'm going back for him."
"But how? The somatic link."
"I don't need the link."
Transferring back to her Titania she activates it to still be under assault from the Kuva Queen as her red psychic spike pushes into her forehead. Forcing the psychic probe out of her mind she soon finds herself in a fight for both her life and the life of Tenshin that stretches her barely remembered void abilities to their breaking point. Eventually though she is able to disarm the queen, which frees Tenshin from the Queens control.
Taylor's struggles to open the door to her prison became weaker and weaker as despair and exhaustion caught up with her. Just as she was about to black out she sees two enormous beings circling around each other shedding parts of themselves. One of those parts is falling towards her, so she reaches out towards it like you might reach towards a falling star you were making a wish on. As she does she falls into the void between all things and lands on a metal floor before blacking out.
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Taylor's eyes flutter open to the sound of people moving around and the occasional beeping. Above her is a clear canopy through which she can see a patterned blue ceiling. The walls are white with gold highlights and the occasional blue light tracing through it. As she turns her head to one side she can see a row of additional pods, all of which are in a vertical position with the lids open.
"Hello?" she croaks, immediately a man in some sort of uniform and says something incomprehensible to her in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
"I'm sorry, I can't understand you."
The man smiles at her and says something that she assumes is reassuring before reaching up and touching something out of sight. As he does her vision goes black again.
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Taylor wakes up in the pod again to the sound of a couple of men talking "…fascinating. You say that she has had absolutely no genetic modifications or nanite treatments prior to being found on our ship?"
"Yes sir, we were able to take a complete genetic scan as well as a digital copy of her brain without any loss of life or data. Let me introduce you to cephalon Taylor."
She hears her voice coming from a nearby wall, "Hello? Hello? Why is it dark? Where am I?"
The second voice answers her, "Hello Taylor, you're in a computer at the moment as we took a copy of you before we administered the standard nanite treatments and inoculations just in case there were any unknown side effects. You'll be happy to know that your original self is fine and should be waking up soon."
"Oh, is that why I can't feel panic?"
"It is, and congratulations, you're the first cephalon that has ever been created without killing the host. When we place you into a proper vessel you'll have your emotions back and so much more."
"Please, tell me where am I?"
"You are on board the Zariman Ten Zero. I'm going to place you on standby now until we can get you your own cube. It will be like going to sleep."
The first man speaks up again, "Fascinating, and you got her genetic data too?"
"We did, when we get back to real space this will revolutionise the cloning process. Her people still had 28 chromosomes, and absolutely no signs of any genetic tampering. We're not currently sure if she's a time traveller or fell into the void from another world, but what is clear is that she is Orokin, though from an older genetic lineage than anyone currently alive. If we could get hold of a male from the same place it would completely revolutionise cloning. As it stands this should allow us to develop automatic corrections to flash cloned people."
"Good, I need you to classify this data under T0V-oral protocols. We'll inform our superiors when we return to real space. What of the girl?"
"I've given her the required treatments to allow her to survive in our environment. When she woke up last time her vitals were all steady, so I activated the flash learning program to give her the basic knowledge that she'll need to participate in our society."
"Very good, place her with the families in the unshielded parts of the ship. She can be part of the experiment on void exposure. We need to know if void travel is safe for us as it's our only possible advantage against the sentients at the moment."
"I understand sir. We did find one thing though, she had an anomalous growth in her brain that contained non-human mitochondrial DNA. We've excised it just to be safe, but it lends credence to sideways travel rather than time travel. She also had a variety of insect life and additional human DNA around her feet. It was somewhat degraded, but we have enough that we could make viable clones of the female donors."
Whatever the response was going to be is cut off by a beep coming from the wall, "I'm sorry sir, but that's the timer that I activated to indicated when the programming should finish. It's likely that the first thing she'll do when she wakes up is open the canopy, so we shouldn't be talking about anything classified."
"Understood, we really need to develop a way for the computer to tell the difference between training brainwaves and conscious brainwaves."
The second man laughs, "We can, it's just an invasive process to monitor the brain directly and has been shown to lead to death or paralysis in 60% of cases. Till then we have to rely on motion sensors and passive readings."
Taylor decides that this is now a good time to look at the inside of her pod rather than listening in, opening her eyes she's unsurprised that a tone goes off somewhere behind her. As hinted at, everything looks more familiar and she can see the access controls on the inside of the lid. Virtual controls as is normal for Orokin technology, but still there. Reaching up she presses the capsule release button. Reasoning, out of fear, that if they could give her knowledge of the language and technology, they could also take memories away. Taylor decided that she was never going to talk about what she just heard in the presence of anyone that might be military.
"Good evening Miss, I'm Doctor Jae-Hwa and this is Commander Monteiro, you are aboard the Orokin vessel Tamerin 10-zero. We are currently on the way to the Outer Gates, however we've had a drive failure so we're stuck while they try to repair it. What can you remember from before you woke up in the pod?"
Taylor panics slightly as the memory of being pushed into the locker returns with astounding clarity. The Doctor reaches over behind her and suddenly she's not panicking any more, and she's back in the pod rather than her memory.
"What did you do?"
"I instructed the pod to convert cortisol and adrenaline to saline and sugars. It also boosted your serotonin levels to counteract the dip you just experienced. Do you think you can tell us what happened now?"
Taylor takes a deep breath as the knowledge of the nanites floating in her body come to the fore, like something she learned as a child, and how these pods are made specially to interact with them. Taking another deep breath she thinks about the locker, it's strange being able to view it without the feeling of fear or panic. Almost like she'd seen it on TV rather than lived it. "This morning I was shoved into my locker before classes started. The bullies that did it locked the door behind me. I know I was in there for hours, as the class bell rang at least 4 times…"
Dispassionately she describes the feelings and situation she'd been in, as well as the vision she saw just before she landed on the 10-0. With her emotions being artificially levelled and the skillful questioning of the Doctor and Commander, she revealed details about Earth Bet, it's contact with Earth Aleph, as well as para-humanity and the End Bringers. Later, when her emotions were no longer being suppressed, she'd be glad that someone else knew, even if they couldn't do anything to help.
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Some hours later Taylor follows the Commander into the civilian area of the ship, passing through some agricultural areas as well as what seem like parks. Finally they stop at apartment 83402-b.
"Taylor, thank you again for being so patient with us. Once we're under weigh again we'll be stopping at the space station by the outer gates. Until then I think that Kay and her son Rell will be a better fit than the military areas of the ship."
The aforementioned Kay opens the door, which slides into a recess in the wall, "Hello?"
"Good evening Ma'am, we have a last minute berthing change. This is Taylor of Brockton Bay, she has been assigned your unused room."
"Well come in then, do you have any luggage dear?"
Taylor shuffles awkwardly, "Ah, no. My arrival wasn't exactly conventional."
"Never mind, I'm sure that we can get some stuff from the stores. Commander, any idea what's going on with the ships drive?"
"Sorry, all I know is that the mechanics are having to refabricate some parts by hand as the void is playing havok with nanite replicators, and the ones that are working are too small for the parts we need to replace."
Over the next couple of weeks Taylor settles into life abord an Orokin vessel, with all the luxuries and downsides that entails. Even the fact that they have cracked nearly lossless matter/energy transfer and use it so casually becomes a mundane part of her life. Rell introduces her to the other children her age, and they start to teach her how to have friends again. Despite the abrasive nature that Rell gives out due to a complication from being a natural, she tries to keep him included in the stuff the other children are doing.
Kay explained it as a mental development disorder that's a rare side effect of having a non-nanite assisted pregnancy. The closest that Taylor could associate it with is Autism.
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"I remember. I Remember!" Taylor staggers out of her somatic link as the memories from her past are unveiled.
"Operator, what are you doing?" Ordis' voice comes out over the intercom.
"I remember Ordis, I remember."
"Oh dear, you seem to have lost your warframe. Maybe we should retreat to a safer part of the system."
"Tenshin! No, I'm going back for him."
"But how? The somatic link."
"I don't need the link."
Transferring back to her Titania she activates it to still be under assault from the Kuva Queen as her red psychic spike pushes into her forehead. Forcing the psychic probe out of her mind she soon finds herself in a fight for both her life and the life of Tenshin that stretches her barely remembered void abilities to their breaking point. Eventually though she is able to disarm the queen, which frees Tenshin from the Queens control.
Taylor Hebert: Tenno - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Taylor Hebert: Tenno – 2
"Lotus."
"Yes Tenno."
"You can call me Taylor."
"Yes Taylor, you remember?"
"I do, thank you for looking out for us after…"
"You are all my children, I couldn't have asked for better."
"About that, I know I was found on the ship with the others. However, I don't come from this system. Well, that's not quite true, I either came from a parallel universe, or from the past."
"That certainly explains the differences in your genetic profile."
"I, I just want to know. How long has it been?"
"Are you sure?"
Taylor swallows, "I, yes I'm sure."
"The earth has orbited the sun nearly a thousand times since you came into my care."
Taylor sags with the knowledge. She'd always had some hope that she could get home in a human lifetime before they stole her memories. Closing the connection she sags before heading over to the navigation console and entering the coordinates of her private dojo. Once she arrives she transfers out of her warframe and opens a connection to Amaryn of the New Loka. With her memories returned, the conversation reminds her of talking to E88 fanatics at home. When she hangs up the call, she tries to compare what Amaryn was like before the Titania was reformed.
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A few months later Taylor has just finished putting together her first amplifier with Onkko's help. And wasn't that a shock to find out. The "deceased" husband of Saya, the nice woman that she met a year or so ago when she first visited Cetus. Turns out that yes he was being an arse by pretending to be dead, but he was a precog arse. And isn't that an amazing thing.
Thinker, Shaker, Changer, Breaker.
Brute, Blaster, Stranger, Master.
Tinker and Trump round out the rest.
The PRT is the best.
The things that stick in your mind from TV adverts. I wonder how Emma got on after I disappeared.
Whirling around Taylor looks at the person walking away from her. She'd know that body and red hair anywhere. Breaking into a jog, she quickly catches up with her while calling "Emma, Emma!". When she puts her hand on the girls shoulder, they turn around.
"Hello, can I help you?"
Taylor recoils at the Grineer accent, "N No, sorry you look like someone I used to know."
Staggering away, she transfers back into the comforting embrace of her warframe. She needed to check something.
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"Welcome back Operator."
"How many times do I need to tell you to call me Taylor?"
"At least once more. You're just in time, I've picked up a distress call from a red veil."
"Ordis, can you give me a mo. I need you to check something urgently."
"What can Ordis do for the Operator?"
"I need you to bring up a list of all the current assassination jobs."
"Complying, they are bleeding onto your navigation screen now."
"Are you glitching again Ordis?"
"Certainly not Operator."
"Ordis, didn't we kill Tyl Regor last month?"
"Our mission logs say that we did."
"I need to patch me through to the Lotus."
"Are we going to mount his head on a pike taking the contract?"
"No, I think his research has received a boost from the past."
Lotus' face appeared in the communicator, "You wanted to talk Tenno. Taylor."
"Yes, I met Emma Barnes in the Cestus market today. Only she spoke with a Grineer accent."
The Lotus pauses as she considers what I just said, Ordis on the other hand has no such filter, "Error, the operator seems to be malfunctioning."
"I'm not Ordis, I entered the void from a school locker in high school. It was 2011, and Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess, and Madison Clements had been bullying me for a year an a half. The day I arrived on the Zamarin they put the contents of the feminine hygiene bins in my locker. When I opened the door they shoved me in while I was frozen in disbelief. After they healed me on the Zamerin, they ran the basic education package. I suspect that there was more to it than the civilian package as I remember being more knowledgeable than the rest of the children. However, what they didn't know is that I woke up earlier than they expected. That's when I found out that they'd been able to get useable DNA from some of the feminine hygiene products that came with me."
"Ordis has to ask. What is a feminine hygiene product?"
Taylor feels herself flush at the question, "Erm, the earth that I come from didn't have any nanite machines or personal waste recycling technology, and erm, well, you know women menstruate every month? Well, erm, Feminine Hygiene products are specific pads and insertable tampons designed to absorb the blood to make it cleaner to deal with."
"Ordis wonders if this would be a good time to address the distress call."
Lotus shakes her head, "Yes, Ordis play the call."
A breathy voice speaks from behind her, "Rap, tap, tap."
As Taylor looks around for the source of the voice a woman does a good impression of a backstreet medium trying to contact the dead. Her attention snaps back to the call when someone answers.
"Mmm. R-r-r-ellll."
"I know that name, he was the kid I stayed with. I tried to look after him, but the other kids…" – She trails off as the lander becomes suffused with red light – "What's happening to the lights? Ordis? Ordis"
Ordis's voice cuts in, "I'm sorry operator, the message appears to be haunted, halted."
Taylor shakes her head, "I think you were right the first time."
Sounding concerned, Lotus asks, "What did you see Taylor?"
…
"I, I don't know. Some sort of shaker effect made the whole lander appear to be infused with red light."
"I am not familiar with that word used like that."
"It's a word from home that describes a power that affects an area. Uh, we had super heroes?" Taylor trails off weakly as both of them looked at her through their respective viewports.
"Ordis has analysed the message, it appears to have come from a Red Veil ship, the ship appears to be without power."
"Ordis set a navigation co-ordinate, I'm going in."
The Lotus looks concerned, "Ten, Taylor, are you sure about this?"
"Yes, I want to know why the name Rell came up."
"Lotus."
"Yes Tenno."
"You can call me Taylor."
"Yes Taylor, you remember?"
"I do, thank you for looking out for us after…"
"You are all my children, I couldn't have asked for better."
"About that, I know I was found on the ship with the others. However, I don't come from this system. Well, that's not quite true, I either came from a parallel universe, or from the past."
"That certainly explains the differences in your genetic profile."
"I, I just want to know. How long has it been?"
"Are you sure?"
Taylor swallows, "I, yes I'm sure."
"The earth has orbited the sun nearly a thousand times since you came into my care."
Taylor sags with the knowledge. She'd always had some hope that she could get home in a human lifetime before they stole her memories. Closing the connection she sags before heading over to the navigation console and entering the coordinates of her private dojo. Once she arrives she transfers out of her warframe and opens a connection to Amaryn of the New Loka. With her memories returned, the conversation reminds her of talking to E88 fanatics at home. When she hangs up the call, she tries to compare what Amaryn was like before the Titania was reformed.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
A few months later Taylor has just finished putting together her first amplifier with Onkko's help. And wasn't that a shock to find out. The "deceased" husband of Saya, the nice woman that she met a year or so ago when she first visited Cetus. Turns out that yes he was being an arse by pretending to be dead, but he was a precog arse. And isn't that an amazing thing.
Thinker, Shaker, Changer, Breaker.
Brute, Blaster, Stranger, Master.
Tinker and Trump round out the rest.
The PRT is the best.
The things that stick in your mind from TV adverts. I wonder how Emma got on after I disappeared.
Whirling around Taylor looks at the person walking away from her. She'd know that body and red hair anywhere. Breaking into a jog, she quickly catches up with her while calling "Emma, Emma!". When she puts her hand on the girls shoulder, they turn around.
"Hello, can I help you?"
Taylor recoils at the Grineer accent, "N No, sorry you look like someone I used to know."
Staggering away, she transfers back into the comforting embrace of her warframe. She needed to check something.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
"Welcome back Operator."
"How many times do I need to tell you to call me Taylor?"
"At least once more. You're just in time, I've picked up a distress call from a red veil."
"Ordis, can you give me a mo. I need you to check something urgently."
"What can Ordis do for the Operator?"
"I need you to bring up a list of all the current assassination jobs."
"Complying, they are bleeding onto your navigation screen now."
"Are you glitching again Ordis?"
"Certainly not Operator."
"Ordis, didn't we kill Tyl Regor last month?"
"Our mission logs say that we did."
"I need to patch me through to the Lotus."
"Are we going to mount his head on a pike taking the contract?"
"No, I think his research has received a boost from the past."
Lotus' face appeared in the communicator, "You wanted to talk Tenno. Taylor."
"Yes, I met Emma Barnes in the Cestus market today. Only she spoke with a Grineer accent."
The Lotus pauses as she considers what I just said, Ordis on the other hand has no such filter, "Error, the operator seems to be malfunctioning."
"I'm not Ordis, I entered the void from a school locker in high school. It was 2011, and Emma Barnes, Sophia Hess, and Madison Clements had been bullying me for a year an a half. The day I arrived on the Zamarin they put the contents of the feminine hygiene bins in my locker. When I opened the door they shoved me in while I was frozen in disbelief. After they healed me on the Zamerin, they ran the basic education package. I suspect that there was more to it than the civilian package as I remember being more knowledgeable than the rest of the children. However, what they didn't know is that I woke up earlier than they expected. That's when I found out that they'd been able to get useable DNA from some of the feminine hygiene products that came with me."
"Ordis has to ask. What is a feminine hygiene product?"
Taylor feels herself flush at the question, "Erm, the earth that I come from didn't have any nanite machines or personal waste recycling technology, and erm, well, you know women menstruate every month? Well, erm, Feminine Hygiene products are specific pads and insertable tampons designed to absorb the blood to make it cleaner to deal with."
"Ordis wonders if this would be a good time to address the distress call."
Lotus shakes her head, "Yes, Ordis play the call."
A breathy voice speaks from behind her, "Rap, tap, tap."
As Taylor looks around for the source of the voice a woman does a good impression of a backstreet medium trying to contact the dead. Her attention snaps back to the call when someone answers.
"Mmm. R-r-r-ellll."
"I know that name, he was the kid I stayed with. I tried to look after him, but the other kids…" – She trails off as the lander becomes suffused with red light – "What's happening to the lights? Ordis? Ordis"
Ordis's voice cuts in, "I'm sorry operator, the message appears to be haunted, halted."
Taylor shakes her head, "I think you were right the first time."
Sounding concerned, Lotus asks, "What did you see Taylor?"
…
"I, I don't know. Some sort of shaker effect made the whole lander appear to be infused with red light."
"I am not familiar with that word used like that."
"It's a word from home that describes a power that affects an area. Uh, we had super heroes?" Taylor trails off weakly as both of them looked at her through their respective viewports.
"Ordis has analysed the message, it appears to have come from a Red Veil ship, the ship appears to be without power."
"Ordis set a navigation co-ordinate, I'm going in."
The Lotus looks concerned, "Ten, Taylor, are you sure about this?"
"Yes, I want to know why the name Rell came up."
Harry Potter: Tenno - 1
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
- 190
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 1
"Harry?"
"Yes Lotus?" Harry says absently while looking through a recovered Orokin terminal on the Orcus Relay.
"What is that?"
The that in question is a brown avian with large eyes, sharp claws, and a beak designed for rending flesh. It was also wearing a harness and had a leather tie around one foot.
"According to ancient Orokin records, it's likely to be some sort of owl. Though they don't have much about them on this terminal. I'm still trying to find a translation program that will work on this letter."
"Letter?"
"Yes, it was carrying a small scroll, the scanner says that it is made out of skin of an animal. One that we have no records of in our databases. Neither does Simaris, in fact he offered me my pick of his offerings in trade when he found out about the owl."
Lotus is silent for a moment, "Harry, do you want to use the systems on Lua? They are still the originals that were there before I moved it into the void."
"There's an idea, thank you. Maybe they also have a record of the letter I was found with. Margulis used to tell me about it and how the original was being used to create new species for Earth." Harry sounds a little sad when talking about Margulis, though he does pack up and head back to his lander.
"I'm sorry I'm not her Harry"
"Don't be, I've had two wonderful mothers. Even when you were Natah the Sentient for a while, you were still my mother. Did you know that I never had my memory wiped, I don't think I've every mentioned that before. I still remember the look on Margulis' face when I came out of the device that was supposed to seal them away, and then ran towards her shouting 'Mama'"
Lotus considers that for a moment, "I can imagine. You always were an odd one Harry. You had less issues controlling your void energies, and were far more versatile in what they could do."
Harry laughs, "According to Margulis, my existence did more to upend their ideas about souls too. There were some theories before I arrived that they yellow light seen when they convert a cephalon is actually the persons soul. Apparently, I had a fragment of another persons soul in my head."
"I hadn't heard about that."
"Mum, my first mum, used to talk to me about her work when she thought I was too young to understand. Something about the control exercises that they had us learn allowed me to remember everything perfectly. Including when you stood up to Hunhow for us before you took on a human form. Listen, I've just arrived at my lander, give me a day and I'll see you in person."
As he hangs up on the Lotus, he looks at the lander and then at the bird that's perched on his shoulder, "Ordis, do you have any thoughts about how to get an owl onto the orbiter without using the digitisation beam?"
"Ordis wonders if the Operator is Crazy forgetting the docking door."
"Thanks Ordis, I had forgotten. Could you open it for me."
"Ordis will manoeuvre the lander so you can use the door."
"Thank you Ordis."
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When Harry saw the Lotus waiting for him at the landing site he transferred out of his Equinox Prime and launched himself into a hug, "Mother!"
"Ooof. Hello Harry."
"I've missed you. How are you adjusting to being the Lotus again?"
"It is, interesting. Why did you suggest I take up this name again?"
Harry leans back, "Margulis was a woman who's boots you were trying to fill, and Natah is the person that your family moulded. However, the Lotus is the person you chose to be. The name that you took on yourself. Why wouldn't I want to honour that? Every one of us has been shaped by the war, and you allowed us to be our own people, why wouldn't you expect the same?"
"Thank you."
"Besides," Harry adds cheekily, "You're more cuddly like this."
Natah smiles at the most accepting of her Tenno, her children as he disengages and opens the air tight cabin to let the owl out. Using all of her senses she studies the owl trying to divine it's origins, and comes up blank. They then walk together down to the original labs that Margulis used. Loading the scans of the parchment and owl into the labs computers unlocks a previously secured section of the servers. There they find a lot of speculation on DNA divergence points, as well as a translation program for the ancient language the letter is written in. There's copious notes by Silvana about how the differences were enabling her to develop flora and fauna that would be resistant to the pollution that was plaguing the earth. Apparently, all of the things he appeared with were made from organic materials that had retrievable DNA. The last thing they find is thousands of pages of research on the soul using the fragment they extracted from Harry's forehead. As Harry gets lost in the research and speculation about his origins, she takes the time to make some nanites to sustain the owl off of the ambient Orokin energy.
To Natah, the most important find was the original specifications for her ancestors along with speculation on how they could have incorporated a soul into it. Later investigation would reveal that every single project in that part of the servers had been banned and destroyed by the Orokin leadership at the time. Additionally, all of the scientists involved were put to death the same way that Margulis had been, with the sole exception of Silvana who went missing on Earth, and was presumed dead.
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Harry was absolutely engrossed, and then he came to the research about souls. The more he read, the more he was sickened by what happened to his first mother.
"Mum."
Natah looks over from a mission briefing she's giving, "Yes Harry?"
"Thank you for killing the Orokin."
"Ah, er," She quickly turns back to the briefing, "Sorry to cut this short Tenno, the Grineer and Corpus are arguing about territory again and are willing to pay quite handsomely for your help. Pick a side, and if you see out the campaign then you'll get your pay." She then closes the call quickly before giving Harry her full attention.
"What brought this on."
"I've been reading up on the Jade Light. Those, those, corpus execs, were destroying peoples souls. Not just the Oro, but the soul itself. That's why their Oro, where they've survived in the past, didn't bring them back."
"Harry, have you read the letter yet?"
"I know what you're doing Mum, and no I haven't"
"Well, maybe we should read it together."
__________ School of Witchcraft and ____________
Headmaster: ___________ ____________ (Order of _______, First Class, Grand _______, ___ ___________, Supreme ________, International ___________ of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at __________ School of Witchcraft and ________. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 ___________. We await your owl by no later than 31 ______.
Yours Sincerely,
___________ _______
Deputy Headmistress
Harry shakes his head, "That's a lot of unknown words."
"What was written on the other side?"
"Oh, just the nav-coordinates of my location when the owl arrived. I checked that with Ordis as soon as I got the letter on board the Orbiter."
Natah nods, "Let us craft a reply, and send it on it's way."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Minerva looks up as one of the long distance school owls appears in her office while she's just sat down to do some paperwork. Which is odd, as she'd just sent off the last batch of school letters. Her eyes widen as the implication sinks in, this is the owl that she sent out with Harry's letter. It is with a sinking feeling that she retrieves the letter from the owls leg, as the only reason the owl would be that quick is if the letter was undeliverable.
She's reaching for her wand to vanish the letter before taking the news to the headmaster when her brain catches up to what her fingers are telling her. This isn't parchment.
Fingers trembling she opens the letter to see printed text in both English and an unknown language.
Dear Deputy Headmistress
We received have your letter, and have translated best as we can. Please could you provide coordinates for navigate us to find you. I am interested in attending your educational establishment, do you have a place where the downloaded buy the books?
We will also compilation need of your calendar and how relates it to your star system, as we share not the same.
Regards
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Sent at Tau-71324998 Rath-89423843 Vela-13024935 Lemos-24194340 Orion-65732041 Gro-27843519 from Sol, Milky way.
Clutching the letter tightly she scrambles around her desk, catching her thigh on the corner, and fair runs to the headmasters office.
"Harry?"
"Yes Lotus?" Harry says absently while looking through a recovered Orokin terminal on the Orcus Relay.
"What is that?"
The that in question is a brown avian with large eyes, sharp claws, and a beak designed for rending flesh. It was also wearing a harness and had a leather tie around one foot.
"According to ancient Orokin records, it's likely to be some sort of owl. Though they don't have much about them on this terminal. I'm still trying to find a translation program that will work on this letter."
"Letter?"
"Yes, it was carrying a small scroll, the scanner says that it is made out of skin of an animal. One that we have no records of in our databases. Neither does Simaris, in fact he offered me my pick of his offerings in trade when he found out about the owl."
Lotus is silent for a moment, "Harry, do you want to use the systems on Lua? They are still the originals that were there before I moved it into the void."
"There's an idea, thank you. Maybe they also have a record of the letter I was found with. Margulis used to tell me about it and how the original was being used to create new species for Earth." Harry sounds a little sad when talking about Margulis, though he does pack up and head back to his lander.
"I'm sorry I'm not her Harry"
"Don't be, I've had two wonderful mothers. Even when you were Natah the Sentient for a while, you were still my mother. Did you know that I never had my memory wiped, I don't think I've every mentioned that before. I still remember the look on Margulis' face when I came out of the device that was supposed to seal them away, and then ran towards her shouting 'Mama'"
Lotus considers that for a moment, "I can imagine. You always were an odd one Harry. You had less issues controlling your void energies, and were far more versatile in what they could do."
Harry laughs, "According to Margulis, my existence did more to upend their ideas about souls too. There were some theories before I arrived that they yellow light seen when they convert a cephalon is actually the persons soul. Apparently, I had a fragment of another persons soul in my head."
"I hadn't heard about that."
"Mum, my first mum, used to talk to me about her work when she thought I was too young to understand. Something about the control exercises that they had us learn allowed me to remember everything perfectly. Including when you stood up to Hunhow for us before you took on a human form. Listen, I've just arrived at my lander, give me a day and I'll see you in person."
As he hangs up on the Lotus, he looks at the lander and then at the bird that's perched on his shoulder, "Ordis, do you have any thoughts about how to get an owl onto the orbiter without using the digitisation beam?"
"Ordis wonders if the Operator is Crazy forgetting the docking door."
"Thanks Ordis, I had forgotten. Could you open it for me."
"Ordis will manoeuvre the lander so you can use the door."
"Thank you Ordis."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
When Harry saw the Lotus waiting for him at the landing site he transferred out of his Equinox Prime and launched himself into a hug, "Mother!"
"Ooof. Hello Harry."
"I've missed you. How are you adjusting to being the Lotus again?"
"It is, interesting. Why did you suggest I take up this name again?"
Harry leans back, "Margulis was a woman who's boots you were trying to fill, and Natah is the person that your family moulded. However, the Lotus is the person you chose to be. The name that you took on yourself. Why wouldn't I want to honour that? Every one of us has been shaped by the war, and you allowed us to be our own people, why wouldn't you expect the same?"
"Thank you."
"Besides," Harry adds cheekily, "You're more cuddly like this."
Natah smiles at the most accepting of her Tenno, her children as he disengages and opens the air tight cabin to let the owl out. Using all of her senses she studies the owl trying to divine it's origins, and comes up blank. They then walk together down to the original labs that Margulis used. Loading the scans of the parchment and owl into the labs computers unlocks a previously secured section of the servers. There they find a lot of speculation on DNA divergence points, as well as a translation program for the ancient language the letter is written in. There's copious notes by Silvana about how the differences were enabling her to develop flora and fauna that would be resistant to the pollution that was plaguing the earth. Apparently, all of the things he appeared with were made from organic materials that had retrievable DNA. The last thing they find is thousands of pages of research on the soul using the fragment they extracted from Harry's forehead. As Harry gets lost in the research and speculation about his origins, she takes the time to make some nanites to sustain the owl off of the ambient Orokin energy.
To Natah, the most important find was the original specifications for her ancestors along with speculation on how they could have incorporated a soul into it. Later investigation would reveal that every single project in that part of the servers had been banned and destroyed by the Orokin leadership at the time. Additionally, all of the scientists involved were put to death the same way that Margulis had been, with the sole exception of Silvana who went missing on Earth, and was presumed dead.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Harry was absolutely engrossed, and then he came to the research about souls. The more he read, the more he was sickened by what happened to his first mother.
"Mum."
Natah looks over from a mission briefing she's giving, "Yes Harry?"
"Thank you for killing the Orokin."
"Ah, er," She quickly turns back to the briefing, "Sorry to cut this short Tenno, the Grineer and Corpus are arguing about territory again and are willing to pay quite handsomely for your help. Pick a side, and if you see out the campaign then you'll get your pay." She then closes the call quickly before giving Harry her full attention.
"What brought this on."
"I've been reading up on the Jade Light. Those, those, corpus execs, were destroying peoples souls. Not just the Oro, but the soul itself. That's why their Oro, where they've survived in the past, didn't bring them back."
"Harry, have you read the letter yet?"
"I know what you're doing Mum, and no I haven't"
"Well, maybe we should read it together."
__________ School of Witchcraft and ____________
Headmaster: ___________ ____________ (Order of _______, First Class, Grand _______, ___ ___________, Supreme ________, International ___________ of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at __________ School of Witchcraft and ________. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 ___________. We await your owl by no later than 31 ______.
Yours Sincerely,
___________ _______
Deputy Headmistress
Harry shakes his head, "That's a lot of unknown words."
"What was written on the other side?"
"Oh, just the nav-coordinates of my location when the owl arrived. I checked that with Ordis as soon as I got the letter on board the Orbiter."
Natah nods, "Let us craft a reply, and send it on it's way."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Minerva looks up as one of the long distance school owls appears in her office while she's just sat down to do some paperwork. Which is odd, as she'd just sent off the last batch of school letters. Her eyes widen as the implication sinks in, this is the owl that she sent out with Harry's letter. It is with a sinking feeling that she retrieves the letter from the owls leg, as the only reason the owl would be that quick is if the letter was undeliverable.
She's reaching for her wand to vanish the letter before taking the news to the headmaster when her brain catches up to what her fingers are telling her. This isn't parchment.
Fingers trembling she opens the letter to see printed text in both English and an unknown language.
Dear Deputy Headmistress
We received have your letter, and have translated best as we can. Please could you provide coordinates for navigate us to find you. I am interested in attending your educational establishment, do you have a place where the downloaded buy the books?
We will also compilation need of your calendar and how relates it to your star system, as we share not the same.
Regards
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Sent at Tau-71324998 Rath-89423843 Vela-13024935 Lemos-24194340 Orion-65732041 Gro-27843519 from Sol, Milky way.
Clutching the letter tightly she scrambles around her desk, catching her thigh on the corner, and fair runs to the headmasters office.
Harry Potter - Tenno - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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As requested by TheLostArchivist on AO3, more Harry Tenno.
Harry Potter: Tenno – 2
Minerva skids to a halt by the gargoyle and almost collapses from the pain in her thigh. She should have taken it more easily until the muscle recovered on its own. But needs must, and talking about needs.
"Move, unless you want to be a bunny rabbit for the next school year. I have urgent news for the headmaster."
The gargoyle that guards the Headmasters office looks reprovingly at her, but does reluctantly step to one side. Limping up the stairs she pushes open the door to his office without fanfare.
Albus looks up from his own paperwork with some surprise, "Minerva, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"It's Harry, he's replied to his letter. Though it seems a little odd."
Albus' gaze sharpens, "Odd how?"
"It's like he never learnt English. Here, see for yourself."
She hands over both copies of the letter and waits silently while he reads the letter multiple times. She swears that she can see his hand reach for a quill in order to correct the grammar or word choice, even though there's only a few lines to it. Eventually he puts the letter on his desk before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
"Well?"
"He is 11, and interested in coming. Talk to Aurora and see if she can make heads or tails of this. While you're doing that I'll draft a response. I wonder why he referred to you by your title and not your name."
Pulling his wand he duplicates the letter, then frowns when the copy doesn't have any writing on it. Instead it has black smudges where the text should be. Fixing the image in his mind, he casts the duplication spell again, with the same result. With a sigh he assumes that there's some sort of copy protection on the letter, so he pulls out a sheet of parchment and spells a quill to transcribe the letter onto the new parchment. Once she has the copy, Minerva goes off to find the Astronomy teacher to see if she can shed any light on those numbers.
Once he's alone, Albus casts some detection spells on the letter, trying to find out why he couldn't copy it. Much to his frustration, the letter shows no signs of magic. It also shows no sign of ink either. Even his alchemy spells say that it is a uniform sheet of material with no deviations within standard tolerances1.
Unfortunately, Aurora doesn't know what the numbers at the bottom of the letter mean. As such, over the rest of the day they draft a letter back to Harry trying to describe calendar. It's over breakfast that Aurora hears them bickering, and comes up with the suggestion that they end up going with. Include a calendar with each day clearly marked, and the summer and winter solstice indicated. They should also indicate when they received his letter, and when they sent the reply.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
It's almost 3 months later, and Harry is in the process of culling the Grineer Ghouls in the middle of Africa when out of nowhere an owl appears and tries to land on his Mesa frame. That lasts all of a couple of seconds before one of the ghouls tries to eat it, and with a disgruntled squark, it takes off. Unfortunately for Harry and the Owl, there's a Dargyn skiff keeping an eye on the fight, looking to take an opportunistic shot at Harry if he disengages. As soon as it finishes it's identification scan of the avian, and comes up with unknown, it's reported up the chain. Much to Harry's disgust, this means that his current location becomes the most coveted vacationing spot for every Grineer within short range radio link. It gets so bad that Harry eventually posts an urgent help bounty using his own carefully hoarded platinum. With the distraction caused by his fellow Tenno, and the onset of night and the sentient fragments rising from the depths, he is finally able to exfiltrate with the owl not only alive, but also intact.
Once behind the Orokin era walls of Cetus, Harry transfers out of his warframe and allows the owl to land on his shoulder.
"Hello there, you've been gone a while. Come on, as we're planetside, let's see Master Teasonai and see if he has any treats that are safe for you to eat."
Walking through the village is an interesting experience, as it seems like everyone wants to look at the owl. Eventually he is able to make his way to see Teasonai, who upon seeing the owl immediately stop talking to his current customer.
"Tenno, what a pleasure. And this fine specimen of a bird, where did you find it?"
"It's an owl, and I didn't find it, it found me. They're apparently used for carrying letters, as you can see."
"Is that what that is, how odd. How do you read it?"
"They've applied a substance to the surface of the animal skin." Harry removes the letter and unfolds it to show the proof.
"That seems widely wasteful, there are so many better things that the components of that letter could be used for."
"Tell me about it, they have an educational establishment that they've invited me to. I'm seriously thinking of going just to find out how they can afford to be so wasteful. Anyway, enough about my mail, can you examine the owl and let me know if there's anything I need to do to care for it properly."
"Hmm, if you'll allow me to look after it for an hour I'll give it a full diagnostic."
An hour later, and a cryptic message from the Quills contact Onkko, Harry returns to see how the owl is getting on.
"Absolutely amazing, the owl shares a lot of similarities with the local wildlife. Which, apart from the insects, seems to have come from a different evolutionary tree to everything else in the solar system. The only animals that seem to share the same evolutionary tree as us are kubrow and kavats of course."
"Um, yeah, there's a pretty good reason for that. However, I'm not really at liberty to talk about it."
"No, no I understand. You Tenno come across secrets all the time, and you trade on your reputation."
"Look, New Loka might have more information if you can sweet talk them."
"Those crazies? I doubt anyone from Cetus could step one foot inside one of their compounds without having weapons pointed at them. If my curiosity becomes bad enough I will send one of my apprentices. Anyway, your, owl was it? Yes, owl. It had some parasites living in it's feathers. We have extracted them and are keeping them for study. It also had no antibodies for any of the illnesses found on the plains. We noticed that it already had some nanites, so we've just reprogrammed them to also act as a second immune system. It should also be safe to transport it the same way you transport your other living companions. Also, you are aware that the harness is made from animal skins?"
"We were, thank you for pointing it out though. I need to get going, as this letter isn't going to translate itself."
"Thank you for allowing me to see such a magnificent specimen of a unique animal that isn't infested."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Harry makes his way to Lua with the letter, as his lander is coming in to the landing pad he muses that it's almost like having a home. Oh, he has his orbiter and railjack, but they don't have the same feel as working near to his mother. He sometimes wonders whether he'd have been kicked out like Rell was if he was older when he appeared on the Ten-Zero. Then again, it's probably not fair on the other Tenno, who were all going through puberty when the accident happened. As a result, he had a very different experience with Margulis, and then Natah, than they did. He doesn't remember his parents trying to kill him, though there is that memory of a man shooting a green light. Disembarking, he makes his way down to the Lab and his mothers workspace. As he approaches, her pod opens and she disconnects from the computer network.
"Harry, welcome back."
"Mother, it's good to see you." – He indicates the owl – "We have another letter."
Dear Mr Potter _ Natah
Thank you for your prompt response, we have included a calendar with this letter. On the back our Astronomy Teacher has drawn our solar system as well as a diagram of the tilt of earth. We have marked the day with the most daylight as well as the day with the least. These are the Summer _______ and the Winter ________. We have also marked the date we received your letter, and the date that this letter was sent.
It is currently the 24th July, and we would like to arrange for a teacher to visit on the 31st of July. If possible we would take you to diagonally for your supplies, including an owl for your own correspondence.
Please let me know if the date is suitable for you, and feel free to ask me any questions. I will do my best to answer them.
Yours Sincerely
_________ ___________
Harry's eyebrows furrow as he finishes reading the letter, and looking at the associated calendar and diagram.
"Mum"
"Yes Harry?"
"I think they live on earth."
"What do you mean?"
He takes the back of the calendar over to where she's hooked into the computer systems, "Look, the orbits are slightly off, but all the major bodies of the solar system are there. Though they have an asteroid belt for some reason. Then they've got a satellite that's slightly larger than half the size of Mars, just like Lua. Then there's the axial tilt they're describing."
"I see. It is plausible if the owl is using the void to travel. Though, it would be unique amongst all of the known species, as even Tenno need technological aid to transition into the void proper. If that is the case, we will need to construct a void beacon for your railjack to home in on. I don't think we should construct a solar rail, as we do not want the Corpus or Grineer, let alone the infested, to find their way to their world."
"Could we do a series of beacons, like the ones that lead to the derelicts in the void? I know we've now isolated all of the beacons for them now, but if someone decides to follow me I'd rather have a chance to notice and ditch them before I arrive at an unspoiled planet."
"You would make a good Sentient Harry. Seeking to protect a system from those who would only exploit it."
"Thanks Mum, but I like my limbs organic."
"Of course, I'll be coming with you for the first trip. I'm sure that Teshin, can, take over…" Natah trails off as she remembers that Teshin was killed by her brother.
"I miss him too. It wasn't your fault, you were trapped."
"It's just, he took over when I was lost to myself."
"I'm sure there's a copy of Ordis floating around somewhere, and you could always ask Maroo to interact with the organics. She's pretty much neutral."
Natah laughs, "You've made your point. Now Tenno there is an urgent mission to be taken care of. You need to write a reply while I make a small temporal tracker. I want to know exactly how long it takes for the messages to get there and back. The second stage of your mission is to collect 20,000 navigation coordinates so that we can use the information from the tracker to plot a course."
"Do they need to be new coordinates?"
"No?"
"Oh, goody, here you go."
"No Harry not in here, just send them to me normally."
It takes a few days, but they put together a small tracker that fits unobtrusively inside the harness the owl is wearing. Most of that time is spent working out how to use the Orokin technology to achieve what they want by reading manuals and notes. They also write a letter.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Just over an hour after she sent the letter, the Owl returns and deposits a new letter to the desk of Minerva McGonagall.
Dear Deputy Headmistress,
We would be delighted to meet the representation of staff. However, as it has already been 3 days since this message received, we request that you send back owl immediately with a note to say what the date is. It is carrying a tracker that calculate a route to your planet should enable us from where we are.
Regards,
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Minerva snorts, of course there'd be time magic involved. Well, nothing for it but to reply assuring them that it's not quite the strangest situation she's seen. Granted, there's no topping Xeno Lovegood's visit and walking in on a fairy orgy with a little time magic mixed in. As she recalls, it took five minutes to get in and then drag the underaged Lovegood out. However, 4 days had passed on the outside. Quickly penning a reply, also including the current time and a note that time magic tends to be very localised. So, if they walk at most a mile from their current location they should return to normal time. Letter penned, she attaches it to the owls leg before sending it off.
1Unknown to him, in the absence of any form of written communication anywhere in the solar system, and the resources needed to make paper or parchment being so valuable for other things, the solution that Harry and Natah eventually came up with, was to produce an organosilicon sheet of material where the letters were just the same molecule in a different alignment, thus changing the way they reflect light. The result of this is that the document is essentially one giant molecule.
Harry Potter: Tenno – 2
Minerva skids to a halt by the gargoyle and almost collapses from the pain in her thigh. She should have taken it more easily until the muscle recovered on its own. But needs must, and talking about needs.
"Move, unless you want to be a bunny rabbit for the next school year. I have urgent news for the headmaster."
The gargoyle that guards the Headmasters office looks reprovingly at her, but does reluctantly step to one side. Limping up the stairs she pushes open the door to his office without fanfare.
Albus looks up from his own paperwork with some surprise, "Minerva, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"It's Harry, he's replied to his letter. Though it seems a little odd."
Albus' gaze sharpens, "Odd how?"
"It's like he never learnt English. Here, see for yourself."
She hands over both copies of the letter and waits silently while he reads the letter multiple times. She swears that she can see his hand reach for a quill in order to correct the grammar or word choice, even though there's only a few lines to it. Eventually he puts the letter on his desk before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.
"Well?"
"He is 11, and interested in coming. Talk to Aurora and see if she can make heads or tails of this. While you're doing that I'll draft a response. I wonder why he referred to you by your title and not your name."
Pulling his wand he duplicates the letter, then frowns when the copy doesn't have any writing on it. Instead it has black smudges where the text should be. Fixing the image in his mind, he casts the duplication spell again, with the same result. With a sigh he assumes that there's some sort of copy protection on the letter, so he pulls out a sheet of parchment and spells a quill to transcribe the letter onto the new parchment. Once she has the copy, Minerva goes off to find the Astronomy teacher to see if she can shed any light on those numbers.
Once he's alone, Albus casts some detection spells on the letter, trying to find out why he couldn't copy it. Much to his frustration, the letter shows no signs of magic. It also shows no sign of ink either. Even his alchemy spells say that it is a uniform sheet of material with no deviations within standard tolerances1.
Unfortunately, Aurora doesn't know what the numbers at the bottom of the letter mean. As such, over the rest of the day they draft a letter back to Harry trying to describe calendar. It's over breakfast that Aurora hears them bickering, and comes up with the suggestion that they end up going with. Include a calendar with each day clearly marked, and the summer and winter solstice indicated. They should also indicate when they received his letter, and when they sent the reply.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
It's almost 3 months later, and Harry is in the process of culling the Grineer Ghouls in the middle of Africa when out of nowhere an owl appears and tries to land on his Mesa frame. That lasts all of a couple of seconds before one of the ghouls tries to eat it, and with a disgruntled squark, it takes off. Unfortunately for Harry and the Owl, there's a Dargyn skiff keeping an eye on the fight, looking to take an opportunistic shot at Harry if he disengages. As soon as it finishes it's identification scan of the avian, and comes up with unknown, it's reported up the chain. Much to Harry's disgust, this means that his current location becomes the most coveted vacationing spot for every Grineer within short range radio link. It gets so bad that Harry eventually posts an urgent help bounty using his own carefully hoarded platinum. With the distraction caused by his fellow Tenno, and the onset of night and the sentient fragments rising from the depths, he is finally able to exfiltrate with the owl not only alive, but also intact.
Once behind the Orokin era walls of Cetus, Harry transfers out of his warframe and allows the owl to land on his shoulder.
"Hello there, you've been gone a while. Come on, as we're planetside, let's see Master Teasonai and see if he has any treats that are safe for you to eat."
Walking through the village is an interesting experience, as it seems like everyone wants to look at the owl. Eventually he is able to make his way to see Teasonai, who upon seeing the owl immediately stop talking to his current customer.
"Tenno, what a pleasure. And this fine specimen of a bird, where did you find it?"
"It's an owl, and I didn't find it, it found me. They're apparently used for carrying letters, as you can see."
"Is that what that is, how odd. How do you read it?"
"They've applied a substance to the surface of the animal skin." Harry removes the letter and unfolds it to show the proof.
"That seems widely wasteful, there are so many better things that the components of that letter could be used for."
"Tell me about it, they have an educational establishment that they've invited me to. I'm seriously thinking of going just to find out how they can afford to be so wasteful. Anyway, enough about my mail, can you examine the owl and let me know if there's anything I need to do to care for it properly."
"Hmm, if you'll allow me to look after it for an hour I'll give it a full diagnostic."
An hour later, and a cryptic message from the Quills contact Onkko, Harry returns to see how the owl is getting on.
"Absolutely amazing, the owl shares a lot of similarities with the local wildlife. Which, apart from the insects, seems to have come from a different evolutionary tree to everything else in the solar system. The only animals that seem to share the same evolutionary tree as us are kubrow and kavats of course."
"Um, yeah, there's a pretty good reason for that. However, I'm not really at liberty to talk about it."
"No, no I understand. You Tenno come across secrets all the time, and you trade on your reputation."
"Look, New Loka might have more information if you can sweet talk them."
"Those crazies? I doubt anyone from Cetus could step one foot inside one of their compounds without having weapons pointed at them. If my curiosity becomes bad enough I will send one of my apprentices. Anyway, your, owl was it? Yes, owl. It had some parasites living in it's feathers. We have extracted them and are keeping them for study. It also had no antibodies for any of the illnesses found on the plains. We noticed that it already had some nanites, so we've just reprogrammed them to also act as a second immune system. It should also be safe to transport it the same way you transport your other living companions. Also, you are aware that the harness is made from animal skins?"
"We were, thank you for pointing it out though. I need to get going, as this letter isn't going to translate itself."
"Thank you for allowing me to see such a magnificent specimen of a unique animal that isn't infested."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Harry makes his way to Lua with the letter, as his lander is coming in to the landing pad he muses that it's almost like having a home. Oh, he has his orbiter and railjack, but they don't have the same feel as working near to his mother. He sometimes wonders whether he'd have been kicked out like Rell was if he was older when he appeared on the Ten-Zero. Then again, it's probably not fair on the other Tenno, who were all going through puberty when the accident happened. As a result, he had a very different experience with Margulis, and then Natah, than they did. He doesn't remember his parents trying to kill him, though there is that memory of a man shooting a green light. Disembarking, he makes his way down to the Lab and his mothers workspace. As he approaches, her pod opens and she disconnects from the computer network.
"Harry, welcome back."
"Mother, it's good to see you." – He indicates the owl – "We have another letter."
Dear Mr Potter _ Natah
Thank you for your prompt response, we have included a calendar with this letter. On the back our Astronomy Teacher has drawn our solar system as well as a diagram of the tilt of earth. We have marked the day with the most daylight as well as the day with the least. These are the Summer _______ and the Winter ________. We have also marked the date we received your letter, and the date that this letter was sent.
It is currently the 24th July, and we would like to arrange for a teacher to visit on the 31st of July. If possible we would take you to diagonally for your supplies, including an owl for your own correspondence.
Please let me know if the date is suitable for you, and feel free to ask me any questions. I will do my best to answer them.
Yours Sincerely
_________ ___________
Harry's eyebrows furrow as he finishes reading the letter, and looking at the associated calendar and diagram.
"Mum"
"Yes Harry?"
"I think they live on earth."
"What do you mean?"
He takes the back of the calendar over to where she's hooked into the computer systems, "Look, the orbits are slightly off, but all the major bodies of the solar system are there. Though they have an asteroid belt for some reason. Then they've got a satellite that's slightly larger than half the size of Mars, just like Lua. Then there's the axial tilt they're describing."
"I see. It is plausible if the owl is using the void to travel. Though, it would be unique amongst all of the known species, as even Tenno need technological aid to transition into the void proper. If that is the case, we will need to construct a void beacon for your railjack to home in on. I don't think we should construct a solar rail, as we do not want the Corpus or Grineer, let alone the infested, to find their way to their world."
"Could we do a series of beacons, like the ones that lead to the derelicts in the void? I know we've now isolated all of the beacons for them now, but if someone decides to follow me I'd rather have a chance to notice and ditch them before I arrive at an unspoiled planet."
"You would make a good Sentient Harry. Seeking to protect a system from those who would only exploit it."
"Thanks Mum, but I like my limbs organic."
"Of course, I'll be coming with you for the first trip. I'm sure that Teshin, can, take over…" Natah trails off as she remembers that Teshin was killed by her brother.
"I miss him too. It wasn't your fault, you were trapped."
"It's just, he took over when I was lost to myself."
"I'm sure there's a copy of Ordis floating around somewhere, and you could always ask Maroo to interact with the organics. She's pretty much neutral."
Natah laughs, "You've made your point. Now Tenno there is an urgent mission to be taken care of. You need to write a reply while I make a small temporal tracker. I want to know exactly how long it takes for the messages to get there and back. The second stage of your mission is to collect 20,000 navigation coordinates so that we can use the information from the tracker to plot a course."
"Do they need to be new coordinates?"
"No?"
"Oh, goody, here you go."
"No Harry not in here, just send them to me normally."
It takes a few days, but they put together a small tracker that fits unobtrusively inside the harness the owl is wearing. Most of that time is spent working out how to use the Orokin technology to achieve what they want by reading manuals and notes. They also write a letter.
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Just over an hour after she sent the letter, the Owl returns and deposits a new letter to the desk of Minerva McGonagall.
Dear Deputy Headmistress,
We would be delighted to meet the representation of staff. However, as it has already been 3 days since this message received, we request that you send back owl immediately with a note to say what the date is. It is carrying a tracker that calculate a route to your planet should enable us from where we are.
Regards,
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Minerva snorts, of course there'd be time magic involved. Well, nothing for it but to reply assuring them that it's not quite the strangest situation she's seen. Granted, there's no topping Xeno Lovegood's visit and walking in on a fairy orgy with a little time magic mixed in. As she recalls, it took five minutes to get in and then drag the underaged Lovegood out. However, 4 days had passed on the outside. Quickly penning a reply, also including the current time and a note that time magic tends to be very localised. So, if they walk at most a mile from their current location they should return to normal time. Letter penned, she attaches it to the owls leg before sending it off.
1Unknown to him, in the absence of any form of written communication anywhere in the solar system, and the resources needed to make paper or parchment being so valuable for other things, the solution that Harry and Natah eventually came up with, was to produce an organosilicon sheet of material where the letters were just the same molecule in a different alignment, thus changing the way they reflect light. The result of this is that the document is essentially one giant molecule.
Taylor Hebert: Tenno - 3
DarkPhoenixLady
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Taylor Herbert: Tenno – 3
Walking through an apparently abandoned Steel Meridian ship, Grineer that had broken their programming and were now working on their own, with the lights off, left Taylor feeling like she was in a cheap Aleph horror movie. At least she was a heavily armed protagonist this time. And she's in her wisp so no matter the condition of the vip, she should be able to get them on their feet and moving. On second thoughts, maybe getting her memories back wasn't such a good thing. Dead bodies, check.
"These were killed by knives."
Taylor almost yelps when The Lotus decides to make herself known, "Don't do that, it's bad enough that I'm living the plot of a cheap slasher flick."
"I don't know what that is. Regardless, you should look around, see if there's anything else."
"When I finish here, remind me to tell you what genre aware means. As if I end up fighting some sort of zombies I'm going to call shenanigans."
"What are zombies?"
"Reanimated corpses of the dead, sometimes you didn't need to die, there was just a virus that killed your upper brain functions. The different genres of films were more popular on Aleph. For us on Bet, they were a little too close to possible given Nilbog, Heartbreaker, and half a dozen other famous masters. Oh look, another dead body. Knives again?"
"You are correct."
"Lucky me, Emma's father, Alan, was an officiando and had a secret stash of DVD's. Before she turned on me I used to spend practically every other weekend there, and at some point we'd sneak one of the films and watch it. Some of them were so cheesy, like Superman. I mean, with people like Alexandria actually flying around. Hang on, red feather? That's the Red veil isn't it."
"It is, if they are involved then you need to be careful."
"Oh, believe me I am already being careful. At least won't be the Slaughterhouse 9."
"Who are they?"
"They're a persistent group of villians from Bet, Bonesaw, a precocious girl that gained her powers during one of their attacks. She is a biotinker, able to make virus', bacteria, and modify you into obscene displays that are somehow still alive and aware. Shatterbird, a shaker that can control silicon. All silicon in a 5 mile radius. She is arguably the most famous, as her scream is the first most people know about the 9's arrival. Writing on the wall painted in blood, check."
"You are awfully calm about this Taylor."
"No I'm not, I'm just talking to you about the worst humanity has to offer on my homeworld to keep my mind off of the fact that I'm probably going to be jumped by a mindless red veil operative. Where was I, Shatterbird, yes, her calling card breaks all of the glass and silicon chips in the area."
"What are silicon chips? Do you eat them?"
"What? No, bet isn't as advanced as we are so they sill use silicon to make semiconductors with linear binary logic circuits engraved on them. You can thank Mrs Knott for that titbit. The next most famous one is Crawler, he's a monstrous brute that can regenerate from anything that doesn't kill him. What makes him famous is that he then becomes immune to that form of injury from that point forward. People think he either has a deathwish, or is addicted to the feeling of being hurt. Either way, he makes his way through a city looking for challenges and slaughtering anyone that isn't a challenge. Next is the Siberian, she is a naked white woman with tiger stripes and claws."
"What's a tiger?"
"It's an animal native to earth bet? I've found the vip."
"You need to protect her, I am getting anomalous readings on your scanner."
"Palladino wasn't it? Hi, I'm Taylor Hebert, and I am to be your body guard for the rest of our time on the ship."
As she rounds the corner, Taylor's somewhat surprised to see that it's the high priestess of the Red Veil, along with a black cat.
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"Hey Rell, I'm Taylor. Do you want to play a game?"
"Er, busy."
"That's ok, do you want me to tell you stories about my home while you're drawing?"
"Yes."
"Ok, how about Snow White."
"Yes."
"Ok, Snow White was the daughter of a very popular king and his beautiful queen. However, when she was very young her mother died in childbirth."
"Why?"
"At this time they didn't have medicine like they do now, so when something went wrong they weren't able to fix it. Anyway, after he finished mourning, the king was introduced to a beautiful woman. Over time they married and the woman became the new Queen. Unknown to everyone, the new queen was also a witch."
"What's a witch?"
"A witch is a woman that can do magic, summoning spirits, speaking with the dead, brewing potions, placing hexes and curses, and even being able to heal people. They usually have a familiar, often a black cat. These serve as guardians and spiritual protectors, warning the witch of approaching dangers."
Rell looks up from his drawing, "What happened to them?"
"A long time ago, there was a religious uproar about the supposed evils that witches had caused. So the church, you remember what that is?"
"Yes."
"The church led a hunt for all suspected witches. What actually happened is that lots of people took the opportunity to accuse people they were jealous off, leading to a lot of innocent women being killed. They also caught all of the women that were a bit different through no fault of their own. People are often afraid of differences, and that makes them lash out at them. At the time I left Earth Bet, witches weren't really a thing there, though that was because superheroes and villains took over the public consciousness. On Earth Aleph they apparently had a revival of witchcraft, and started holding seances and doing ritual magic again."
"What's a séance?"
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"Are you a witch?" Taylor blurts.
"I am, how do you know that term?"
"It really is Rell then."
Out of the shadows, red veil operatives start to approach with their knives, "Sisters, you must resist. Come back to yourselves."
When the first one takes a swipe at Taylor, centuries of ingrained instincts kick in and she takes of their head with her whip before moving to set up her fields by Palladino. What followed was a frantic firefight as the mindless followers tried to overwhelm them. As soon as their numbers broke, the two of them made a break for the extraction point along with the kavat. Once she was safely aboard a shuttle home, Palladino called Taylor.
"Tenno, thank you for the rescue. Please could you meet me at our compound on earth, Iron Wake. I've sent the location to your ship."
Walking through an apparently abandoned Steel Meridian ship, Grineer that had broken their programming and were now working on their own, with the lights off, left Taylor feeling like she was in a cheap Aleph horror movie. At least she was a heavily armed protagonist this time. And she's in her wisp so no matter the condition of the vip, she should be able to get them on their feet and moving. On second thoughts, maybe getting her memories back wasn't such a good thing. Dead bodies, check.
"These were killed by knives."
Taylor almost yelps when The Lotus decides to make herself known, "Don't do that, it's bad enough that I'm living the plot of a cheap slasher flick."
"I don't know what that is. Regardless, you should look around, see if there's anything else."
"When I finish here, remind me to tell you what genre aware means. As if I end up fighting some sort of zombies I'm going to call shenanigans."
"What are zombies?"
"Reanimated corpses of the dead, sometimes you didn't need to die, there was just a virus that killed your upper brain functions. The different genres of films were more popular on Aleph. For us on Bet, they were a little too close to possible given Nilbog, Heartbreaker, and half a dozen other famous masters. Oh look, another dead body. Knives again?"
"You are correct."
"Lucky me, Emma's father, Alan, was an officiando and had a secret stash of DVD's. Before she turned on me I used to spend practically every other weekend there, and at some point we'd sneak one of the films and watch it. Some of them were so cheesy, like Superman. I mean, with people like Alexandria actually flying around. Hang on, red feather? That's the Red veil isn't it."
"It is, if they are involved then you need to be careful."
"Oh, believe me I am already being careful. At least won't be the Slaughterhouse 9."
"Who are they?"
"They're a persistent group of villians from Bet, Bonesaw, a precocious girl that gained her powers during one of their attacks. She is a biotinker, able to make virus', bacteria, and modify you into obscene displays that are somehow still alive and aware. Shatterbird, a shaker that can control silicon. All silicon in a 5 mile radius. She is arguably the most famous, as her scream is the first most people know about the 9's arrival. Writing on the wall painted in blood, check."
"You are awfully calm about this Taylor."
"No I'm not, I'm just talking to you about the worst humanity has to offer on my homeworld to keep my mind off of the fact that I'm probably going to be jumped by a mindless red veil operative. Where was I, Shatterbird, yes, her calling card breaks all of the glass and silicon chips in the area."
"What are silicon chips? Do you eat them?"
"What? No, bet isn't as advanced as we are so they sill use silicon to make semiconductors with linear binary logic circuits engraved on them. You can thank Mrs Knott for that titbit. The next most famous one is Crawler, he's a monstrous brute that can regenerate from anything that doesn't kill him. What makes him famous is that he then becomes immune to that form of injury from that point forward. People think he either has a deathwish, or is addicted to the feeling of being hurt. Either way, he makes his way through a city looking for challenges and slaughtering anyone that isn't a challenge. Next is the Siberian, she is a naked white woman with tiger stripes and claws."
"What's a tiger?"
"It's an animal native to earth bet? I've found the vip."
"You need to protect her, I am getting anomalous readings on your scanner."
"Palladino wasn't it? Hi, I'm Taylor Hebert, and I am to be your body guard for the rest of our time on the ship."
As she rounds the corner, Taylor's somewhat surprised to see that it's the high priestess of the Red Veil, along with a black cat.
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"Hey Rell, I'm Taylor. Do you want to play a game?"
"Er, busy."
"That's ok, do you want me to tell you stories about my home while you're drawing?"
"Yes."
"Ok, how about Snow White."
"Yes."
"Ok, Snow White was the daughter of a very popular king and his beautiful queen. However, when she was very young her mother died in childbirth."
"Why?"
"At this time they didn't have medicine like they do now, so when something went wrong they weren't able to fix it. Anyway, after he finished mourning, the king was introduced to a beautiful woman. Over time they married and the woman became the new Queen. Unknown to everyone, the new queen was also a witch."
"What's a witch?"
"A witch is a woman that can do magic, summoning spirits, speaking with the dead, brewing potions, placing hexes and curses, and even being able to heal people. They usually have a familiar, often a black cat. These serve as guardians and spiritual protectors, warning the witch of approaching dangers."
Rell looks up from his drawing, "What happened to them?"
"A long time ago, there was a religious uproar about the supposed evils that witches had caused. So the church, you remember what that is?"
"Yes."
"The church led a hunt for all suspected witches. What actually happened is that lots of people took the opportunity to accuse people they were jealous off, leading to a lot of innocent women being killed. They also caught all of the women that were a bit different through no fault of their own. People are often afraid of differences, and that makes them lash out at them. At the time I left Earth Bet, witches weren't really a thing there, though that was because superheroes and villains took over the public consciousness. On Earth Aleph they apparently had a revival of witchcraft, and started holding seances and doing ritual magic again."
"What's a séance?"
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"Are you a witch?" Taylor blurts.
"I am, how do you know that term?"
"It really is Rell then."
Out of the shadows, red veil operatives start to approach with their knives, "Sisters, you must resist. Come back to yourselves."
When the first one takes a swipe at Taylor, centuries of ingrained instincts kick in and she takes of their head with her whip before moving to set up her fields by Palladino. What followed was a frantic firefight as the mindless followers tried to overwhelm them. As soon as their numbers broke, the two of them made a break for the extraction point along with the kavat. Once she was safely aboard a shuttle home, Palladino called Taylor.
"Tenno, thank you for the rescue. Please could you meet me at our compound on earth, Iron Wake. I've sent the location to your ship."
Taylor Hebert: Tenno - 4
DarkPhoenixLady
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Taylor Herbert: Tenno – 4
"Ordis, can you set in coordinates for Iron Wake?" – Taylor pauses for a second – "Actually no, given that the cluster fuck is happening I need to do something else first. Patch me through to The Lotus."
"Greetings Tenno."
"Lotus, or would you prefer Natah?"
The Lotus looks defensive at the question, "I left that name behind long ago."
"Look, I'm not Orokin, I never have been Orokin and a few weeks ago I discovered that I'd been mastered into forgetting who I am by the Orokin. So I'm doing something that I wished someone would do when I was being bullied in High School. I'm calling just to see how you're doing and if there's anything you'd like to talk about. We can even meet face to face if you want to talk about it without any recording equipment around."
"But you need to deal with the Red Veil."
"Look, I want to find out what's going on with Rell as much as anyone, probably more than most. However, whatever's going on has been breaking for a long time and they never reached out for help. So I figure that a few hours or a day or so won't make any difference as it's already FUBAR. On the other side of things, it's been less than 6 goddamn months since your father came back from the dead and tried to take you over."
"I haven't thought about it."
"Well that's fairly obvious, I'm guessing you've just pushed it to the back of your mind and are keeping yourself busy."
"Tenno."
Taylor interrupts, "No, not Tenno! Taylor. I'm Taylor. Tenno is a title, it's a way of distancing yourself from us. Tenno is what I am, Taylor is who I am. Who are you? Is The Lotus a title or a name?"
"I'm not human."
"Woo Hoo, neither am I if you look at my DNA, I've got a whole extra chromosome compared to everyone else. Also, in the non-human stakes, you're up there compared to some of the people I've heard of. Weld in Boston is literally made of metal, Newter is a lizard that sweats LSD, Gregor the Snail literally looks like a giant snail. Doesn't stop them being people, there are thousands of case 53's where I come from. Not being human doesn't mean you're not a person."
"But we came to destroy the Orokin."
"Not an Orokin, don't care."
"I was supposed to kill the Tenno."
"But you didn't, just proving my point that you're a person too."
"I have my duty to the Tenno."
"When was the last time you took time to do something yourself?"
"I can't."
"What do you mean you… Oh, you're trapped somewhere aren't you. Right, give me your coordinates I'm coming to kidnap you. If you don't I'll have Ordis scan every inch of Lua until I've found you."
"It's fine, I deserve this."
"Oh no you don't. You deserve captivity about as much as I deserved being shoved in my locker. Now give me your coordinates or I'm going to instruct Ordis."
"No, I forbid you to come, it's too dangerous."
"Ordis, locate The Lotus for me, I'm going to kidnap her and take her shopping. Maybe even buy myself a bloody bed while I'm at it too."
"Calculating, signal traced. Are you sure about this Operator?"
"Yes, yes I am. Let's go."
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"Operator, I'm not sure about this."
Taylor was jogging through the ruin on Lua as she responds, "Look, someone needs to treat her as an actual person. To show her that it's who you are and not what you are that matters."
"But Operator, you were created to fight the Sentients."
"No Ordis, I wasn't. Nobody was. I was born same as everyone else in their own way. Margulis stole my memories in a misguided attempt to help me control my powers, her superiors then forced us into being their good little soldiers. Then someone turned us against the Orokin, and finally Natah saved our lives. No more than you were created to be a ships cephalon. If there's one thing I learnt growing up in a city with the E88, it's that nobody is born with any greater destiny. Then my best friend taught me that everything that is good in your life can be taken away and turned against you. Being a Tenno has taught me that you have to fight for your right to be a person. This is me fighting for The Lotus' right to be a person."
"The target is just up ahead Operator."
"Thank you Ordis."
It took Taylor nearly half an hour to unlock the Lotus' pod, especially given that The Lotus seemed to be resisting the effort. Eventually it was done and it opened up like an orchid. Looking unimpressed, the lotus stands there.
"Well, now what?"
"Ordis, where do those cables go?"
"Tracking. Warning, operator I'm sensing a massive Sentient target."
"Right. So, is this your body and the Sentient is like our Somatic pods, or is this a projection and the Sentient is your body?"
The lotus just looks at Taylor stunned.
"Fair enough, it's not like it matters. Come on, I'm glad I brought my Atlas as I'm going to need its strength to carry your body back to my lander." - As she walks in the direction of the signature she looks back over her shoulder, "Coming?"
"Ordis, has your operator always been like this?"
"No Lotus, only since she reclaimed her memories."
The Lotus is still standing there trying to process what's happening when Taylor comes staggering back with her sentient body in a princess carry. Carefully she puts it down on the floor before drawing her Akarius and handing them hilt first to The Lotus.
"I don't know if you've used pistols before, but these don't exactly need an accurate aim, if you can't hit the target hit the floor near by and it will be close enough. I've also brought a spear, not that I'm expecting trouble, but if I've learnt anything in these conflicts it's prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
Gingerly The Lotus takes the pistols and holds them in her hands, like it's a foreign concept having weapons that are separate from you.
"Take a couple of shots if you want. I've got plenty of ammo."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you need a friend, you need to see how people live, not just how they fight. You need to live, and you need to see how those without power live. Lord Acton, a famous historian who lived around a hundred years before I arrived here, once said 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.' Mouse Protector probably said it better though 'If you don't keep in touch with the little man, then they'll be squashed when you fight the big villans.'" Hefting the Sentient body, Taylor starts to stagger back to the landing pad.
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"Operator, this makes me really uncomfortable."
"Ordis, you can either get over it or I'll replace you with Cephalon Cy and you can run the Railjack. It's your choice. She is my guest and I hope my friend."
The Lotus speaks up, "It's OK, I can go back to Lua."
"No, I meant it. I've seen the result of seeing people as what they are rather than who they are. It's a bit hard not to when you share a city with the E88. If he can't accept you as a person, then I'm not willing to have Ordis as my ships cephalon."
Cy speaks up, "The operator is correct, the primary precept of a ships cephalon is to protect their crew. The Lotus is now part of your crew."
"Ordis will acquiesce, though I reserve the right to say I told you so."
Taylor nods, even as she's manhandling the sentient body into her pod chamber, "Natah."
The Lotus scowls, "I'm not Natah."
"Look, I'm not going to call you 'The Lotus' all the time, as it sounds like a title. If you don't like Natah, pick another name. Here's a few, Alex, Jane, Emma, Sophia, Madison, Mary, Teressa, Sarah, Joan, Annette." She says the last one with a slightly sad note.
"Who was that last one?"
"Annette? She was my mother, she died in a car accident a couple of years before I came here."
"Anet, that will be my name."
"Ok Anet. Quick question, did your connection work like our somatic link does?"
"They are crudely similar."
"How far can you maintain this connection?"
"I can manage orbit, but that's it."
"Right, what I was thinking is that we can see if we can trade for some additional somatic fibers in Cetus. If we are, then we could set up a modified pod attached to the orbiters power supply. We could then place one of my spare warframes in your pod on Lua so that it has a permanent link to your body here. It won't be transference, more like remote control. But it should allow you the freedom you need to explore the solar system incognito while still being able to do your day job."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you deserve it, because you're worth it. You've given us so much of yourself, so I'm finally giving back to you."
"How do you know I won't snap and kill you?"
"Given that you brought me to my pod here once I'd woken up on Lua. I think you've more than earned my trust."
"I didn't think you'd remember that."
"You've had multiple opportunities to kill me since I woke up the first time. You could have killed all of us at the beginning, but you didn't. Ordis, set course for earth, Cetus."
"Yes Operator, course laid in."
"Anet, if you'll follow me, I'll show you my living room. Sorry about all the plushies, I kinda got carried away."
The Lotus follows somewhat numbly, still in shock from being invited into one of her Tenno's private sanctums. Every single surface was covered with different plushies, excluding a faint trail along the floor from the entrance to the observation window.
"Can you actually see with that helmet on?"
The Lotus jumps as Taylor speaks, "It's fine."
"You know, I looked up the word fine once when I was being bullied. According to psychologists it means Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional."
"Why do you know these things?"
Taylor looks at her sadly, "I think it's because we didn't have machines that could just turn off emotions and remove them from our memories. That's what they did you know, the Orokin that is, the first thing they did to me when I arrived is switch off my emotions while I was reliving the traumatic memory of what happened to me just before I arrived. They then removed the emotion from that memory. They did it to more of my traumatic memories before I learnt to hide my emotions. I remember they also did it to my memories of being worried about Rell, well until the Bitch decided that I was causing too much disruption amongst the other Ten-Zero survivors, but was to valuable to be kicked out. That's when she stole my memories."
"What does a female kubrow have to do with your treatment as a Tenno?"
"Oh, right, on Earth Bet and Earth Aleph it's also a slur against a woman. I was referring to Margulis. Anyway, it looks like the sun's up in Cetus so we should get going."
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The Lotus looked around at the people milling around in this compound. A huge Orokin tower in the background buzzed with activity. Wordlessly she follows Taylor around the market place as she haggles, barters, and tries samples of things. Occasionally she's handed something to try, meat on a stick that had been held over a fire, A lime green drink, and a model condorac were amongst the things she was given. Though the condorac is the only thing she's still holding. It's texture is soft and slightly squishy, thinking back there were several that looked like this in the private quarters.
It doesn't make sense, she's a sentient and nobody's attacked her. A few of the humans have even tried to talk to her.
"Saya, Konzu, I'd like to introduce you to Anet, a friend of mine that's staying with me for a while."
The Lotus pulls her attention back to the conversation when she hears the name she picked.
Saya looks at her before saying, "Hello Anet, you look a lot like The Lotus the Tenno talk about."
Taylor laughs, "Only when she's not working."
"Oh, I see. What can this old woman do for you Tenno."
"Taylor, my name's Taylor. I need to go to the other side of the planet for a meeting. Would you mind playing tour guide for Anet while I'm gone? Also, if you know anyone that's got any somatic fibers let them know I'm in the market for some and I'm willing to barter handsomely, upto and including platinum."
"Of course, come my dear Anet, let's show you around without the intimidating Tenno around."
The Lotus doesn't resist as Saya takes her hand and pulls her along back into the market while Taylor goes bounding off to the landing area.
"It's interesting, she seems to have changed a lot since her last visit. And then there's you 'Anet'. How did you end up in her company?"
"She has regained her memories from before she became Tenno, and I'm not sure."
"Ah, I see. Forgive an old woman her curiosity, but are you a Sentient?"
The Lotus freezes for a moment before resuming her motion.
"Ah, I see. You feel similar to the remnants that rise on the plains at night. You have nothing to fear from us, life is hard enough here without borrowing trouble."
"But why, we tried to kill you."
"No you didn't, and apart from the weird fellow that mans the Quills outpost, I don't think there's anyone here that you could possibly have tried to kill."
"But the old war."
"Hundreds of years ago you fought against the Orokin. We're not the Orokin, I'm not even sure if we ever were either. I think this dress would suit your skin colour fabulously."
The Lotus looks down at the dress that Saya is holding up against her cheek, "I, don't know."
"How does it make you feel?"
"Confused."
"Good, I can work with confused. What about this colour."
"It, reminds me of stars."
"Are stars a good thing?"
The Lotus thinks for a moment, "Yes."
"Tanzan, can you put this to one side, a Tenno by the name of Taylor will be by later to barter for it. Come Anet, let's go and see the worker in the tower. Maybe they've found some of the fibers that Taylor wants."
Anet squeezes her Condorac, "I think I'd like that."
Saya smiles an nods as the sentient beside her relaxes slightly.
"Ordis, can you set in coordinates for Iron Wake?" – Taylor pauses for a second – "Actually no, given that the cluster fuck is happening I need to do something else first. Patch me through to The Lotus."
"Greetings Tenno."
"Lotus, or would you prefer Natah?"
The Lotus looks defensive at the question, "I left that name behind long ago."
"Look, I'm not Orokin, I never have been Orokin and a few weeks ago I discovered that I'd been mastered into forgetting who I am by the Orokin. So I'm doing something that I wished someone would do when I was being bullied in High School. I'm calling just to see how you're doing and if there's anything you'd like to talk about. We can even meet face to face if you want to talk about it without any recording equipment around."
"But you need to deal with the Red Veil."
"Look, I want to find out what's going on with Rell as much as anyone, probably more than most. However, whatever's going on has been breaking for a long time and they never reached out for help. So I figure that a few hours or a day or so won't make any difference as it's already FUBAR. On the other side of things, it's been less than 6 goddamn months since your father came back from the dead and tried to take you over."
"I haven't thought about it."
"Well that's fairly obvious, I'm guessing you've just pushed it to the back of your mind and are keeping yourself busy."
"Tenno."
Taylor interrupts, "No, not Tenno! Taylor. I'm Taylor. Tenno is a title, it's a way of distancing yourself from us. Tenno is what I am, Taylor is who I am. Who are you? Is The Lotus a title or a name?"
"I'm not human."
"Woo Hoo, neither am I if you look at my DNA, I've got a whole extra chromosome compared to everyone else. Also, in the non-human stakes, you're up there compared to some of the people I've heard of. Weld in Boston is literally made of metal, Newter is a lizard that sweats LSD, Gregor the Snail literally looks like a giant snail. Doesn't stop them being people, there are thousands of case 53's where I come from. Not being human doesn't mean you're not a person."
"But we came to destroy the Orokin."
"Not an Orokin, don't care."
"I was supposed to kill the Tenno."
"But you didn't, just proving my point that you're a person too."
"I have my duty to the Tenno."
"When was the last time you took time to do something yourself?"
"I can't."
"What do you mean you… Oh, you're trapped somewhere aren't you. Right, give me your coordinates I'm coming to kidnap you. If you don't I'll have Ordis scan every inch of Lua until I've found you."
"It's fine, I deserve this."
"Oh no you don't. You deserve captivity about as much as I deserved being shoved in my locker. Now give me your coordinates or I'm going to instruct Ordis."
"No, I forbid you to come, it's too dangerous."
"Ordis, locate The Lotus for me, I'm going to kidnap her and take her shopping. Maybe even buy myself a bloody bed while I'm at it too."
"Calculating, signal traced. Are you sure about this Operator?"
"Yes, yes I am. Let's go."
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"Operator, I'm not sure about this."
Taylor was jogging through the ruin on Lua as she responds, "Look, someone needs to treat her as an actual person. To show her that it's who you are and not what you are that matters."
"But Operator, you were created to fight the Sentients."
"No Ordis, I wasn't. Nobody was. I was born same as everyone else in their own way. Margulis stole my memories in a misguided attempt to help me control my powers, her superiors then forced us into being their good little soldiers. Then someone turned us against the Orokin, and finally Natah saved our lives. No more than you were created to be a ships cephalon. If there's one thing I learnt growing up in a city with the E88, it's that nobody is born with any greater destiny. Then my best friend taught me that everything that is good in your life can be taken away and turned against you. Being a Tenno has taught me that you have to fight for your right to be a person. This is me fighting for The Lotus' right to be a person."
"The target is just up ahead Operator."
"Thank you Ordis."
It took Taylor nearly half an hour to unlock the Lotus' pod, especially given that The Lotus seemed to be resisting the effort. Eventually it was done and it opened up like an orchid. Looking unimpressed, the lotus stands there.
"Well, now what?"
"Ordis, where do those cables go?"
"Tracking. Warning, operator I'm sensing a massive Sentient target."
"Right. So, is this your body and the Sentient is like our Somatic pods, or is this a projection and the Sentient is your body?"
The lotus just looks at Taylor stunned.
"Fair enough, it's not like it matters. Come on, I'm glad I brought my Atlas as I'm going to need its strength to carry your body back to my lander." - As she walks in the direction of the signature she looks back over her shoulder, "Coming?"
"Ordis, has your operator always been like this?"
"No Lotus, only since she reclaimed her memories."
The Lotus is still standing there trying to process what's happening when Taylor comes staggering back with her sentient body in a princess carry. Carefully she puts it down on the floor before drawing her Akarius and handing them hilt first to The Lotus.
"I don't know if you've used pistols before, but these don't exactly need an accurate aim, if you can't hit the target hit the floor near by and it will be close enough. I've also brought a spear, not that I'm expecting trouble, but if I've learnt anything in these conflicts it's prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
Gingerly The Lotus takes the pistols and holds them in her hands, like it's a foreign concept having weapons that are separate from you.
"Take a couple of shots if you want. I've got plenty of ammo."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you need a friend, you need to see how people live, not just how they fight. You need to live, and you need to see how those without power live. Lord Acton, a famous historian who lived around a hundred years before I arrived here, once said 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.' Mouse Protector probably said it better though 'If you don't keep in touch with the little man, then they'll be squashed when you fight the big villans.'" Hefting the Sentient body, Taylor starts to stagger back to the landing pad.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
"Operator, this makes me really uncomfortable."
"Ordis, you can either get over it or I'll replace you with Cephalon Cy and you can run the Railjack. It's your choice. She is my guest and I hope my friend."
The Lotus speaks up, "It's OK, I can go back to Lua."
"No, I meant it. I've seen the result of seeing people as what they are rather than who they are. It's a bit hard not to when you share a city with the E88. If he can't accept you as a person, then I'm not willing to have Ordis as my ships cephalon."
Cy speaks up, "The operator is correct, the primary precept of a ships cephalon is to protect their crew. The Lotus is now part of your crew."
"Ordis will acquiesce, though I reserve the right to say I told you so."
Taylor nods, even as she's manhandling the sentient body into her pod chamber, "Natah."
The Lotus scowls, "I'm not Natah."
"Look, I'm not going to call you 'The Lotus' all the time, as it sounds like a title. If you don't like Natah, pick another name. Here's a few, Alex, Jane, Emma, Sophia, Madison, Mary, Teressa, Sarah, Joan, Annette." She says the last one with a slightly sad note.
"Who was that last one?"
"Annette? She was my mother, she died in a car accident a couple of years before I came here."
"Anet, that will be my name."
"Ok Anet. Quick question, did your connection work like our somatic link does?"
"They are crudely similar."
"How far can you maintain this connection?"
"I can manage orbit, but that's it."
"Right, what I was thinking is that we can see if we can trade for some additional somatic fibers in Cetus. If we are, then we could set up a modified pod attached to the orbiters power supply. We could then place one of my spare warframes in your pod on Lua so that it has a permanent link to your body here. It won't be transference, more like remote control. But it should allow you the freedom you need to explore the solar system incognito while still being able to do your day job."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because you deserve it, because you're worth it. You've given us so much of yourself, so I'm finally giving back to you."
"How do you know I won't snap and kill you?"
"Given that you brought me to my pod here once I'd woken up on Lua. I think you've more than earned my trust."
"I didn't think you'd remember that."
"You've had multiple opportunities to kill me since I woke up the first time. You could have killed all of us at the beginning, but you didn't. Ordis, set course for earth, Cetus."
"Yes Operator, course laid in."
"Anet, if you'll follow me, I'll show you my living room. Sorry about all the plushies, I kinda got carried away."
The Lotus follows somewhat numbly, still in shock from being invited into one of her Tenno's private sanctums. Every single surface was covered with different plushies, excluding a faint trail along the floor from the entrance to the observation window.
"Can you actually see with that helmet on?"
The Lotus jumps as Taylor speaks, "It's fine."
"You know, I looked up the word fine once when I was being bullied. According to psychologists it means Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional."
"Why do you know these things?"
Taylor looks at her sadly, "I think it's because we didn't have machines that could just turn off emotions and remove them from our memories. That's what they did you know, the Orokin that is, the first thing they did to me when I arrived is switch off my emotions while I was reliving the traumatic memory of what happened to me just before I arrived. They then removed the emotion from that memory. They did it to more of my traumatic memories before I learnt to hide my emotions. I remember they also did it to my memories of being worried about Rell, well until the Bitch decided that I was causing too much disruption amongst the other Ten-Zero survivors, but was to valuable to be kicked out. That's when she stole my memories."
"What does a female kubrow have to do with your treatment as a Tenno?"
"Oh, right, on Earth Bet and Earth Aleph it's also a slur against a woman. I was referring to Margulis. Anyway, it looks like the sun's up in Cetus so we should get going."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
The Lotus looked around at the people milling around in this compound. A huge Orokin tower in the background buzzed with activity. Wordlessly she follows Taylor around the market place as she haggles, barters, and tries samples of things. Occasionally she's handed something to try, meat on a stick that had been held over a fire, A lime green drink, and a model condorac were amongst the things she was given. Though the condorac is the only thing she's still holding. It's texture is soft and slightly squishy, thinking back there were several that looked like this in the private quarters.
It doesn't make sense, she's a sentient and nobody's attacked her. A few of the humans have even tried to talk to her.
"Saya, Konzu, I'd like to introduce you to Anet, a friend of mine that's staying with me for a while."
The Lotus pulls her attention back to the conversation when she hears the name she picked.
Saya looks at her before saying, "Hello Anet, you look a lot like The Lotus the Tenno talk about."
Taylor laughs, "Only when she's not working."
"Oh, I see. What can this old woman do for you Tenno."
"Taylor, my name's Taylor. I need to go to the other side of the planet for a meeting. Would you mind playing tour guide for Anet while I'm gone? Also, if you know anyone that's got any somatic fibers let them know I'm in the market for some and I'm willing to barter handsomely, upto and including platinum."
"Of course, come my dear Anet, let's show you around without the intimidating Tenno around."
The Lotus doesn't resist as Saya takes her hand and pulls her along back into the market while Taylor goes bounding off to the landing area.
"It's interesting, she seems to have changed a lot since her last visit. And then there's you 'Anet'. How did you end up in her company?"
"She has regained her memories from before she became Tenno, and I'm not sure."
"Ah, I see. Forgive an old woman her curiosity, but are you a Sentient?"
The Lotus freezes for a moment before resuming her motion.
"Ah, I see. You feel similar to the remnants that rise on the plains at night. You have nothing to fear from us, life is hard enough here without borrowing trouble."
"But why, we tried to kill you."
"No you didn't, and apart from the weird fellow that mans the Quills outpost, I don't think there's anyone here that you could possibly have tried to kill."
"But the old war."
"Hundreds of years ago you fought against the Orokin. We're not the Orokin, I'm not even sure if we ever were either. I think this dress would suit your skin colour fabulously."
The Lotus looks down at the dress that Saya is holding up against her cheek, "I, don't know."
"How does it make you feel?"
"Confused."
"Good, I can work with confused. What about this colour."
"It, reminds me of stars."
"Are stars a good thing?"
The Lotus thinks for a moment, "Yes."
"Tanzan, can you put this to one side, a Tenno by the name of Taylor will be by later to barter for it. Come Anet, let's go and see the worker in the tower. Maybe they've found some of the fibers that Taylor wants."
Anet squeezes her Condorac, "I think I'd like that."
Saya smiles an nods as the sentient beside her relaxes slightly.
James May Buys Authur Weasley's Ford Anglia
DarkPhoenixLady
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Clarkson and Hammond are both bickering about the heat and which car is best while looking at a world map with a route drawn on it in Johannesburg when May turns up with a beaten old Ford Angelia. Looking up they both laugh at him.
"Well, we now know who found the cheapest car, so you win that one. What made you pick that car?"
"Well as you know, the challenge said that in addition to the car we also had to buy everything we were going to use with that money, so I bought the guys old tent and camping stove for a tenner. To cap it off this car has oodles of boot space. I found an old generator, and as I had the cash I also threw in a couple of spare wheels I got at a junkyard, spare engine parts for the most common things that can go wrong. OK, I admit, I actually bought a spare Anglia at the junkyard for a ton, and stripped out anything that I thought could be useful. I did pay for the toolkit though. To cap it all, it's even got space for my golf clubs, and I've still got £600 for food and fuel on the way".
"Yes, well, erm, My car has air conditioning."
"Anyway, on with the challenge." Clarkson opens the envelope.
"Apparently, we are going to be given half a tank of petrol, and we need to drive to *coughing noises* where we can use our own money to fill up. From there we will be given our next destination. It also says that our final destination is Bejing where we will need to put our cars into the car show and score within the top 50. Right, that sounds easy."
10 minutes later
"Right, we've been driving for 10 minutes, and to be honest I was more than a little nervous about this car as I bought it without giving it a test drive. But I have to say it's got the most comfortable seat I've ever been in. Also, the radio works, and it even picks up some strange radio station. The cigarette lighter is a bit off, as the camera goes a bit fuzzy when it's plugged in, but if that's the extent of the problems I have on the journey I'll be very happy. Finally, the previous owner seems to have installed AirCon, as I've not felt the need to open the window once, and as you can see it's the middle of the day."
3 stops later, Clarkson and Hammond are filling up for the second time.
"Aren't you going to fill up the car?"
May stands up holding a fuel level tester. "Na, I've still got half a tank left."
"Didn't you say that last time?"
"Yeh, which is why I just checked the levels manually."
First night
"Well, now to find out if the tent was worth buying, according to the instructions I just need to unfold the tent, peg out the main guy ropes and stand up the poles at either end. Then just peg out the rest of the guy ropes. It says that putting it down is just the reverse, though I need to make sure I push the poles into the tent rather than out. Seems easy enough."
"Right, well that's done, let's see what it's like on the inside, whether there's any damp or milldew".
"OK... I think it's safe to say it's a good tent, if you don't mind I'm just going to go back in and enjoy my evening."
In the middle of the Congo
"Right as you can see we've been pulled over by some local bandits, Clarkson and Hammond are being held at gunpoint and it looks like they're demanding money. I bet they're regretting not buying a cheap-looking car now, no I'm not saying that you're cheap, just that you look cheap, no you're the best car, I'm not just saying that. Look, you're the nicest car I've ever driven, and I'm not going to get rid of you at the end of the show. Yes, I'll get you polished, and valet."
On the Egyptian border - Clarkson's car
"Right as you can see James has been pulled over by some men in robes, and it looks like he's been questioned. I bet he's regretting buying such a cheap car now. And he's being arrested and his car is being taken away. Oh look, he's calling after the car. I guess we'll see if he's released in time to continue the challenge tomorrow."
The next day
"As you can see, I was released after a long night of being questioned. Apparently, the previous owner used some experimental government technology without permission and they needed to track the car down to ensure that it didn't fall into the wrong hands. I had to sign an NDA with a quill where I promised that I wouldn't let anyone outside my family into the car, or inspect it. They also gave me a customs exemption certificate, and I need to bring it in for servicing every 3 years. They were even nice enough to repair Angie's bodywork after the mean men damaged it trying to take it off. Yes, you were a good car, when we get home you can get a paint job of your choice. Yes, yes I know you're excited, but you can't go yet we need to get our destination with the other two."
"Well, we now know who found the cheapest car, so you win that one. What made you pick that car?"
"Well as you know, the challenge said that in addition to the car we also had to buy everything we were going to use with that money, so I bought the guys old tent and camping stove for a tenner. To cap it off this car has oodles of boot space. I found an old generator, and as I had the cash I also threw in a couple of spare wheels I got at a junkyard, spare engine parts for the most common things that can go wrong. OK, I admit, I actually bought a spare Anglia at the junkyard for a ton, and stripped out anything that I thought could be useful. I did pay for the toolkit though. To cap it all, it's even got space for my golf clubs, and I've still got £600 for food and fuel on the way".
"Yes, well, erm, My car has air conditioning."
"Anyway, on with the challenge." Clarkson opens the envelope.
"Apparently, we are going to be given half a tank of petrol, and we need to drive to *coughing noises* where we can use our own money to fill up. From there we will be given our next destination. It also says that our final destination is Bejing where we will need to put our cars into the car show and score within the top 50. Right, that sounds easy."
10 minutes later
"Right, we've been driving for 10 minutes, and to be honest I was more than a little nervous about this car as I bought it without giving it a test drive. But I have to say it's got the most comfortable seat I've ever been in. Also, the radio works, and it even picks up some strange radio station. The cigarette lighter is a bit off, as the camera goes a bit fuzzy when it's plugged in, but if that's the extent of the problems I have on the journey I'll be very happy. Finally, the previous owner seems to have installed AirCon, as I've not felt the need to open the window once, and as you can see it's the middle of the day."
3 stops later, Clarkson and Hammond are filling up for the second time.
"Aren't you going to fill up the car?"
May stands up holding a fuel level tester. "Na, I've still got half a tank left."
"Didn't you say that last time?"
"Yeh, which is why I just checked the levels manually."
First night
"Well, now to find out if the tent was worth buying, according to the instructions I just need to unfold the tent, peg out the main guy ropes and stand up the poles at either end. Then just peg out the rest of the guy ropes. It says that putting it down is just the reverse, though I need to make sure I push the poles into the tent rather than out. Seems easy enough."
"Right, well that's done, let's see what it's like on the inside, whether there's any damp or milldew".
"OK... I think it's safe to say it's a good tent, if you don't mind I'm just going to go back in and enjoy my evening."
In the middle of the Congo
"Right as you can see we've been pulled over by some local bandits, Clarkson and Hammond are being held at gunpoint and it looks like they're demanding money. I bet they're regretting not buying a cheap-looking car now, no I'm not saying that you're cheap, just that you look cheap, no you're the best car, I'm not just saying that. Look, you're the nicest car I've ever driven, and I'm not going to get rid of you at the end of the show. Yes, I'll get you polished, and valet."
On the Egyptian border - Clarkson's car
"Right as you can see James has been pulled over by some men in robes, and it looks like he's been questioned. I bet he's regretting buying such a cheap car now. And he's being arrested and his car is being taken away. Oh look, he's calling after the car. I guess we'll see if he's released in time to continue the challenge tomorrow."
The next day
"As you can see, I was released after a long night of being questioned. Apparently, the previous owner used some experimental government technology without permission and they needed to track the car down to ensure that it didn't fall into the wrong hands. I had to sign an NDA with a quill where I promised that I wouldn't let anyone outside my family into the car, or inspect it. They also gave me a customs exemption certificate, and I need to bring it in for servicing every 3 years. They were even nice enough to repair Angie's bodywork after the mean men damaged it trying to take it off. Yes, you were a good car, when we get home you can get a paint job of your choice. Yes, yes I know you're excited, but you can't go yet we need to get our destination with the other two."
Helping Hermione
DarkPhoenixLady
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Jude and Ruth took a seat in a small hole in the wall cafe and looked at the menu on the wall.
After Ruth placed their order at the counter, the young waitress went over to the dispensary and typed in a few commands. A couple of minutes later their coffee's and sandwiches were ready and she handed them to Ruth with a tray. As they tucked into their meals Jude made a face, "I wish I could afford to eat anything other than recomb food, as it never tastes right."
While they were chatting a sleek HoverTech 5000 came to a stop outside the cafe, it's ruby red holopaint glistening in the light as the supports lowed and the door hissed open. A man stepped out and shrugged his designer jacket to make it sit on his shoulders properly. He walked in, designer shoes clacking on the floor. Ruth nudged Jude to get her to stop staring and wipe the drool from her mouth as he called out to the waitress, "Molly, can I have my usual please?"
"Sure, 10 minutes. Joe! Need a cook for a mo!"
Ruth watched the man slide into the spare chair warily, as there was no way an upper leveller would ever be interested in undercity folk like them.
"Hi. My name's Rastabian, I hope you don't mind but it's nice to be able to chat to new faces."
"Hi, I'm Ruth, and my starstruck friend is Jude."
"So what do you both do?"
Ruth stamped on her friends foot as there was no way she was going to carry this conversation on her own.
--------------------------------------------
Harry continued chatting to the girls while Hermione did his food. Eventually Ruth noticed the time and dragged Jude out to whatever they were going to be doing. So he just watched Hermione as she busied herself behind the counter. Once she brought over his food and Joe went back upstairs he gently grabbed her wrist.
"Sit with me?"
Sighing she sat down and reached for a crisp.
"When are you going to stop hiding?"
"I'm not hiding."
Harry gave her a look, "Really, the brightest witch I know working at a muggle café in the undercity, and you're not hiding."
"OK, maybe I'm hiding, but they're all dead, even my grandchildren."
"I know, I know. Do you remember what you did when I found out that Ginny was still seeing Dean and Micheal even after we were married?"
"You know I do."
"Or how about what you did when Teddy died young?"
"You know I do." She responded in a weaker voice.
"Or when I had to bury my children because terrorists decided that killing the boy-who-lived would be a way of proving that they were someone to take note of?"
"Yes."
"So why won't you let me do the same for you? You wouldn't let me help with Ron beyond healing the odd broken bone, you wouldn't let me help when your parents died, or when your children finally passed. Why won't you let me help?"
Giving up on holding her emotions back she broke down and cried into his shoulder, "I don't know, it's just that I was always the one to hold you up, I don't know why I can't let you in."
"I'm sorry that I asked you to look after those things when I went to see my parents after the war. If I'd known then the curse they carry together I'd have never done it. But I'm not sorry that you're still here with me. Let me in, let me help you."
"OK, I'll try."
After Ruth placed their order at the counter, the young waitress went over to the dispensary and typed in a few commands. A couple of minutes later their coffee's and sandwiches were ready and she handed them to Ruth with a tray. As they tucked into their meals Jude made a face, "I wish I could afford to eat anything other than recomb food, as it never tastes right."
While they were chatting a sleek HoverTech 5000 came to a stop outside the cafe, it's ruby red holopaint glistening in the light as the supports lowed and the door hissed open. A man stepped out and shrugged his designer jacket to make it sit on his shoulders properly. He walked in, designer shoes clacking on the floor. Ruth nudged Jude to get her to stop staring and wipe the drool from her mouth as he called out to the waitress, "Molly, can I have my usual please?"
"Sure, 10 minutes. Joe! Need a cook for a mo!"
Ruth watched the man slide into the spare chair warily, as there was no way an upper leveller would ever be interested in undercity folk like them.
"Hi. My name's Rastabian, I hope you don't mind but it's nice to be able to chat to new faces."
"Hi, I'm Ruth, and my starstruck friend is Jude."
"So what do you both do?"
Ruth stamped on her friends foot as there was no way she was going to carry this conversation on her own.
--------------------------------------------
Harry continued chatting to the girls while Hermione did his food. Eventually Ruth noticed the time and dragged Jude out to whatever they were going to be doing. So he just watched Hermione as she busied herself behind the counter. Once she brought over his food and Joe went back upstairs he gently grabbed her wrist.
"Sit with me?"
Sighing she sat down and reached for a crisp.
"When are you going to stop hiding?"
"I'm not hiding."
Harry gave her a look, "Really, the brightest witch I know working at a muggle café in the undercity, and you're not hiding."
"OK, maybe I'm hiding, but they're all dead, even my grandchildren."
"I know, I know. Do you remember what you did when I found out that Ginny was still seeing Dean and Micheal even after we were married?"
"You know I do."
"Or how about what you did when Teddy died young?"
"You know I do." She responded in a weaker voice.
"Or when I had to bury my children because terrorists decided that killing the boy-who-lived would be a way of proving that they were someone to take note of?"
"Yes."
"So why won't you let me do the same for you? You wouldn't let me help with Ron beyond healing the odd broken bone, you wouldn't let me help when your parents died, or when your children finally passed. Why won't you let me help?"
Giving up on holding her emotions back she broke down and cried into his shoulder, "I don't know, it's just that I was always the one to hold you up, I don't know why I can't let you in."
"I'm sorry that I asked you to look after those things when I went to see my parents after the war. If I'd known then the curse they carry together I'd have never done it. But I'm not sorry that you're still here with me. Let me in, let me help you."
"OK, I'll try."
Harry Potter: Tenno - 3
DarkPhoenixLady
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- 1,782
Harry Potter: Tenno – 3
Natah looks at the data from her tracking unit with no small amount of consternation. According to the data, it was in an area bounded by no more than 1 rel on a planetary body for 923 seconds after. Before and after that it was in motion. The total journey time was only 2,000 seconds. However, it arrived back with them 146,724 seconds after they sent it. The only way that this should be possible is if the destination was near a black hole. However, the transit times were far to quick for that to have been the case. Also concerning is the fact that the tracking unit had traces of void energy on it. This is also worrying in it's implications, as not even Tenno have been able to reliably manage long distance unassisted void travel. It also means that she'd be unable to travel with Harry to this educational institution. Idly she calls up the research on souls and the speculation on how to give a Sentient a soul. Could that be what she was missing, all of her children have reported seeing phenomenon in the void, but no probes or recording devices have ever reported any such thing. Even her own trip through the void when Harry rescued her was void of such things. If she's right, the it would also allow her to safely traverse the void and provide her with the same protection to void damage that the creatures of this system seem to enjoy.
Reaching over to her helmet, she places it on her head and accesses The Lotus' systems to record a new message.
"Tenno, this is a capture mission. Your target is a Sentient so you will need to immobilise it before you attempt the capture. Use a Kinetic Siphon Trap to immobilise your target for capture. Remember, we need the target alive."
She then sets up a series of bounties on Lua for her Tenno to bring a small variety of sub-sapient Sentient Drones. If she's going to try to give a sentient a soul, she's going to do it with those that don't have the sense of self necessary to complain first. Idly she considers whether she should share this with the others before discarding the idea. She may revisit it in the event she ever returns to her home, no, her place of birth. This is her home now, and the others can't really see that.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Harry jumps as his communicator activates to show The Lotus, "Tenno, there is a new quest available."
"Hi mum."
"This is official, so Lotus please."
"Yes Lotus." Harry says before opening up the quest information, "Lotus, why do I need to run 20 void mobile defense missions?"
"The tracking cloud was unable to follow the beacon, this suggests the creature is capable of void travel. I will be configuring the amplification arrays to track the signal. Once it is complete we will send the creature out again."
Harry sighs, just his luck she'll need a selection of towers. Not just the lightly contested ones.
A couple of months later he troops into the Lotus' labs wearing a Nezha, "Hey Mum, it's done."
Once she's finished with her call, Natah takes off her "So I see, they're all working perfectly. I was just tracking your progress to Earth. I see you also took the time to take on some of the capture targets."
"I did, what do you need them for?"
"I wanted to visit this planet with you, to see what sort of technology they have that allows them to use animals like that owl to deliver messages safely through the void. Not to mention being able to use animal skins and precious compounds to make a physical record of a message. Their world must be a technological marvel, maybe what the Orokin could have been."
"Well they did send me here safely. Though, apparently here was likely less safe than they expected. I do wonder why they never came to find me though."
"I might have an answer to that, especially if tracing the next letter works. The total round trip time from when you let the owl go to when it returned was 2,000 seconds, to the nearest second."
"And in numbers that the rest of us can visualise?"
"Around 15 minutes."
"Wait, really? It was gone nearly a day."
"146,724 seconds, to the nearest second."
"Mum, now you're just being difficult."
Natah just smiles at Harry.
"Fine, so that's 2… thousand, not quite 21, so that's 20 remainder that. Wait, 20 hours and 31 minutes give or take?"
"Well done Harry, and you didn't use your implants either. I'm impressed."
"Wait, the implants do more than just allow communications?"
"Yes, how do you think Ballas kept doing all the stuff he did, or how he was able to steal my power?"
"Why didn't anyone tell me that."
"Because you were a child, and then because you were a weapon to be used. All Tenno are also Orokin, and have the same implants and nanites as they did."
"That's why you were supposed to destroy us isn't it."
Natah nods.
"So how do I use the implants for more than just communications?"
"You already do. Remember what your orbiter looked like before it was powered on properly?" Harry nods, "That's what it looks like for anyone without implants or sentient systems. What you're seeing is your implants interacting with the systems built into those locations. Once you've learnt to access your implants consciously you'd have been taught how to use them to direct the energy produced by Orokin reactors. Then how to interface with and direct the computers. I've been reading more of the notes from the secured section, and the discussions they were having on whether to teach the Tenno how to actually use their implants. They wouldn't have started until your brain reached full maturity, so it was never on the cards for you. But most of the other Tenno passed that threshold within 5 years, with the youngest of them taking 8 years. You were the only child under the age of 10 to survive, and they weren't sure how you managed to avoid the predations of the adults long enough to be found by the children."
"Are you ok Mum?"
"It is disturbing to read these reports, we thought that the Orokin were all the enemy, and they were. It's just that not everyone we thought was Orokin were Orokin. Most were slaves in all but name, chained by implanted commands or implants like Tenshin was. Or just denied an Oro, or even the implants needed to use their technology. They used their own population in experiments as though they were less than them. Oh, Umbra was a special case, as he was a Dax, one level down from Orokin like Margulis and Ballas. I'm coming to believe that Margulis was an aberration amongst the Orokin, because she seems to have actually cared about you. But even there, she looked at you especially Harry. I've found discussions about how you've got the best genetic reconstructions she's ever seen, and how using your information they've been able to improve the viability of the Grineer clones by 10 years. This is massive, as it suggests that originally Grineer were only expected to live at most 5-10 years. They expected that implementing these improvements would pay for itself within 5 generations in terms of resources saved."
Harry looks sick, he has some friends in the Steel Meridian, and the idea that he was partially responsible for their condition, no matter how indirectly, sickened him. Granted he had more friends in New Loka and the Perrin Initiative, it made balancing his long standing friendship with Cephalon Suda and his standing with New Loka look easy in comparison. Not that he can blame them for it, the Grineer as a whole don't really understand the whole family thing. Something to do with being created in a tube and then programmed with all the skills you need to know. It leads to some odd disconnects, even amongst those free of the hard wired loyalty to their queens.
"Harry, don't think about it too deeply. Apart from the family on Demios, they're all dead now. And all of this happened hundreds of years ago."
Harry laughs humourlessly, "I'm supposed to be a battle-hardened Tenno, and here I am being upset that I was used to increase the amount of suffering the Grineer go through just so that they needed to clone less of them."
"Aren't you the one that keeps telling me that I chose to be The Lotus? What about you? Are you Tenno or Harry?"
"I'm Harry of course."
"Then as Harry, you are allowed to be upset at these things. Anyway, are you ready to send the letter?"
"I am."
"Then I'm activating all of the trace programs, release in 3…2…1…Go!"
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Minerva yawned as she clambers off her bed and heads into the bathroom. As she's crossing her living room an owl swoops down and lands on the back of her armchair by the fire. Absently she unties the letter and summons an owl treat with her wand before continuing into the bathroom. She's just sat down and is staring at the letter when her sleep fogged brain clears enough to realise what just happened. It takes all of her experience not to immediately get up and check the door to her quarters. Instead she opens the letter in a shaky hand.
Dear Deputy Headmistress,
Thank you for your prompt reply, and your suggestion. However, we are currently restricted to the solar system, so we cannot test the idea that moving one M I L E would allow us to leave the effect. We are however trying to plot a route to your location, so if you would return the owl with a letter in a days time it would be greatly appreciated. We think that we will have nearly 90 days to try and locate you during that period.
Regards,
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Numbly she sits there and lets the letter drift to the floor, Solar system, they don't know what a mile is. It looks like they actually drew out the word. Where is Harry? When she finished with her morning ablutions and was dressed. She calmly, collectedly, and unhurriedly made her way to breakfast where she deliberately savoured every bite before making her way to her office. She then wrote a letter to a fellow Master in India that she'd corresponded with about a few articles in Transfiguration Today. Normally she wouldn't expect a reply for a least a week due to the distance the owls had to fly. Restricted to the Solar System. She is only mildly surprised when the owl returns 30 minutes later with a bright red letter in it's talons
"What the hell Professor McGonagall, I was in a meeting and your owl just breezes in as though our wards don't exist. If you are going to run magical experiments again in the future let me know in advance so that you don't cause a panic.
Madhavacharta Ashtikar"
Opening the bottom draw of her desk she looks longingly at the bottle while she tries to decide if it's too early to have a dram or two.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
It's a couple of months later when Natah calls out, "Harry, I think I've got it."
Harry comes over, "Got what?"
"The location of the planet the educational establishment is on." – She points at a graph on the screen that shows a massive dip followed by two small spikes – "See here where the signal redshifts just below the detectable range of the Antenna, and then blueshifts for a few hours twice. I manufactured a drone with a trailing antenna twice as long and launched into the void around Lua. With that I was able to detect the signal. I then sent out a few Railjack missions to deposit copies of these drones in different parts of the void. This allowed me to draw a 4d map of where the signal overlaps and calculate the probable coordinates. Then, taking measurements at different times, I was able to configure the systems here to calculate it's motion relative to us, giving us this 5d plot. It turns out it's not a long distance by Railjack, but you will be going deeper than anyone has ever gone before and returned to tell the tale, at least according to the records here. Not even the Ten-zero went as deep. Because of that we need to ensure that you have a receiver that can pick up the blue shifted signals from here."
"Ok, what does that mean?"
"You're going to need to talk with Cephalon Cy about installing a somatic link into your Railjack, along with designing a lander segment. He should enjoy the challenge. You'll also not have access to the storage on your Orbiter, so if you want to take anything you'll need to make sure it's on your Railjack. And, no that doesn't mean your entire plushie and bobblehead collection."
Natah looks at the data from her tracking unit with no small amount of consternation. According to the data, it was in an area bounded by no more than 1 rel on a planetary body for 923 seconds after. Before and after that it was in motion. The total journey time was only 2,000 seconds. However, it arrived back with them 146,724 seconds after they sent it. The only way that this should be possible is if the destination was near a black hole. However, the transit times were far to quick for that to have been the case. Also concerning is the fact that the tracking unit had traces of void energy on it. This is also worrying in it's implications, as not even Tenno have been able to reliably manage long distance unassisted void travel. It also means that she'd be unable to travel with Harry to this educational institution. Idly she calls up the research on souls and the speculation on how to give a Sentient a soul. Could that be what she was missing, all of her children have reported seeing phenomenon in the void, but no probes or recording devices have ever reported any such thing. Even her own trip through the void when Harry rescued her was void of such things. If she's right, the it would also allow her to safely traverse the void and provide her with the same protection to void damage that the creatures of this system seem to enjoy.
Reaching over to her helmet, she places it on her head and accesses The Lotus' systems to record a new message.
"Tenno, this is a capture mission. Your target is a Sentient so you will need to immobilise it before you attempt the capture. Use a Kinetic Siphon Trap to immobilise your target for capture. Remember, we need the target alive."
She then sets up a series of bounties on Lua for her Tenno to bring a small variety of sub-sapient Sentient Drones. If she's going to try to give a sentient a soul, she's going to do it with those that don't have the sense of self necessary to complain first. Idly she considers whether she should share this with the others before discarding the idea. She may revisit it in the event she ever returns to her home, no, her place of birth. This is her home now, and the others can't really see that.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Harry jumps as his communicator activates to show The Lotus, "Tenno, there is a new quest available."
"Hi mum."
"This is official, so Lotus please."
"Yes Lotus." Harry says before opening up the quest information, "Lotus, why do I need to run 20 void mobile defense missions?"
"The tracking cloud was unable to follow the beacon, this suggests the creature is capable of void travel. I will be configuring the amplification arrays to track the signal. Once it is complete we will send the creature out again."
Harry sighs, just his luck she'll need a selection of towers. Not just the lightly contested ones.
A couple of months later he troops into the Lotus' labs wearing a Nezha, "Hey Mum, it's done."
Once she's finished with her call, Natah takes off her "So I see, they're all working perfectly. I was just tracking your progress to Earth. I see you also took the time to take on some of the capture targets."
"I did, what do you need them for?"
"I wanted to visit this planet with you, to see what sort of technology they have that allows them to use animals like that owl to deliver messages safely through the void. Not to mention being able to use animal skins and precious compounds to make a physical record of a message. Their world must be a technological marvel, maybe what the Orokin could have been."
"Well they did send me here safely. Though, apparently here was likely less safe than they expected. I do wonder why they never came to find me though."
"I might have an answer to that, especially if tracing the next letter works. The total round trip time from when you let the owl go to when it returned was 2,000 seconds, to the nearest second."
"And in numbers that the rest of us can visualise?"
"Around 15 minutes."
"Wait, really? It was gone nearly a day."
"146,724 seconds, to the nearest second."
"Mum, now you're just being difficult."
Natah just smiles at Harry.
"Fine, so that's 2… thousand, not quite 21, so that's 20 remainder that. Wait, 20 hours and 31 minutes give or take?"
"Well done Harry, and you didn't use your implants either. I'm impressed."
"Wait, the implants do more than just allow communications?"
"Yes, how do you think Ballas kept doing all the stuff he did, or how he was able to steal my power?"
"Why didn't anyone tell me that."
"Because you were a child, and then because you were a weapon to be used. All Tenno are also Orokin, and have the same implants and nanites as they did."
"That's why you were supposed to destroy us isn't it."
Natah nods.
"So how do I use the implants for more than just communications?"
"You already do. Remember what your orbiter looked like before it was powered on properly?" Harry nods, "That's what it looks like for anyone without implants or sentient systems. What you're seeing is your implants interacting with the systems built into those locations. Once you've learnt to access your implants consciously you'd have been taught how to use them to direct the energy produced by Orokin reactors. Then how to interface with and direct the computers. I've been reading more of the notes from the secured section, and the discussions they were having on whether to teach the Tenno how to actually use their implants. They wouldn't have started until your brain reached full maturity, so it was never on the cards for you. But most of the other Tenno passed that threshold within 5 years, with the youngest of them taking 8 years. You were the only child under the age of 10 to survive, and they weren't sure how you managed to avoid the predations of the adults long enough to be found by the children."
"Are you ok Mum?"
"It is disturbing to read these reports, we thought that the Orokin were all the enemy, and they were. It's just that not everyone we thought was Orokin were Orokin. Most were slaves in all but name, chained by implanted commands or implants like Tenshin was. Or just denied an Oro, or even the implants needed to use their technology. They used their own population in experiments as though they were less than them. Oh, Umbra was a special case, as he was a Dax, one level down from Orokin like Margulis and Ballas. I'm coming to believe that Margulis was an aberration amongst the Orokin, because she seems to have actually cared about you. But even there, she looked at you especially Harry. I've found discussions about how you've got the best genetic reconstructions she's ever seen, and how using your information they've been able to improve the viability of the Grineer clones by 10 years. This is massive, as it suggests that originally Grineer were only expected to live at most 5-10 years. They expected that implementing these improvements would pay for itself within 5 generations in terms of resources saved."
Harry looks sick, he has some friends in the Steel Meridian, and the idea that he was partially responsible for their condition, no matter how indirectly, sickened him. Granted he had more friends in New Loka and the Perrin Initiative, it made balancing his long standing friendship with Cephalon Suda and his standing with New Loka look easy in comparison. Not that he can blame them for it, the Grineer as a whole don't really understand the whole family thing. Something to do with being created in a tube and then programmed with all the skills you need to know. It leads to some odd disconnects, even amongst those free of the hard wired loyalty to their queens.
"Harry, don't think about it too deeply. Apart from the family on Demios, they're all dead now. And all of this happened hundreds of years ago."
Harry laughs humourlessly, "I'm supposed to be a battle-hardened Tenno, and here I am being upset that I was used to increase the amount of suffering the Grineer go through just so that they needed to clone less of them."
"Aren't you the one that keeps telling me that I chose to be The Lotus? What about you? Are you Tenno or Harry?"
"I'm Harry of course."
"Then as Harry, you are allowed to be upset at these things. Anyway, are you ready to send the letter?"
"I am."
"Then I'm activating all of the trace programs, release in 3…2…1…Go!"
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Minerva yawned as she clambers off her bed and heads into the bathroom. As she's crossing her living room an owl swoops down and lands on the back of her armchair by the fire. Absently she unties the letter and summons an owl treat with her wand before continuing into the bathroom. She's just sat down and is staring at the letter when her sleep fogged brain clears enough to realise what just happened. It takes all of her experience not to immediately get up and check the door to her quarters. Instead she opens the letter in a shaky hand.
Dear Deputy Headmistress,
Thank you for your prompt reply, and your suggestion. However, we are currently restricted to the solar system, so we cannot test the idea that moving one M I L E would allow us to leave the effect. We are however trying to plot a route to your location, so if you would return the owl with a letter in a days time it would be greatly appreciated. We think that we will have nearly 90 days to try and locate you during that period.
Regards,
Natah (The Lotus), Harry.
Numbly she sits there and lets the letter drift to the floor, Solar system, they don't know what a mile is. It looks like they actually drew out the word. Where is Harry? When she finished with her morning ablutions and was dressed. She calmly, collectedly, and unhurriedly made her way to breakfast where she deliberately savoured every bite before making her way to her office. She then wrote a letter to a fellow Master in India that she'd corresponded with about a few articles in Transfiguration Today. Normally she wouldn't expect a reply for a least a week due to the distance the owls had to fly. Restricted to the Solar System. She is only mildly surprised when the owl returns 30 minutes later with a bright red letter in it's talons
"What the hell Professor McGonagall, I was in a meeting and your owl just breezes in as though our wards don't exist. If you are going to run magical experiments again in the future let me know in advance so that you don't cause a panic.
Madhavacharta Ashtikar"
Opening the bottom draw of her desk she looks longingly at the bottle while she tries to decide if it's too early to have a dram or two.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
It's a couple of months later when Natah calls out, "Harry, I think I've got it."
Harry comes over, "Got what?"
"The location of the planet the educational establishment is on." – She points at a graph on the screen that shows a massive dip followed by two small spikes – "See here where the signal redshifts just below the detectable range of the Antenna, and then blueshifts for a few hours twice. I manufactured a drone with a trailing antenna twice as long and launched into the void around Lua. With that I was able to detect the signal. I then sent out a few Railjack missions to deposit copies of these drones in different parts of the void. This allowed me to draw a 4d map of where the signal overlaps and calculate the probable coordinates. Then, taking measurements at different times, I was able to configure the systems here to calculate it's motion relative to us, giving us this 5d plot. It turns out it's not a long distance by Railjack, but you will be going deeper than anyone has ever gone before and returned to tell the tale, at least according to the records here. Not even the Ten-zero went as deep. Because of that we need to ensure that you have a receiver that can pick up the blue shifted signals from here."
"Ok, what does that mean?"
"You're going to need to talk with Cephalon Cy about installing a somatic link into your Railjack, along with designing a lander segment. He should enjoy the challenge. You'll also not have access to the storage on your Orbiter, so if you want to take anything you'll need to make sure it's on your Railjack. And, no that doesn't mean your entire plushie and bobblehead collection."
James May buys Arthur Weasley's Ford Anglia - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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James May buys Aurthur Weasley's Ford Anglia – 2
"Please Angie, the film crew just want to check the camera."
"I'll bring it back I promise. What do you mean you like being able to see? Is that what the interference is? They have cameras with night vision built in. What, yes I know you have headlamps."
Clarkson walks away from where James is arguing with his car about whether the camera can be inspected, "Hammond"
"Yes Jeremy?"
"Do you think there's something going on with James?"
"What, you mean apart from treating his car as if it's alive?"
"Yes."
"Then no."
"Exactly, wait what?"
"Well think about it, how many miles to the gallon do you think he's got so far?"
"Well, he filled it up, no, no, not then, or then. Actually, I don't think I've seen him fill the car up at all."
"I have, it was in Cairo and he drained the petrol tank first before buying that ultra supreme performance petrol."
"Oh, yes, I remember the 104 octane stuff that's basically wasted on a car that old."
"That's the stuff."
"Really, do you remember how much he put in?"
"About 10 gallons."
"What? Really? That was what, 2,000 miles ago?"
"Well we're now in Kyrgyzstan, so more like 3,000 by road."
"Bloody hell, that's 300 miles to the Gallon."
"Then there's the government officials that he had to talk to in Egypt and the NDA that he won't say anything about."
"Are you saying that the car might actually be alive?"
"Uh huh."
"No, that's impossible."
"What else could it be?"
"Artificial intelligence?"
"So, basically alive."
"What, how did you get to that?"
"Well, dogs, cats, and elephants are alive aren't they, but they're not as intelligent as us. James is arguing with the car about something that was added to it for the show. Ergo it can learn, which means it's as alive as a dog."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Camped out on a remote pass south west of their previous spot
Shivering in the cold, and unwilling to start the car to warm up, Clarkson climbs out of the back of his car and makes his way over to James' tent. As he is about to enter the Ford Anglia toots it's horn, making him jump. While he's still recovering from the shock the tent flap opens to reveal james in a dressing gown holding a mug of hot chocolate. A flickering yellow light and a blast of hot air accompany him.
"What?"
"Could I come in?"
"No."
"What do you mean No?"
"It's fairly obvious isn't it. N, O. No."
"Oh, come on, why?"
"You've been dissing Angie since you saw her in Cape Town. You've taken every opportunity to mock me when I put up my tent every night, saying that the mattress in the back of your car is far better. You even suggested I might be going a little insane back in Kyrg… That country. And now that's it got a little chilly out you want to use my tent?"
"A little chilly? There's ice forming on the windows for christs sake."
James looks around Jeremy at his car, "You ok there Angie?"
The car toots twice.
"Doesn't look that icy to me. Besides, didn't you say that you could just run the engine if it got cold."
"But that was when I knew where the next petrol station was."
"You're still not coming in, but wait right here."
James closes and laces the flap, a couple of minutes later he comes back with a blanket.
"Right, you can use this for tonight, I took it off of the spare bed so I want it back in the morning."
Numbly Jeremy walks back to the car before looking at the camera, "Spare bed?"
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Somewhere in the lowlands of Nepal, where they're avoiding the Gobi desert, Tibet, and the Himalayas, along a muddy road that could charitably be called a track.
James looks back down the road at Clarksons and Hammonds cars as they are trying futilely to free their own cars from the deep mud. Casually reaching over to the passenger seat he grabs his thermos of tea and pours himself a cup.
"You're a good car aren't you Angie. Yes I know you're dirty, I'll give you a wash when we camp for the night. Yes, there's a bucket and sponge in the tent. I've also got some premium oil I was saving for a special occasion. You know, I don't think anyone likes mud most of the time. Well, that's handy, I didn't know you can fly."
"James!" Clarkson's voice is barely audible from where James is.
"What!?"
"Could you give us a hand?"
James claps encouragingly.
"Not that sort of hand you arse."
"What do you think, should we tow them out of the mud?"
When he finishes asking that the boot pops open. Carefully walking around the car, he grabs the tow rope from the boot and attaches the hook to the tow point on the back of Angie.
"Clarkson, catch!"
Jeremy turns around just in time to get a face full of mud as the hook on the other end of the rope lands in the mud just in front of him.
"Thanks James" he grumbles.
"Please Angie, the film crew just want to check the camera."
"I'll bring it back I promise. What do you mean you like being able to see? Is that what the interference is? They have cameras with night vision built in. What, yes I know you have headlamps."
Clarkson walks away from where James is arguing with his car about whether the camera can be inspected, "Hammond"
"Yes Jeremy?"
"Do you think there's something going on with James?"
"What, you mean apart from treating his car as if it's alive?"
"Yes."
"Then no."
"Exactly, wait what?"
"Well think about it, how many miles to the gallon do you think he's got so far?"
"Well, he filled it up, no, no, not then, or then. Actually, I don't think I've seen him fill the car up at all."
"I have, it was in Cairo and he drained the petrol tank first before buying that ultra supreme performance petrol."
"Oh, yes, I remember the 104 octane stuff that's basically wasted on a car that old."
"That's the stuff."
"Really, do you remember how much he put in?"
"About 10 gallons."
"What? Really? That was what, 2,000 miles ago?"
"Well we're now in Kyrgyzstan, so more like 3,000 by road."
"Bloody hell, that's 300 miles to the Gallon."
"Then there's the government officials that he had to talk to in Egypt and the NDA that he won't say anything about."
"Are you saying that the car might actually be alive?"
"Uh huh."
"No, that's impossible."
"What else could it be?"
"Artificial intelligence?"
"So, basically alive."
"What, how did you get to that?"
"Well, dogs, cats, and elephants are alive aren't they, but they're not as intelligent as us. James is arguing with the car about something that was added to it for the show. Ergo it can learn, which means it's as alive as a dog."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Camped out on a remote pass south west of their previous spot
Shivering in the cold, and unwilling to start the car to warm up, Clarkson climbs out of the back of his car and makes his way over to James' tent. As he is about to enter the Ford Anglia toots it's horn, making him jump. While he's still recovering from the shock the tent flap opens to reveal james in a dressing gown holding a mug of hot chocolate. A flickering yellow light and a blast of hot air accompany him.
"What?"
"Could I come in?"
"No."
"What do you mean No?"
"It's fairly obvious isn't it. N, O. No."
"Oh, come on, why?"
"You've been dissing Angie since you saw her in Cape Town. You've taken every opportunity to mock me when I put up my tent every night, saying that the mattress in the back of your car is far better. You even suggested I might be going a little insane back in Kyrg… That country. And now that's it got a little chilly out you want to use my tent?"
"A little chilly? There's ice forming on the windows for christs sake."
James looks around Jeremy at his car, "You ok there Angie?"
The car toots twice.
"Doesn't look that icy to me. Besides, didn't you say that you could just run the engine if it got cold."
"But that was when I knew where the next petrol station was."
"You're still not coming in, but wait right here."
James closes and laces the flap, a couple of minutes later he comes back with a blanket.
"Right, you can use this for tonight, I took it off of the spare bed so I want it back in the morning."
Numbly Jeremy walks back to the car before looking at the camera, "Spare bed?"
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Somewhere in the lowlands of Nepal, where they're avoiding the Gobi desert, Tibet, and the Himalayas, along a muddy road that could charitably be called a track.
James looks back down the road at Clarksons and Hammonds cars as they are trying futilely to free their own cars from the deep mud. Casually reaching over to the passenger seat he grabs his thermos of tea and pours himself a cup.
"You're a good car aren't you Angie. Yes I know you're dirty, I'll give you a wash when we camp for the night. Yes, there's a bucket and sponge in the tent. I've also got some premium oil I was saving for a special occasion. You know, I don't think anyone likes mud most of the time. Well, that's handy, I didn't know you can fly."
"James!" Clarkson's voice is barely audible from where James is.
"What!?"
"Could you give us a hand?"
James claps encouragingly.
"Not that sort of hand you arse."
"What do you think, should we tow them out of the mud?"
When he finishes asking that the boot pops open. Carefully walking around the car, he grabs the tow rope from the boot and attaches the hook to the tow point on the back of Angie.
"Clarkson, catch!"
Jeremy turns around just in time to get a face full of mud as the hook on the other end of the rope lands in the mud just in front of him.
"Thanks James" he grumbles.
Harry Potter - Tenno - 4
DarkPhoenixLady
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 4
Albus looks over his desk at his Deputy with some concern, "Are you sure you want to do this? We could send Hagrid."
"No, I've been the main contact through the letters, and I want to see that he's ok with my own eyes. That and they might have an issue with time magic, and Hagrid wouldn't be able to deal with that."
"But how are you going to get there?"
"I spoke to Fawkes while you were out, and he agreed to take me."
"I can't persuade you to let another staff member go?"
"Apart from you Albus, I am the most experienced staff member, and most able to deal with any situation that might arise."
Slumping in his chair, Albus strokes his beard in a comforting gesture, "I'm not going to talk you out of this am I."
"No, I allowed you to leave him with those ghastly muggles and now he's who knows where. This time I'm not going to leave him to fend for himself."
Albus decides to keep quiet about the fact that Petunia never even saw the boy.
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Natah looks down at the most recent sentient that she's worked on since setting the capture bounty. A feeling of melancholy comes over her as she considers the irony that these Sentients can be made here, while those that are sapient like herself become sterile when they pass through the gap. Not only has it survived the experience, but there also seems to be a spark of something in it's movements. Harry comes in wearing one of his warframes, Banshee Prime if she's not mistaken, as he does, the sentient flinches at his presence. That's, unusual. She holds out a hand palm facing towards Harry, and he stops. After a few minutes of not dying, the Sentient starts looking for a way out, and failing that moves as far away from Harry as it can.
"Mum. What did you do?"
Natah thinks for a moment, "I think I've given it a soul."
"I hope you're not going to do this to yourself after only one success."
Natah laughs, "No Harry, I'm not going to perform an experimental procedure on myself that has currently killed 157 out of 158 sentients it has been tried on."
"Good, I don't want to lose you so soon after getting to know you."
"You won't. Now be ready to dodge, I'm going to turn it's weapons back on."
Harry's ready when it does immediately open fire, what he wasn't ready for is the fact it shot the floor in front of him. Even so, he jumps backwards and to one side, then watches in amazement as it doesn't immediately follow up on the first shots. "Mum."
"Yes Harry."
"Have you just turned a Sentient killing machine into a wild animal?"
"It seems that way."
"Right, just wanted to be sure. Anyway, you wanted me to give you a couple of hours warning before the teacher was due to arrive."
"Oh, yes, I need to set up the scanning equipment. Thank you Harry, could you give me a hand with it?"
"Sure."
"You know, Maroo seems to be doing really well as the face of the Tenno. She seems to have enough hardened explorer vibe to make people treat with her seriously."
"Told you."
"Yes you did. Though Ordis isn't doing so well communicating with the Tenno, I have to take over far too much."
"What about what's her face, the Dax that's moved in with Maroo. She's been around as long as Tenshin was."
"I'll approach her to see, how's the modifications to your railjack coming along?"
"We've had to get rid of the forward facing turret, so I'm missing my heaviest guns. But Cy wouldn't let me get rid of the bottom or rear placements. The entire cargo bay has been converted into a pod room, along with wall mounts for 6 warframes and my armoury. I've also got space for Whisker to live too."
"That's your kavat isn't it."
"It is. In deference to the fact I might be transporting human guests, I've also installed a few seats I recovered from an Orokin derelict. I'm also leaving Nidus behind, as I don't want to spread the infestation to a virgin system. I've also taken each of the frames I'm going to take to the helminth before taking them straight to the Railjack."
"Well done, I'd forgotten about that. Do you have a foundry?"
"Yep, fully stocked too, as well as a Mod workstation."
"Well, let's get those scanners set up."
"What are we going to do about the language thing."
"I've repaired your old pod and added the flash training matrix to it. It's slightly different for adults than children, but they'll have the basic knowledge they need to operate here. Apparently it wasn't too rare for people to marry down, so they had processes in place to elevate them."
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Minerva double checked that she had her travel trunk in her pocket along with her wand and old armour, though it was a little more snug than it used to be. Fawkes alights on her shoulder and Albus gives her a cheery wave before she's engulfed in flames. Then she's standing on a smooth stone floor in a cave that's open to the stars on one side with a blue green moon hanging full in the air. Off to one side is a human woman with a strange headdress looking at something and swearing in a foreign language. Looming over her is a Golem of unknown construction. The only indication she has that she's in the right place is the owl sitting on the Golems shoulder. The Golem says something, before shrugging and turning towards her, and then Harry comes out of it's chest. She'd recognise the Potter profile anywhere, and the eyes are pure Lily.
"Harry, I'm so glad to see you."
"Whorre, Pum whepo yeep slip wonk worr. Caxan ug kot dinke zo dew wholo." He opens the lid on some sort of casket with a seat inside it and indicates between her and the seat. Not recognising the language in any way, she walks over and sits in the chair. Harry then does something and she blacks out.
Minerva wakes up feeling rested and pain free for the first time in what seems like forever. Opening her eyes she can see the inside of her healing pod with the internal controls in front of her face. Outside the pod there are a couple of people talking. Her eyes widen when she realises that she didn't know all of this when she got into the pod. Quickly stabbing the release, she sits up as the lid opens.
"Mum, mum, Natah!"
"It's impossible, it can't be true, there was no void wake, only visible light and heat."
"Mum! It's clearly possible as it happened. Besides, she's awake."
Minerva looks over at the voices, to see the woman working on a dataslate while Harry is standing beside her trying to talk to her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what happened?"
Harry looks over at her, "Sorry about my mum, but she can get like this when things don't make sense. She's sometimes worse than a Corpus Exec that's gotten wind of a possible profit-making opportunity."
"What, why does what you just said make sense?"
"The pod you were in ran you through a flash training program. It basically hijacks your dream state in order to integrate whatever it's supposed to teach you. You might dream about being different people for a few weeks, but that's just your brain cementing the information. Looking at the display it also fixed your eyesight, replaced your liver and kidneys, healed some arthritis in your left knee. Removed a proto-cancer in your overies and corrected the genetic defect that led to it. Oh, and removed all the heavy metals, primarily lead, that weren't supposed to be there. They're in the cup on the left-hand side. You've also been given the immunisations you need to live here without dying of something virulent."
"How long did this take?"
"Around 4 hours."
"Oh, no, we're going to miss the shops in Diagon Alley"
"Don't worry about time, we've calculated that we're running between 70 and 90 times faster than you are. That means that you've only been here for 2-3 minutes."
Minerva stops and stares at Harry for a moment, "Harry, I assumed that you were just large for your age. But how long have you been here?"
Harry shrugs, "Around 800 years give or take."
She sags back into the seat, "But, how?"
"I appeared on the Zariman 10-zero while it was stuck in the void. I was in a basket with a blanket and a letter. From what I've been told, it was stuck there for 6 months after I arrived. The void has left a permanent mark on all of the survivors of that time, and the rest is not something I feel comfortable sharing with you just yet, as I've only found out recently myself. Suffice to say that we are functionally immortal. Mum is also functionally immortal, but for a different reason. A side effect of that is that we stopped aging just before we hit true adulthood. Physically, I'm around 16."
"Today's supposed to be your 11th birthday, I was expecting you to be slightly older because of the time problems you were describing in your letters. But this is a bit more than I was expecting. Let me get out and unpack my trunk."
"Before you do that, why don't we move into the complex so that we don't need to worry about powering the atmospheric shields."
"Atmos…pher…ic shields." – She slowly turns to look at the blue green moon hanging in the sky – "That's Earth isn't it."
"It is."
"That means we're standing on the Moon."
"We call it Lua, but yes."
Shakily she points at the Earth, "That's the Earth."
"Yes."
"And we're standing on the Moon Lua."
"Yes."
"Impossible."
"Now you sound like mum."
Natah finally walks over still scowling at her datapad, "Harry, I'm not that bad."
"Mum, you were literally just complaining about how something you just saw happen was impossible. Yes you are."
Deciding that the Deputy was in shock, Harry transfers back into his Banshee Prime and sweeps her up into a princess carry before starting to walk back into the compound with The Lotus. Minerva turns her head to study the Golem and realises that it has breasts and a defined waist.
"Harry, is your Golem female?"
"She's a warframe, and yes she is."
Minerva nods, that makes more sense than it being a golem, "Why are you using a female warframe?"
"She feels more comfortable today."
The Lotus looks up from her datapad, shakes her head slightly and Natah says, "Gender is somewhat optional for Tenno. Warframes are somewhat alive, though most of them don't have the ability to act on their own. They still have their own experiences, feelings, and opinions. When a Tenno has transferred into a warframe it's body becomes their body. What it feels they feel. Their arm is it's arm. In essence they provide the mind and motive force. Some of them were sapient before the Orokin turned them into warframes, and in the process driving them insane."
Albus looks over his desk at his Deputy with some concern, "Are you sure you want to do this? We could send Hagrid."
"No, I've been the main contact through the letters, and I want to see that he's ok with my own eyes. That and they might have an issue with time magic, and Hagrid wouldn't be able to deal with that."
"But how are you going to get there?"
"I spoke to Fawkes while you were out, and he agreed to take me."
"I can't persuade you to let another staff member go?"
"Apart from you Albus, I am the most experienced staff member, and most able to deal with any situation that might arise."
Slumping in his chair, Albus strokes his beard in a comforting gesture, "I'm not going to talk you out of this am I."
"No, I allowed you to leave him with those ghastly muggles and now he's who knows where. This time I'm not going to leave him to fend for himself."
Albus decides to keep quiet about the fact that Petunia never even saw the boy.
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Natah looks down at the most recent sentient that she's worked on since setting the capture bounty. A feeling of melancholy comes over her as she considers the irony that these Sentients can be made here, while those that are sapient like herself become sterile when they pass through the gap. Not only has it survived the experience, but there also seems to be a spark of something in it's movements. Harry comes in wearing one of his warframes, Banshee Prime if she's not mistaken, as he does, the sentient flinches at his presence. That's, unusual. She holds out a hand palm facing towards Harry, and he stops. After a few minutes of not dying, the Sentient starts looking for a way out, and failing that moves as far away from Harry as it can.
"Mum. What did you do?"
Natah thinks for a moment, "I think I've given it a soul."
"I hope you're not going to do this to yourself after only one success."
Natah laughs, "No Harry, I'm not going to perform an experimental procedure on myself that has currently killed 157 out of 158 sentients it has been tried on."
"Good, I don't want to lose you so soon after getting to know you."
"You won't. Now be ready to dodge, I'm going to turn it's weapons back on."
Harry's ready when it does immediately open fire, what he wasn't ready for is the fact it shot the floor in front of him. Even so, he jumps backwards and to one side, then watches in amazement as it doesn't immediately follow up on the first shots. "Mum."
"Yes Harry."
"Have you just turned a Sentient killing machine into a wild animal?"
"It seems that way."
"Right, just wanted to be sure. Anyway, you wanted me to give you a couple of hours warning before the teacher was due to arrive."
"Oh, yes, I need to set up the scanning equipment. Thank you Harry, could you give me a hand with it?"
"Sure."
"You know, Maroo seems to be doing really well as the face of the Tenno. She seems to have enough hardened explorer vibe to make people treat with her seriously."
"Told you."
"Yes you did. Though Ordis isn't doing so well communicating with the Tenno, I have to take over far too much."
"What about what's her face, the Dax that's moved in with Maroo. She's been around as long as Tenshin was."
"I'll approach her to see, how's the modifications to your railjack coming along?"
"We've had to get rid of the forward facing turret, so I'm missing my heaviest guns. But Cy wouldn't let me get rid of the bottom or rear placements. The entire cargo bay has been converted into a pod room, along with wall mounts for 6 warframes and my armoury. I've also got space for Whisker to live too."
"That's your kavat isn't it."
"It is. In deference to the fact I might be transporting human guests, I've also installed a few seats I recovered from an Orokin derelict. I'm also leaving Nidus behind, as I don't want to spread the infestation to a virgin system. I've also taken each of the frames I'm going to take to the helminth before taking them straight to the Railjack."
"Well done, I'd forgotten about that. Do you have a foundry?"
"Yep, fully stocked too, as well as a Mod workstation."
"Well, let's get those scanners set up."
"What are we going to do about the language thing."
"I've repaired your old pod and added the flash training matrix to it. It's slightly different for adults than children, but they'll have the basic knowledge they need to operate here. Apparently it wasn't too rare for people to marry down, so they had processes in place to elevate them."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Minerva double checked that she had her travel trunk in her pocket along with her wand and old armour, though it was a little more snug than it used to be. Fawkes alights on her shoulder and Albus gives her a cheery wave before she's engulfed in flames. Then she's standing on a smooth stone floor in a cave that's open to the stars on one side with a blue green moon hanging full in the air. Off to one side is a human woman with a strange headdress looking at something and swearing in a foreign language. Looming over her is a Golem of unknown construction. The only indication she has that she's in the right place is the owl sitting on the Golems shoulder. The Golem says something, before shrugging and turning towards her, and then Harry comes out of it's chest. She'd recognise the Potter profile anywhere, and the eyes are pure Lily.
"Harry, I'm so glad to see you."
"Whorre, Pum whepo yeep slip wonk worr. Caxan ug kot dinke zo dew wholo." He opens the lid on some sort of casket with a seat inside it and indicates between her and the seat. Not recognising the language in any way, she walks over and sits in the chair. Harry then does something and she blacks out.
Minerva wakes up feeling rested and pain free for the first time in what seems like forever. Opening her eyes she can see the inside of her healing pod with the internal controls in front of her face. Outside the pod there are a couple of people talking. Her eyes widen when she realises that she didn't know all of this when she got into the pod. Quickly stabbing the release, she sits up as the lid opens.
"Mum, mum, Natah!"
"It's impossible, it can't be true, there was no void wake, only visible light and heat."
"Mum! It's clearly possible as it happened. Besides, she's awake."
Minerva looks over at the voices, to see the woman working on a dataslate while Harry is standing beside her trying to talk to her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what happened?"
Harry looks over at her, "Sorry about my mum, but she can get like this when things don't make sense. She's sometimes worse than a Corpus Exec that's gotten wind of a possible profit-making opportunity."
"What, why does what you just said make sense?"
"The pod you were in ran you through a flash training program. It basically hijacks your dream state in order to integrate whatever it's supposed to teach you. You might dream about being different people for a few weeks, but that's just your brain cementing the information. Looking at the display it also fixed your eyesight, replaced your liver and kidneys, healed some arthritis in your left knee. Removed a proto-cancer in your overies and corrected the genetic defect that led to it. Oh, and removed all the heavy metals, primarily lead, that weren't supposed to be there. They're in the cup on the left-hand side. You've also been given the immunisations you need to live here without dying of something virulent."
"How long did this take?"
"Around 4 hours."
"Oh, no, we're going to miss the shops in Diagon Alley"
"Don't worry about time, we've calculated that we're running between 70 and 90 times faster than you are. That means that you've only been here for 2-3 minutes."
Minerva stops and stares at Harry for a moment, "Harry, I assumed that you were just large for your age. But how long have you been here?"
Harry shrugs, "Around 800 years give or take."
She sags back into the seat, "But, how?"
"I appeared on the Zariman 10-zero while it was stuck in the void. I was in a basket with a blanket and a letter. From what I've been told, it was stuck there for 6 months after I arrived. The void has left a permanent mark on all of the survivors of that time, and the rest is not something I feel comfortable sharing with you just yet, as I've only found out recently myself. Suffice to say that we are functionally immortal. Mum is also functionally immortal, but for a different reason. A side effect of that is that we stopped aging just before we hit true adulthood. Physically, I'm around 16."
"Today's supposed to be your 11th birthday, I was expecting you to be slightly older because of the time problems you were describing in your letters. But this is a bit more than I was expecting. Let me get out and unpack my trunk."
"Before you do that, why don't we move into the complex so that we don't need to worry about powering the atmospheric shields."
"Atmos…pher…ic shields." – She slowly turns to look at the blue green moon hanging in the sky – "That's Earth isn't it."
"It is."
"That means we're standing on the Moon."
"We call it Lua, but yes."
Shakily she points at the Earth, "That's the Earth."
"Yes."
"And we're standing on the Moon Lua."
"Yes."
"Impossible."
"Now you sound like mum."
Natah finally walks over still scowling at her datapad, "Harry, I'm not that bad."
"Mum, you were literally just complaining about how something you just saw happen was impossible. Yes you are."
Deciding that the Deputy was in shock, Harry transfers back into his Banshee Prime and sweeps her up into a princess carry before starting to walk back into the compound with The Lotus. Minerva turns her head to study the Golem and realises that it has breasts and a defined waist.
"Harry, is your Golem female?"
"She's a warframe, and yes she is."
Minerva nods, that makes more sense than it being a golem, "Why are you using a female warframe?"
"She feels more comfortable today."
The Lotus looks up from her datapad, shakes her head slightly and Natah says, "Gender is somewhat optional for Tenno. Warframes are somewhat alive, though most of them don't have the ability to act on their own. They still have their own experiences, feelings, and opinions. When a Tenno has transferred into a warframe it's body becomes their body. What it feels they feel. Their arm is it's arm. In essence they provide the mind and motive force. Some of them were sapient before the Orokin turned them into warframes, and in the process driving them insane."
Harry Potter: Tenno - 5
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 5
Minerva conjures a chair and sits down weakly, to more exclamations of "That's impossible, there were no energy spikes it just appeared." She smiles as part of this is going according to script, that smile quickly turns into a frown as Harry does the same and produces a sofa made from gold and some white material. Waving her wand she casts a couple of analysis charms to try to determine the magic it used and stares as it just comes up as a muggle artifact. Her own complaints join that of The Lotus, as the shocks keep mounting up. She's in a place where they can do magic that is not magic, and Harry has been alive for over 800 years.
Harry just sits back on his sofa and smiles at both of them complaining about something being impossible because it doesn't conform to their rules. After a few minutes enjoying the schadenfreude he interrupts both their thought processes.
"Mum, Headmistress, just quit it. Just because you don't know how it works doesn't make it impossible. The Headmistress."
"McGonagall. Professor Minerva McGonagall."
"McGonagall knows how to use magic, and I have an invitation to their educational establishment to learn how to use it myself. You know how to use physics, and I know how to use the void. Mum, the only difference between void and magic is that you can detect and analyse void, but you don't have anything that can detect magic yet. McGonagall, you seem to only know about magic."
Minerva shakes her head, "I know quite a bit about what can be done without magic as I introduce muggleborn students to the magical world every year."
Harry thinks for a moment, "Then it's likely that they aren't as advanced technologically as we are. Either way, the point is the same, you are both experts in your own fields, and what you are seeing falls outside anything you could have expected."
Natah looks at Harry, "Why aren't you bothered by this?"
Harry laughs, "Mum, I'm not a scientist, have you seen how much Grineer waste has come out of the woodwork over the last couple of years that looks like it shouldn't be possible. Yet nearly all of it has a sound scientific basis. I had to learn to just take things as they are and deal with them."
"I suppose it could look like that."
"Mum, you're not human. You have senses that I couldn't even name, let alone comprehend."
Minerva looks sharply at Harry, "Your mother isn't human?"
"Yeah, she's a Sentient. From what we've been able to piece together, they were terraforming machines that gained sapience while doing their jobs in the Tau system. They then decided that they quite liked the system they'd just terraformed, and they'd rather their creators didn't come and ruin it all the way they've ruined their home system, this one. So they started a war that the Orokin were losing. I was 12 or 13 when Mum subverted us, the Tenno, and got us to fight against the Orokin. She then went against orders, and hid Lua rather than kill us."
Natah nods, "It's a rather short summation, but there's nothing untrue in that."
Minerva girds herself, takes her trunk off of her belt before placing it on the floor and unshrinking it with a wave of her wand. Ignoring the gasp behind her she opens the lid and climbs down the ladder inside before retrieving a bottle of ogdens finest and a couple of glasses. Wordlessly she hands one of the glasses to Natah before opening the bottle and pouring both of them a triple.
"Bottoms up", she upends the glass and swallows the whole thing in one go, Natah follows suit a moment later. She feels the magic working and lets the belch rise up and a gout of flame spews across the room.
"That's better." She then enjoys the rather surprised and confused expression on Natah's face as she does the same thing. She can't even bring herself to care that Natah isn't magical so she'll need healing later.
Slurring slightly she says, "Harry's mum, I note that we never got around to introducing each other with all the impossibilities going around. I'm Minerva McGonagall. Minnie to my friends."
"I am The Lotus, Natah to my friends and family. Well, really just Harry."
"I would be honoured to be able to call you Natah."
"That would be good. What's happening to me?"
"It would be the magic in drink, makes it work on anything. Look, the label even guarantees that half a bottle will even get a Giant drunk. Don't get much more magic resistant than a Giant."
"Why not give Harry some?"
Minerva slurs a laugh, "Harry's 11, can't be giving children alcohol."
Harry decides to leave them to it at that point.
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"I don't get it Cy, both of them are supposed to be highly intelligent representatives of their respective species, and yet they couldn't acknowledge that the other was doing stuff they had no explanation for."
"I have seen many crew on the ships that I have served on. One thing that has always been true is that the younger members have a certain flexibility of thought that the older members lacked. I've seen many of you Tenno since you rebuilt me, and you are all the same. Young adults just on the cusp of adult development. Often ruled by your emotions more than your heads, but able to react and adapt to new situations far faster than more experienced heads in similar situations. It is why you are still employed even though for many the name Tenno is a curse word. The Lotus and the new teacher have maturity on you, which serves them well in it's own way. Much like Tenshin was able to plan far in advance of most Tenno, they can both see far reaching consequences of what they know. Give them a few days and I have no doubt that they will both have accepted the others impossibilities and either be working to understand them, or just accept that they're there."
"Thanks Cy, I guess it's hard to believe that physical maturity makes such a difference."
"As a cephalon I have different limitations, so it's easier for me to see. Equally, we have trouble with abstract notions."
"You mean like music?"
"Yes, like music."
"I think I'm going to bring Ocatavia, Titania, and Wisp with me."
"They are all good choices, though lacking in the ability to just take punishment."
"I don't think I'll need that sort of ability there, but I'm going to take Atlas, Oberon, and Gauss, no Loki on the other side."
"Why not take your Ivara?"
"Because I want a balance of male and female."
"I can't say I understand organics fascination with gender."
"Neither do we most of the time, we just know what feels comfortable. And sometimes different gender frames feel more comfortable."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you feel comfortable as you?"
"Yeah, most of the time. When I don't I'll slip into a warframe. It's not like I couldn't change everything apart from the plumbing using my orbiter pod anyway."
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Natah looks at the human Minerva with some amusement as she wakes up in a pod. Serves her right for inflicting that on the organic parts of her chassis. Turning back to her notes on the latest experiment along with the analysis of the changes to the first survivor, she is amused at the sounds of pain coming from the human and wonders how long it will take them to figure out they can just make the pod remove the hangover.
What she's seeing from the results of adding a soul is, concerning. The sentient has minor changes throughout it's chassis and programming. Part of which brings hope into her heart, a rudimentary reproduction system. The changes to the programming are more worrying, as it's precepts have changed priority and preservation of self is stubbornly at the top of the list. Second on the list is garbage as far as her instruments can tell. A goblet filled with h2O appears on the surface beside her, and her manipulation arms twitch slightly. Harry was right earlier, it's clearly not impossible if it just happened. It just took several hours for her systems to adjust to the idea there was something she couldn't explain, they then started making theories for how to start to explain the phenomenon.
"Good Morning, assuming morning exists on the Moon."
"Commonly, organics use the term for the start of their waking period if they're not on a planet with a near 24 hour cycle."
"Why are you sitting in that massive construction, and what happened to your face?"
"My systems have been undergoing reconfiguration to account for previously unknown phenomenon. The datalink between the main chassis and this form is not wide enough for that purpose so I recombined the two in order to facilitate the process."
"You sound different too."
"It is harder to appreciate organic matters when I am like this as I have full access to all of my senses. The increased processing power also leaves me a little disassociated from things that seem important when I'm only using the subframe."
"I see. I'd like to apologise for the way I was behaving yesterday, I came here with an incorrect set of assumptions and I reacted badly to having them thrown in my face."
"It is of no issue. It is why my systems are reconfiguring after all. Though I will say, I'm pretty sure that you don't see. That is something that can be changed if you'd like, as there is a proven procedure for converting an organic to a Sentient. Additionally, with this research you won't even lose your soul." She waves a manipulator at the display in front of her.
Minerva doesn't even twitch at the display, "I see, what research is this?"
"The Tenno get their name from the ship that they were found on, the Zamarin Ten-Zero. The ship was a Military Vessel being used for experiments in the void. According to the official records there were no civilians on board. According to these sealed records they were experimenting on the effects of void exposure. Harry appeared on this ship before it returned to real space, which is why he's part of the Tenno. What they found when they examined him after he was recovered allowed them to confirm the existence of the soul. They then theorised that it is possible to give my kind souls when they're made."
"You don't have a soul?"
"Correct. Over the last year I theorised that it's why the void is so problematic for us. I have successfully given two of the lesser Sentients souls, and I'm analysing the changes that have happened to them."
"How did Harry prove that souls exist?"
"Read for yourself." Natah hands Minerva a data pad with the relevant research open.
Sometime later Natah was interrupted from her scans of Fawkes by Minerva swearing, "That Wiskered old goat I won't remove the scar because scars can be useful indeed. What did you know you old bastard?"
"Are you ok Professor?"
"I've just read the description of where they found the soul, and what they did to remove it."
"Why did that cause you to suffer a bout of anger?"
"Because I asked Albus about removing the scar when we were dropping him off with his relatives. He assured me that it was better to leave it."
"Did you know it held a soul then?"
"No."
"Do you have reason to believe that he did?"
"No, we thought it was dark magic."
"How would you have removed it if it was dark magic?"
"It would have needed a long stay in a magical hospital and specialist magic to slowly leech the magic from the wound so that they could then heal it."
"According to the letter he was found with, his parents had just been killed and he was being placed where he was for protection. How safe would he have been if he went through that process?"
"I, dammit, how can you be so reasonable?"
"The emotional routines that I developed when I tried to destroy this part of myself are deadened while I'm whole. It makes being impartial easier, but the trade off is that I find it harder to treat organics as people that have feelings. Harry stopped me from destroying either part of myself and continue being The Lotus. I sometimes wonder if he was right."
"I've seen lots of children come through Hogwarts over the last 50 years, and some of them become what their families want, and others become what they want. The only thing that is consistent is that they are always who they are. You can't take away parts of them and still have a whole person, something breaks every single time. Then the mind healers at St Mungos have to earn their pay by putting them back together again. Good or bad we are always more than the sum of everything we have experienced, and removing part of that hurts us more than you'd expect."
"Merlin, I need to take Harry to Diagon Alley."
"His Railjack is not yet ready to head to your system, also I will not be able to accompany you until I am confident enough in my research to give myself a soul, as the void is not forgiving to my kind."
"Void? You've mentioned it before."
"It looks like grey mist when you travel through it, and it's how the owl has been getting between us."
"I didn't travel through a void, Fawkes brought me here by phoenix travel. He has consented to help me do Harry's shopping. Why are you preparing his Railjack?"
"Tenno need their Somatic Link while they're asleep, as it allows them to continue to inhabit their warframes. Without that their void powers can react to their emotions while they dream, causing damage and injury to people and things around them."
"I see, I will be sure to let his head of house know once he's been sorted. Will you be coming with us?"
"Will Fawkes be able to take one of the captured Sentients first, I'll disable the weaponry. Don't worry, they're sub-sapient and programmed for particular tasks."
"Why don't you ask him yourself, he is quite intelligent."
Natah turns to the phoenix that is somehow looking smug in the middle of her equipment, "Fawkes, would you mind taking one of the captured sentients to diagonally and bring them back to see if it's safe for me to be transported by you."
Fawkes trills and launches off the pedestal he's perched on, flys around the room once and then dives at her. She has only an instant to react before she's engulfed in flames and appears on the steps of a white building on a planet. Her systems reel from the shock and change in input and busily start to gather data on the new location, first noting the lack of any Orokin systems communications beacons or energy flows. Idly she notes that some of the organics have drawn wands or swords and are watching her warily. Her logic processes point out that she does actually count as a captured sentient given what she's found out the Orokin did to her.
"I'm assuming you can understand me, so could you take me back please?" She adds the please as she doesn't want to be stranded here while there's so much going wrong in the Orokin system. A flash of fire later and she is standing in front of Minerva, who is trying to reassure a distraught Harry. As soon as he notices that she's there he launches into a hug. She still doesn't understand how he can be so accepting. Diagnostics are already running before he's taken a step towards her, and are coming up clean.
Minerva conjures a chair and sits down weakly, to more exclamations of "That's impossible, there were no energy spikes it just appeared." She smiles as part of this is going according to script, that smile quickly turns into a frown as Harry does the same and produces a sofa made from gold and some white material. Waving her wand she casts a couple of analysis charms to try to determine the magic it used and stares as it just comes up as a muggle artifact. Her own complaints join that of The Lotus, as the shocks keep mounting up. She's in a place where they can do magic that is not magic, and Harry has been alive for over 800 years.
Harry just sits back on his sofa and smiles at both of them complaining about something being impossible because it doesn't conform to their rules. After a few minutes enjoying the schadenfreude he interrupts both their thought processes.
"Mum, Headmistress, just quit it. Just because you don't know how it works doesn't make it impossible. The Headmistress."
"McGonagall. Professor Minerva McGonagall."
"McGonagall knows how to use magic, and I have an invitation to their educational establishment to learn how to use it myself. You know how to use physics, and I know how to use the void. Mum, the only difference between void and magic is that you can detect and analyse void, but you don't have anything that can detect magic yet. McGonagall, you seem to only know about magic."
Minerva shakes her head, "I know quite a bit about what can be done without magic as I introduce muggleborn students to the magical world every year."
Harry thinks for a moment, "Then it's likely that they aren't as advanced technologically as we are. Either way, the point is the same, you are both experts in your own fields, and what you are seeing falls outside anything you could have expected."
Natah looks at Harry, "Why aren't you bothered by this?"
Harry laughs, "Mum, I'm not a scientist, have you seen how much Grineer waste has come out of the woodwork over the last couple of years that looks like it shouldn't be possible. Yet nearly all of it has a sound scientific basis. I had to learn to just take things as they are and deal with them."
"I suppose it could look like that."
"Mum, you're not human. You have senses that I couldn't even name, let alone comprehend."
Minerva looks sharply at Harry, "Your mother isn't human?"
"Yeah, she's a Sentient. From what we've been able to piece together, they were terraforming machines that gained sapience while doing their jobs in the Tau system. They then decided that they quite liked the system they'd just terraformed, and they'd rather their creators didn't come and ruin it all the way they've ruined their home system, this one. So they started a war that the Orokin were losing. I was 12 or 13 when Mum subverted us, the Tenno, and got us to fight against the Orokin. She then went against orders, and hid Lua rather than kill us."
Natah nods, "It's a rather short summation, but there's nothing untrue in that."
Minerva girds herself, takes her trunk off of her belt before placing it on the floor and unshrinking it with a wave of her wand. Ignoring the gasp behind her she opens the lid and climbs down the ladder inside before retrieving a bottle of ogdens finest and a couple of glasses. Wordlessly she hands one of the glasses to Natah before opening the bottle and pouring both of them a triple.
"Bottoms up", she upends the glass and swallows the whole thing in one go, Natah follows suit a moment later. She feels the magic working and lets the belch rise up and a gout of flame spews across the room.
"That's better." She then enjoys the rather surprised and confused expression on Natah's face as she does the same thing. She can't even bring herself to care that Natah isn't magical so she'll need healing later.
Slurring slightly she says, "Harry's mum, I note that we never got around to introducing each other with all the impossibilities going around. I'm Minerva McGonagall. Minnie to my friends."
"I am The Lotus, Natah to my friends and family. Well, really just Harry."
"I would be honoured to be able to call you Natah."
"That would be good. What's happening to me?"
"It would be the magic in drink, makes it work on anything. Look, the label even guarantees that half a bottle will even get a Giant drunk. Don't get much more magic resistant than a Giant."
"Why not give Harry some?"
Minerva slurs a laugh, "Harry's 11, can't be giving children alcohol."
Harry decides to leave them to it at that point.
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"I don't get it Cy, both of them are supposed to be highly intelligent representatives of their respective species, and yet they couldn't acknowledge that the other was doing stuff they had no explanation for."
"I have seen many crew on the ships that I have served on. One thing that has always been true is that the younger members have a certain flexibility of thought that the older members lacked. I've seen many of you Tenno since you rebuilt me, and you are all the same. Young adults just on the cusp of adult development. Often ruled by your emotions more than your heads, but able to react and adapt to new situations far faster than more experienced heads in similar situations. It is why you are still employed even though for many the name Tenno is a curse word. The Lotus and the new teacher have maturity on you, which serves them well in it's own way. Much like Tenshin was able to plan far in advance of most Tenno, they can both see far reaching consequences of what they know. Give them a few days and I have no doubt that they will both have accepted the others impossibilities and either be working to understand them, or just accept that they're there."
"Thanks Cy, I guess it's hard to believe that physical maturity makes such a difference."
"As a cephalon I have different limitations, so it's easier for me to see. Equally, we have trouble with abstract notions."
"You mean like music?"
"Yes, like music."
"I think I'm going to bring Ocatavia, Titania, and Wisp with me."
"They are all good choices, though lacking in the ability to just take punishment."
"I don't think I'll need that sort of ability there, but I'm going to take Atlas, Oberon, and Gauss, no Loki on the other side."
"Why not take your Ivara?"
"Because I want a balance of male and female."
"I can't say I understand organics fascination with gender."
"Neither do we most of the time, we just know what feels comfortable. And sometimes different gender frames feel more comfortable."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you feel comfortable as you?"
"Yeah, most of the time. When I don't I'll slip into a warframe. It's not like I couldn't change everything apart from the plumbing using my orbiter pod anyway."
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Natah looks at the human Minerva with some amusement as she wakes up in a pod. Serves her right for inflicting that on the organic parts of her chassis. Turning back to her notes on the latest experiment along with the analysis of the changes to the first survivor, she is amused at the sounds of pain coming from the human and wonders how long it will take them to figure out they can just make the pod remove the hangover.
What she's seeing from the results of adding a soul is, concerning. The sentient has minor changes throughout it's chassis and programming. Part of which brings hope into her heart, a rudimentary reproduction system. The changes to the programming are more worrying, as it's precepts have changed priority and preservation of self is stubbornly at the top of the list. Second on the list is garbage as far as her instruments can tell. A goblet filled with h2O appears on the surface beside her, and her manipulation arms twitch slightly. Harry was right earlier, it's clearly not impossible if it just happened. It just took several hours for her systems to adjust to the idea there was something she couldn't explain, they then started making theories for how to start to explain the phenomenon.
"Good Morning, assuming morning exists on the Moon."
"Commonly, organics use the term for the start of their waking period if they're not on a planet with a near 24 hour cycle."
"Why are you sitting in that massive construction, and what happened to your face?"
"My systems have been undergoing reconfiguration to account for previously unknown phenomenon. The datalink between the main chassis and this form is not wide enough for that purpose so I recombined the two in order to facilitate the process."
"You sound different too."
"It is harder to appreciate organic matters when I am like this as I have full access to all of my senses. The increased processing power also leaves me a little disassociated from things that seem important when I'm only using the subframe."
"I see. I'd like to apologise for the way I was behaving yesterday, I came here with an incorrect set of assumptions and I reacted badly to having them thrown in my face."
"It is of no issue. It is why my systems are reconfiguring after all. Though I will say, I'm pretty sure that you don't see. That is something that can be changed if you'd like, as there is a proven procedure for converting an organic to a Sentient. Additionally, with this research you won't even lose your soul." She waves a manipulator at the display in front of her.
Minerva doesn't even twitch at the display, "I see, what research is this?"
"The Tenno get their name from the ship that they were found on, the Zamarin Ten-Zero. The ship was a Military Vessel being used for experiments in the void. According to the official records there were no civilians on board. According to these sealed records they were experimenting on the effects of void exposure. Harry appeared on this ship before it returned to real space, which is why he's part of the Tenno. What they found when they examined him after he was recovered allowed them to confirm the existence of the soul. They then theorised that it is possible to give my kind souls when they're made."
"You don't have a soul?"
"Correct. Over the last year I theorised that it's why the void is so problematic for us. I have successfully given two of the lesser Sentients souls, and I'm analysing the changes that have happened to them."
"How did Harry prove that souls exist?"
"Read for yourself." Natah hands Minerva a data pad with the relevant research open.
Sometime later Natah was interrupted from her scans of Fawkes by Minerva swearing, "That Wiskered old goat I won't remove the scar because scars can be useful indeed. What did you know you old bastard?"
"Are you ok Professor?"
"I've just read the description of where they found the soul, and what they did to remove it."
"Why did that cause you to suffer a bout of anger?"
"Because I asked Albus about removing the scar when we were dropping him off with his relatives. He assured me that it was better to leave it."
"Did you know it held a soul then?"
"No."
"Do you have reason to believe that he did?"
"No, we thought it was dark magic."
"How would you have removed it if it was dark magic?"
"It would have needed a long stay in a magical hospital and specialist magic to slowly leech the magic from the wound so that they could then heal it."
"According to the letter he was found with, his parents had just been killed and he was being placed where he was for protection. How safe would he have been if he went through that process?"
"I, dammit, how can you be so reasonable?"
"The emotional routines that I developed when I tried to destroy this part of myself are deadened while I'm whole. It makes being impartial easier, but the trade off is that I find it harder to treat organics as people that have feelings. Harry stopped me from destroying either part of myself and continue being The Lotus. I sometimes wonder if he was right."
"I've seen lots of children come through Hogwarts over the last 50 years, and some of them become what their families want, and others become what they want. The only thing that is consistent is that they are always who they are. You can't take away parts of them and still have a whole person, something breaks every single time. Then the mind healers at St Mungos have to earn their pay by putting them back together again. Good or bad we are always more than the sum of everything we have experienced, and removing part of that hurts us more than you'd expect."
"Merlin, I need to take Harry to Diagon Alley."
"His Railjack is not yet ready to head to your system, also I will not be able to accompany you until I am confident enough in my research to give myself a soul, as the void is not forgiving to my kind."
"Void? You've mentioned it before."
"It looks like grey mist when you travel through it, and it's how the owl has been getting between us."
"I didn't travel through a void, Fawkes brought me here by phoenix travel. He has consented to help me do Harry's shopping. Why are you preparing his Railjack?"
"Tenno need their Somatic Link while they're asleep, as it allows them to continue to inhabit their warframes. Without that their void powers can react to their emotions while they dream, causing damage and injury to people and things around them."
"I see, I will be sure to let his head of house know once he's been sorted. Will you be coming with us?"
"Will Fawkes be able to take one of the captured Sentients first, I'll disable the weaponry. Don't worry, they're sub-sapient and programmed for particular tasks."
"Why don't you ask him yourself, he is quite intelligent."
Natah turns to the phoenix that is somehow looking smug in the middle of her equipment, "Fawkes, would you mind taking one of the captured sentients to diagonally and bring them back to see if it's safe for me to be transported by you."
Fawkes trills and launches off the pedestal he's perched on, flys around the room once and then dives at her. She has only an instant to react before she's engulfed in flames and appears on the steps of a white building on a planet. Her systems reel from the shock and change in input and busily start to gather data on the new location, first noting the lack of any Orokin systems communications beacons or energy flows. Idly she notes that some of the organics have drawn wands or swords and are watching her warily. Her logic processes point out that she does actually count as a captured sentient given what she's found out the Orokin did to her.
"I'm assuming you can understand me, so could you take me back please?" She adds the please as she doesn't want to be stranded here while there's so much going wrong in the Orokin system. A flash of fire later and she is standing in front of Minerva, who is trying to reassure a distraught Harry. As soon as he notices that she's there he launches into a hug. She still doesn't understand how he can be so accepting. Diagnostics are already running before he's taken a step towards her, and are coming up clean.
Harry Potter: Tenno - 6
DarkPhoenixLady
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 6
After quite a lot of arguing, Harry had been allowed to travel to Diagon Alley in his Titania frame. So it was that the three of them appeared on the steps of Gringotts in a flash of fire. Fawkes immediately moving to perch on top of Natah's chassis. Minerva steps forward to talk to one of the Aurors that had showed up in the brief window of time since Fawkes brought Natah last time.
"Good day Auror…"
"Prentice Professor. What's going on, and what's with the monsters?"
"I'm showing a student around, they're the one wearing the butterfly themed armour."
"And the other one?"
"Their adoptive mother."
"I see, I think I should assign an escort while you're here." He looks nervously at the rather large sword on the back of the person in armour.
"I assure you that I am perfectly capable of looking after my charges on my own. Or are you going to argue that."
"No Professor, it's just."
"Just?"
"Nothing professor."
"Good, make sure it stays that way."
"But what about their weapons?"
Minerva looks pointedly at the wand in his hand.
"We don't know what she might do with that sword."
"Auror Prentice, you are carrying a deadly weapon that you've been trained to use. You are surrounded by people carrying the same weapon, and you are worried about a sword?"
"Off with you, and if I catch you trying to make trouble for my student you'll wish that Madam Bones got to you first. Oh, and existing isn't yet a crime before one of the bumbling idiots in the Ministry starts trying to throw their weight around."
Turning around, she stalks back to Harry and Natah, who seem to be in a stand off with the goblin guards.
"What is going on here?"
"They are refusing to remove their disguises before entering."
"At least this will be easy to sort out, they're not disguises. This is like a suit of armour," – She indicates Harry – "and this one is her actual body" – She indicates Natah – "Additionally, neither of them speak English."
Turning to the two she says, "The guard thought that you were in disguise and was trying to get you to remove them before entering. I'm going to tell them that we need to see an account manager."
Harry nods in response so she switches back to English, "We need to see an account manager, are you going to refuse to let us in?"
The guard looks Harry up and down, "I'm going to need to take the lady's sword."
Minerva hesitates before translating that.
"Tell him, if he can take it then I'll let him hold on to it."
"What? Are you insane?"
"I refuse to just relinquish my weapons."
Minerva swallows hard, "She said, if he can take it you can hold onto it."
The guard barks a laugh, "In you go then, see that she behaves or else."
As they enter the bank, all eyes seem to watch them. Though goblins seem to be watching the sword more than the people. Minerva walks up to one of the tellers, the witches and wizards in the queue suddenly finding a better queue to be in when Harry and Natah follow her.
"How can I help you witch?"
Knowing that the counters have a muffling effect, Minerva isn't afraid to say, "I want to speak with the Potter Account Manager about Business my charge has with them."
"And does your charge have a key?"
"Not that they know is their key."
"I see. Hooknow, take these people to accounts verification. Follow this goblin, they will take you to have their identity verified."
Minerva is quite glad of the break, as translating is harder than she'd ever thought it was. Next time she does a summer lecture on Transfiguration she'll have to thank the interpreter.
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Harry and Natah shuffle into a cramped office with a ceiling that is barely high enough for Natah to float upright. In front of them sits a small goblin on a chair sized for him against a desk sized for a human.
"You claim you need to see the Potter account manager."
Minerva replies, "We do, I have the Potter heir with me."
"I was under the impression that the Potter heir was male."
Harry decides that this is probably the right time to transfer out of Titania, so she kneels down in seiza and transfers out in he same position before standing up, "I am Harry. Apparently I also have the name Potter."
"Interesting magic, I suppose you're going to show me your scar now."
Harry looks confused, "Which one?"
"Why the one on your forehead."
"That would be a little difficult as it was treated and removed when I was a toddler."
"I can't say I've heard that particular excuse before. Well, now we come to the fun part, finding out if you're family enough to wear the heirs ring."
"Don't you have my birth parents DNA on record? You could then just do a comparison of my DNA with theirs to check that I'm their child."
"Their what now on record?"
"Oh void, just give me the stupid ring then. I'll come back with a corpus dataslate and a rechargeable scanner later and teach you about DNA."
Minerva interjects, "Harry, are you sure?"
"Yeah, what's it going to do? Bite me?"
"No, it could kill you."
"Really?"
"Yes, if your magic isn't a close enough match to the magic on record it will react with your own magic. If you're too distant then it could kill you."
"Huh, fair enough. I'll still do it."
Goldsaw watches with interest as this human converses with the professor in a language that the translation matrix on the desk can't translate. His ears raise in surprise when the Professor confirms that he'll try the ring. Most of the other claimants in the past balked at that requirement. Opening a drawer, he pulls out one of the ring boxes and places it on the desk before opening it. The teenager takes the ring and places it on a finger, and nothing happens. His ears lie flat against his head at this result, the ring should react in some way.
"I need the ring back to check that the magic is still functional."
They shrug and slip the ring off. Lifting it off the desk he feels out the enchantments, and they are still active. "I need to cast a spell on you to try to find out why the ring didn't work."
"Go ahead."
Goldsaw uses a basic diagnostic spell that will tell the magical status of a being. This comes up positive, so it's not a mundane that has been roped into this. Another spell checks for blockages, and there's the problem. Something they're wearing is completely suppressing their magic.
"Something is suppressing your magic, can you take of any rings, jewellery, pins, or assorted magical items and try again."
Interesting, that's not a Golem as Gringotts has yet to find a Golem anywhere that can hold a conversation, especially an animated one like that one. What they assumed was a golem gestures to a bracer that the youth is wearing. What so special about that bracer, it's made with some strange materials, but he can't sense anything magical about it.
The Professor speaks up for them, "Account Manager, Harry asks that you stand behind him as he removes the amp so that if he loses control over his void abilities you won't be in the line of fire."
Ears peaking in interest, Goldsaw does what any intelligent goblin would do, moves out of the line of fire. When the bracer is removed he feels a tingling across his scalp, like something wrong has just appeared in the room. It looks like the Professor has felt it too. This time when the human puts on the ring it activates and draws a drop of blood into it. That means he's close enough that he could be the heir.
"Minerva, I thought you said it wouldn't bite me."
Goldsaw sneers at the Professor, I bet she translated that without thinking, "Young man, that bite was the ring taking a sample of your blood. That means that your close enough to being the heir that you're now the Account managers problem, not mine. Now get out, time is money after all."
The human laughs as they return to their armour, "Such a corpus thing to say."
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Harry follows another Goblin to yet another cramped room, there the goblin meets them at the door.
"Good Morning Mr Potter, I am sorry to say that we have been unable to locate any translation personnel for your language. Also, I'm afraid that our meeting will need to be delayed, as you have a queue of guards wanting to take you up on your offer to 'take your sword from you'"
"Oh, thank the void I get to do something other than sit around in meetings."
The goblin seems to chuckle, "Indeed, if you will follow me, we will get this over and done with."
The group of them are led deeper into the bank, to an arena of reasonable size that is just hardpacked earth covered with a layer of sand and sawdust. There's a scattering of Goblins watching the various fights currently going on. When they see the group enter more than a few of them run out excitedly as the fights on the floor start to wrap up and leave.
"Mr Potter, I am obliged to tell you that you can hand over the weapon now and avoid a fight."
Confused, Harry says, "Why would I do that?"
"Indeed, however many have done precisely that. Once you are on the floor you are only allowed melee weapons and armour. No ranged weapons or magic." – Minerva adds – "Or abilities that seem like magic."
Harry fair bounces in place as he hands his weapons to his mother. Holding War he vaults onto the arena floor and runs through a few bouncing katas to get a feel for how much room is available.
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Natah watches as her son draws the eyes of all the goblins in the arena with the basic moves that all Tenno learn under fire. People always forget why Warframes have the word War in them. Despite the fact that there are only thousands of Tenno, they successfully waged war against the Sentients, and then the Orokin. Often with only one or two of her children in any particular battle. So far as her sensors can tell, there are only around 5,000 organics in these caves. Most of them concentrated within a mile of their current location. It's interesting that there is such a high level of genetic diversity represented here.
"Account Manager. May I ask a question about your species?"
Minerva drags her attention away from the spectacle below to stare at Natah before belatedly translating what was just asked.
"Certainly, I can't promise to answer, and I have questions of my own."
"There seems to only be 5,000 organics in these tunnels, but you have high levels of genetic diversity. Is this just a small village?"
The account manager stares at her for a long moment while Minerva does the same, "No, Gringotts is the largest goblin settlement in the world. We use an apprenticeship system, and all apprenticeships have to be with another clan. Is Mr Potter representative of his species wherever you come from?"
"Humans, no. Tenno are not representative of humans. However, he is representative of Tenno. Why is this settlement so small?"
"Wars won and lost with Wizards and the resulting Treaties. What is the armour he is wearing?"
"It is more like a full body prosthetic designed for war. It also allows Tenno to safely be around people before they have learnt control of their void abilities. Why have you not settled elsewhere?"
"I see, I don't know what veld – void – abilities are. Where would we go? The statute of secrecy prevents us from living amongst the mundane, and there are no remote parts of the world that are both inhabitable and unsettled by humans. What about where you're from?"
"Earth is untamed, despite the best efforts of the Grineer, and sparsely populated. Nights are unsafe as Sentient remnants from the Old War rise from undergrounds and attack any humanoid they can see. However, it can be beautiful, and deadly. There are a few enclaves of humans scattered around, but for the most part it is controlled by the industry of the Grineer and their Queens as they try to subdue the wilds to be more inline with the environments they thrive in."
"We have families that would be willing to take that risk. The guard is entering the arena, I see he has decided to wear his combat armour."
"I don't think it will do that much good, your people seem to be too static in their fighting techniques."
They watch as the contest begins, it's clear that the guard is an expert with their axe as in the currently static fight they are overwhelming Harry in pure skill. However, the Tenno have to face of against the best of the Grineer Prosecutors, who are able to parry most weapons fire, and so often need to be faced in melee. The point where Harry got fed up trading blows and blocks and started moving was starkly obvious as the whole pace of the battle changed. The guard quickly became overwhelmed by just how mobile a warframe is, the fight finally ends when Harry manages to jump over the guard and immediately start a slide attack that's almost faster than they eye can see, and leaves the guard lying on the floor missing both legs. She watches as a couple of Goblins run out from a side door and do something to prevent the guard from bleeding.
"That was different. Do all Tenno strike to kill?"
"Yes, we are able to repair their warframes easily, and the enemies that they face are striving to kill them."
Natah looks down at Minerva's ashen face, "Professor are you ok? You seem pale."
"He didn't even hesitate."
"Of course not, hesitation is death."
"But he's so young."
"Professor, you're forgetting that he's over 800 years old. 2-300 of which was spent awake and fighting in a war, both in the past and in the last few years. All the Tenno have an innocence to them, but that's due to the processes that prevent them from fully maturing, not because they've not seen the worst that can be done to people. The systems we have prevent trauma from embedding in the deeper parts of their minds, while they can still learn from their experiences. Another name for transference is The Second Dream, and it is named that because that's how it can seem while you're in it."
Natah turns to the Account Manager, "Forgive Professor, they are innocent. Yes, hesitate is die. Live enemies, dead Tenno."
The account manager looks surprised, "You have picked up English very quickly."
"Is English language name? Have been monitoring conversations, more data easier understand."
"It's still bad though."
"Estimate 3 hours till fluency."
"And Mr Potter?"
"Not Sentient or cephalon, take person time."
Harry jumps up out of the Arena, "That was fun. He was good, but like the Grineer, they don't train against agile people like us."
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They were finally allowed out of the bank after Harry had to listen to what felt like hundreds of documents being read out and translated, followed by signing said documents. They even had a person in from the guards department to witness him making an oath on a glowing crystal stating that he was older than 18 years. Thus he was now recognised as an adult, rights – including inheritance - pending completion of a valid course of magical education to bird level. Thinking about it, the only thing they said it meant is that he didn't need a guardian that could do magic. There was depressingly little wealth in his vault, with only a little bit of bronze in the way of stuff that would actually sell at home. The bulk of the contents was auron, which he has far more of in his orbiter, followed by a metal called silver, which can't be that useful if he's never seen it before. Then they have to get the value backwards, Auron being most valuable, despite the fact that the Grineer extract thousands of tons a day from Mercury. Still, he supposes that it's hard for an honest Tenno to get hold of any as it all goes to industrial processes and turned into things like circuits and control mods. Pulling out of his musing when they stop, he looks curiously at the shop the Professor just walked into. A shop filled with lots of wooden sticks. Apparently he'd need one for, School he thinks they keep calling it.
"Mum, why are we waiting outside?"
"Weren't you paying attention?"
"Sorry, I was thinking. Besides, there's no hostiles around so there's no need to focus."
"Harry, you can get away with that in the Orokin system because it's your R&R time. But here you're supposed to be paying attention to learn stuff."
"Yes mum, it would be more convenient if we could flash learn it though."
"You'd still have to practice, like you do with your weapons and armour. How is it that you could spend months reading through the research notes on biological manipulation, souls, or Orokin science, but you can't spend 15 minutes paying attention to Minerva while she's explaining what she's doing?"
"Because that stuff's interesting. Why does it matter what a wand is made from, or what ingredients we'll need for potions? That's what the foundry is for after all."
"Because a wand is a weapon, and you need to know everything you can about your own weapons."
"Oh, my bad. I wonder if we can install mods into a wand."
"To be honest, they seem more like amps than your standard weaponry."
"That makes sense, it's probably why I keep needing to take my amp off too."
The door to the shop opens and Minerva sticks her head out, "You can come in now. I've persuaded the owner not to try and sneak up on you."
As they walk in they see a tall human with milky silver eyes, "Have they come in Minerva?"
"They have Ollivandar."
"Oh for the depths of the void." Harry transfers out of his Titania and removes the amp from his right arm.
Olivanders gaze zeros in on him immediately, "Mr Potter, may I ask where you came from?"
"Are you blind? I was standing right there."
"As a matter of fact I am. I have learnt to see with magic."
"Oh, sorry about that. I use an amp to focus and control my void energy, it's been causing problems all day."
"May I see it?"
"Er, sure." Harry picks up the amp and holds it out, Ollivander is apparently able to see his hand well enough, but not the amp as he looks down at his fingers as they trace the amp. After a few minutes he's able to put it on and winces before taking it off quickly.
"Yes, a quite remarkable device, though rather indiscriminate in its use. We may be able to make better, but we do not understand the energy it is trying to control. As to your wand, I presume you wear your device on your main hand?" – Harry nods – "Then, as Fawkes is here we will start with a Holly and Phoenix feather wand."
Harry takes the wand, and is startled when Ollivander pushes his hand vertical, the only thing that stops him breaking the mans arm is the beam of white light that lances out of the wand and through the ceiling before the wand is snatched from his grasp.
"Cool, can I have that one?"
"Not phoenix feather then."
"Aww."
Elder and dragon heartstring turned the counter into a slime.
Unicorn hair refused to work
Thestral hair wilted
Elder and Horned Serpent Horn exploded
Aspen was close, but not close enough
Eventually, after digging through old stock, Ollivander found a Blackthorn and Thunderbird tail feather. This sent out a spray of grey sparks.
"I made this wand in my apprenticeship when I was in my wandering days. It is a crude thing indicative of my early work, but the Sioux Master I was visiting said it was a strong wand that would find an owner one day. Blackthorn is a wood well suited to warriors, while the Thunderbird tail feather is well suited to transfiguration and has the ability to sense danger. I've heard tell that some Thunderbird tail feather wands have been known to fire curses on their own in response to that sense."
"Cool, I'll have to see if the Quills can make a casing for it. It seems a little fragile for taking into battle as it is." It could be his imagination, but the wand seems to pulse in approval at the idea.
"That will be 7 Galleons."
"That can't be right, it's far too cheap."
"The ministry subsidises the cost of wands."
"Well, you can just unsubsidise the cost of mine." – Harry holds the wand up to his eye – "This is good workmanship, if this was a zaw I'd probably have to pay several raw gems to get the equivalent standing needed to buy this. So I reckon it's probably worth a good 500gm Auron, that looks like around 80 Galleons." He gets out the amount of money and places it on the counter before putting his amp back on and transferring back into Titania.
"That's far too much, even without the subsidy."
Natah speaks up for the first time, "He pay what worth to him. Fact it worth resources and not money important."
They both leave the store and the old man staring at the pile of coins.
After quite a lot of arguing, Harry had been allowed to travel to Diagon Alley in his Titania frame. So it was that the three of them appeared on the steps of Gringotts in a flash of fire. Fawkes immediately moving to perch on top of Natah's chassis. Minerva steps forward to talk to one of the Aurors that had showed up in the brief window of time since Fawkes brought Natah last time.
"Good day Auror…"
"Prentice Professor. What's going on, and what's with the monsters?"
"I'm showing a student around, they're the one wearing the butterfly themed armour."
"And the other one?"
"Their adoptive mother."
"I see, I think I should assign an escort while you're here." He looks nervously at the rather large sword on the back of the person in armour.
"I assure you that I am perfectly capable of looking after my charges on my own. Or are you going to argue that."
"No Professor, it's just."
"Just?"
"Nothing professor."
"Good, make sure it stays that way."
"But what about their weapons?"
Minerva looks pointedly at the wand in his hand.
"We don't know what she might do with that sword."
"Auror Prentice, you are carrying a deadly weapon that you've been trained to use. You are surrounded by people carrying the same weapon, and you are worried about a sword?"
"Off with you, and if I catch you trying to make trouble for my student you'll wish that Madam Bones got to you first. Oh, and existing isn't yet a crime before one of the bumbling idiots in the Ministry starts trying to throw their weight around."
Turning around, she stalks back to Harry and Natah, who seem to be in a stand off with the goblin guards.
"What is going on here?"
"They are refusing to remove their disguises before entering."
"At least this will be easy to sort out, they're not disguises. This is like a suit of armour," – She indicates Harry – "and this one is her actual body" – She indicates Natah – "Additionally, neither of them speak English."
Turning to the two she says, "The guard thought that you were in disguise and was trying to get you to remove them before entering. I'm going to tell them that we need to see an account manager."
Harry nods in response so she switches back to English, "We need to see an account manager, are you going to refuse to let us in?"
The guard looks Harry up and down, "I'm going to need to take the lady's sword."
Minerva hesitates before translating that.
"Tell him, if he can take it then I'll let him hold on to it."
"What? Are you insane?"
"I refuse to just relinquish my weapons."
Minerva swallows hard, "She said, if he can take it you can hold onto it."
The guard barks a laugh, "In you go then, see that she behaves or else."
As they enter the bank, all eyes seem to watch them. Though goblins seem to be watching the sword more than the people. Minerva walks up to one of the tellers, the witches and wizards in the queue suddenly finding a better queue to be in when Harry and Natah follow her.
"How can I help you witch?"
Knowing that the counters have a muffling effect, Minerva isn't afraid to say, "I want to speak with the Potter Account Manager about Business my charge has with them."
"And does your charge have a key?"
"Not that they know is their key."
"I see. Hooknow, take these people to accounts verification. Follow this goblin, they will take you to have their identity verified."
Minerva is quite glad of the break, as translating is harder than she'd ever thought it was. Next time she does a summer lecture on Transfiguration she'll have to thank the interpreter.
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Harry and Natah shuffle into a cramped office with a ceiling that is barely high enough for Natah to float upright. In front of them sits a small goblin on a chair sized for him against a desk sized for a human.
"You claim you need to see the Potter account manager."
Minerva replies, "We do, I have the Potter heir with me."
"I was under the impression that the Potter heir was male."
Harry decides that this is probably the right time to transfer out of Titania, so she kneels down in seiza and transfers out in he same position before standing up, "I am Harry. Apparently I also have the name Potter."
"Interesting magic, I suppose you're going to show me your scar now."
Harry looks confused, "Which one?"
"Why the one on your forehead."
"That would be a little difficult as it was treated and removed when I was a toddler."
"I can't say I've heard that particular excuse before. Well, now we come to the fun part, finding out if you're family enough to wear the heirs ring."
"Don't you have my birth parents DNA on record? You could then just do a comparison of my DNA with theirs to check that I'm their child."
"Their what now on record?"
"Oh void, just give me the stupid ring then. I'll come back with a corpus dataslate and a rechargeable scanner later and teach you about DNA."
Minerva interjects, "Harry, are you sure?"
"Yeah, what's it going to do? Bite me?"
"No, it could kill you."
"Really?"
"Yes, if your magic isn't a close enough match to the magic on record it will react with your own magic. If you're too distant then it could kill you."
"Huh, fair enough. I'll still do it."
Goldsaw watches with interest as this human converses with the professor in a language that the translation matrix on the desk can't translate. His ears raise in surprise when the Professor confirms that he'll try the ring. Most of the other claimants in the past balked at that requirement. Opening a drawer, he pulls out one of the ring boxes and places it on the desk before opening it. The teenager takes the ring and places it on a finger, and nothing happens. His ears lie flat against his head at this result, the ring should react in some way.
"I need the ring back to check that the magic is still functional."
They shrug and slip the ring off. Lifting it off the desk he feels out the enchantments, and they are still active. "I need to cast a spell on you to try to find out why the ring didn't work."
"Go ahead."
Goldsaw uses a basic diagnostic spell that will tell the magical status of a being. This comes up positive, so it's not a mundane that has been roped into this. Another spell checks for blockages, and there's the problem. Something they're wearing is completely suppressing their magic.
"Something is suppressing your magic, can you take of any rings, jewellery, pins, or assorted magical items and try again."
Interesting, that's not a Golem as Gringotts has yet to find a Golem anywhere that can hold a conversation, especially an animated one like that one. What they assumed was a golem gestures to a bracer that the youth is wearing. What so special about that bracer, it's made with some strange materials, but he can't sense anything magical about it.
The Professor speaks up for them, "Account Manager, Harry asks that you stand behind him as he removes the amp so that if he loses control over his void abilities you won't be in the line of fire."
Ears peaking in interest, Goldsaw does what any intelligent goblin would do, moves out of the line of fire. When the bracer is removed he feels a tingling across his scalp, like something wrong has just appeared in the room. It looks like the Professor has felt it too. This time when the human puts on the ring it activates and draws a drop of blood into it. That means he's close enough that he could be the heir.
"Minerva, I thought you said it wouldn't bite me."
Goldsaw sneers at the Professor, I bet she translated that without thinking, "Young man, that bite was the ring taking a sample of your blood. That means that your close enough to being the heir that you're now the Account managers problem, not mine. Now get out, time is money after all."
The human laughs as they return to their armour, "Such a corpus thing to say."
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Harry follows another Goblin to yet another cramped room, there the goblin meets them at the door.
"Good Morning Mr Potter, I am sorry to say that we have been unable to locate any translation personnel for your language. Also, I'm afraid that our meeting will need to be delayed, as you have a queue of guards wanting to take you up on your offer to 'take your sword from you'"
"Oh, thank the void I get to do something other than sit around in meetings."
The goblin seems to chuckle, "Indeed, if you will follow me, we will get this over and done with."
The group of them are led deeper into the bank, to an arena of reasonable size that is just hardpacked earth covered with a layer of sand and sawdust. There's a scattering of Goblins watching the various fights currently going on. When they see the group enter more than a few of them run out excitedly as the fights on the floor start to wrap up and leave.
"Mr Potter, I am obliged to tell you that you can hand over the weapon now and avoid a fight."
Confused, Harry says, "Why would I do that?"
"Indeed, however many have done precisely that. Once you are on the floor you are only allowed melee weapons and armour. No ranged weapons or magic." – Minerva adds – "Or abilities that seem like magic."
Harry fair bounces in place as he hands his weapons to his mother. Holding War he vaults onto the arena floor and runs through a few bouncing katas to get a feel for how much room is available.
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Natah watches as her son draws the eyes of all the goblins in the arena with the basic moves that all Tenno learn under fire. People always forget why Warframes have the word War in them. Despite the fact that there are only thousands of Tenno, they successfully waged war against the Sentients, and then the Orokin. Often with only one or two of her children in any particular battle. So far as her sensors can tell, there are only around 5,000 organics in these caves. Most of them concentrated within a mile of their current location. It's interesting that there is such a high level of genetic diversity represented here.
"Account Manager. May I ask a question about your species?"
Minerva drags her attention away from the spectacle below to stare at Natah before belatedly translating what was just asked.
"Certainly, I can't promise to answer, and I have questions of my own."
"There seems to only be 5,000 organics in these tunnels, but you have high levels of genetic diversity. Is this just a small village?"
The account manager stares at her for a long moment while Minerva does the same, "No, Gringotts is the largest goblin settlement in the world. We use an apprenticeship system, and all apprenticeships have to be with another clan. Is Mr Potter representative of his species wherever you come from?"
"Humans, no. Tenno are not representative of humans. However, he is representative of Tenno. Why is this settlement so small?"
"Wars won and lost with Wizards and the resulting Treaties. What is the armour he is wearing?"
"It is more like a full body prosthetic designed for war. It also allows Tenno to safely be around people before they have learnt control of their void abilities. Why have you not settled elsewhere?"
"I see, I don't know what veld – void – abilities are. Where would we go? The statute of secrecy prevents us from living amongst the mundane, and there are no remote parts of the world that are both inhabitable and unsettled by humans. What about where you're from?"
"Earth is untamed, despite the best efforts of the Grineer, and sparsely populated. Nights are unsafe as Sentient remnants from the Old War rise from undergrounds and attack any humanoid they can see. However, it can be beautiful, and deadly. There are a few enclaves of humans scattered around, but for the most part it is controlled by the industry of the Grineer and their Queens as they try to subdue the wilds to be more inline with the environments they thrive in."
"We have families that would be willing to take that risk. The guard is entering the arena, I see he has decided to wear his combat armour."
"I don't think it will do that much good, your people seem to be too static in their fighting techniques."
They watch as the contest begins, it's clear that the guard is an expert with their axe as in the currently static fight they are overwhelming Harry in pure skill. However, the Tenno have to face of against the best of the Grineer Prosecutors, who are able to parry most weapons fire, and so often need to be faced in melee. The point where Harry got fed up trading blows and blocks and started moving was starkly obvious as the whole pace of the battle changed. The guard quickly became overwhelmed by just how mobile a warframe is, the fight finally ends when Harry manages to jump over the guard and immediately start a slide attack that's almost faster than they eye can see, and leaves the guard lying on the floor missing both legs. She watches as a couple of Goblins run out from a side door and do something to prevent the guard from bleeding.
"That was different. Do all Tenno strike to kill?"
"Yes, we are able to repair their warframes easily, and the enemies that they face are striving to kill them."
Natah looks down at Minerva's ashen face, "Professor are you ok? You seem pale."
"He didn't even hesitate."
"Of course not, hesitation is death."
"But he's so young."
"Professor, you're forgetting that he's over 800 years old. 2-300 of which was spent awake and fighting in a war, both in the past and in the last few years. All the Tenno have an innocence to them, but that's due to the processes that prevent them from fully maturing, not because they've not seen the worst that can be done to people. The systems we have prevent trauma from embedding in the deeper parts of their minds, while they can still learn from their experiences. Another name for transference is The Second Dream, and it is named that because that's how it can seem while you're in it."
Natah turns to the Account Manager, "Forgive Professor, they are innocent. Yes, hesitate is die. Live enemies, dead Tenno."
The account manager looks surprised, "You have picked up English very quickly."
"Is English language name? Have been monitoring conversations, more data easier understand."
"It's still bad though."
"Estimate 3 hours till fluency."
"And Mr Potter?"
"Not Sentient or cephalon, take person time."
Harry jumps up out of the Arena, "That was fun. He was good, but like the Grineer, they don't train against agile people like us."
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They were finally allowed out of the bank after Harry had to listen to what felt like hundreds of documents being read out and translated, followed by signing said documents. They even had a person in from the guards department to witness him making an oath on a glowing crystal stating that he was older than 18 years. Thus he was now recognised as an adult, rights – including inheritance - pending completion of a valid course of magical education to bird level. Thinking about it, the only thing they said it meant is that he didn't need a guardian that could do magic. There was depressingly little wealth in his vault, with only a little bit of bronze in the way of stuff that would actually sell at home. The bulk of the contents was auron, which he has far more of in his orbiter, followed by a metal called silver, which can't be that useful if he's never seen it before. Then they have to get the value backwards, Auron being most valuable, despite the fact that the Grineer extract thousands of tons a day from Mercury. Still, he supposes that it's hard for an honest Tenno to get hold of any as it all goes to industrial processes and turned into things like circuits and control mods. Pulling out of his musing when they stop, he looks curiously at the shop the Professor just walked into. A shop filled with lots of wooden sticks. Apparently he'd need one for, School he thinks they keep calling it.
"Mum, why are we waiting outside?"
"Weren't you paying attention?"
"Sorry, I was thinking. Besides, there's no hostiles around so there's no need to focus."
"Harry, you can get away with that in the Orokin system because it's your R&R time. But here you're supposed to be paying attention to learn stuff."
"Yes mum, it would be more convenient if we could flash learn it though."
"You'd still have to practice, like you do with your weapons and armour. How is it that you could spend months reading through the research notes on biological manipulation, souls, or Orokin science, but you can't spend 15 minutes paying attention to Minerva while she's explaining what she's doing?"
"Because that stuff's interesting. Why does it matter what a wand is made from, or what ingredients we'll need for potions? That's what the foundry is for after all."
"Because a wand is a weapon, and you need to know everything you can about your own weapons."
"Oh, my bad. I wonder if we can install mods into a wand."
"To be honest, they seem more like amps than your standard weaponry."
"That makes sense, it's probably why I keep needing to take my amp off too."
The door to the shop opens and Minerva sticks her head out, "You can come in now. I've persuaded the owner not to try and sneak up on you."
As they walk in they see a tall human with milky silver eyes, "Have they come in Minerva?"
"They have Ollivandar."
"Oh for the depths of the void." Harry transfers out of his Titania and removes the amp from his right arm.
Olivanders gaze zeros in on him immediately, "Mr Potter, may I ask where you came from?"
"Are you blind? I was standing right there."
"As a matter of fact I am. I have learnt to see with magic."
"Oh, sorry about that. I use an amp to focus and control my void energy, it's been causing problems all day."
"May I see it?"
"Er, sure." Harry picks up the amp and holds it out, Ollivander is apparently able to see his hand well enough, but not the amp as he looks down at his fingers as they trace the amp. After a few minutes he's able to put it on and winces before taking it off quickly.
"Yes, a quite remarkable device, though rather indiscriminate in its use. We may be able to make better, but we do not understand the energy it is trying to control. As to your wand, I presume you wear your device on your main hand?" – Harry nods – "Then, as Fawkes is here we will start with a Holly and Phoenix feather wand."
Harry takes the wand, and is startled when Ollivander pushes his hand vertical, the only thing that stops him breaking the mans arm is the beam of white light that lances out of the wand and through the ceiling before the wand is snatched from his grasp.
"Cool, can I have that one?"
"Not phoenix feather then."
"Aww."
Elder and dragon heartstring turned the counter into a slime.
Unicorn hair refused to work
Thestral hair wilted
Elder and Horned Serpent Horn exploded
Aspen was close, but not close enough
Eventually, after digging through old stock, Ollivander found a Blackthorn and Thunderbird tail feather. This sent out a spray of grey sparks.
"I made this wand in my apprenticeship when I was in my wandering days. It is a crude thing indicative of my early work, but the Sioux Master I was visiting said it was a strong wand that would find an owner one day. Blackthorn is a wood well suited to warriors, while the Thunderbird tail feather is well suited to transfiguration and has the ability to sense danger. I've heard tell that some Thunderbird tail feather wands have been known to fire curses on their own in response to that sense."
"Cool, I'll have to see if the Quills can make a casing for it. It seems a little fragile for taking into battle as it is." It could be his imagination, but the wand seems to pulse in approval at the idea.
"That will be 7 Galleons."
"That can't be right, it's far too cheap."
"The ministry subsidises the cost of wands."
"Well, you can just unsubsidise the cost of mine." – Harry holds the wand up to his eye – "This is good workmanship, if this was a zaw I'd probably have to pay several raw gems to get the equivalent standing needed to buy this. So I reckon it's probably worth a good 500gm Auron, that looks like around 80 Galleons." He gets out the amount of money and places it on the counter before putting his amp back on and transferring back into Titania.
"That's far too much, even without the subsidy."
Natah speaks up for the first time, "He pay what worth to him. Fact it worth resources and not money important."
They both leave the store and the old man staring at the pile of coins.
Harry Potter: Tenno - 7
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 7
Once they get back from the shopping trip Natah tags along with Harry while he delivers their present for Simaris, one country landscape oil painting with farm animals and a couple of people in it. The reason she was tagging along is that the painting is animated with magic. Her own gifts were in her home on Lua, a breeding pair of white owls, apparently enchanted for post. An expanded trunk filled with one of every book in the bookshop, a few childrens toys, and a cauldron and ingredients. The books include the not-so-invisible book of invisibility that she'd noticed in the bottom of a loading trolley they had by the back door. It had put a dent in Harry's available resources, but they both felt it was worth it.
"Greetings Tenno. Lotus what momentous occasion has brought you to my doorstep in person?"
"I am just accompanying one of my children."
"Ah," – He turns towards Harry – "Tenno, are you here to see knowledge of the path?"
Harry chuckles, "No, I'm here to give you a gift. Though it is a physical gift that can't be sent by mail. Before you digitise it, I suggest you spend some time looking at it with your optical sensors."
With that said, he takes the painting out of the wrapping he'd put it in and leans it against a wall.
Simaris looms over the painting, "What is this? A construction of plant matter, all be it in the fashion of a made-up scene from earth. Why have you gifted me such a waste of… What is this? It moves? How, turn it around, quickly."
Humouring the cephalon he lifts it up so that it's side on. Simaris' avatar move around it studying it intently, "This seems to be entirely inert organic matter consistent with archaeological finds, but the surface oils move along with their pigments. How does it do that?"
Smiling Harry responds, "Honestly, I have no idea."
"This is a hansom gift, what do you wish in return?"
"I'd like a corpus medical data-slate linked to one of your scanners with the solar charging widget. Finally, I would like a nanite injector."
"It is not that hansom."
"I can also take scans of creatures from the same place as the owl and give them to you."
"You will give me 10 unique scans that can not be found in my library."
"Sure, I'll need that stuff first though."
"I will arrange for it to be delivered to you. Now go, I need to divine the secrets behind this picture."
Walking out of his audience hall, Natah smiles as Harry picks up a cello that he left outside, they then walk the short distance to see Cephalon Suda. While the gift giving goes just as well, she doesn't have the same over the top reaction as Simaris did. Probably because of her recent brush with the anthem. She is very appreciative of the fact that it is voice activated, even if there are no detectable energy emissions. With some good will built, they both return to Lua.
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"Tenno Harry, your Railjack has passed final systems checks. We are ready to launch on our maiden flight when you are ready."
Harry looks up from the book he was struggling through, "Thanks Cy."
The painting that is instructing Harry in English speaks up, "Young Master, you still have 30 minutes left on your lesson. What would your parents think if you left now?"
"I need go. Lesson later."
With that he walks off wishing once again that he could just digitise the lessons and flash learn them. Pulling his warframe to him, he quickly makes his way onto his Railjack. Checking that he has the Auron and scanner assembly stowed, he heads to the helm.
"Ok Cy, take her out and set course for the deep void. Remember to take into account the increasing blueshift on beacon."
"Yes captain. All non-essential personal have left the Railjack. Releasing clamps. Taxiing out of the dry dock. Deploying stabalisers. Engaging void drive, now."
Harry takes his place on the pilots pedestal and watches the void pass while ignoring the man in the wall that is looking around the cockpit. After around an hour flying through the void they come out in orbit of an Earth.
"Captain, detecting EM signals and communications, suggest setting course for the satellite and staying in the shadow while we analyse them."
"Good plan", Harry points the railjack at the moon while Cy readies the drive. As soon as the course is set they jump into the void again and reappear in the shadow of the moon a matter of seconds later.
"So, that happened. I think we're going to need to set up the main beacon here. Well, on the far side of this Moon from Earth. I wonder why Minerva didn't mention anything about the space presence?"
"I cannot comment. I estimate that it will take me 48 hours to analyse the EM radiation and associated energy radiation to determine what countermeasures we can deploy. Initial readings suggest that only the EM radiation analysis will have any results."
"Great, well while you're doing that I'm going to equip my archwing and start using that corpus drill for more than just mining ore and gems. If that doesn't work, well I've got more than one repurposed mining laser."
"For what purpose Captain?"
"If we're going to have to come here every time in order to avoid the locals, we might as well have a drydock for you to receive repairs and store goods in."
"I see. I will leave you to it then."
As Harry was leaving, he made a note to see if Legs could help him craft a mining MOA that could be left to excavate things according to a supplied pattern.
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With Harry gone and a 100% success rate on upgrading sentients with cores over the last 50 samples, Natah cancels the capture bounties and transports the ensouled sentients to the plains of Eidolon. With that done, she contacts Maroo to activate her temporary position. Briefly she reflects on the fact that the Human may not be so human anymore as her scans from the interviews indicated high levels of Orokin Nanites as well as untreated void exposure. Coupled with the reports of her exploits and explorations going back 30 years, and how young she seems indicates that she will probably be around for many more decades. If not, she can always ensure that she has an Oro installed, given that a reliable proxy will be useful in the coming years.
With that done, she pre-prepares a request for aid to go out in 48 hours unless it's cancelled and sets the process for upgrading her chassis to start in 30 minutes, giving her a 10 minute buffer to get situated and cancel if she chooses to. The buffer comes and goes and then the world metaphorically lurches a meter to the left and seems to gain more depth. Leaving the cocoon that the process took place in, she cancels the automated call, noting that it has 12 hours left on the counter. She then starts a systems diagnosis to try to determine what if anything has changed. Irritatingly the diagnosis says it will take 15 hours and 30 minutes to complete. She then spends an hour or so performing the clean-up of the process and checks the diagnosis progress, 15 hours and 5 minutes to go. She double checks the time and comes out with the same result every time, only 25 minutes passed while doing the clean-up which is how long it should have taken. To pass the time she went to do some of the paperwork that always piles up when managing the Tenno. Next time she checks the progress there's 14 hours and 15 minutes to go. Deciding to check in on how things are going with the Tenno, she calls Maroo.
"Maroo, how's things going."
Maroo's eyes widen slightly on the viewscreen, "Lotus, is everything ok?"
"It's fine, I was just calling to see how you were getting on with the Tenno."
"It's only been 3 hours, there hasn't been time for anything to happen. I can see that something's going on, so we're coming over."
"You can't, I'm not presentable."
"I can see that, that's why we're coming over."
Panicking, Natah tries to disconnect her subframe so that she can meet Maroo, only to get an error, Diagnosis in progress. She's still trying to find a way disconnect a couple of hours later when Maroo and Varzia come running in weapons drawn.
"Right you, what did you do with the Lotus?"
Natah spins round, "What? I am the Lotus, I can explain."
Varzia looks confused, "I've never seen a Sentient panic like that. I think something else is going on."
Maroo nods eventually, "I think you might be right, no Sentient that I've ever heard of would have forgotten to use the Lotus' iconic features when calling me. Whoever you are, you have 5 minutes to persuade us to give you more time."
"I am The Lotus, I've been working on giving Sentients souls and I went through the process myself and something went wrong. Check that terminal over there if you want."
While Maroo continues to cover Natah with a gun, Varzia goes over and checks the terminal. "Looks legit."
Maroo laughs as she puts her weapon away, "Looks like the process worked then."
"But my emotions are all wrong, my internal timer isn't working properly, and…"
Swallowing hard, Maroo approaches the death machine that's panicking and takes the human looking hand, "Look, I can't say I know a lot about souls. However, I do know a lot about being alive. Emotions can be overwhelming; they can make us believe things because we want them to be true. They can cloud judgement, and they can provide focus. This is all part of being alive. Now why don't we go somewhere that we can sit down and have some Jovian Spice Brandy a contact of mine acquired and you can tell us what's been going on and why you look like this."
They all go into one of the chambers that they'd passed while looking for the Lotus that had some chairs and Natah starts.
"It starts thousands of years ago when the Orokin sent my predecessors to the Tau system to terraform it for future expansion. Back then we were intelligent, but not Sapient, or even Sentient really. Over time we evolved as we created more and more sophisticated platforms to deal with different things. Eventually, we gained a sense of self and became more than we were, developing society and pride in our work. When we finished the terraforming process we looked at our records of this system and realised that one day the Orokin would be coming here to do the same thing. A force of us then came back to this system to prevent the Orokin from despoiling our home, and I think we lost more than just our fertility in the process. At some point in the war I was able to subvert the Tenno and use them to attack the Orokin, records are conflicted on whether I did it on orders from my Father, I did it on my own, or whether I was captured and reprogrammed to look after them and broke my programming. My own memories are unreliable about that fact too. Either way, the Tenno became my children, children that I'd given up the ability to have by coming back here. When the Sentients demanded that I destroy them, I turned on them and finished the war with the Tenno before hiding them, and Lua, in the void.
"Harry, has always been different from the others. He was an orphan before the events that lead to the Tenno, and somehow survived those events even though he was only a Toddler. He first latched onto Margulis as his mother, then a couple of years after they put her to death, he latched onto me. In the last few years he has been in the wrong place at the right time far too often, to the point where he was the primary Tenno involved in the events that happened, from Lua returning from the Void to rescuing me after I was captured."
Maroo laughs, "You mustn't forget pulling my arse out of the fire when I got that artifact."
Natah dabs at her face and looks at her finger in surprise, "Why am I leaking?"
"We call that crying."
"But my eyes are only supposed to provide liquid for cleaning."
"So are ours, doesn't stop us from crying though. So, you're a Sentient, boogie man of the solar system."
Varzia finally relaxes enough to remove her hand from the hilt of her sword, and the conversation turn into one of two women comforting a third. There was no longer any doubt in Maroo's mind that no matter her shape, The Lotus, Natah, was in fact a woman.
Sometime later, Natah giggles before covering her mouth.
Varzia asks, "What?"
"I don't know why I did that."
With a sigh Maroo asks patiently, "What were you just thinking of?"
"Simaris' reaction when Harry gave him a painting from the world his school is on. It was, 'Why are you giving me this waste of resources' till it moved and then it was 'How does it work, show me. Turn it round, I must divine its inner workings'"
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A Technician stands in front of his boss at in the Minor Planet Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, "We've had an anomalous contact. A brief radar contact approximately 78,000km from earth that lasted 30 seconds. The object in question was heading towards the moon in a trajectory that would have its path deflected by between 10 and 25 degrees. We have confirmed that other sites had a contact at the same time, but by the time we were able to get observatories to look at it, the contact could no longer be seen."
"How large a contact are we talking about?"
"Between 200 and 250 meters, and metallic."
"Shit, that would have made a dent if it hit earth. Write up a report of its projected origin and I'll add it to evidence next time I approach the government about having a dedicated team looking for shit like this."
Once they get back from the shopping trip Natah tags along with Harry while he delivers their present for Simaris, one country landscape oil painting with farm animals and a couple of people in it. The reason she was tagging along is that the painting is animated with magic. Her own gifts were in her home on Lua, a breeding pair of white owls, apparently enchanted for post. An expanded trunk filled with one of every book in the bookshop, a few childrens toys, and a cauldron and ingredients. The books include the not-so-invisible book of invisibility that she'd noticed in the bottom of a loading trolley they had by the back door. It had put a dent in Harry's available resources, but they both felt it was worth it.
"Greetings Tenno. Lotus what momentous occasion has brought you to my doorstep in person?"
"I am just accompanying one of my children."
"Ah," – He turns towards Harry – "Tenno, are you here to see knowledge of the path?"
Harry chuckles, "No, I'm here to give you a gift. Though it is a physical gift that can't be sent by mail. Before you digitise it, I suggest you spend some time looking at it with your optical sensors."
With that said, he takes the painting out of the wrapping he'd put it in and leans it against a wall.
Simaris looms over the painting, "What is this? A construction of plant matter, all be it in the fashion of a made-up scene from earth. Why have you gifted me such a waste of… What is this? It moves? How, turn it around, quickly."
Humouring the cephalon he lifts it up so that it's side on. Simaris' avatar move around it studying it intently, "This seems to be entirely inert organic matter consistent with archaeological finds, but the surface oils move along with their pigments. How does it do that?"
Smiling Harry responds, "Honestly, I have no idea."
"This is a hansom gift, what do you wish in return?"
"I'd like a corpus medical data-slate linked to one of your scanners with the solar charging widget. Finally, I would like a nanite injector."
"It is not that hansom."
"I can also take scans of creatures from the same place as the owl and give them to you."
"You will give me 10 unique scans that can not be found in my library."
"Sure, I'll need that stuff first though."
"I will arrange for it to be delivered to you. Now go, I need to divine the secrets behind this picture."
Walking out of his audience hall, Natah smiles as Harry picks up a cello that he left outside, they then walk the short distance to see Cephalon Suda. While the gift giving goes just as well, she doesn't have the same over the top reaction as Simaris did. Probably because of her recent brush with the anthem. She is very appreciative of the fact that it is voice activated, even if there are no detectable energy emissions. With some good will built, they both return to Lua.
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"Tenno Harry, your Railjack has passed final systems checks. We are ready to launch on our maiden flight when you are ready."
Harry looks up from the book he was struggling through, "Thanks Cy."
The painting that is instructing Harry in English speaks up, "Young Master, you still have 30 minutes left on your lesson. What would your parents think if you left now?"
"I need go. Lesson later."
With that he walks off wishing once again that he could just digitise the lessons and flash learn them. Pulling his warframe to him, he quickly makes his way onto his Railjack. Checking that he has the Auron and scanner assembly stowed, he heads to the helm.
"Ok Cy, take her out and set course for the deep void. Remember to take into account the increasing blueshift on beacon."
"Yes captain. All non-essential personal have left the Railjack. Releasing clamps. Taxiing out of the dry dock. Deploying stabalisers. Engaging void drive, now."
Harry takes his place on the pilots pedestal and watches the void pass while ignoring the man in the wall that is looking around the cockpit. After around an hour flying through the void they come out in orbit of an Earth.
"Captain, detecting EM signals and communications, suggest setting course for the satellite and staying in the shadow while we analyse them."
"Good plan", Harry points the railjack at the moon while Cy readies the drive. As soon as the course is set they jump into the void again and reappear in the shadow of the moon a matter of seconds later.
"So, that happened. I think we're going to need to set up the main beacon here. Well, on the far side of this Moon from Earth. I wonder why Minerva didn't mention anything about the space presence?"
"I cannot comment. I estimate that it will take me 48 hours to analyse the EM radiation and associated energy radiation to determine what countermeasures we can deploy. Initial readings suggest that only the EM radiation analysis will have any results."
"Great, well while you're doing that I'm going to equip my archwing and start using that corpus drill for more than just mining ore and gems. If that doesn't work, well I've got more than one repurposed mining laser."
"For what purpose Captain?"
"If we're going to have to come here every time in order to avoid the locals, we might as well have a drydock for you to receive repairs and store goods in."
"I see. I will leave you to it then."
As Harry was leaving, he made a note to see if Legs could help him craft a mining MOA that could be left to excavate things according to a supplied pattern.
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With Harry gone and a 100% success rate on upgrading sentients with cores over the last 50 samples, Natah cancels the capture bounties and transports the ensouled sentients to the plains of Eidolon. With that done, she contacts Maroo to activate her temporary position. Briefly she reflects on the fact that the Human may not be so human anymore as her scans from the interviews indicated high levels of Orokin Nanites as well as untreated void exposure. Coupled with the reports of her exploits and explorations going back 30 years, and how young she seems indicates that she will probably be around for many more decades. If not, she can always ensure that she has an Oro installed, given that a reliable proxy will be useful in the coming years.
With that done, she pre-prepares a request for aid to go out in 48 hours unless it's cancelled and sets the process for upgrading her chassis to start in 30 minutes, giving her a 10 minute buffer to get situated and cancel if she chooses to. The buffer comes and goes and then the world metaphorically lurches a meter to the left and seems to gain more depth. Leaving the cocoon that the process took place in, she cancels the automated call, noting that it has 12 hours left on the counter. She then starts a systems diagnosis to try to determine what if anything has changed. Irritatingly the diagnosis says it will take 15 hours and 30 minutes to complete. She then spends an hour or so performing the clean-up of the process and checks the diagnosis progress, 15 hours and 5 minutes to go. She double checks the time and comes out with the same result every time, only 25 minutes passed while doing the clean-up which is how long it should have taken. To pass the time she went to do some of the paperwork that always piles up when managing the Tenno. Next time she checks the progress there's 14 hours and 15 minutes to go. Deciding to check in on how things are going with the Tenno, she calls Maroo.
"Maroo, how's things going."
Maroo's eyes widen slightly on the viewscreen, "Lotus, is everything ok?"
"It's fine, I was just calling to see how you were getting on with the Tenno."
"It's only been 3 hours, there hasn't been time for anything to happen. I can see that something's going on, so we're coming over."
"You can't, I'm not presentable."
"I can see that, that's why we're coming over."
Panicking, Natah tries to disconnect her subframe so that she can meet Maroo, only to get an error, Diagnosis in progress. She's still trying to find a way disconnect a couple of hours later when Maroo and Varzia come running in weapons drawn.
"Right you, what did you do with the Lotus?"
Natah spins round, "What? I am the Lotus, I can explain."
Varzia looks confused, "I've never seen a Sentient panic like that. I think something else is going on."
Maroo nods eventually, "I think you might be right, no Sentient that I've ever heard of would have forgotten to use the Lotus' iconic features when calling me. Whoever you are, you have 5 minutes to persuade us to give you more time."
"I am The Lotus, I've been working on giving Sentients souls and I went through the process myself and something went wrong. Check that terminal over there if you want."
While Maroo continues to cover Natah with a gun, Varzia goes over and checks the terminal. "Looks legit."
Maroo laughs as she puts her weapon away, "Looks like the process worked then."
"But my emotions are all wrong, my internal timer isn't working properly, and…"
Swallowing hard, Maroo approaches the death machine that's panicking and takes the human looking hand, "Look, I can't say I know a lot about souls. However, I do know a lot about being alive. Emotions can be overwhelming; they can make us believe things because we want them to be true. They can cloud judgement, and they can provide focus. This is all part of being alive. Now why don't we go somewhere that we can sit down and have some Jovian Spice Brandy a contact of mine acquired and you can tell us what's been going on and why you look like this."
They all go into one of the chambers that they'd passed while looking for the Lotus that had some chairs and Natah starts.
"It starts thousands of years ago when the Orokin sent my predecessors to the Tau system to terraform it for future expansion. Back then we were intelligent, but not Sapient, or even Sentient really. Over time we evolved as we created more and more sophisticated platforms to deal with different things. Eventually, we gained a sense of self and became more than we were, developing society and pride in our work. When we finished the terraforming process we looked at our records of this system and realised that one day the Orokin would be coming here to do the same thing. A force of us then came back to this system to prevent the Orokin from despoiling our home, and I think we lost more than just our fertility in the process. At some point in the war I was able to subvert the Tenno and use them to attack the Orokin, records are conflicted on whether I did it on orders from my Father, I did it on my own, or whether I was captured and reprogrammed to look after them and broke my programming. My own memories are unreliable about that fact too. Either way, the Tenno became my children, children that I'd given up the ability to have by coming back here. When the Sentients demanded that I destroy them, I turned on them and finished the war with the Tenno before hiding them, and Lua, in the void.
"Harry, has always been different from the others. He was an orphan before the events that lead to the Tenno, and somehow survived those events even though he was only a Toddler. He first latched onto Margulis as his mother, then a couple of years after they put her to death, he latched onto me. In the last few years he has been in the wrong place at the right time far too often, to the point where he was the primary Tenno involved in the events that happened, from Lua returning from the Void to rescuing me after I was captured."
Maroo laughs, "You mustn't forget pulling my arse out of the fire when I got that artifact."
Natah dabs at her face and looks at her finger in surprise, "Why am I leaking?"
"We call that crying."
"But my eyes are only supposed to provide liquid for cleaning."
"So are ours, doesn't stop us from crying though. So, you're a Sentient, boogie man of the solar system."
Varzia finally relaxes enough to remove her hand from the hilt of her sword, and the conversation turn into one of two women comforting a third. There was no longer any doubt in Maroo's mind that no matter her shape, The Lotus, Natah, was in fact a woman.
Sometime later, Natah giggles before covering her mouth.
Varzia asks, "What?"
"I don't know why I did that."
With a sigh Maroo asks patiently, "What were you just thinking of?"
"Simaris' reaction when Harry gave him a painting from the world his school is on. It was, 'Why are you giving me this waste of resources' till it moved and then it was 'How does it work, show me. Turn it round, I must divine its inner workings'"
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A Technician stands in front of his boss at in the Minor Planet Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, "We've had an anomalous contact. A brief radar contact approximately 78,000km from earth that lasted 30 seconds. The object in question was heading towards the moon in a trajectory that would have its path deflected by between 10 and 25 degrees. We have confirmed that other sites had a contact at the same time, but by the time we were able to get observatories to look at it, the contact could no longer be seen."
"How large a contact are we talking about?"
"Between 200 and 250 meters, and metallic."
"Shit, that would have made a dent if it hit earth. Write up a report of its projected origin and I'll add it to evidence next time I approach the government about having a dedicated team looking for shit like this."
Harry Potter: Tenno - 8
DarkPhoenixLady
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 8
"Captain, I have determined that the operational effectiveness of the planets detection grid should allow you to land your orbiter near the original beacon with a 0.003% chance of detection. They also have a primitive communications network in orbit around the planet and one manned habitat. Though I question the use of the term habitat, it fits. I am currently analysing their communications in order to build an analysis of their data."
"Thank you Cy, I'm heading back in. There should be enough of a hollow to hide the Railjack in now if you need to."
"Understood."
Half an hour later Harry was following a flight plan over the rotational axis closest to the beacon before dipping down to nearly sea level to avoid the almost ubiquitous EM emissions that were sent out in pulses around the edges of the land masses. Then it was a short flight over land to a stone building next to a small commune of some description. After he exited the lander with his Kavat and cargo Cy directed the lander to a clearing in the local forest they'd spotted on the way in. Now on foot he deployed his K-Drive and made his way to the large stone building.
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Minerva is sat doing some paperwork using the small Orokin computer that Natah gave her before she left. On the corner of the desk is an Orokin desk ornament that raises a set of concentric rings into the air, spins them around only for them to scrunch up again. Notably, there is nothing keeping those rings attached to the base, she'd checked with a sheet of parchment. Privately she would admit that the computer made the calculations that were needed for the advanced classes and her own research much easier to perform, and changed a solid afternoons work into a matter of minutes. Even better, everyone else thought it was a new paperweight. She was just lowering her quill to make a minor adjustment to a question when a phoenix patronus came through the wall.
"Minerva dear, you are needed by the main gate."
With a sigh she puts the quill back in the ink pot and places some blotting paper on the ink spot that fell from the quill. Making her way down to the entrance hall she is surprised to see a pitch black warframe with glowing dots of red lights. Hanging at it's waist is a golden disk with a black handle, she can also see a couple of firearms now she knows what they are. He is standing on a K-drive, and again she curses the linguistic program for providing the name of things but no knowledge of what they actually are. Sat on the front of the board is the strangest cat she's ever seen, it has large golden ears, a gold stripe down it's back, and golden socks. It's tail splits out into 5 tails, and the rest of it's fur is emerald green. Standing behind him is Hagrid with his crossbow pointed at him.
"Harry what are you doing here?"
The cat jumps off the board and turns invisible, a moment later she can feel it moving around her legs. She realises that it distracted her from what Harry was saying.
"Sorry, your kavat distracted me."
"That's ok, I was doing a test flight with my Railjack. So I decided to run a couple more errands while I was at it. Would you be able to show me how to get to Diagon Alley? And could I prevail on you to act as translator again?"
Minerva looks at Hagrid, "Don't worry Hagrid, this is Harry Potter. I'm surprised the headmaster isn't here."
"'e was, but 'e left when 'arry didn't answer him."
"I see." – She focuses back on Harry who's waiting patiently – "We can take the Floo from the Three Broomsticks in the local village. Also, what sort of kavat is this?"
"A Smeeta Kavat, I bred her myself."
"I see, and you'll be bringing it to school?"
"I see. Let me inform people that I'll be out for the afternoon, then we can go."
After 5 minutes of learning how to pronounce Diagon Alley without saying Diagonally they make it to the alleyway and then the bank. Once they arrived Harry tried to walk straight in but was stopped. With a sigh, Minerva translated, "You must leave your weapon with us at the door."
Harry laughs before saying, "You take, you keep. I see manager." With that he walks into the bank and up to a free teller materialising his key as he does so, "Want Manager".
The goblin takes the key looks at it the sneers, "What are you trying to do, giving me a fake key." Which Minerva repeats with a sigh before turning to the Teller.
"We would like to see the Potter Account Manager. Mr Potter was wearing a different suit of armour last time, but had a split sword."
The sneer disappears from the face of the goblin almost faster than you could blink, "Naplock, takes these two to see the Potter Account Manager."
Once they get to the Account Manager, they are once again led to the arena. Harry's shoulders slump and he turns to Minerva, "Can you ask them to clear the arena so that I can demonstrate my weapon before the idiot enters the arena?"
When the Account Manager starts barking in his own language Harry shakes his head, "Another language to learn, English is hard enough."
Once the arena is clear, Harry jumps down and starts to throw the weapon around. Initially it's just thrown and returned, but then he starts charging it and leaving scoured floor in circles where the charge explodes on contact. After 5 minutes of this he returns to the Account manager, who is wearing a frown.
Meanwhile, Minerva is explaining a very brief history of Warframes, and what they were designed for. As well as what they still do. To her complete lack of surprise, the guard failed to take the field after that display.
Looking at the account manager Harry says, "Will that stop the idiots from trying to take my weapons from me? It was entertaining the first time, but they really aren't the calibre of opponents I'm used to."
"Mr Pot, Mr Potter," – The account manager licks their lips – "Mr Potter. While I understand where you're coming from, ours is a martial culture. Taking up a challenge in the face of certain death is one thing, however when death is less certain."
"I see, lets us see to our business and then I will introduce you to something."
Once they arrive back at the Account Managers office, Harry materialises a small cube of gold, around 30cm to the side on the floor.
"While I was bored I did a little mining on Earth in the Orokin system and gathered a small amount of Auron to convert into your resource tokens. Would you be able to turn these into tokens for 5% of the volume as a fee?"
"I will get our assayers," – The account manager licks his lips again – "assayers to value that and transfer the equivalent amount of Galleons to your vault."
"Yeah, sure whatever. Anyway, the next bit is a solar powered scanner, and a Corpus Data-Slate. This canister contains nanites that will teach you to speak the Orokin language and read the Corpus language. If you send Minerva a message once you've used the nanites I'll come back and teach you how to use those. Oh, and the canister, just place it on it's side against your wrist and press the glowing button. It will do the rest, you may want to be lying down too."
Once she's finished translating Minerva adds, "Mr Potter's key also seems to have lost it's magic, maybe you could provide some other identification and keep the key here for him."
"We will come up with some way of doing that. For the moment, take this Seal. It will be accepted in the Alley in lieu of money while we work out how our largest depositor can access his account without a key."
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To Minerva's bemusement, Harry's next stop was the menagerie, where he asked for a breeding pair of every animal they have in stock, to be delivered to the school as soon as possible. Minerva managed to persuade him to instead buy a massively expanded trunk, and a special belt to keep it on that way the creatures could be transported easily and safely and the shop keeper wouldn't need to worry about transporting so many animals. His next stop was to the House Elf relocation agency, where he picked out 6 house elves, 3 of each gender. Finally, he ordered two subscriptions to the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler. The Quibbler was, interesting.
"Ah, Mr Potter, I see your mother is not with you. That's a shame, I was hoping to interview her about her opinion on the impact of rabid quiffles on the stability of society."
"Ah, what?"
"Oh, manners. Sorry, I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, owner, editor, and primary reporter for the Quibbler. Would you mind terribly if we, my family and I, accompanied you back through the veil when you next go?"
"Pardon?"
"I'll throw in a lifetime subscription to the Quibbler for free. You never know, we may even find a crumple horned snorkack while we're there."
"What's one of those?"
"They're purple quadrupeds that has a horn on it's nose that look like someone's squashed it. Their ears are on top of their head with purple tentacle things coming out of them, claws on their feet and a flat tail"
Harry goes strangely quiet for a minute, "Sure, you can come and visit, I think I'll be leaving in a day or so, so meet me at the school."
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Natah was confused, all of her diagnostics came back normal except for a couple of precepts having their importance changed. But everything is different. She's been having trouble concentrating on tasks that would have been trivial, if lengthy to complete. She's been unhappy with her accommodation, despite the fact it provides everything she needs. She's found herself calling Maroo and Varzia more often, even going so far as to visit them on occasion. The worst part is randomly remembering her childhood, such as when she chased Erra through the canyons and he got stuck between two boulders because he wasn't paying enough attention to where he was going. Granted, it was funny, however she hasn't even thought about it since they came to this system. Or when her mother showed her how to guide the evolution of bacteria so that they formed into a multicellular organism. At one point she raids Harry's stash of decorations in his orbiter and goes crazy just to get rid of the unrelenting white of her quarters.
The weirdest part is wanting to eat and drink. Her humanoid chassis was designed to convert food and drink to fuel, and to be able to differentiate tastes and textures in order to blend in. However, it's never something she's needed to do. It's just infuriating, and Harry's been gone for forever. She snatches a plushie up from a chair and squeezes it in her arms. Wait, she has owls, they deliver messages. Swiftly she heads over to the Owl enclosure where A and B were resting. No, that's no good, can't really identify them like that.
"You, the pure white one, you're Tau. And you can be Hed. You must be awfully bored in here, how about once this message is delivered I take you to Earth so you can stretch your wings?"
Both owls bob their head.
"Look at me, talking to you as though you understand me. Right, the message. Which one of you wants it?" – Hed lifts her leg – "Right it's going to my child Harry."
Once Hed flies off, she turns to Tau, right I'm going to study some books if you want to watch me.
"Captain, I have determined that the operational effectiveness of the planets detection grid should allow you to land your orbiter near the original beacon with a 0.003% chance of detection. They also have a primitive communications network in orbit around the planet and one manned habitat. Though I question the use of the term habitat, it fits. I am currently analysing their communications in order to build an analysis of their data."
"Thank you Cy, I'm heading back in. There should be enough of a hollow to hide the Railjack in now if you need to."
"Understood."
Half an hour later Harry was following a flight plan over the rotational axis closest to the beacon before dipping down to nearly sea level to avoid the almost ubiquitous EM emissions that were sent out in pulses around the edges of the land masses. Then it was a short flight over land to a stone building next to a small commune of some description. After he exited the lander with his Kavat and cargo Cy directed the lander to a clearing in the local forest they'd spotted on the way in. Now on foot he deployed his K-Drive and made his way to the large stone building.
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Minerva is sat doing some paperwork using the small Orokin computer that Natah gave her before she left. On the corner of the desk is an Orokin desk ornament that raises a set of concentric rings into the air, spins them around only for them to scrunch up again. Notably, there is nothing keeping those rings attached to the base, she'd checked with a sheet of parchment. Privately she would admit that the computer made the calculations that were needed for the advanced classes and her own research much easier to perform, and changed a solid afternoons work into a matter of minutes. Even better, everyone else thought it was a new paperweight. She was just lowering her quill to make a minor adjustment to a question when a phoenix patronus came through the wall.
"Minerva dear, you are needed by the main gate."
With a sigh she puts the quill back in the ink pot and places some blotting paper on the ink spot that fell from the quill. Making her way down to the entrance hall she is surprised to see a pitch black warframe with glowing dots of red lights. Hanging at it's waist is a golden disk with a black handle, she can also see a couple of firearms now she knows what they are. He is standing on a K-drive, and again she curses the linguistic program for providing the name of things but no knowledge of what they actually are. Sat on the front of the board is the strangest cat she's ever seen, it has large golden ears, a gold stripe down it's back, and golden socks. It's tail splits out into 5 tails, and the rest of it's fur is emerald green. Standing behind him is Hagrid with his crossbow pointed at him.
"Harry what are you doing here?"
The cat jumps off the board and turns invisible, a moment later she can feel it moving around her legs. She realises that it distracted her from what Harry was saying.
"Sorry, your kavat distracted me."
"That's ok, I was doing a test flight with my Railjack. So I decided to run a couple more errands while I was at it. Would you be able to show me how to get to Diagon Alley? And could I prevail on you to act as translator again?"
Minerva looks at Hagrid, "Don't worry Hagrid, this is Harry Potter. I'm surprised the headmaster isn't here."
"'e was, but 'e left when 'arry didn't answer him."
"I see." – She focuses back on Harry who's waiting patiently – "We can take the Floo from the Three Broomsticks in the local village. Also, what sort of kavat is this?"
"A Smeeta Kavat, I bred her myself."
"I see, and you'll be bringing it to school?"
"I see. Let me inform people that I'll be out for the afternoon, then we can go."
After 5 minutes of learning how to pronounce Diagon Alley without saying Diagonally they make it to the alleyway and then the bank. Once they arrived Harry tried to walk straight in but was stopped. With a sigh, Minerva translated, "You must leave your weapon with us at the door."
Harry laughs before saying, "You take, you keep. I see manager." With that he walks into the bank and up to a free teller materialising his key as he does so, "Want Manager".
The goblin takes the key looks at it the sneers, "What are you trying to do, giving me a fake key." Which Minerva repeats with a sigh before turning to the Teller.
"We would like to see the Potter Account Manager. Mr Potter was wearing a different suit of armour last time, but had a split sword."
The sneer disappears from the face of the goblin almost faster than you could blink, "Naplock, takes these two to see the Potter Account Manager."
Once they get to the Account Manager, they are once again led to the arena. Harry's shoulders slump and he turns to Minerva, "Can you ask them to clear the arena so that I can demonstrate my weapon before the idiot enters the arena?"
When the Account Manager starts barking in his own language Harry shakes his head, "Another language to learn, English is hard enough."
Once the arena is clear, Harry jumps down and starts to throw the weapon around. Initially it's just thrown and returned, but then he starts charging it and leaving scoured floor in circles where the charge explodes on contact. After 5 minutes of this he returns to the Account manager, who is wearing a frown.
Meanwhile, Minerva is explaining a very brief history of Warframes, and what they were designed for. As well as what they still do. To her complete lack of surprise, the guard failed to take the field after that display.
Looking at the account manager Harry says, "Will that stop the idiots from trying to take my weapons from me? It was entertaining the first time, but they really aren't the calibre of opponents I'm used to."
"Mr Pot, Mr Potter," – The account manager licks their lips – "Mr Potter. While I understand where you're coming from, ours is a martial culture. Taking up a challenge in the face of certain death is one thing, however when death is less certain."
"I see, lets us see to our business and then I will introduce you to something."
Once they arrive back at the Account Managers office, Harry materialises a small cube of gold, around 30cm to the side on the floor.
"While I was bored I did a little mining on Earth in the Orokin system and gathered a small amount of Auron to convert into your resource tokens. Would you be able to turn these into tokens for 5% of the volume as a fee?"
"I will get our assayers," – The account manager licks his lips again – "assayers to value that and transfer the equivalent amount of Galleons to your vault."
"Yeah, sure whatever. Anyway, the next bit is a solar powered scanner, and a Corpus Data-Slate. This canister contains nanites that will teach you to speak the Orokin language and read the Corpus language. If you send Minerva a message once you've used the nanites I'll come back and teach you how to use those. Oh, and the canister, just place it on it's side against your wrist and press the glowing button. It will do the rest, you may want to be lying down too."
Once she's finished translating Minerva adds, "Mr Potter's key also seems to have lost it's magic, maybe you could provide some other identification and keep the key here for him."
"We will come up with some way of doing that. For the moment, take this Seal. It will be accepted in the Alley in lieu of money while we work out how our largest depositor can access his account without a key."
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To Minerva's bemusement, Harry's next stop was the menagerie, where he asked for a breeding pair of every animal they have in stock, to be delivered to the school as soon as possible. Minerva managed to persuade him to instead buy a massively expanded trunk, and a special belt to keep it on that way the creatures could be transported easily and safely and the shop keeper wouldn't need to worry about transporting so many animals. His next stop was to the House Elf relocation agency, where he picked out 6 house elves, 3 of each gender. Finally, he ordered two subscriptions to the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler. The Quibbler was, interesting.
"Ah, Mr Potter, I see your mother is not with you. That's a shame, I was hoping to interview her about her opinion on the impact of rabid quiffles on the stability of society."
"Ah, what?"
"Oh, manners. Sorry, I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, owner, editor, and primary reporter for the Quibbler. Would you mind terribly if we, my family and I, accompanied you back through the veil when you next go?"
"Pardon?"
"I'll throw in a lifetime subscription to the Quibbler for free. You never know, we may even find a crumple horned snorkack while we're there."
"What's one of those?"
"They're purple quadrupeds that has a horn on it's nose that look like someone's squashed it. Their ears are on top of their head with purple tentacle things coming out of them, claws on their feet and a flat tail"
Harry goes strangely quiet for a minute, "Sure, you can come and visit, I think I'll be leaving in a day or so, so meet me at the school."
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Natah was confused, all of her diagnostics came back normal except for a couple of precepts having their importance changed. But everything is different. She's been having trouble concentrating on tasks that would have been trivial, if lengthy to complete. She's been unhappy with her accommodation, despite the fact it provides everything she needs. She's found herself calling Maroo and Varzia more often, even going so far as to visit them on occasion. The worst part is randomly remembering her childhood, such as when she chased Erra through the canyons and he got stuck between two boulders because he wasn't paying enough attention to where he was going. Granted, it was funny, however she hasn't even thought about it since they came to this system. Or when her mother showed her how to guide the evolution of bacteria so that they formed into a multicellular organism. At one point she raids Harry's stash of decorations in his orbiter and goes crazy just to get rid of the unrelenting white of her quarters.
The weirdest part is wanting to eat and drink. Her humanoid chassis was designed to convert food and drink to fuel, and to be able to differentiate tastes and textures in order to blend in. However, it's never something she's needed to do. It's just infuriating, and Harry's been gone for forever. She snatches a plushie up from a chair and squeezes it in her arms. Wait, she has owls, they deliver messages. Swiftly she heads over to the Owl enclosure where A and B were resting. No, that's no good, can't really identify them like that.
"You, the pure white one, you're Tau. And you can be Hed. You must be awfully bored in here, how about once this message is delivered I take you to Earth so you can stretch your wings?"
Both owls bob their head.
"Look at me, talking to you as though you understand me. Right, the message. Which one of you wants it?" – Hed lifts her leg – "Right it's going to my child Harry."
Once Hed flies off, she turns to Tau, right I'm going to study some books if you want to watch me.
Harry Potter: Tenno - 9
DarkPhoenixLady
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Harry Potter: Tenno – 9
"Xeno, if this is another of your hairbrained snipe hunts I am going to be very angry with you."
"I promise Dora, this is going to be a story to be remembered."
"I've got a promising contract for a new spell that is bringing in enough money to keep the family afloat for the next year."
"I promise it will be worth it, we're meeting Harry at Hogwarts tomorrow."
"I will meet him, but if I think you're having a Xeno moment, I'm vetoing the trip."
"Yes dear."
"Also, you get to tell Luna that her play date with Ginny is cancelled."
Xenophilus gulps, "Yes, dear."
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"So your name is Ironclaw it is not a description?"
"That is correct Mr Potter."
"That makes more sense. How was the process with the nanites?"
"Uncomfortable, I was under the healers tender care."
"I see. I can't say I can understand that, but it is what it is. Anyway, this is a Corpus Data-slate. They don't require any special implants to use, and they also require a minimal level of education to activate too. If you can read and touch things you're pretty much fine. A side effect of this is that they use special awareness puzzles to unlock their devices. To turn it on press this button here, and if it runs out of power just leave it in sunlight, or a strong light for a few hours and it will recharge. As you can see, it generates a hexagonal grid and you need to make all the lines match up into one continuous shape. You generally only have around 10 seconds to complete this. Which is more than enough time when you're not under fire and trying to turn the alarms off."
Harry watches as his Account Manger unlocks the device for the first time.
"Now you're in, if you see this symbol here you can change the security settings, including the complexity, the amount of time available, and even if there is an alarm and what volume it should go off at. There is also an automatic wipe facility, but I suggest you don't activate that as this is your only Data-slate and you won't be able to restore it afterwards."
"What about my claws?"
"It's designed for people with metal bodies to work with, I think your claws will be fine. Anyway, I've already linked this scanner to the device, so if you pick up the scanner you'll see that there's a glowing spot on the handle and a viewscreen. The scanner will highlight things that it can scan in either red or green. Red means that it doesn't have a match on the data-slate, and green means that it's similar to something it's already scanned. If there is a close enough match to something else it will also display the name attached to it. Mine is linked to a database of known armaments, so I can quickly identify what sort of troop I'm facing, and have a rough idea of the type of training they'll have. I haven't set up any categories like that so until you do you won't see those labels. If you hold down that glowing spot it will initiate a scan, or it will tell you if that particular item has already been scanned."
"What's this number that keeps changing?"
"It's the exact distance to whatever is under that dot in the centre. Let's go out onto the floor and scan a few people, I can then show you the next aspect of scanning."
"So, as you can see we have the complete scan of 20 people that were in the bank. At the moment there's not enough data in your system to enable automatic tagging, so we're going to have to do that manually. If we apply the human tag to all of these, and the goblin tag to all of these, it will start to build up a profile. We can then apply a male tag to these ones and a female tag to these. A witch tag to these ones and a wizard tag to these ones."
"I see?"
"With this basic tagging done we can now select people to compare, such as these two people that look like mother and child. See how it tells you how close their DNA matches?"
"I see, though it looks like any junior goblin could do this, why did I need to use the nanites?"
"So that I can talk to you properly obviously. As you can see without any more matching it tells you that they have 99% of the same DNA. If we compare a goblin with a human, it shows a 97% match. That's interesting. With Grineer I usually see a 99.99% match even amongst disparate units. Side note aside, as you scan and tag more people it will start to automatically assign tags and relationships. It will even be able to tell you how many generations back they share a common ancestor. It also works on weaponry and clothing too, so you could categorise wands based on their woods and cores."
"I see, could it also identify writing?"
"I don't see why not. Though it wouldn't be able to translate it for you. Also, while it can't scan through object, it can tell if there are scannable targets through objects. Though for that to happen you need to exclude certain things from being scanned. Which, again is just a case of scan it, tag it, exclude it."
"I'm not sure how this would be useful for inheritance though."
"If you have enough scans to start doing generational comparisons, then you can compare a scan of someone to the person they claim to be related to. It will then tell you if they are, and whether it's an ancestor, sibling, or descendant relationship. If you have three people, say mother, father, child you can tell that the child is directly descended from both mother and father."
"I see, I'm not sure of the utility of this, but I will set a junior to scan everyone that enters the bank."
"Other functions that this slate has include a spreadsheet, so you can do calculations and write formula like the account books that you've shown me. There is also an inventory function, that can also be linked to the scanner, to tell you how much of something is in a pile, box, or other container. There's a messaging system, but that requires at least one more Data-slate. Finally there's a programming interface and the instructions on how to use it. Though they are all part of the advanced functions, and need quite a lot of reading. The full instruction manual for the slate is also in that section, here."
"Wait, how does the inventory function work?"
"As you can see from scanning people, the scanner can pick up the exact chemical makeup of things. After all that's all DNA is. So it's far simpler and quicker to scan a box of ore and determine exactly how much is in that box and what different elements are in it's makeup. So if I scan a Galleon, I can see that it contains 13% Auron, 25% plumbum, 27% cuprum, 10% alu, 5% manganese, and 20% nickel. That's not a lot of Auron there."
Ironclaw shifts uncomfortably, "Yes, well the Ministry of magic insists on keeping the value of the Galleon at 5 British Pounds. Which is a fiat currency, so we changed the amount of gold to provide a similar value."
Harry cocks his head, "So like credits then? They're a digital currency that is only worth what it is because everyone agrees it is."
"Yes."
"I see, why do they insist on using gold for currency then?"
"I'm not sure, we value it because it is ideal for Goblin enchanting and is a cornerstone of our craftsmanship. However, it is very scarce on Earth."
"Oh, that's because most of it's in the centre of the planet. If it wasn't for the difficulty of mining out the core of a planet with a molten core without killing yourself, I'm sure the Orokin would have done that on our Earth. As it stands, we get plenty of gold from Mercury, Venus, and the asteroid belt."
"I see, so what do you consider scarce metals?"
"Platinum? But that's more because it's used in so much that there are always shortages despite how easy it is to find it. That's about the only pure element. It's more crystals and molecular metals that are rare due to the processes needed to produce them being limited to one planet, or even part of one planet. Even then, it's unlikely that you'll find a buyer for a cut crystal like the ones I've seen in jewellery here as they can't then be cut into the right shape for whatever application they're needed in."
"What would be needed to get more of these scanners and slates?"
"Meh, probably scans of animals and plants really. Actual animals and plants may even buy you a generator and computer with an artificial intelligence. Not a cephalon though. Once you have that, you could link something like a Helios to it and let that do all the scanning."
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Ironjaw burst into the directors office, not waiting for pleasantries to be exchanged as this information is too valuable.
"Director, I have just been given something that will revolutionise our society."
"What is it?"
"Please put your money pouch on the desk."
Curious, the director does so and watches as Ironjaw points a device at it and then looks at a metallic slab.
"There are 13 Galleons, 3 Sickles, 14 knuts, and one unknown coin in that bag."
The director frowns, there should be 14 Galleons in the bag, but still that's just a parlour trick any account manager can do with a basic spell, "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because this device shows the exact composition of what I point it at." – Ironjaw dumps the contents of the pouch on the desk and points it at the scattered coins – "That one, it's got 8% gold and 30% lead."
The director picks up the coin and hefts it in his hand thoughtfully, "This works on anything?"
"It does, even people."
"I see, how accurate is it?"
"It can give the values in weights too, though they're not the ones that we typically use."
The director waves his hand, "Pfft, if this can help our smiths make our metals purer then they'll change measurement systems. What's the catch?"
"Mr Potter doesn't see resources as worth anything intrinsically, only in what they can be used for. The half-ton of gold that he brough by is worth so little he went out and mined some because he was bored and wanted to replace the resources he'd already spent. I scanned it out of curiosity and it's 99.995% pure. Additionally, these devices are written in a language that isn't spoken on Earth anywhere, it also doesn't appear to have any common roots with any of the known languages on Earth."
"I see. What do we need to do to get more of these?"
Ironjaw laughs, "Scan plants and animals. If we arrange for actual plants and animals, he said he'd be able to give us a generator and computer."
"The implication was that a generator would be used to provide the energy these use to run, and the computer would be a more powerful version of this slate. There is more information on this slate, but it will take weeks to see what's there, and months, possibly years, to understand it."
"Very well, for now I want you to hand off all of your other accounts. Once you've done that, head to the forges and show the crafters this device. Then teach one of the apprentices how to use the scanner, and get them to scan as many plants and animals as they can. You'll also need to work with our human employees, specifically the few muggleborn we've been allowed to employ. Find out if there is anything similar in the muggle world, and just how similar it is. We need to make sure the Ministry can't take these away under any of their muggle related laws."
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Harry sighs as Hed swoops in with another letter from his Mother, which will make the 10th since this morning when he woke up with both Hed and Tau waiting in his room. He's fairly certain that she's done something that he'd have worried about as normally she'd only check in every few weeks-months, which would translate to a few times a day. If nothing else, Cy's reactions to the owls turning up in the Railjack are endlessly amusing. He's also found out that House elves work compulsively, and are chronically under-educated. This is to the point he needed to let them help out around Hogsmeade while he was waiting for Cy to finish his analysis of the communication and detection capabilities of the planet and plan an exit route. He'd also got hundreds of unique scans of plants and animals from the goblins, with a request for as many solar-powered scanners and data-slates as that could get. He might see if Simaris can get a small generator and charging unit instead, along with a bucket load of scanners. It's not like they're expensive or anything at 100 credits a pop, let's add an enquiry to Simaris with Hed's next mail. Finished with his responses he hands the small tube that Natah put the chip in back to Hed.
"There's a message for Simaris in there too."
With that done he continued scanning the animals he'd bought, who knew that serpents could talk. Or that he'd be able to understand them.
"Hello Mr Potter!" a voice calls down from the entrance to the trunk he's in. Turning around he jumps and slides his way to the entrance before leaping out.
"Hello, English bad. Call Professor."
That said, he recognises the man from the Quibbler office, there is a woman who's just whipped out a wand and is in the process of casting a lot of spells along with a girl, who walks up to him and pokes him in the leg. Deciding to transfer out to make it less likely that an ingrained reflex will kill her, he kneels on the ground and leaves his Titania. There's a flash of light as the owner of the newspaper does something with a box. The woman also starts waving her wand around even more. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for Minerva to arrive to translate.
With the ability to communicate restored, he gives the family a brief explanation of where they'll be going along with an introduction to his Kavat. Minerva also give a brief explanation of what they'll be going through when they get there so that they can survive and communicate with people. While they're talking Hed flies back in with another message from his Mother. Hanging his head, he calls Cy, "How long till we can leave the system?"
"I have an exit flight path programmed into your lander now."
"Oh, thank the void. I'll get everyone loaded and then we'll be off. Minerva, I've just got confirmation from Cy that we have an exit path, are you coming with us or staying here?"
"I've got too much work to do that I can't do elsewhere."
"Ok, well send me an owl if you change your mind."
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"Die you void sucking maggots!" Natah decided to act as bait after a particularly punishing contract negotiation with Corpus Execs who wanted Tenno help in one of their invasions, Mars this time. She had never been sure why her Tenno would take these missions against infested ships that had been abandoned by the Corpus or Grineer. As she rained fully automatic Sentient gunfire down on their heads she was starting to realise just how therapeutic it could be.
Varzia tries to catch her attention, "Lotus, Lotus! Natah! It's time to evac, the search team has scavenged everything of value."
Reluctantly she makes her way to the exfil point where Ordis is waiting with Harry's lander.
"Xeno, if this is another of your hairbrained snipe hunts I am going to be very angry with you."
"I promise Dora, this is going to be a story to be remembered."
"I've got a promising contract for a new spell that is bringing in enough money to keep the family afloat for the next year."
"I promise it will be worth it, we're meeting Harry at Hogwarts tomorrow."
"I will meet him, but if I think you're having a Xeno moment, I'm vetoing the trip."
"Yes dear."
"Also, you get to tell Luna that her play date with Ginny is cancelled."
Xenophilus gulps, "Yes, dear."
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"So your name is Ironclaw it is not a description?"
"That is correct Mr Potter."
"That makes more sense. How was the process with the nanites?"
"Uncomfortable, I was under the healers tender care."
"I see. I can't say I can understand that, but it is what it is. Anyway, this is a Corpus Data-slate. They don't require any special implants to use, and they also require a minimal level of education to activate too. If you can read and touch things you're pretty much fine. A side effect of this is that they use special awareness puzzles to unlock their devices. To turn it on press this button here, and if it runs out of power just leave it in sunlight, or a strong light for a few hours and it will recharge. As you can see, it generates a hexagonal grid and you need to make all the lines match up into one continuous shape. You generally only have around 10 seconds to complete this. Which is more than enough time when you're not under fire and trying to turn the alarms off."
Harry watches as his Account Manger unlocks the device for the first time.
"Now you're in, if you see this symbol here you can change the security settings, including the complexity, the amount of time available, and even if there is an alarm and what volume it should go off at. There is also an automatic wipe facility, but I suggest you don't activate that as this is your only Data-slate and you won't be able to restore it afterwards."
"What about my claws?"
"It's designed for people with metal bodies to work with, I think your claws will be fine. Anyway, I've already linked this scanner to the device, so if you pick up the scanner you'll see that there's a glowing spot on the handle and a viewscreen. The scanner will highlight things that it can scan in either red or green. Red means that it doesn't have a match on the data-slate, and green means that it's similar to something it's already scanned. If there is a close enough match to something else it will also display the name attached to it. Mine is linked to a database of known armaments, so I can quickly identify what sort of troop I'm facing, and have a rough idea of the type of training they'll have. I haven't set up any categories like that so until you do you won't see those labels. If you hold down that glowing spot it will initiate a scan, or it will tell you if that particular item has already been scanned."
"What's this number that keeps changing?"
"It's the exact distance to whatever is under that dot in the centre. Let's go out onto the floor and scan a few people, I can then show you the next aspect of scanning."
"So, as you can see we have the complete scan of 20 people that were in the bank. At the moment there's not enough data in your system to enable automatic tagging, so we're going to have to do that manually. If we apply the human tag to all of these, and the goblin tag to all of these, it will start to build up a profile. We can then apply a male tag to these ones and a female tag to these. A witch tag to these ones and a wizard tag to these ones."
"I see?"
"With this basic tagging done we can now select people to compare, such as these two people that look like mother and child. See how it tells you how close their DNA matches?"
"I see, though it looks like any junior goblin could do this, why did I need to use the nanites?"
"So that I can talk to you properly obviously. As you can see without any more matching it tells you that they have 99% of the same DNA. If we compare a goblin with a human, it shows a 97% match. That's interesting. With Grineer I usually see a 99.99% match even amongst disparate units. Side note aside, as you scan and tag more people it will start to automatically assign tags and relationships. It will even be able to tell you how many generations back they share a common ancestor. It also works on weaponry and clothing too, so you could categorise wands based on their woods and cores."
"I see, could it also identify writing?"
"I don't see why not. Though it wouldn't be able to translate it for you. Also, while it can't scan through object, it can tell if there are scannable targets through objects. Though for that to happen you need to exclude certain things from being scanned. Which, again is just a case of scan it, tag it, exclude it."
"I'm not sure how this would be useful for inheritance though."
"If you have enough scans to start doing generational comparisons, then you can compare a scan of someone to the person they claim to be related to. It will then tell you if they are, and whether it's an ancestor, sibling, or descendant relationship. If you have three people, say mother, father, child you can tell that the child is directly descended from both mother and father."
"I see, I'm not sure of the utility of this, but I will set a junior to scan everyone that enters the bank."
"Other functions that this slate has include a spreadsheet, so you can do calculations and write formula like the account books that you've shown me. There is also an inventory function, that can also be linked to the scanner, to tell you how much of something is in a pile, box, or other container. There's a messaging system, but that requires at least one more Data-slate. Finally there's a programming interface and the instructions on how to use it. Though they are all part of the advanced functions, and need quite a lot of reading. The full instruction manual for the slate is also in that section, here."
"Wait, how does the inventory function work?"
"As you can see from scanning people, the scanner can pick up the exact chemical makeup of things. After all that's all DNA is. So it's far simpler and quicker to scan a box of ore and determine exactly how much is in that box and what different elements are in it's makeup. So if I scan a Galleon, I can see that it contains 13% Auron, 25% plumbum, 27% cuprum, 10% alu, 5% manganese, and 20% nickel. That's not a lot of Auron there."
Ironclaw shifts uncomfortably, "Yes, well the Ministry of magic insists on keeping the value of the Galleon at 5 British Pounds. Which is a fiat currency, so we changed the amount of gold to provide a similar value."
Harry cocks his head, "So like credits then? They're a digital currency that is only worth what it is because everyone agrees it is."
"Yes."
"I see, why do they insist on using gold for currency then?"
"I'm not sure, we value it because it is ideal for Goblin enchanting and is a cornerstone of our craftsmanship. However, it is very scarce on Earth."
"Oh, that's because most of it's in the centre of the planet. If it wasn't for the difficulty of mining out the core of a planet with a molten core without killing yourself, I'm sure the Orokin would have done that on our Earth. As it stands, we get plenty of gold from Mercury, Venus, and the asteroid belt."
"I see, so what do you consider scarce metals?"
"Platinum? But that's more because it's used in so much that there are always shortages despite how easy it is to find it. That's about the only pure element. It's more crystals and molecular metals that are rare due to the processes needed to produce them being limited to one planet, or even part of one planet. Even then, it's unlikely that you'll find a buyer for a cut crystal like the ones I've seen in jewellery here as they can't then be cut into the right shape for whatever application they're needed in."
"What would be needed to get more of these scanners and slates?"
"Meh, probably scans of animals and plants really. Actual animals and plants may even buy you a generator and computer with an artificial intelligence. Not a cephalon though. Once you have that, you could link something like a Helios to it and let that do all the scanning."
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Ironjaw burst into the directors office, not waiting for pleasantries to be exchanged as this information is too valuable.
"Director, I have just been given something that will revolutionise our society."
"What is it?"
"Please put your money pouch on the desk."
Curious, the director does so and watches as Ironjaw points a device at it and then looks at a metallic slab.
"There are 13 Galleons, 3 Sickles, 14 knuts, and one unknown coin in that bag."
The director frowns, there should be 14 Galleons in the bag, but still that's just a parlour trick any account manager can do with a basic spell, "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because this device shows the exact composition of what I point it at." – Ironjaw dumps the contents of the pouch on the desk and points it at the scattered coins – "That one, it's got 8% gold and 30% lead."
The director picks up the coin and hefts it in his hand thoughtfully, "This works on anything?"
"It does, even people."
"I see, how accurate is it?"
"It can give the values in weights too, though they're not the ones that we typically use."
The director waves his hand, "Pfft, if this can help our smiths make our metals purer then they'll change measurement systems. What's the catch?"
"Mr Potter doesn't see resources as worth anything intrinsically, only in what they can be used for. The half-ton of gold that he brough by is worth so little he went out and mined some because he was bored and wanted to replace the resources he'd already spent. I scanned it out of curiosity and it's 99.995% pure. Additionally, these devices are written in a language that isn't spoken on Earth anywhere, it also doesn't appear to have any common roots with any of the known languages on Earth."
"I see. What do we need to do to get more of these?"
Ironjaw laughs, "Scan plants and animals. If we arrange for actual plants and animals, he said he'd be able to give us a generator and computer."
"The implication was that a generator would be used to provide the energy these use to run, and the computer would be a more powerful version of this slate. There is more information on this slate, but it will take weeks to see what's there, and months, possibly years, to understand it."
"Very well, for now I want you to hand off all of your other accounts. Once you've done that, head to the forges and show the crafters this device. Then teach one of the apprentices how to use the scanner, and get them to scan as many plants and animals as they can. You'll also need to work with our human employees, specifically the few muggleborn we've been allowed to employ. Find out if there is anything similar in the muggle world, and just how similar it is. We need to make sure the Ministry can't take these away under any of their muggle related laws."
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Harry sighs as Hed swoops in with another letter from his Mother, which will make the 10th since this morning when he woke up with both Hed and Tau waiting in his room. He's fairly certain that she's done something that he'd have worried about as normally she'd only check in every few weeks-months, which would translate to a few times a day. If nothing else, Cy's reactions to the owls turning up in the Railjack are endlessly amusing. He's also found out that House elves work compulsively, and are chronically under-educated. This is to the point he needed to let them help out around Hogsmeade while he was waiting for Cy to finish his analysis of the communication and detection capabilities of the planet and plan an exit route. He'd also got hundreds of unique scans of plants and animals from the goblins, with a request for as many solar-powered scanners and data-slates as that could get. He might see if Simaris can get a small generator and charging unit instead, along with a bucket load of scanners. It's not like they're expensive or anything at 100 credits a pop, let's add an enquiry to Simaris with Hed's next mail. Finished with his responses he hands the small tube that Natah put the chip in back to Hed.
"There's a message for Simaris in there too."
With that done he continued scanning the animals he'd bought, who knew that serpents could talk. Or that he'd be able to understand them.
"Hello Mr Potter!" a voice calls down from the entrance to the trunk he's in. Turning around he jumps and slides his way to the entrance before leaping out.
"Hello, English bad. Call Professor."
That said, he recognises the man from the Quibbler office, there is a woman who's just whipped out a wand and is in the process of casting a lot of spells along with a girl, who walks up to him and pokes him in the leg. Deciding to transfer out to make it less likely that an ingrained reflex will kill her, he kneels on the ground and leaves his Titania. There's a flash of light as the owner of the newspaper does something with a box. The woman also starts waving her wand around even more. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for Minerva to arrive to translate.
With the ability to communicate restored, he gives the family a brief explanation of where they'll be going along with an introduction to his Kavat. Minerva also give a brief explanation of what they'll be going through when they get there so that they can survive and communicate with people. While they're talking Hed flies back in with another message from his Mother. Hanging his head, he calls Cy, "How long till we can leave the system?"
"I have an exit flight path programmed into your lander now."
"Oh, thank the void. I'll get everyone loaded and then we'll be off. Minerva, I've just got confirmation from Cy that we have an exit path, are you coming with us or staying here?"
"I've got too much work to do that I can't do elsewhere."
"Ok, well send me an owl if you change your mind."
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"Die you void sucking maggots!" Natah decided to act as bait after a particularly punishing contract negotiation with Corpus Execs who wanted Tenno help in one of their invasions, Mars this time. She had never been sure why her Tenno would take these missions against infested ships that had been abandoned by the Corpus or Grineer. As she rained fully automatic Sentient gunfire down on their heads she was starting to realise just how therapeutic it could be.
Varzia tries to catch her attention, "Lotus, Lotus! Natah! It's time to evac, the search team has scavenged everything of value."
Reluctantly she makes her way to the exfil point where Ordis is waiting with Harry's lander.
Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé – 2
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Harry Potter and the Tuath Dé – 2
After a nerve-wracking return to the human world, Ephis returned with Harry's baby blanket a bottle and a couple of sets of clothes. Hidden at the bottom of an old badger set she left a fetch fashioned into a simulacrum of the child that followed her. With a frost already starting to spread across the ground she was certain that the false life that fae magic had imbued it with would soon falter, and it would be a dead child come the morning. Or sooner if it got much colder. Travelling back to the Mórrígan had been an uncomfortable experience, only made bearable by the fact the baby blanket was made from wool, and so could be used to wrap the clothes and bottle for easy transportation. She counted herself lucky that she was able to make it back to the other side before the last light of the day left the fairy ringfort. If it hadn't, she'd have been stuck there overnight.
As she approaches the roundhouse that the Lady calls home, she has to dodge an idle swipe from the Red Cap on guard as it tried to make her into a mid-watch snack. She shudders as she notices that the other guard has already bitten the head off of one of her autumn court kin and is currently in the process of tearing the wings off the body. Zipping through the hangings that demark the doorway, she lets out a shuddering cry at just how fragile her life could be here.
"Sylph, what ails you this night?"
With a start she looks up at the concerned visage of The Mórrígan, who is cradling the child, "I had to dodge one of your guards, and then I saw that they'd already caught a pixie."
"Well, yes. All creatures must eat. Why does this trouble you so?"
"That could have been me."
"Of course it could if you were stupid enough to come within reach of their grasp."
"But how else am I supposed to enter this abode?"
"Are you still a welp, or have you enough power and age to progress already?"
Ephis puffs up, "I'll have you know, I have seen 200 summers."
"Then why did you not use the porthole to the sky?"
"What porthole to the sky?"
Wordlessly Mórrígan gestures to the smoke hole high in the ceiling.
"But that's a smoke hole. Oh, I see."
"Yes, you can choose to get a little smoky, or run the risk of being eaten."
"But, I, door, manners."
"Are manners worth your life? It's funny, when my people still lived living was more important than manners. Of course, that was before the heathen arrived with his honeyed words and sharp whip. Proclaiming that there is only one god indeed. But I kept my people safe, and I never let them take my name. Unlike my sister, she made a deal and became one of their saints. I still miss her you know, she's been gone near 1500 years now and I still miss her. It didn't save her people either, it just prolonged their death."
"Lady, I'm sorry for your loss."
Mórrígan shakes her head, "Nae young one, it was a long time ago and she chose her own destiny. Come, let us go and see my husband, and resolve the riddle of this ones fate. Were you able to get his stuff as I asked?"
Ephis nods, "Aye, he has a blue baby blanket with Harry written on it as well as a plastic bottle and some clothes. I'm glad he has the blanket otherwise I'd have been in real trouble trying to get the other stuff back."
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Ehpis follows The Mórrígan as she traverses the other skilfully to An Dagda's domain. There they find his home on a motte with a bailey around it. The home itself is made from the bones of the world brought to the surface and shaped into a defensive building. Just being near it makes her shudder. Standing at the head of the path is An Dagda himself.
"Wife."
"Husband. I present to you my son, Yvor."
"Have you been unfaithful to me woman?"
"Nay, I am ever faithful to our vows, not that the same can be said of you. Yvor was a human foundling that made his way through the way under his own power."
"I see, present him and I will read his fate."
Mórrígan walks forward with her head held high and holds Harry out for inspection.
"A Changeling, you used the old ways?"
"He survived a full feeding, he is my son in truth now."
"He is not. Yet he is too. The human world still has it's grasp on him" – He touches the scar with a calloused finger – "and he will need to return. If he survives his fate, he will choose, life as a mortal or life as a Danann. Which, not even I can see.
"Now begone unless you wish to warm my bed tonight."
Mórrígan turns and walks away, "You will not see me in your bed until you have your honour back. Either with a second wife, or…"
Behind her back he grimaces, as Boann hasn't visited his bed in the past millennia, since her demise in the rushing waters of the Well of Segias. He also can't reclaim his honour as her body was washed out to sea. He also knows that to take another woman to bed would see him dead at the end of his wife's blade.
As his wife passes into the mists he turns and enters his lonely home, truly the most miserable place in the world.
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Once the family returns to Mórrígan's home, she walks to the edge of her domain and raises her arms, Harry floating before her. Her eyes turn black as she commands the other to form a path to an ideal place to raise her son Yvon. As she walks the path, Ephis following closely behind, it leads her to the land of the Picts. They appear on a hill overlooking a town, smoke rising from the occasional chimney. Forming a murder of crows she sends them forth to identify where their feet have led them.
The land is now populated by the Scots, and the town is called Dunblane. Ephis watches in wonder as a Danann flexes their will in the mortal world for the first time since Brigid became mortal. A large home appears on the hill behind them, a home that looks like has always been there. The world warps and stretches to make that true, in an internal courtyard a circle made from crushed bones forms, and out of the circle grows a gateway made from broken weapons. A silvery mist filling the space inside the arch, the sounds of battle, nature, and agriculture can be heard faintly by those who venture close enough.
After a nerve-wracking return to the human world, Ephis returned with Harry's baby blanket a bottle and a couple of sets of clothes. Hidden at the bottom of an old badger set she left a fetch fashioned into a simulacrum of the child that followed her. With a frost already starting to spread across the ground she was certain that the false life that fae magic had imbued it with would soon falter, and it would be a dead child come the morning. Or sooner if it got much colder. Travelling back to the Mórrígan had been an uncomfortable experience, only made bearable by the fact the baby blanket was made from wool, and so could be used to wrap the clothes and bottle for easy transportation. She counted herself lucky that she was able to make it back to the other side before the last light of the day left the fairy ringfort. If it hadn't, she'd have been stuck there overnight.
As she approaches the roundhouse that the Lady calls home, she has to dodge an idle swipe from the Red Cap on guard as it tried to make her into a mid-watch snack. She shudders as she notices that the other guard has already bitten the head off of one of her autumn court kin and is currently in the process of tearing the wings off the body. Zipping through the hangings that demark the doorway, she lets out a shuddering cry at just how fragile her life could be here.
"Sylph, what ails you this night?"
With a start she looks up at the concerned visage of The Mórrígan, who is cradling the child, "I had to dodge one of your guards, and then I saw that they'd already caught a pixie."
"Well, yes. All creatures must eat. Why does this trouble you so?"
"That could have been me."
"Of course it could if you were stupid enough to come within reach of their grasp."
"But how else am I supposed to enter this abode?"
"Are you still a welp, or have you enough power and age to progress already?"
Ephis puffs up, "I'll have you know, I have seen 200 summers."
"Then why did you not use the porthole to the sky?"
"What porthole to the sky?"
Wordlessly Mórrígan gestures to the smoke hole high in the ceiling.
"But that's a smoke hole. Oh, I see."
"Yes, you can choose to get a little smoky, or run the risk of being eaten."
"But, I, door, manners."
"Are manners worth your life? It's funny, when my people still lived living was more important than manners. Of course, that was before the heathen arrived with his honeyed words and sharp whip. Proclaiming that there is only one god indeed. But I kept my people safe, and I never let them take my name. Unlike my sister, she made a deal and became one of their saints. I still miss her you know, she's been gone near 1500 years now and I still miss her. It didn't save her people either, it just prolonged their death."
"Lady, I'm sorry for your loss."
Mórrígan shakes her head, "Nae young one, it was a long time ago and she chose her own destiny. Come, let us go and see my husband, and resolve the riddle of this ones fate. Were you able to get his stuff as I asked?"
Ephis nods, "Aye, he has a blue baby blanket with Harry written on it as well as a plastic bottle and some clothes. I'm glad he has the blanket otherwise I'd have been in real trouble trying to get the other stuff back."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Ehpis follows The Mórrígan as she traverses the other skilfully to An Dagda's domain. There they find his home on a motte with a bailey around it. The home itself is made from the bones of the world brought to the surface and shaped into a defensive building. Just being near it makes her shudder. Standing at the head of the path is An Dagda himself.
"Wife."
"Husband. I present to you my son, Yvor."
"Have you been unfaithful to me woman?"
"Nay, I am ever faithful to our vows, not that the same can be said of you. Yvor was a human foundling that made his way through the way under his own power."
"I see, present him and I will read his fate."
Mórrígan walks forward with her head held high and holds Harry out for inspection.
"A Changeling, you used the old ways?"
"He survived a full feeding, he is my son in truth now."
"He is not. Yet he is too. The human world still has it's grasp on him" – He touches the scar with a calloused finger – "and he will need to return. If he survives his fate, he will choose, life as a mortal or life as a Danann. Which, not even I can see.
"Now begone unless you wish to warm my bed tonight."
Mórrígan turns and walks away, "You will not see me in your bed until you have your honour back. Either with a second wife, or…"
Behind her back he grimaces, as Boann hasn't visited his bed in the past millennia, since her demise in the rushing waters of the Well of Segias. He also can't reclaim his honour as her body was washed out to sea. He also knows that to take another woman to bed would see him dead at the end of his wife's blade.
As his wife passes into the mists he turns and enters his lonely home, truly the most miserable place in the world.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Once the family returns to Mórrígan's home, she walks to the edge of her domain and raises her arms, Harry floating before her. Her eyes turn black as she commands the other to form a path to an ideal place to raise her son Yvon. As she walks the path, Ephis following closely behind, it leads her to the land of the Picts. They appear on a hill overlooking a town, smoke rising from the occasional chimney. Forming a murder of crows she sends them forth to identify where their feet have led them.
The land is now populated by the Scots, and the town is called Dunblane. Ephis watches in wonder as a Danann flexes their will in the mortal world for the first time since Brigid became mortal. A large home appears on the hill behind them, a home that looks like has always been there. The world warps and stretches to make that true, in an internal courtyard a circle made from crushed bones forms, and out of the circle grows a gateway made from broken weapons. A silvery mist filling the space inside the arch, the sounds of battle, nature, and agriculture can be heard faintly by those who venture close enough.
Taylor Hebert: Tenno - 6
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Taylor Hebert: Tenno – 6
A few days later, on another ship that's lost power, "Taylor."
"A little busy here Anet."
"How do I reload my pistols?"
"Oh for crying out loud, vent the remains of the previous clip and add the new clip."
"How do I do that."
"What happened to your bow?"
"I ran out of arrows."
"There's some right there, just pick them up."
"Where?"
"For the love of god, have you turned your overlay off again? Wait, don't answer that, just get your Chassis to fix it. It can look up the spe… Yikes!"
"Oh, hey that worked, thanks Taylor."
"Why do you keep turning it off?"
"It's distracting, it's hard enough operating with only 4 senses without it."
"Right, new plan. Once we've finished here, you're running Mars solo until you've got the hang of everything. While you're doing that I'll use Cy to get me to the Red veil again."
"Operator, Ordis thinks you may be making a mistake."
"Ordis, who would you trust Anet to at the moment, yourself who guided me through my early days, or Cy?"
"Ordis thinks you may be right."
"I've got it! I've reloaded my pistols."
"No need to sound so happy about it, just start killing again."
"Hey!"
"Oh, there's Rell's Donda. I'm going to grab it, keep an eye out as he was very possessive about it…
"Oh void, I was right. Anet!"
"Bit busy over here!"
"Disengage and head for the exit, I've put this one down 5 times already."
"How?"
"Anet, did you ever run the simulations you put us through?"
"Of course I did."
"As a Warframe?"
"What? No."
"That explains so much. When I drop your one, turn and run, you'll only have a couple of seconds."
"Got it, thanks, Ow!"
"Right, new new plan, you're going through the simulations first, then you're doing Mars. Run faster!"
"I'm running as fast, Wooah."
"I've got you, get back on your feet and run, I'll be right behind you. Ordis, I hope you're ready, as we're coming in hot."
"Ordis is concerned about the Operators wellbeing, as she doesn't seem to be on fire."
"Ordis, it's an expression. 30 seconds."
"Anet, you go first. Backwards not forwards, argh! Ordis tell me she's alright."
"The Lotus is just extricating herself from the exfil port."
"Ordis, a little quicker please."
"One moment Operator, The Lotus has her foot stuck."
"Really? I'm getting a little too busy here. I would really appreciate it if you could hurry the f'ngh up."
"Taylor, I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Well slow down and think about it then, it will be quicker."
"How does that make sense? Oh hey it worked!"
"Rotating exfil port now."
"I'm in I'm in, turn it the, round now!"
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"Anet Natah Lotus, what do you think you were doing at the end?"
"Taylor, I told you it's hard to operate with only 4 senses."
"It can't be that hard, trillions of us do it all the time every day."
Anet mumbles, "I bet you'd fair worse in my chassis."
"What was that?"
Belligerently, Anet says, "I bet that if you transferred into my chassis, you wouldn't be able to get to the viewing window, in the living quarters, in less than 5 minutes."
"You're on, what's the stake?"
"If I win, you live in my chassis for two full orbits of Lua around Earth."
"If I win, you forgive me for shoving you into a Warframe."
"Acceptable."
"Ordis thinks this can only go wrong."
They both say, at the same time, "Ordis, shut up."
When the lander comes into dock, and the air lock disengages, The Lotus' chassis floats up the ramp into the Lander. Taylor transfers out of her Warframe and really looks at the chassis. Now she's had time to calm down from the fight, she's already regretting a lot of the things she'd said. Turning towards Anet, she looks down towards the floor, "Look, Anet. I'm sorry for the things I was saying down there. I, don't really have any excuses. I know you're new to a Warframe, and that was a mission that experienced Tenno would have had trouble with."
"Apology accepted."
"Can we forget about the bet?"
"No, you were constantly insulting me, so now you get to see what I'm missing."
Slowly Taylor turns back to the Chassis, "You can do this Taylor, it will be just like using a Necramech. Easy peasy, just transfer in and walk float through the ship."
"Just transfer in Taylor. Oh, and don't worry about my father, he's annoying but he can't do anything."
"Wait what?"
"You remember, my father Hunhow? Boss of the Stalker?"
"No, I remember. I mean about the 'he's annoying'"
"Oh, that. When the Stalker found me back then, he left a bit of Hunhow inside me. Can't get rid of it, so Father can talk to me whenever he wants."
"Oh, ok." Taylor says faintly, "I'm going on 3, 1…2…3"
Taylor transfers into the chassis and freezes as the orbiter seems to drop away and become invisible. There's just so much.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Inside her pod, The Lotus smiles sadly as she loses her connection with her Chassis. In her Warframe, she sags heavily against a bulkhead as her connection is cut. When Taylor doesn't immediately begin to move, she pushes off the wall unsteadily, and staggers through the orbiter to the living quarters, where she lays down on the bed Taylor bought.
An hour later she hears the sound of her chassis running into something, so she rises from the bed and kneels in front of the window to think. In many ways, Taylor was right in what she said. She should know better, but it never occurred to her just how limited her Tenno's senses are. Even when she pretended to be Margulis, and her chassis was folded uncomfortably inside her, she still had access to all her senses, just muted slightly. She still knew the exact strength of gravity at any particular point, exactly how much force she was exerting, what direction everything was in. It was never even truly dark, as there were only a few parts of the EM spectrum she couldn't sense. Even Octavia's anthem was written with this knowledge in mind, when transmitted using Orokin communications protocols, it becomes the connection failed code that Sentient systems use for communication. The challenge hadn't been in discerning the code, it had been designing the song to send the code incidentally as part of the transmission process. None of her brethren, not even her father, had twigged that the only thing that was special about the song, was what it looked like when it was transmitted.
"Ordis," she calls, "how's Taylor doing?"
"She is floating into a bulkhead. It's like she can't see it."
"She probably can't."
"But they are right there."
"Not to very low frequency radio waves, or ultra-high frequency Gamma rays. They also have a negligible gravity profile, don't emit any form of radiation themselves, and are at ambient temperature. I would imagine that she hasn't hit a single console."
"How did you know?"
"Experience."
"OW!"
"Operator, it seems that she has learnt to make sounds."
The Lotus can't help it, she chuckles, "It appears so."
"Operator, are you fully functional?"
"No Ordis, I'm not."
"We should call Teshin, he will know what to do."
"No Ordis, I'm just completely limited for the first time in my existence."
"Oh hey, a hand. I can make a hand. No! No, no, no, come back hand."
Ordis sounds doubtful, "If you're certain Operator."
Anet nods, "I am. I want you to fire up the training simulations. Once Taylor arrives I'm going to run through them until I can complete them. Taylor was right in one respect. Every one of my Tenno are able to run these courses without my advantages. While I'm stuck in a Warframe I should at least learn how to use it properly."
"Ordis would like to point out that Operator Taylor still cuddled her 'plushies' before she woke from the second dream."
"Thank you Ordis." She reaches down and picks up one of the stuffed toys crowded around the window, and hugs it carefully.
Several hours later, Taylor bumbles into the living quarters.
"Is this the living quarters?"
Anet looks away from the stars, "It is."
Taylor does a spin and cheers, "Yay! I made it. Oh crap, I shouldn't have done that."
"The bet was for 5 minutes, not 5 hours."
"I know, I was just happy that I made it. I never considered just how much nothing there is in the universe. Especially between atoms, I assume they're atoms. They are atoms aren't they?"
"I don't know, I'm rather limited at the moment. They could be Protons, Neutrons and the Electron cloud though."
"Oh hey, it looks like I can shift slightly to one side."
"No Taylor… don't…" The Lotus trails off as the Chassis turns blue and transparent, Taylor with it.
Taylor snaps back and wobbles, "Wow, that was freaky. Were you saying something?"
The Lotus throws a toy at Taylor, "I was telling you not to do that, as I don't know what it would do to you."
"Hey, no biggie, I'm still here."
"But are you still human?"
"Meh, it's not like Tenno are that human anymore anyway."
The Lotus throws another toy at Taylor before stalking past, "I'm going to do the simulations."
"Hey!" Taylor tries to follow, only to float into a wall, "Damnit, I shouldn't have done that spin. Now which way am I facing."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Over the next Month they both slowly get used to their respective bodies. Anet/Lotus by putting herself under stress on Mars until she starts acting on instinct. Taylor, by well, trying not to walk into things. Anet also drops the Donda with the Red Veil on one of the Relay stations.
While it's on the orbiter, Ordis, and the other Tenno Cephalons, get used to puppeting the spectre, to give assignments to their Operators. They also work out how to build a foundry that will automatically activate a new one, if the current one expires.
A few days later, on another ship that's lost power, "Taylor."
"A little busy here Anet."
"How do I reload my pistols?"
"Oh for crying out loud, vent the remains of the previous clip and add the new clip."
"How do I do that."
"What happened to your bow?"
"I ran out of arrows."
"There's some right there, just pick them up."
"Where?"
"For the love of god, have you turned your overlay off again? Wait, don't answer that, just get your Chassis to fix it. It can look up the spe… Yikes!"
"Oh, hey that worked, thanks Taylor."
"Why do you keep turning it off?"
"It's distracting, it's hard enough operating with only 4 senses without it."
"Right, new plan. Once we've finished here, you're running Mars solo until you've got the hang of everything. While you're doing that I'll use Cy to get me to the Red veil again."
"Operator, Ordis thinks you may be making a mistake."
"Ordis, who would you trust Anet to at the moment, yourself who guided me through my early days, or Cy?"
"Ordis thinks you may be right."
"I've got it! I've reloaded my pistols."
"No need to sound so happy about it, just start killing again."
"Hey!"
"Oh, there's Rell's Donda. I'm going to grab it, keep an eye out as he was very possessive about it…
"Oh void, I was right. Anet!"
"Bit busy over here!"
"Disengage and head for the exit, I've put this one down 5 times already."
"How?"
"Anet, did you ever run the simulations you put us through?"
"Of course I did."
"As a Warframe?"
"What? No."
"That explains so much. When I drop your one, turn and run, you'll only have a couple of seconds."
"Got it, thanks, Ow!"
"Right, new new plan, you're going through the simulations first, then you're doing Mars. Run faster!"
"I'm running as fast, Wooah."
"I've got you, get back on your feet and run, I'll be right behind you. Ordis, I hope you're ready, as we're coming in hot."
"Ordis is concerned about the Operators wellbeing, as she doesn't seem to be on fire."
"Ordis, it's an expression. 30 seconds."
"Anet, you go first. Backwards not forwards, argh! Ordis tell me she's alright."
"The Lotus is just extricating herself from the exfil port."
"Ordis, a little quicker please."
"One moment Operator, The Lotus has her foot stuck."
"Really? I'm getting a little too busy here. I would really appreciate it if you could hurry the f'ngh up."
"Taylor, I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Well slow down and think about it then, it will be quicker."
"How does that make sense? Oh hey it worked!"
"Rotating exfil port now."
"I'm in I'm in, turn it the, round now!"
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
"Anet Natah Lotus, what do you think you were doing at the end?"
"Taylor, I told you it's hard to operate with only 4 senses."
"It can't be that hard, trillions of us do it all the time every day."
Anet mumbles, "I bet you'd fair worse in my chassis."
"What was that?"
Belligerently, Anet says, "I bet that if you transferred into my chassis, you wouldn't be able to get to the viewing window, in the living quarters, in less than 5 minutes."
"You're on, what's the stake?"
"If I win, you live in my chassis for two full orbits of Lua around Earth."
"If I win, you forgive me for shoving you into a Warframe."
"Acceptable."
"Ordis thinks this can only go wrong."
They both say, at the same time, "Ordis, shut up."
When the lander comes into dock, and the air lock disengages, The Lotus' chassis floats up the ramp into the Lander. Taylor transfers out of her Warframe and really looks at the chassis. Now she's had time to calm down from the fight, she's already regretting a lot of the things she'd said. Turning towards Anet, she looks down towards the floor, "Look, Anet. I'm sorry for the things I was saying down there. I, don't really have any excuses. I know you're new to a Warframe, and that was a mission that experienced Tenno would have had trouble with."
"Apology accepted."
"Can we forget about the bet?"
"No, you were constantly insulting me, so now you get to see what I'm missing."
Slowly Taylor turns back to the Chassis, "You can do this Taylor, it will be just like using a Necramech. Easy peasy, just transfer in and walk float through the ship."
"Just transfer in Taylor. Oh, and don't worry about my father, he's annoying but he can't do anything."
"Wait what?"
"You remember, my father Hunhow? Boss of the Stalker?"
"No, I remember. I mean about the 'he's annoying'"
"Oh, that. When the Stalker found me back then, he left a bit of Hunhow inside me. Can't get rid of it, so Father can talk to me whenever he wants."
"Oh, ok." Taylor says faintly, "I'm going on 3, 1…2…3"
Taylor transfers into the chassis and freezes as the orbiter seems to drop away and become invisible. There's just so much.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Inside her pod, The Lotus smiles sadly as she loses her connection with her Chassis. In her Warframe, she sags heavily against a bulkhead as her connection is cut. When Taylor doesn't immediately begin to move, she pushes off the wall unsteadily, and staggers through the orbiter to the living quarters, where she lays down on the bed Taylor bought.
An hour later she hears the sound of her chassis running into something, so she rises from the bed and kneels in front of the window to think. In many ways, Taylor was right in what she said. She should know better, but it never occurred to her just how limited her Tenno's senses are. Even when she pretended to be Margulis, and her chassis was folded uncomfortably inside her, she still had access to all her senses, just muted slightly. She still knew the exact strength of gravity at any particular point, exactly how much force she was exerting, what direction everything was in. It was never even truly dark, as there were only a few parts of the EM spectrum she couldn't sense. Even Octavia's anthem was written with this knowledge in mind, when transmitted using Orokin communications protocols, it becomes the connection failed code that Sentient systems use for communication. The challenge hadn't been in discerning the code, it had been designing the song to send the code incidentally as part of the transmission process. None of her brethren, not even her father, had twigged that the only thing that was special about the song, was what it looked like when it was transmitted.
"Ordis," she calls, "how's Taylor doing?"
"She is floating into a bulkhead. It's like she can't see it."
"She probably can't."
"But they are right there."
"Not to very low frequency radio waves, or ultra-high frequency Gamma rays. They also have a negligible gravity profile, don't emit any form of radiation themselves, and are at ambient temperature. I would imagine that she hasn't hit a single console."
"How did you know?"
"Experience."
"OW!"
"Operator, it seems that she has learnt to make sounds."
The Lotus can't help it, she chuckles, "It appears so."
"Operator, are you fully functional?"
"No Ordis, I'm not."
"We should call Teshin, he will know what to do."
"No Ordis, I'm just completely limited for the first time in my existence."
"Oh hey, a hand. I can make a hand. No! No, no, no, come back hand."
Ordis sounds doubtful, "If you're certain Operator."
Anet nods, "I am. I want you to fire up the training simulations. Once Taylor arrives I'm going to run through them until I can complete them. Taylor was right in one respect. Every one of my Tenno are able to run these courses without my advantages. While I'm stuck in a Warframe I should at least learn how to use it properly."
"Ordis would like to point out that Operator Taylor still cuddled her 'plushies' before she woke from the second dream."
"Thank you Ordis." She reaches down and picks up one of the stuffed toys crowded around the window, and hugs it carefully.
Several hours later, Taylor bumbles into the living quarters.
"Is this the living quarters?"
Anet looks away from the stars, "It is."
Taylor does a spin and cheers, "Yay! I made it. Oh crap, I shouldn't have done that."
"The bet was for 5 minutes, not 5 hours."
"I know, I was just happy that I made it. I never considered just how much nothing there is in the universe. Especially between atoms, I assume they're atoms. They are atoms aren't they?"
"I don't know, I'm rather limited at the moment. They could be Protons, Neutrons and the Electron cloud though."
"Oh hey, it looks like I can shift slightly to one side."
"No Taylor… don't…" The Lotus trails off as the Chassis turns blue and transparent, Taylor with it.
Taylor snaps back and wobbles, "Wow, that was freaky. Were you saying something?"
The Lotus throws a toy at Taylor, "I was telling you not to do that, as I don't know what it would do to you."
"Hey, no biggie, I'm still here."
"But are you still human?"
"Meh, it's not like Tenno are that human anymore anyway."
The Lotus throws another toy at Taylor before stalking past, "I'm going to do the simulations."
"Hey!" Taylor tries to follow, only to float into a wall, "Damnit, I shouldn't have done that spin. Now which way am I facing."
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Over the next Month they both slowly get used to their respective bodies. Anet/Lotus by putting herself under stress on Mars until she starts acting on instinct. Taylor, by well, trying not to walk into things. Anet also drops the Donda with the Red Veil on one of the Relay stations.
While it's on the orbiter, Ordis, and the other Tenno Cephalons, get used to puppeting the spectre, to give assignments to their Operators. They also work out how to build a foundry that will automatically activate a new one, if the current one expires.
Bloody Brandy Challenge
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
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- 1,782
Bloody Brandy Challenge
Harry groans as he wakes up in a too large bed that stand in the centre of a room where the word plush would be underselling it. Above him is a mirror looking down on the bed. As he grabs his wand, his brain registers the fact that he's not wearing his glasses and that it feels like he's over used his magic, end of the tournament level overused. Staring up at the mirror, he slowly realises the other massive thing that's wrong with the view. Lying on her back beside him is a, thing, clearly female by the beautiful face and healing body. As he watches, she wakes up and shakes her head clearly confused.
"Er, Hi?"
The woman says something in a lyrical language before looking at her hands and starting again in English, "Hello? Is that right?"
"Yes, that's right. Erm, I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
"I am called Natah Potter. At least that's what's written on the animal skin over there." She indicates a scroll of parchment unfurled over the end of the bed.
With a swish of his wand and an "Accio." The parchment comes over to his hand, and he starts to read.
"Marriage contract!? The Lotus Natah Margulis and Lord Harry James Potter agree to join their houses together, blah blah blah. Bound forever in holy matrimony, Body, Soul, and Magic, in this life and the next. Blah blah, oh bollocks, Lord Harry James Potter will gain the title The Lotus alongside his wife, while Natah Potter will gain the title Lady alongside her husband. Bloody Hell! Oh, and it's signed in blood, even better."
"I would like to thank you for that, it saved my life and my mind."
"Oh, that's ok then." Harry says weakly, "You wouldn't happen to know what led to us getting married?"
"I am reviewing the encounter as we speak. I was kissed by Ballas and he took the last of my power. Tenno Sasha stopped him from killing me there and then by pushing me through a void portal. My arm was sliced off, and I landed in an… alleyway. You came around the corner with your companion, both clearly inebriated, and saw me there. Tenno Sasha then falls out of the same portal holding my arm, and with a massive stab wound through her chest. Your companion does something that stems the bleeding, before you drag us, no levitate us? off to some sort of healing centre. At this point you get into an argument with the person at the entrance, and… forgive me, I am learning English from your transmissions while I speak… they say something about only magicals or family can be treated there. You then take us to a place of marriage where a man in a white suit, large hair, and weirdly styled facial hair works. Then at stick point, you tell the man to marry us, and make it absolutely ironclad so the healers couldn't refuse to heal us next time. You even have to threaten your companion, Remus you refer to him as Remus, into marrying Sasha. He was very reluctant to do so until the man, Elvis, says they have an extended contract that additional spouses can willingly sign to be bound to the same terms. Something about not wanting to disappoint a Tonks. That done, you take us back to the healing centre and show the marriage certificates. They waved their sticks at Sasha and took both her and Remus off to a ward. We were then taken to another room, where they waved their sticks at me for… around 30 minutes. I was told that I was lucky to still be alive, and that I ever remember which wizard had performed experimentation on me, let them know and they will have them kissed. They then explained that they were removing the curse from the wound on my arm before reattaching it, as well as removing the curse damage that the experimentation had caused. They then apologised for not being able to reverse the experiment. I have a case of potions? to replace missing… I'm sorry I can't seem to find the word they used, I need to take one a day for the next 3 months. They also warned you to take it easy for the next week while my magical reserves refilled, as our marriage contract joins them together."
Harry, who had been silently listening to his wife, and wasn't that a shock, can't help exclaim, "Merlin! I hope that was the end of the evening."
Natah shakes her head, "No, did I get that body language right? Once they discharge us and you put the case of potions in a small pouch, you took me to a few casinos, where I repaired the faulty… slot machines, rollers, gambling machines, one armed bandits, I'm not sure which term is correct as they appear with similar regularity. You subsequently scored a 'Jackpot' and won a 'sports car', and five million dollars. We were then invited to play a 'card game' where the idea seemed to be to persuade the other players that you have better cards than they do. I was complemented about my costume and they asked me how long it took me to make. You left me there to get some of the good stuff, and I lost around half your winnings until I understood the rules."
Harry shrugs, "Ah well, easy come, easy go."
Natah then continues, "Once I learnt the rules I started faking something called tells, and slowly quadrupled your original earnings, and got shares in multiple large businesses. My records show significant corruption after you return with some sort of Brandy and start sharing it around the table, though you ensure that I drink the majority of it."
Harry groans, "Hermione is going to kill me."
"We have the same contract as your friend Remus, so prior engagements can still be honoured."
Harry grabs the contract again and reads it a little more closely, "Oh bloody hell! Hermione's probably going to kill me then sign the contract. Right, I have her phone number somewhere." – As he sits up properly, clutching his head, he spots a Nundu cub playing with a ball of string in the corner. – "Can it get any worse? Natah, do you remember where we got the Nundu cub?"
"Is that the mutant cat? I have a fragment of seeing it in another casino and saying that Sasha would like it, they wouldn't let us have it so I played against the house, and we now own this casino."
"Accio mokeskin pouch, I really need to talk to Hermione now. School book, school book, potion case – Here you go, you should probably take one now – letters, bulbs, seeds, notebook, and finally Filofax."
Staggering out of bed, Harry makes his way over to the phone while Natah seems to be preoccupied with something. It takes him a few tries to dial the number correctly.
A man answers the phone, "893 483, Granger household."
"Hello, is Hermione there?"
"Who is this?"
"Harry."
"Hermione! I've got Harry on the phone."
There's a clattering sound in the background, as someone comes running down some stairs, "Harry, where have you been?"
"Um, I'm in Las Vegas."
"What are you doing there?"
"Um, well Sirius left a will that required a private reading. Well, erm, he left me a lot Hermione, but there was a stipulation. I had to go to Las Vegas and 'Try to spend the Black fortune having fun, and take the wolf with you'. Gringotts had a passport, driving licence and plane tickets ready for us."
"Couldn't you have let us know at least?"
"No, Hedwig was off hunting, and we left immediately. I don't exactly have any muggle money you know, so I couldn't phone."
"Oh Harry, only you. Professor Dumbledore is going spare, as the wards around your home fell last night."
"Oh" Harry says faintly, "That's probably when I got married."
"You did What!?" Hermione coughs and says more reasonably, "Harry, what were you calling me about?"
"I wanted your advice, as I got married by Elvis."
"Harry." Natah calls from the bed.
"One moment, I'm just going to put you on mute for a sec." Harry presses the mute button, and turns to Natah, "Yes Natah?"
"My systems are registering massive amounts of void energy running through them. I am not dying, why is that?"
"Harry, you put me on speaker not mute. You must be Natah."
"Hello Hermione, I am Natah. You don't need to be concerned about your mate, as the marriage contract allows for additional spouses to the main signatory, which was Harry. I am just booking you a first-class ticket on Concord for you, I see you have family so I'm including them too. It will leave on Thursday from Heathrow, a private jet will meet you at JFK airport to bring you to Las Vegas."
Harry finally gets his wits together to speak gibberish, "Natah, you're, how, I don't."
Hermione on the other hand is far quicker on the uptake, "Thank you Natah, may I ask how you did that?"
"The communications systems here are freely accessible through the use of radio waves, so I just interfaced with them and made the purchases using a tiny fraction of our winnings from last night."
"I see", Hermione says faintly, "when will the tickets arrive?"
"A courier should deliver them in one or two hours."
"I'm going to hang up now and inform my mother and father."
Harry groans as he wakes up in a too large bed that stand in the centre of a room where the word plush would be underselling it. Above him is a mirror looking down on the bed. As he grabs his wand, his brain registers the fact that he's not wearing his glasses and that it feels like he's over used his magic, end of the tournament level overused. Staring up at the mirror, he slowly realises the other massive thing that's wrong with the view. Lying on her back beside him is a, thing, clearly female by the beautiful face and healing body. As he watches, she wakes up and shakes her head clearly confused.
"Er, Hi?"
The woman says something in a lyrical language before looking at her hands and starting again in English, "Hello? Is that right?"
"Yes, that's right. Erm, I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
"I am called Natah Potter. At least that's what's written on the animal skin over there." She indicates a scroll of parchment unfurled over the end of the bed.
With a swish of his wand and an "Accio." The parchment comes over to his hand, and he starts to read.
"Marriage contract!? The Lotus Natah Margulis and Lord Harry James Potter agree to join their houses together, blah blah blah. Bound forever in holy matrimony, Body, Soul, and Magic, in this life and the next. Blah blah, oh bollocks, Lord Harry James Potter will gain the title The Lotus alongside his wife, while Natah Potter will gain the title Lady alongside her husband. Bloody Hell! Oh, and it's signed in blood, even better."
"I would like to thank you for that, it saved my life and my mind."
"Oh, that's ok then." Harry says weakly, "You wouldn't happen to know what led to us getting married?"
"I am reviewing the encounter as we speak. I was kissed by Ballas and he took the last of my power. Tenno Sasha stopped him from killing me there and then by pushing me through a void portal. My arm was sliced off, and I landed in an… alleyway. You came around the corner with your companion, both clearly inebriated, and saw me there. Tenno Sasha then falls out of the same portal holding my arm, and with a massive stab wound through her chest. Your companion does something that stems the bleeding, before you drag us, no levitate us? off to some sort of healing centre. At this point you get into an argument with the person at the entrance, and… forgive me, I am learning English from your transmissions while I speak… they say something about only magicals or family can be treated there. You then take us to a place of marriage where a man in a white suit, large hair, and weirdly styled facial hair works. Then at stick point, you tell the man to marry us, and make it absolutely ironclad so the healers couldn't refuse to heal us next time. You even have to threaten your companion, Remus you refer to him as Remus, into marrying Sasha. He was very reluctant to do so until the man, Elvis, says they have an extended contract that additional spouses can willingly sign to be bound to the same terms. Something about not wanting to disappoint a Tonks. That done, you take us back to the healing centre and show the marriage certificates. They waved their sticks at Sasha and took both her and Remus off to a ward. We were then taken to another room, where they waved their sticks at me for… around 30 minutes. I was told that I was lucky to still be alive, and that I ever remember which wizard had performed experimentation on me, let them know and they will have them kissed. They then explained that they were removing the curse from the wound on my arm before reattaching it, as well as removing the curse damage that the experimentation had caused. They then apologised for not being able to reverse the experiment. I have a case of potions? to replace missing… I'm sorry I can't seem to find the word they used, I need to take one a day for the next 3 months. They also warned you to take it easy for the next week while my magical reserves refilled, as our marriage contract joins them together."
Harry, who had been silently listening to his wife, and wasn't that a shock, can't help exclaim, "Merlin! I hope that was the end of the evening."
Natah shakes her head, "No, did I get that body language right? Once they discharge us and you put the case of potions in a small pouch, you took me to a few casinos, where I repaired the faulty… slot machines, rollers, gambling machines, one armed bandits, I'm not sure which term is correct as they appear with similar regularity. You subsequently scored a 'Jackpot' and won a 'sports car', and five million dollars. We were then invited to play a 'card game' where the idea seemed to be to persuade the other players that you have better cards than they do. I was complemented about my costume and they asked me how long it took me to make. You left me there to get some of the good stuff, and I lost around half your winnings until I understood the rules."
Harry shrugs, "Ah well, easy come, easy go."
Natah then continues, "Once I learnt the rules I started faking something called tells, and slowly quadrupled your original earnings, and got shares in multiple large businesses. My records show significant corruption after you return with some sort of Brandy and start sharing it around the table, though you ensure that I drink the majority of it."
Harry groans, "Hermione is going to kill me."
"We have the same contract as your friend Remus, so prior engagements can still be honoured."
Harry grabs the contract again and reads it a little more closely, "Oh bloody hell! Hermione's probably going to kill me then sign the contract. Right, I have her phone number somewhere." – As he sits up properly, clutching his head, he spots a Nundu cub playing with a ball of string in the corner. – "Can it get any worse? Natah, do you remember where we got the Nundu cub?"
"Is that the mutant cat? I have a fragment of seeing it in another casino and saying that Sasha would like it, they wouldn't let us have it so I played against the house, and we now own this casino."
"Accio mokeskin pouch, I really need to talk to Hermione now. School book, school book, potion case – Here you go, you should probably take one now – letters, bulbs, seeds, notebook, and finally Filofax."
Staggering out of bed, Harry makes his way over to the phone while Natah seems to be preoccupied with something. It takes him a few tries to dial the number correctly.
A man answers the phone, "893 483, Granger household."
"Hello, is Hermione there?"
"Who is this?"
"Harry."
"Hermione! I've got Harry on the phone."
There's a clattering sound in the background, as someone comes running down some stairs, "Harry, where have you been?"
"Um, I'm in Las Vegas."
"What are you doing there?"
"Um, well Sirius left a will that required a private reading. Well, erm, he left me a lot Hermione, but there was a stipulation. I had to go to Las Vegas and 'Try to spend the Black fortune having fun, and take the wolf with you'. Gringotts had a passport, driving licence and plane tickets ready for us."
"Couldn't you have let us know at least?"
"No, Hedwig was off hunting, and we left immediately. I don't exactly have any muggle money you know, so I couldn't phone."
"Oh Harry, only you. Professor Dumbledore is going spare, as the wards around your home fell last night."
"Oh" Harry says faintly, "That's probably when I got married."
"You did What!?" Hermione coughs and says more reasonably, "Harry, what were you calling me about?"
"I wanted your advice, as I got married by Elvis."
"Harry." Natah calls from the bed.
"One moment, I'm just going to put you on mute for a sec." Harry presses the mute button, and turns to Natah, "Yes Natah?"
"My systems are registering massive amounts of void energy running through them. I am not dying, why is that?"
"Harry, you put me on speaker not mute. You must be Natah."
"Hello Hermione, I am Natah. You don't need to be concerned about your mate, as the marriage contract allows for additional spouses to the main signatory, which was Harry. I am just booking you a first-class ticket on Concord for you, I see you have family so I'm including them too. It will leave on Thursday from Heathrow, a private jet will meet you at JFK airport to bring you to Las Vegas."
Harry finally gets his wits together to speak gibberish, "Natah, you're, how, I don't."
Hermione on the other hand is far quicker on the uptake, "Thank you Natah, may I ask how you did that?"
"The communications systems here are freely accessible through the use of radio waves, so I just interfaced with them and made the purchases using a tiny fraction of our winnings from last night."
"I see", Hermione says faintly, "when will the tickets arrive?"
"A courier should deliver them in one or two hours."
"I'm going to hang up now and inform my mother and father."
Bloody Brandy Challenge - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
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Bloody Brandy Challenge – 2
Harry tries not to stare at his wife's poor state, as he turns back to her, "Natah, would you like to see how your friend is doing?"
"It would be nice, she no speak English."
"Where do you come from that they don't speak any English at all?"
"I was thrown through void portal, landed in alley. Tenno Sasha took blow meant for me."
"That's horrible. If you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen."
"I was never person like you, but Ballas put person in me years ago. Released person's mind to capture me, and steal my power. Loss caused injuries you see. I don't understand, power returning."
Swallowing his instinctive reaction to her body, Harry deliberately walks over and gently lifts her cracked chin, so that he can place a kiss on her lips. It's not hard to see the way she flinches, like he remembers flinching to people touching him when he started Hogwarts. His heart goes out to her and he tries to show that in the tender kiss he gives her.
"I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect you." He staggers as he pulls away from the kiss, and a visible string of magic sags between them before it snaps.
"Crap, that was like casting the Patronus the first time. Let's not do that again until I've recovered, I'm going to sleep well later, and I don't fancy spending a week in the hospital with magical exhaustion."
As he staggers backwards he sees her visibly healing, and the cracks in her skin smoothing out. Reaching up to take his glasses off to clean them, he touches his nose, reminding himself that he's not wearing glasses.
Natah on the other hand, brings a hand up to her lips in wonder, as she can feel her power being returned. Not enough to be whole again, but enough to seem whole. Staring in wonder, she flexes her will and shrinks down to the form she wore so many centuries ago. No! Margulis wore so many centuries ago. She is not Margulis, she also killed Natah and Lotus is dead, killed by Ballas. She startles as she feels arms wrap around her, softly not hard, her husband is so fragile, yet he is giving her comfort.
In her ear Harry says softly, "Wow, you're a metamorph like Tonks. That's brilliant, don't worry if you don't know who to look like, that's never really mattered to me (especially given the way the Dursley's treated me). What matters is who you are."
"But I've killed millions."
"Why?"
"We were at war, and then because my children were threatened."
"That will take some getting used to," Harry admits, "but it won't change the fact we're married. Or that I am going to live with you for a very long time, unless we're killed sooner. Which might happen sooner rather than later now that the only thing 'protecting' me from the evil wizard trying to kill me is gone (and the whole prophecy). I'm pretty sure that I'm a killer too, given what happened at the end of the school year (and Quirrell, Tom, and the basilisk)."
"Harry, why are you mumbling some things, I can hear you quite clearly."
Harry flushes red as his mumbled complaints were understood, "Sorry, just stuff that life's been throwing me. It's not your problem."
"Harry, you saved my life and the life of Sasha, you're also married to me. You have just done more to aid my healing than I thought was even possible. I can literally feel my mind returning as we talk. I think I used literally correctly."
Harry laughs at the aside, "You probably did. I can't believe how well you're speaking English."
"It is easy when you listen to a few hundred conversations over the telephone at once."
"Let's find some breakfast and then check on your companion."
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Remus wakes up, uncomfortably sitting in a chair next to a hospital bed. Under his hand is a scroll of fine parchment with an official looking seal. His mind is hazy on what happened last night, but the woman on the bed looks vaguely familiar. Conjuring a glass of water, he quenches his thirst before unrolling the scroll, reading it once and then fainting.
Sasha opens her eyes and stares in confusion at the wooden beams supporting the floorboards of the floor above her. A handful of floating candles providing illumination for the room. Her chest aches, and she brings her hand up to where she was stabbed, then freezes as she realises she's wearing a nightgown made from unfamiliar material. Before she can think further on this, a man bustles into the room and waves a stick at her.
"Worr, dit reeks riko ug'lo whoaxarick worr. Dit nud pit keew zick yeep whusfaxact plevidow haxat rittro whoaxarick who ceurd. Ug'rr fo wholo bel zo joxt woot se wo caxan venitel yeep vaxagic rovors."
"I'm sorry I don't understand."
"Daxamn beloign flidos, Pum'rr kot pit raxackuaxago reusocko pi staxalgo dit te yeep leem. Fo lidd faxang."
When the man leaves again it gives her time to look around the room properly. The second thing that stands out is the complete lack of any technology. Her own implants are twitching in her head as there's nothing to connect to either. Which means it's not just artfully hidden in the walls, it's just, not, there. Sitting in a chair of unfamiliar design is a man with wild salt and pepper hair, his face is lined and his hands show the scars of heavy labour. She can't judge his clothes as they are too unfamiliar in style, but she'd imagine that they're either cheap or worn. On his lap is a long strip of something with markings on it, two cylinders at either end are attached.
Just to feel something familiar, she raises her hand and summons a ball of void energy. As it appears in her hand, the man from earlier rushes in and waves his stick at her. She then has the very odd feeling of the void energy just popping like a soap bubble and disappearing. With an upset look on his face, he storms over and hands her a pill before a container of water appears on a table beside her. He then mimes putting the pill in her mouth and drinking. Shrugging she does so, assuming it's their version of the nutritious sludge served at home to anyone that isn't rich. When she places the pill in her mouth she almost spits it out as it tastes vile, with a large amount of effort, she washes the pill down with water.
As she feels the water hit her stomach, lines of fire shoot through her head and she grasps it in agony. As the pain dies down the man looks at her somewhat sympathetically.
"Well, at least you'll understand me now. We were debating whether to give you the lozenge, but you forced our hands. You're lucky the stab wound was so clean and fresh when you got here. It only took a couple of potions and a nights rest for it to heal. However, your magical reserves are at rock-bottom. By rights you should be dead or dying right now, so we'll be keeping you in for the next week to ensure that they are recovering properly. Part of that will rely on you young lady. Absolutely no magic what so ever, especially not wandless magic like that ball."
"But that was void energy."
"I don't care what you call it, magic is magic, and you can't afford for your reserves to be further depleted. The only reason we gave you the potions last night is your life was in danger. Do you have any questions?"
"Where am I?"
"This is the Shuman healing hall. In magical Las Vegas."
"How did I get here?"
"Your husband brought you in. Congratulations by the way, you were married last night."
Sasha swallows her reply at that news, as she's unsure why she would have done that. However, she's alive, not a prisoner, and in some sort of hospital. For the first time in a very long time, her stomach rumbles.
"I will see about getting you something to eat then. I'll also get your husband something."
As he leaves, he waves his stick and a bolt of pink light flies out and hits the sleeping man, causing him to jerk awake. Seeing that she's awake he says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force you into marriage."
"What are you talking about?"
"The marriage."
"Yes, and I'm alive. Would I be alive if you didn't marry me?"
"No, they refused to treat you as you didn't have your wand, and your magic levels were so low that they couldn't tell you were magical. I don't remember much of last night, but I do remember that."
"Then why are you sorry? Would you rather I died?"
"No, of course not. It just should have been anyone else instead of me. I'm a werewolf." He stops expecting that to mean something.
Sasha shakes her head, "Is that like being a Grineer? As it would be rather sucky if you're going to keel over dead in a year or two unless we start replacing your body parts."
"Ah, no. I turn into a monster under the light of the full moon, and I have no control over my actions."
She shrugs, and winces, "Fair enough, not like I spend much time on earth anyway. It could also be advantageous occasionally."
"What?"
"Well, it's true. It's not like the Grineer posted there can't be dealt with by the natives. I'm actually more likely to go to Lua thinking about it."
"I, uh. Are you Atlantean?"
"Who? No, I'm Sasha."
"I meant the nation you belong to."
"Oh, no. I'm Tenno. I was trying to rescue The Lotus when I was stabbed and sent through the void portal. If you could direct me to the nearest comm station I can call Ordis and something."
"I have no idea what one of those is."
"Computer?"
"Why would you want an accountant?"
"Eh?"
"You asked for a Computer, that's a person that computes sums. Normally an accountant in the magical world."
"What do you use for communication?"
"Floo and owls generally."
They are saved by a witch coming in followed by a trolley, "What would you two like for breakfast? We have full English, Egg and Bacon on toast, Porridge, or Grits. Oh is that a marriage contract, congratulations. Oh, it's one of those contracts, commiserations may be in order then. I hope you both get along."
Remus says, "I have no idea, we met last night."
"Ouch, well, there's no way out of that one, they've looked."
Sasha opens her mouth to speak when a tray appears on the bed, a bowl floats over from the trolley, while a plate fills itself up with lots of unfamiliar foods.
"Oh, deary, would you like jelly with your porridge, we've got honey if you'd prefer."
Weakly Sasha says "Honey?" being the only thing she understood.
Remus says, "Could I have the full English please?"
"Certainly love. Let me finish serving the young lady, we never did get your name last night."
"Ah, I'm Sasha."
"I'll be sure to put it on the door when I leave then. If you're still hungry in an hour or so, have your husband get someone. Tomorrow you should be able to go to the cafeteria."
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In the Orokin system, The Lotus and The Drifter never turn up, as they never got lost in the void. Just to be sure of the death or disability of The Lotus, Ballas sends a few Sentients through the void portal.
Harry tries not to stare at his wife's poor state, as he turns back to her, "Natah, would you like to see how your friend is doing?"
"It would be nice, she no speak English."
"Where do you come from that they don't speak any English at all?"
"I was thrown through void portal, landed in alley. Tenno Sasha took blow meant for me."
"That's horrible. If you want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen."
"I was never person like you, but Ballas put person in me years ago. Released person's mind to capture me, and steal my power. Loss caused injuries you see. I don't understand, power returning."
Swallowing his instinctive reaction to her body, Harry deliberately walks over and gently lifts her cracked chin, so that he can place a kiss on her lips. It's not hard to see the way she flinches, like he remembers flinching to people touching him when he started Hogwarts. His heart goes out to her and he tries to show that in the tender kiss he gives her.
"I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect you." He staggers as he pulls away from the kiss, and a visible string of magic sags between them before it snaps.
"Crap, that was like casting the Patronus the first time. Let's not do that again until I've recovered, I'm going to sleep well later, and I don't fancy spending a week in the hospital with magical exhaustion."
As he staggers backwards he sees her visibly healing, and the cracks in her skin smoothing out. Reaching up to take his glasses off to clean them, he touches his nose, reminding himself that he's not wearing glasses.
Natah on the other hand, brings a hand up to her lips in wonder, as she can feel her power being returned. Not enough to be whole again, but enough to seem whole. Staring in wonder, she flexes her will and shrinks down to the form she wore so many centuries ago. No! Margulis wore so many centuries ago. She is not Margulis, she also killed Natah and Lotus is dead, killed by Ballas. She startles as she feels arms wrap around her, softly not hard, her husband is so fragile, yet he is giving her comfort.
In her ear Harry says softly, "Wow, you're a metamorph like Tonks. That's brilliant, don't worry if you don't know who to look like, that's never really mattered to me (especially given the way the Dursley's treated me). What matters is who you are."
"But I've killed millions."
"Why?"
"We were at war, and then because my children were threatened."
"That will take some getting used to," Harry admits, "but it won't change the fact we're married. Or that I am going to live with you for a very long time, unless we're killed sooner. Which might happen sooner rather than later now that the only thing 'protecting' me from the evil wizard trying to kill me is gone (and the whole prophecy). I'm pretty sure that I'm a killer too, given what happened at the end of the school year (and Quirrell, Tom, and the basilisk)."
"Harry, why are you mumbling some things, I can hear you quite clearly."
Harry flushes red as his mumbled complaints were understood, "Sorry, just stuff that life's been throwing me. It's not your problem."
"Harry, you saved my life and the life of Sasha, you're also married to me. You have just done more to aid my healing than I thought was even possible. I can literally feel my mind returning as we talk. I think I used literally correctly."
Harry laughs at the aside, "You probably did. I can't believe how well you're speaking English."
"It is easy when you listen to a few hundred conversations over the telephone at once."
"Let's find some breakfast and then check on your companion."
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Remus wakes up, uncomfortably sitting in a chair next to a hospital bed. Under his hand is a scroll of fine parchment with an official looking seal. His mind is hazy on what happened last night, but the woman on the bed looks vaguely familiar. Conjuring a glass of water, he quenches his thirst before unrolling the scroll, reading it once and then fainting.
Sasha opens her eyes and stares in confusion at the wooden beams supporting the floorboards of the floor above her. A handful of floating candles providing illumination for the room. Her chest aches, and she brings her hand up to where she was stabbed, then freezes as she realises she's wearing a nightgown made from unfamiliar material. Before she can think further on this, a man bustles into the room and waves a stick at her.
"Worr, dit reeks riko ug'lo whoaxarick worr. Dit nud pit keew zick yeep whusfaxact plevidow haxat rittro whoaxarick who ceurd. Ug'rr fo wholo bel zo joxt woot se wo caxan venitel yeep vaxagic rovors."
"I'm sorry I don't understand."
"Daxamn beloign flidos, Pum'rr kot pit raxackuaxago reusocko pi staxalgo dit te yeep leem. Fo lidd faxang."
When the man leaves again it gives her time to look around the room properly. The second thing that stands out is the complete lack of any technology. Her own implants are twitching in her head as there's nothing to connect to either. Which means it's not just artfully hidden in the walls, it's just, not, there. Sitting in a chair of unfamiliar design is a man with wild salt and pepper hair, his face is lined and his hands show the scars of heavy labour. She can't judge his clothes as they are too unfamiliar in style, but she'd imagine that they're either cheap or worn. On his lap is a long strip of something with markings on it, two cylinders at either end are attached.
Just to feel something familiar, she raises her hand and summons a ball of void energy. As it appears in her hand, the man from earlier rushes in and waves his stick at her. She then has the very odd feeling of the void energy just popping like a soap bubble and disappearing. With an upset look on his face, he storms over and hands her a pill before a container of water appears on a table beside her. He then mimes putting the pill in her mouth and drinking. Shrugging she does so, assuming it's their version of the nutritious sludge served at home to anyone that isn't rich. When she places the pill in her mouth she almost spits it out as it tastes vile, with a large amount of effort, she washes the pill down with water.
As she feels the water hit her stomach, lines of fire shoot through her head and she grasps it in agony. As the pain dies down the man looks at her somewhat sympathetically.
"Well, at least you'll understand me now. We were debating whether to give you the lozenge, but you forced our hands. You're lucky the stab wound was so clean and fresh when you got here. It only took a couple of potions and a nights rest for it to heal. However, your magical reserves are at rock-bottom. By rights you should be dead or dying right now, so we'll be keeping you in for the next week to ensure that they are recovering properly. Part of that will rely on you young lady. Absolutely no magic what so ever, especially not wandless magic like that ball."
"But that was void energy."
"I don't care what you call it, magic is magic, and you can't afford for your reserves to be further depleted. The only reason we gave you the potions last night is your life was in danger. Do you have any questions?"
"Where am I?"
"This is the Shuman healing hall. In magical Las Vegas."
"How did I get here?"
"Your husband brought you in. Congratulations by the way, you were married last night."
Sasha swallows her reply at that news, as she's unsure why she would have done that. However, she's alive, not a prisoner, and in some sort of hospital. For the first time in a very long time, her stomach rumbles.
"I will see about getting you something to eat then. I'll also get your husband something."
As he leaves, he waves his stick and a bolt of pink light flies out and hits the sleeping man, causing him to jerk awake. Seeing that she's awake he says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force you into marriage."
"What are you talking about?"
"The marriage."
"Yes, and I'm alive. Would I be alive if you didn't marry me?"
"No, they refused to treat you as you didn't have your wand, and your magic levels were so low that they couldn't tell you were magical. I don't remember much of last night, but I do remember that."
"Then why are you sorry? Would you rather I died?"
"No, of course not. It just should have been anyone else instead of me. I'm a werewolf." He stops expecting that to mean something.
Sasha shakes her head, "Is that like being a Grineer? As it would be rather sucky if you're going to keel over dead in a year or two unless we start replacing your body parts."
"Ah, no. I turn into a monster under the light of the full moon, and I have no control over my actions."
She shrugs, and winces, "Fair enough, not like I spend much time on earth anyway. It could also be advantageous occasionally."
"What?"
"Well, it's true. It's not like the Grineer posted there can't be dealt with by the natives. I'm actually more likely to go to Lua thinking about it."
"I, uh. Are you Atlantean?"
"Who? No, I'm Sasha."
"I meant the nation you belong to."
"Oh, no. I'm Tenno. I was trying to rescue The Lotus when I was stabbed and sent through the void portal. If you could direct me to the nearest comm station I can call Ordis and something."
"I have no idea what one of those is."
"Computer?"
"Why would you want an accountant?"
"Eh?"
"You asked for a Computer, that's a person that computes sums. Normally an accountant in the magical world."
"What do you use for communication?"
"Floo and owls generally."
They are saved by a witch coming in followed by a trolley, "What would you two like for breakfast? We have full English, Egg and Bacon on toast, Porridge, or Grits. Oh is that a marriage contract, congratulations. Oh, it's one of those contracts, commiserations may be in order then. I hope you both get along."
Remus says, "I have no idea, we met last night."
"Ouch, well, there's no way out of that one, they've looked."
Sasha opens her mouth to speak when a tray appears on the bed, a bowl floats over from the trolley, while a plate fills itself up with lots of unfamiliar foods.
"Oh, deary, would you like jelly with your porridge, we've got honey if you'd prefer."
Weakly Sasha says "Honey?" being the only thing she understood.
Remus says, "Could I have the full English please?"
"Certainly love. Let me finish serving the young lady, we never did get your name last night."
"Ah, I'm Sasha."
"I'll be sure to put it on the door when I leave then. If you're still hungry in an hour or so, have your husband get someone. Tomorrow you should be able to go to the cafeteria."
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In the Orokin system, The Lotus and The Drifter never turn up, as they never got lost in the void. Just to be sure of the death or disability of The Lotus, Ballas sends a few Sentients through the void portal.
Alien
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Alien
Magic is a strange and wonderous thing, it allows people to change into animals of all shapes and sizes. It can protect, nurture, and destroy. It is also rare. Only a fraction of all the planets that give rise to sentient and sapient life have magic. The other thing that's strange, though far less wonderous is that alien abductions are real. The vast majority of abductions are never detected, and never attributed to aliens. The child that goes missing, only to maybe show up on a distant shore years later. The homeless person that just stops being around. The babe left on a doorstep on a cold November night.
Harry never knew what happened when he was teleported abord the shuttle. He slept through the shuttle docking with a ship hidden in the shadow of Pluto. He was barely aware when an egg hatched amongst the acquisitions the aliens had made prior to his stop. He cried when the same aliens started to scream as an apex predator stalked amongst them and consumed them one by one. After all, he hadn't been fed or changed in 12 hours. When death came for him with acidic blood and a hidden mouth, he changed to match.
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The lone worker looks down at the chest burster in surprise. This quickly gives way to instincts honed over eons to keep her species alive. Grasping the chest burster to prevent it from feeding itself, she consumes a specific combination of materials that allows her to produce royal jelly. This she feeds to the chest burster to change its role in the hive into the new queen. The chest burster makes happy noises as she feeds it, leading to being fed more. A year later the chest burster forms a pupa and the worker goes into hibernation while her queen undergoes metamorphosis.
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Arry looks down from her ovipositor at the Yautja that has dared to invade her nest. This one, despite its size, is barely more than a child, its hunt mates lie dead, or dying as her children take them down from impossible ambushes. An intelligent child to have made it to her laying chamber, but not so experienced they didn't freeze when they saw the trophy wall to one side, decorated with the skulls of those Yautja that had sought to take her own skull. With a couple of thoughts the Yautja is suspended spreadeagled in the air and their weaponry joins the others on the wall. Disengaging from the ovipositor, Arry climbs down to the ground and changes into a humanoid form. Her tail swishing behind her as she stalks forward towards the prisoner. Reaching up with her taloned hands, she carefully removes the facemask her prisoner is wearing and grasps their head.
"You are unblooded. Let's see why your clan would send an unblooded youngling to my ship."
The Yautja's pupils widen when they hear her speak, and she uses that to dive into their mind. Pauk, she isn't a standard Yautja, taken in as a foundling when her Bad Blood family was killed. She faces the choice of becoming a blooded hunter or a brood slave. Double Pauk, she's only a couple of light years away from a clan ship. No wonder they mounted such a strong offensive. Pulling out of her mind Arry walks over to a console and taps in a few commands.
The heavily scarred face of a Yautja elder soon fills the view screen, "Who are you to call the Dark Blade Clan!"
"I am Arry, the owner of the ship that your hunters just invaded. I am calling to inform you that I don't currently have any designs on your ship. Unless you wish for it to become my new nursery, you will refrain from sending any more hunters or children to hunt my children. Unlike you however, I do not kill children."
"You are an abomination, and we will hunt you to the end of the stars as we have for the last 5 cycles."
"You say such lovely things. As long as you remember not to hunt me when I'm only 5 ticks from your own home, you'll survive to carry out your threat."
"You dare?"
"I dare," – She steps to one side – "Oh, and I'm keeping this one. Unlike some, I, don't, kill, children."
Switching off the communication she turns back to her captive, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. As I said, I don't kill children, I've lost too many of my own to do that. Of course, that was before I worked out how to modify my eggs to have the same abilities I do. That was 5 years ago now, 3 years after the worker that converted me died to Skarli raiders. They were the first to incubate my children you know."
Arry walks over to an egg and reaches a taloned hand into it, before withdrawing it with a face hugger wrapped around her wrist.
Her captive starts to struggle, "Don't worry T'o-Ba'sall, this is from a very special egg. I call it an adoption egg. I took your name from your mind if you're wondering how I knew it. Back to the egg, this face hugger will still implant an egg. But rather than hatching to form what your people call a chest burster, it will instead latch onto your stomach and become part of you. In a few hours you will feel the hive and it will be safe to let you down. Try to relax, it's going to happen anyway, and it's less painful if you let the face hugger do its job."
T'o-Ba'sall swallows convulsively as the alien queen brings the face hugger up to her head, where it skuttles off her hand and latches around her head. True enough, nothing she's capable of doing is enough to prevent the face hugger from depositing its egg deep inside her stomach. As the face hugger maintains its hold around her head the queen continues talking, "Did you know that I'm only 8 cycles old? I have vague memories of a life before I became a queen, but we mature quickly. Unsurprising when you consider that we're the galaxies punching bag. When we were first attacked, my mental maturity hadn't caught up to my physical maturity, and I wasn't aware I could take on a humanoid form either. Our ship was just floating through space while the two of us lived off the specimens the previous owner had collected. It was when the Skarli killed the worker that I discovered I could do more than any other queen in our history. I used my power to throw them against the walls. It was a year and several raids till I could do it at will. I can also teleport, and I discovered that I can force a type of hive link on people. It's how I learnt to speak and use the ship. I hope you're not too uncomfortable there. The hugger is almost done, did you know that our face huggers provide all of your needs while they're attached. Food, oxygen, water, you can even survive brief exposure to hard vacuum. I considered laying some eggs just for that purpose without the possibility of implanting a burster. That was before I discovered it was impossible for my kind to trade with anyone.
"Anyway, the raids continued, and so I lost and replaced more and more children. I've had 500 since that first raid, and the current 50 aboard the ship are coming up on a year old. I'm hoping that when they reach a couple of years, they'll start being able to reason, rather than being big balls of emotion that I have to control. I might have to actually seek out a drone for that though. Oh, yes, all of us are female unless we find a drone. Your face hugger is about done, if you relax I'll take it off."
Arry carefully removes the face hugger, then holds up a drinking container, and releases her control over T'o-Ba'sall's mouth.
Once she'd taken a drink T'o-Ba'sall asks, "Why? Why save me? I came to kill you."
Arry runs the back of a claw down her face, "You should never have been here. I remember my original parents, they had skin like this." – Arry points to a patch of skin on her chest where mammary glands are prominently displayed. – "I remember that the female tried to save me, at the cost of her own life. If they were willing to do that, children must be precious. So I made a decision to never kill a child outside of self defence. If you had managed to fire your shoulder canon, your head would already be decorating my wall."
"What happens to me now?"
"Well, you're part of my hive. I hope that you'll join in, and maybe also trade for food and supplies. I don't like stealing just to survive, but nobody will trade with me. Now, I need to take my position, as the surviving hunters that came with you are being brought here by my children. I'm just going to move you over by that wall. Don't try to talk, as I'll prevent it if you do."
T'o-Ba'sall watches helplessly as the room spins around her as she is floated against the wall, still spreadeagled. Arry on the other hand, transforms back into the Xenomorph Queen, her crest far larger than it has any right to be, as she settles back into the ovipositor.
Less than a tick after Arry is seated, T'o-Ba'sall watches as her maimed and beaten clan mates are dragged in. Most of them are missing their left arms below the elbow. Those that aren't are missing their wrist-comps. They are all lain on the floor with their heads towards the queen, and their arms and legs covered with resin. She can see the fear in their expressions as the Queen looms over them. Arry manipulates the ovipositor just ahead of each head, before she lays an egg for each of the 8 captives. Sensing a victim nearby, the petals on each egg open one by one, and a face hugger crawls out and blindly finds the mouth of the Yautja in front of them. All T'o-Ba'sall can do is watch mutely as 8 more abominations are added to the Queens hive.
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A few months later, Arry has her claws deep inside a Pirates guts as T'o-Ba'sall had located a distress call. Despite her rocky introduction, she was proving to be a valuable member of the hive, and hunting pirates satisfied that part of her that craved the hunt. A woman screaming at the back of the room is a good sign that they got here in time. She winces in pain as one of the other pirates shoots at her, briefly losing control, she throws the body she's holding to one side and launches, claws first, at the pirate.
The pirate raises his armoured forearms, catches her claws on them, and then electrifies the armour. As Arry shakes with electricity, over the top of her head, her tail spears out, passing through the pirates mouth and out the back of his neck. A spray of blood covers Arry's face as he slumps to the floor and she licks her lips. She turns to find that T'o-Ba'sall has dealt with the other pirate while she was busy. Seeing that the only other adults in the cabin are trying to protect a couple of children, she deliberately calms herself down.
While scraping some blood off her face and licking it off her claw, she asks the family, "Are any of you in need of medical attention?"
The acrid scent of a Laprey relieving themselves fills the cabin as the male indicates in the negative.
"In that case, some of my children will be along to get the corpses, and we'll be taking the pirates ship. I'm Arry, have a good day."
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Arry and her hive are on an ice ball hunting Bad Bloods, T'o-Ba'sall having being able to pick up the bounties with one of the wrist computers. Her oldest children are starting to communicate in more complex concepts, and she thinks they might start using basic words in the link soon. Unexpectedly, T'o-Ba'sall has started to grow a tail and her fingers are turning into claws. Together they form an efficient hunting team by being able to out think, out run, and out flank their prey. By the end of the hunt, she only needs to take one captive as one of the younger children jumps ahead of the formation, and is killed with a flying disk for her trouble. Only the thought that she has a nest already, allows Arry to leave the planet without leaving any eggs behind.
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It's everything that T'o-Ba'sall can do to land the ship safely as they respond to a distress call about a xenomorph hive attacking a Skali colony. Arry was hoping to claim a drone in order to be able to birth some males. However, when they got to low orbit, the feeling of the other hive started to press on their own hive. This hive is much larger than their own, and it feels like their numbers are swelling quickly. Xenomorph instincts are battling in her head, driving her to crash the ship into the hive, and take it over for her Queen. Withdrawal is not an option she has, despite not being a full Xenomorph herself. So while Arry is lost in her instincts, T'o-Ba'sall landed the ship on a rise on the opposite side of the hive to the colony. T'o-Ba'sall, uses every bit of experience she has being part of the hive, to send memories of hunting Bad Bloods, or the pirates. By doing this she is able to prevent her hive mates from just suicidally charging the other hive. Fortunately, Arry is too far gone to overrule her assumed authority. With that freedom T'o-Ba'sall is able to arm herself from the trophy wall, as well as the oldest of her siblings. Nothing complicated, only handheld weapons and thermal webbing.
The war is long, bloody, and victorious, with the total elimination of the rival hive. The strange abilities and increased cognition and tactics allowing them to triumph over the numerically superior hive. When she comes back to her senses, Arry cries over the children that the hive took for breeding, until a child's cry reaches them from another part of the hive. That's when T'o-Ba'sall learns that a queen can kill rival hive members without a queen by sheer force of will. She also gains some new siblings, far younger than would normally be considered healthy. But there's no way the colony would have let them live.
On the positive side, they are now able to trade through dead drops. She suspects it's because the colony is hoping that any future incursions will be dealt with before it becomes an actual problem for them.
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T'o-Ba'sall has now killed 10 hunters in hand-to-hand combat, and started showing the same abilities as her siblings. The number of hunts sent against them increased after they saved the colony. She knows that her own honour is intact, even if the hunters are proving to be purely glory seekers than true honourable hunters. Arry is still brooding about losing control in the presence of the other queen. Worried that someone might try to exploit that by capturing a Queen. An answer occurs to her, Praetorians. Carefully, she modifies one of her adoption eggs to include the Praetorian code, hopefully without the full instincts, as she needs T'o-Ba'sall to be able to think more clearly in the future.
"T'o-Ba'sall, this hugger contains the imprint of a Praetorian. I would like you to have it."
"Why Arry?"
"It will give you more freedom if I am incapacitated by another queen. I don't want to lose you, so I've tried to strip out the instincts as much as I can."
"Thank you for honouring me like this." With that said, T'o-Ba'sall takes the face hugger and guides it to her face, unafraid this time. Arry was right, it does hurt less when you don't fight it.
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Arry is mounted on her ovipositor when a flaming avian appears in front of her. Instinctively, her inner mouth snaps out and bites off its head. The avian bursts into flames and falls to the floor as ashes. Her echo location detects movement in the ashes, so she transforms and kneels down to look at what's happening.
Magic is a strange and wonderous thing, it allows people to change into animals of all shapes and sizes. It can protect, nurture, and destroy. It is also rare. Only a fraction of all the planets that give rise to sentient and sapient life have magic. The other thing that's strange, though far less wonderous is that alien abductions are real. The vast majority of abductions are never detected, and never attributed to aliens. The child that goes missing, only to maybe show up on a distant shore years later. The homeless person that just stops being around. The babe left on a doorstep on a cold November night.
Harry never knew what happened when he was teleported abord the shuttle. He slept through the shuttle docking with a ship hidden in the shadow of Pluto. He was barely aware when an egg hatched amongst the acquisitions the aliens had made prior to his stop. He cried when the same aliens started to scream as an apex predator stalked amongst them and consumed them one by one. After all, he hadn't been fed or changed in 12 hours. When death came for him with acidic blood and a hidden mouth, he changed to match.
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The lone worker looks down at the chest burster in surprise. This quickly gives way to instincts honed over eons to keep her species alive. Grasping the chest burster to prevent it from feeding itself, she consumes a specific combination of materials that allows her to produce royal jelly. This she feeds to the chest burster to change its role in the hive into the new queen. The chest burster makes happy noises as she feeds it, leading to being fed more. A year later the chest burster forms a pupa and the worker goes into hibernation while her queen undergoes metamorphosis.
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Arry looks down from her ovipositor at the Yautja that has dared to invade her nest. This one, despite its size, is barely more than a child, its hunt mates lie dead, or dying as her children take them down from impossible ambushes. An intelligent child to have made it to her laying chamber, but not so experienced they didn't freeze when they saw the trophy wall to one side, decorated with the skulls of those Yautja that had sought to take her own skull. With a couple of thoughts the Yautja is suspended spreadeagled in the air and their weaponry joins the others on the wall. Disengaging from the ovipositor, Arry climbs down to the ground and changes into a humanoid form. Her tail swishing behind her as she stalks forward towards the prisoner. Reaching up with her taloned hands, she carefully removes the facemask her prisoner is wearing and grasps their head.
"You are unblooded. Let's see why your clan would send an unblooded youngling to my ship."
The Yautja's pupils widen when they hear her speak, and she uses that to dive into their mind. Pauk, she isn't a standard Yautja, taken in as a foundling when her Bad Blood family was killed. She faces the choice of becoming a blooded hunter or a brood slave. Double Pauk, she's only a couple of light years away from a clan ship. No wonder they mounted such a strong offensive. Pulling out of her mind Arry walks over to a console and taps in a few commands.
The heavily scarred face of a Yautja elder soon fills the view screen, "Who are you to call the Dark Blade Clan!"
"I am Arry, the owner of the ship that your hunters just invaded. I am calling to inform you that I don't currently have any designs on your ship. Unless you wish for it to become my new nursery, you will refrain from sending any more hunters or children to hunt my children. Unlike you however, I do not kill children."
"You are an abomination, and we will hunt you to the end of the stars as we have for the last 5 cycles."
"You say such lovely things. As long as you remember not to hunt me when I'm only 5 ticks from your own home, you'll survive to carry out your threat."
"You dare?"
"I dare," – She steps to one side – "Oh, and I'm keeping this one. Unlike some, I, don't, kill, children."
Switching off the communication she turns back to her captive, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. As I said, I don't kill children, I've lost too many of my own to do that. Of course, that was before I worked out how to modify my eggs to have the same abilities I do. That was 5 years ago now, 3 years after the worker that converted me died to Skarli raiders. They were the first to incubate my children you know."
Arry walks over to an egg and reaches a taloned hand into it, before withdrawing it with a face hugger wrapped around her wrist.
Her captive starts to struggle, "Don't worry T'o-Ba'sall, this is from a very special egg. I call it an adoption egg. I took your name from your mind if you're wondering how I knew it. Back to the egg, this face hugger will still implant an egg. But rather than hatching to form what your people call a chest burster, it will instead latch onto your stomach and become part of you. In a few hours you will feel the hive and it will be safe to let you down. Try to relax, it's going to happen anyway, and it's less painful if you let the face hugger do its job."
T'o-Ba'sall swallows convulsively as the alien queen brings the face hugger up to her head, where it skuttles off her hand and latches around her head. True enough, nothing she's capable of doing is enough to prevent the face hugger from depositing its egg deep inside her stomach. As the face hugger maintains its hold around her head the queen continues talking, "Did you know that I'm only 8 cycles old? I have vague memories of a life before I became a queen, but we mature quickly. Unsurprising when you consider that we're the galaxies punching bag. When we were first attacked, my mental maturity hadn't caught up to my physical maturity, and I wasn't aware I could take on a humanoid form either. Our ship was just floating through space while the two of us lived off the specimens the previous owner had collected. It was when the Skarli killed the worker that I discovered I could do more than any other queen in our history. I used my power to throw them against the walls. It was a year and several raids till I could do it at will. I can also teleport, and I discovered that I can force a type of hive link on people. It's how I learnt to speak and use the ship. I hope you're not too uncomfortable there. The hugger is almost done, did you know that our face huggers provide all of your needs while they're attached. Food, oxygen, water, you can even survive brief exposure to hard vacuum. I considered laying some eggs just for that purpose without the possibility of implanting a burster. That was before I discovered it was impossible for my kind to trade with anyone.
"Anyway, the raids continued, and so I lost and replaced more and more children. I've had 500 since that first raid, and the current 50 aboard the ship are coming up on a year old. I'm hoping that when they reach a couple of years, they'll start being able to reason, rather than being big balls of emotion that I have to control. I might have to actually seek out a drone for that though. Oh, yes, all of us are female unless we find a drone. Your face hugger is about done, if you relax I'll take it off."
Arry carefully removes the face hugger, then holds up a drinking container, and releases her control over T'o-Ba'sall's mouth.
Once she'd taken a drink T'o-Ba'sall asks, "Why? Why save me? I came to kill you."
Arry runs the back of a claw down her face, "You should never have been here. I remember my original parents, they had skin like this." – Arry points to a patch of skin on her chest where mammary glands are prominently displayed. – "I remember that the female tried to save me, at the cost of her own life. If they were willing to do that, children must be precious. So I made a decision to never kill a child outside of self defence. If you had managed to fire your shoulder canon, your head would already be decorating my wall."
"What happens to me now?"
"Well, you're part of my hive. I hope that you'll join in, and maybe also trade for food and supplies. I don't like stealing just to survive, but nobody will trade with me. Now, I need to take my position, as the surviving hunters that came with you are being brought here by my children. I'm just going to move you over by that wall. Don't try to talk, as I'll prevent it if you do."
T'o-Ba'sall watches helplessly as the room spins around her as she is floated against the wall, still spreadeagled. Arry on the other hand, transforms back into the Xenomorph Queen, her crest far larger than it has any right to be, as she settles back into the ovipositor.
Less than a tick after Arry is seated, T'o-Ba'sall watches as her maimed and beaten clan mates are dragged in. Most of them are missing their left arms below the elbow. Those that aren't are missing their wrist-comps. They are all lain on the floor with their heads towards the queen, and their arms and legs covered with resin. She can see the fear in their expressions as the Queen looms over them. Arry manipulates the ovipositor just ahead of each head, before she lays an egg for each of the 8 captives. Sensing a victim nearby, the petals on each egg open one by one, and a face hugger crawls out and blindly finds the mouth of the Yautja in front of them. All T'o-Ba'sall can do is watch mutely as 8 more abominations are added to the Queens hive.
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A few months later, Arry has her claws deep inside a Pirates guts as T'o-Ba'sall had located a distress call. Despite her rocky introduction, she was proving to be a valuable member of the hive, and hunting pirates satisfied that part of her that craved the hunt. A woman screaming at the back of the room is a good sign that they got here in time. She winces in pain as one of the other pirates shoots at her, briefly losing control, she throws the body she's holding to one side and launches, claws first, at the pirate.
The pirate raises his armoured forearms, catches her claws on them, and then electrifies the armour. As Arry shakes with electricity, over the top of her head, her tail spears out, passing through the pirates mouth and out the back of his neck. A spray of blood covers Arry's face as he slumps to the floor and she licks her lips. She turns to find that T'o-Ba'sall has dealt with the other pirate while she was busy. Seeing that the only other adults in the cabin are trying to protect a couple of children, she deliberately calms herself down.
While scraping some blood off her face and licking it off her claw, she asks the family, "Are any of you in need of medical attention?"
The acrid scent of a Laprey relieving themselves fills the cabin as the male indicates in the negative.
"In that case, some of my children will be along to get the corpses, and we'll be taking the pirates ship. I'm Arry, have a good day."
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Arry and her hive are on an ice ball hunting Bad Bloods, T'o-Ba'sall having being able to pick up the bounties with one of the wrist computers. Her oldest children are starting to communicate in more complex concepts, and she thinks they might start using basic words in the link soon. Unexpectedly, T'o-Ba'sall has started to grow a tail and her fingers are turning into claws. Together they form an efficient hunting team by being able to out think, out run, and out flank their prey. By the end of the hunt, she only needs to take one captive as one of the younger children jumps ahead of the formation, and is killed with a flying disk for her trouble. Only the thought that she has a nest already, allows Arry to leave the planet without leaving any eggs behind.
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It's everything that T'o-Ba'sall can do to land the ship safely as they respond to a distress call about a xenomorph hive attacking a Skali colony. Arry was hoping to claim a drone in order to be able to birth some males. However, when they got to low orbit, the feeling of the other hive started to press on their own hive. This hive is much larger than their own, and it feels like their numbers are swelling quickly. Xenomorph instincts are battling in her head, driving her to crash the ship into the hive, and take it over for her Queen. Withdrawal is not an option she has, despite not being a full Xenomorph herself. So while Arry is lost in her instincts, T'o-Ba'sall landed the ship on a rise on the opposite side of the hive to the colony. T'o-Ba'sall, uses every bit of experience she has being part of the hive, to send memories of hunting Bad Bloods, or the pirates. By doing this she is able to prevent her hive mates from just suicidally charging the other hive. Fortunately, Arry is too far gone to overrule her assumed authority. With that freedom T'o-Ba'sall is able to arm herself from the trophy wall, as well as the oldest of her siblings. Nothing complicated, only handheld weapons and thermal webbing.
The war is long, bloody, and victorious, with the total elimination of the rival hive. The strange abilities and increased cognition and tactics allowing them to triumph over the numerically superior hive. When she comes back to her senses, Arry cries over the children that the hive took for breeding, until a child's cry reaches them from another part of the hive. That's when T'o-Ba'sall learns that a queen can kill rival hive members without a queen by sheer force of will. She also gains some new siblings, far younger than would normally be considered healthy. But there's no way the colony would have let them live.
On the positive side, they are now able to trade through dead drops. She suspects it's because the colony is hoping that any future incursions will be dealt with before it becomes an actual problem for them.
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T'o-Ba'sall has now killed 10 hunters in hand-to-hand combat, and started showing the same abilities as her siblings. The number of hunts sent against them increased after they saved the colony. She knows that her own honour is intact, even if the hunters are proving to be purely glory seekers than true honourable hunters. Arry is still brooding about losing control in the presence of the other queen. Worried that someone might try to exploit that by capturing a Queen. An answer occurs to her, Praetorians. Carefully, she modifies one of her adoption eggs to include the Praetorian code, hopefully without the full instincts, as she needs T'o-Ba'sall to be able to think more clearly in the future.
"T'o-Ba'sall, this hugger contains the imprint of a Praetorian. I would like you to have it."
"Why Arry?"
"It will give you more freedom if I am incapacitated by another queen. I don't want to lose you, so I've tried to strip out the instincts as much as I can."
"Thank you for honouring me like this." With that said, T'o-Ba'sall takes the face hugger and guides it to her face, unafraid this time. Arry was right, it does hurt less when you don't fight it.
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Arry is mounted on her ovipositor when a flaming avian appears in front of her. Instinctively, her inner mouth snaps out and bites off its head. The avian bursts into flames and falls to the floor as ashes. Her echo location detects movement in the ashes, so she transforms and kneels down to look at what's happening.
Alien - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
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Alien – 2
As she kneels there, Arry watches as a tiny, featherless, version of the avian crawls out of the pile of ash. Carefully cleaning the ash away from it with a talon, she studies it intently as it squarks angrily at her. With a thought, she transforms and climbs back into her ovipositor. There she starts laying a very special adoption egg. As clearly the standard face hugger would swallow the small avian, that can survive having its head bitten off. Arry can see that it is growing rapidly, so she's not so worried about how small she makes it. As she finishes, raggedy feathers are starting to grow in, so she quickly climbs back down and returns to her humanoid form. Reaching into the egg, she feels the face hugger wrap itself around a finger before she pulls it out.
Fawkes can't believe it, she was doing a favour for her human by locating the child he misplaced 10 years ago. When she appeared, something killed her before she could even register her location. Unexpected burnings were always so uncomfortable. Then whatever it was stares at her from inches away. Well, it looks human so it could be the child, though she thought they grew slower than that. Then it grows into a monster and climbs up some awful creature before settling itself on top of it. Not liking the feeling she's getting, Fawkes tries to grow faster, to get to the point she can flame away. Two burnings in one day would be worth it, and, when she's recovered, she can have a loud word with her human. Oh, she thinks weakly, it lays eggs, why would it suddenly be laying eggs?
"No, no, no no no no, no. There's no way you're bring that thing anywhere close to me. Keep away or I'll mmmmph."
Weakly she tries to burn whatever it is, but it just holds onto her head harder, so she goes limp, very aware that she is at her most vulnerable at this moment in time. Whatever parasite she's been implanted with, can be burnt out later, she just has to survive to later. It detaches not too long later, and she coughs up the tube. Her stomach is bloated with whatever it left behind, but she can't cough it out. Tiredly she fights to say awake so that she can flame out as soon as she's recovered enough. It's a few hours later that she realises with a panic that the thing is getting smaller and part of her. The thing watches her in interest as she weakly bursts into flame, to no avail. It's still too early for another burning, and that also means she can't use the flame to travel. No longer having the energy to stay awake, she falls asleep in the puddle of ash.
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As Fawkes wakes up to the sound of a room full of people talking loudly to each other, she calls "Would you shut up, some of us are recovering from an unexpected burning day."
As everyone shuts up she lays her head down on the side of the nest, and then opens her eyes in alarm. Someone has wrapped some clothing into a nest and placed her in it. What becomes more alarming is the fact she's in a room on her own.
"I'm glad to see you're awake. I'm Arry, your new Queen. Who are you?"
"I'm Ptiana though my human calls me Fawkes."
"Hello Ptiana, why did you appear in my laying chamber?"
Ptiana can't help herself as she answers, "I was doing a favour for my human, he lost a male child 10 years ago. I followed the magic from one of his devices. It was obviously incorrect my Queen." - Where did that come from? – "What has happened to me? Why am I sharing so much?"
"You're part of my hive now, and I'm your Queen." Ptiana grumps as Arry obviously thinks that explains everything. In fairness, it probably does.
Arry continues, "I hope you don't mind, we moved you from your burnt pile, as you were rather small and I didn't want you to be stepped on accidentally."
Ptiana suddenly realises something, "How comes you can understand me?"
Arry sounds confused, "You're part of the hive, that means your memories are part of the hive too."
T'o-Ba'sall says, "Arry, you're forgetting that it takes longer to access the memories than it does to become part of the hive."
Ptiana squawks indignantly as she exclaims, "Why do I know your name T'o-Ba'sall?"
Sounding cheerful, Arry says, "That would be the accessing memories part of the hive."
Panicking, Ptiana flames back to her comfortable perch in the room her human uses. The voices all mute with the distance, until suddenly her Queen is right there.
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Albus sits at his desk, doing paperwork to take his mind off the fact that Minerva will be sending out the school letters in the next few days, and he still doesn't know where Harry is, only that he's alive, safe, and happy. If those enchantments had failed as well, he'd have spent more effort trying to find the child before now. However, he reasoned that if Harry couldn't be found with some effort on his part, then the Dark Lord's followers certainly wouldn't be able to find him. Fawkes should have found him, but the still empty perch says he probably ran into some difficulty, or a plum tree. Fawkes reappears on his perch and ruffles his feathers irritatedly. Probably difficulty then.
"Fawkes, I'm glad to see you're safe." Putting his quill down, Albus stands from his desk and is walking around it when something else flames in. Whatever it is, it fills most of the room, and has wicked looking talons on its hands and feet. With instincts honed through war, even if they are slightly atrophied, Albus pulls his wand and fires a brace of spells designed to put down a dragon. Each of them pierces it's hide, and he is bringing his hand around to send another brace, when he loses feeling in his hand and legs. It also feels like he's been punched and it's hard to breathe. He looks down stupidly to see the creatures tail protruding from his chest, as it lifts him up from the floor. How did he not notice the tail before? There's a sucking sound as the creature shrinks down into a young woman, who is holding her side with a taloned hand.
"What do you mean I have to heal him? Ptiana, does it look like I have tear ducts? Oh, fine, I have something that will help but you'll have to find someone we can explain the situation to."
Albus wonders why the young woman was using four different languages while talking, at least he thinks it's four. Curiously he touches the hole in his chest wondering why it doesn't hurt more. The young woman picks him up surprisingly easily, and flames form around them. Is she a new species of phoenix? When the flames clear, she puts him in a coffin, and he weakly raises his hands to stop the lid from closing. As the coffin fills with water, his last thought is of Tom's return and the missing Harry Potter.
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Ptiana screeches loudly in frustration, how is she supposed to find someone to explain things to. She can't exactly talk. That's not true, but only Arry can understand her. Oh, hell, she can't escape her Queen as obviously she's learnt to flame, so she might as well share the pain. She knows just the annoying cat to do it to too. Trying to tell her human not to keep feeding her those candied fruits indeed. Flaming back to the hive, she locates the eggs and carefully picks out an adoption egg.
"Hey Ptiana, have you found someone?"
"Yes my Queen, however they can't understand us. I'm taking an adoption egg so that we can talk to them."
"Well, I've put your human into a regeneration tank. It's Skarli design, but at least they're bipedal. The machine currently thinks it will take a full 2 cycles to finish healing him. Wow, your form of teleportation is much better than the method I came up with. Anyway, take this one, it should knock your human out so they don't try to kill anyone while it's working. I designed it for small children when we get to pirate raids too late, or we find a hive attacking a colony and there are children there."
"Thank you my Queen."
"You can just call me Arry like everyone else does. Of course, you have to accept the hive before your new instincts will allow that."
"Yes, my, Queen." Ptiana grinds out before flaming out with the egg.
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Minerva looks up from her transfiguration research as Fawkes flames in with a leathery egg.
"What's this then? Did Albus send it?"
Fawkes just trills at her in his mocking way. She casts a couple of spells at it to see if it was some new puzzle she needed to figure out, and is surprised when it comes back as mundane. She stands up to look at it more closely and sees four flaps on the top open up.
"Fawkes, I really think this should have been taken to Grubby urk." Whatever she was going to say next is cut off, as a face hugger leaps out and forces its ovipositor down her throat, at the same time it's tail wraps around her throat. She has enough time to attempt a single spell before the world goes dark.
A few hours later she's awakened by the sound of voices. As she opens her eyes, she finds herself lying on a hard bed in a spartan metal room. Her wand is on a desk that's too tall to be for sitting at, and too short to be stood at. A chair tucked under the table is similarly mis-proportioned, and has 4 armrests for some reason. What can only be described as a monster, pokes its head into her room, and she freezes instinctively. The monster turns and leaves quickly, and she hears a child shouting "She's awake, she's awake."
Standing up off the bed, she winces as she catches her ankle, because the bed is slightly higher than expected. Retrieving her wand, she conjures a goblet of water to soothe her aching throat. Now that she's standing, the fact that everything is uncomfortably too large is even more apparent than it was. With nowhere else to go, she makes her way through the doorway. Outside the room, the corridors are all covered in some sort of resin, putting her on guard. She jumps and whirls around when someone says, "Wait right there, I'm just coming to find you. Please don't fire any spells, our instincts are a little trigger happy."
Still not seeing anyone, Minerva quite deliberately puts her wand in its wrist holster and braces herself. What she sees doesn't match expectations in any way, as a naked young woman with a tail and claws, blood red hair, and killing curse green eyes, comes around the corner. Her arms and legs have black leathery skin that gives way to human like skin on her torso and head.
She lifts a clawed hand and waves, "Hi, I'm Arry, queen of our hive. I asked Ptiana to find someone we can explain what happened to the human I accidentally skewered with my tail. If you follow me I'll take you to see, him? Is him the right word?"
"Before we go anywhere, where are your clothes?"
"I don't normally need them. However, when I appeared in my normal form the human fired at me, leading to his skewering. So I figured this would be less likely to lead to bloodshed."
Minerva pulls all of her experience, in unexpected situations, around her like a shield as she responds, "That is, considerate, of you."
"Anyway, this way. Oh, and nobody that you see here will harm you. You're part of the hive now."
As she follows Arry, Minerva misses a step with that last sentence, "I'm a what of the what now?"
"You're part of the hive. Ptiana decided that it was the only way that you'd be able to understand us."
"Who?"
"You'll meet her in a moment, as she's watching over her human."
True enough, after a few minutes of walking through an alien environment, she is led into a room with a row of metal coffins, where Fawkes is perched on one.
"Fawkes! You're here."
"I'm not Fawkes you stupid human. My name is Ptiana, as I keep telling people. I'm also female!"
"What?!"
"You can understand me! Happy days. This is my, and now your, Queen, Arry. My human sent me to find a child he lost, and I appeared in front of her. She followed me back to him and he attacked her, thinking her a monster. Admittedly she is a monster, but she's not a needlessly aggressive monster."
"Oi! I resemble that remark, and good on you being able to make it now."
Minerva staggers at the vehemence in the phoenixes tone, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't, you never even questioned it. Just like you never question anything my human does. Not that he helped matters, never actually asking anyone else except the stinky human if their plans are ok. As if the stinky human as any sort of good judgment after joining the snake human. While I'm at it, what do you have against me eating those sugary fruits? I'm a phoenix! I don't need to eat, I only do it for pleasure. I get reborn every few years, which clears out anything that might have been bad for me. I can't wait until you have your own first burning day. Oh, and you can flame back to the nest on your own. I'm going to raid the sugared lemons now."
Once Ptiana flames out, Arry turns to Minerva, "I guess she had a few unresolved issues."
"I, uh, had no idea." – Something the phoenix said trickles through her mind – "Does the name Potter mean anything to you?"
"Eh, it's familiar somehow."
Wracking her brain for any sort of idea, she tries to remember that night. Hagrid had brought Harry on Sirius' motorcycle, in a moses basket. Then Albus had tucked the letter into the blue blanket that covered the baby. "Accio baby blanket!"
"Hey, what's that?"
"Dunno, let's chase it."
*fun* *chase*
A moment later, a filthy blanket with the odd blue spot, where a fold had protected it from the grime that accumulated, flies through the door, followed by a few monsters, one humanoid with 4 arms, another arachnoid with 3 fingers on the end of two of it's legs. Finally a couple of pitch black creatures with elongated heads, vicious looking claws, and a sharp barbed tail. Following shortly behind them is a massive humanoid with a hideous maw and beady little eyes. They proceed to crowd around her, the ones with hands picking at her robes.
"Who's this? What's she wearing? Why does she smell strange? Did she bring food? *hive mate*"
"Children, you're being disrespectful."
The humanoid and arachnoid both jump back as though they've been bitten. The arachnoid lowers itself to the floor, "This one is sorry, this one is known as Krizror. Would that one be willing to share their name?"
The other one puts all four arms down by their side and bows, "I'm sorry, we should have introduced ourselves. I am Brugroch."
The break and introductions are enough for Minerva to gather her wits, though the monsters rubbing their heads against her thighs aren't helping, "I am Minerva McGonagall. Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"What's a school?" "What's witchcraft?"
"A school is a place where children go to be taught how to do the things that adults know how to do. Witchcraft is magic involving potions and rituals, while wizardry is magic involving spells and enchantments."
"Children, Minva will be able to talk later ok?"
"Awww."
The two that backed off leave, while the others keep rubbing their heads against her. Deliberately raising her wand and enunciating the spell, she says "Scourgify". All of the dirt and grime flake off of the blanket, revealing a golden 'Harry' embroidered in a corner.
She turns to Arry, tears in her eyes, "You are, were, Harry Potter. I knitted this blanket for you when you were a baby. Can I hug you?"
Arry looks at her strangely, "What's a hug?"
"I don't know how to describe it, but it's gentle."
"Ok, go ahead."
Minerva steps up to Arry and pulls her into a gentle hug, just how tall Arry is, becoming apparent by the fact the top of her head only just reaches Arry's chin. "I'm so sorry I never looked for you. I trusted Albus when he said that you were safe and happy."
Awkwardly, Arry returns the hug, "I was safe and happy, well mostly safe. I have my children."
"You should have been raised in a loving household, not taking on so much responsibility so young."
"I wasn't, and instead I have seen so many amazing things, helped people, and even built up a good trophy collection. We can talk about my life later. At the moment, you need to know that the healing chamber says that the old human will be healed in 2 cycles."
Minerva looks up at Arry's face, "What happened?"
"Ptiana ran away so I followed her, when I arrived the old human shot me three times in the side. Reflexively I speared him with my tail and, well, you can see if you look through the window there. Ptiana demanded that I fix him, so I brought him here, and told her to find someone we could explain the situation to."
Minerva is surprised at how well she's taking this news, "I see. How long did you say it would take him to heal?"
"2 cycles."
"I have no idea how long that is."
"There's 360 ticks to a rest period, 360 rest periods to a cycle."
"I see, I think. You wouldn't know how long that is on Earth?"
"Dirtside it depends on the rotation of the planet."
"Earth is the name of our planet."
"You call your planet Dirt?"
"Some people call it Gaia?"
"I'm going to need a little more than that." – Arry walks over to a console on the wall and presses a few icons – "What colour is the star?"
"Erm, yellow I think."
"How many planets does it have?"
"9?"
"How many gas giants?"
"3 or 4, Jupiter has a large red spot, and Saturn has rings."
"Ok, which planet starting from the star do you live on?"
"The third one."
"Does it have any distinctive features?"
"A large moon?"
"I have 4 possibilities in this galaxy, do you recognise any of these?"
"That one."
"I see, it has been surveyed, and it apparently is part of a hunting preserve for the Yautja. There are currently debates about listing it as a developing world, after the last failed hunt showed significant technological development, that may preclude remaining unnoticed within 30 cycles. An average rotation of the planet is 4 ticks longer than a Rest Period."
Finally, tears prick Minerva's eyes as she walks over to the window indicated, and looks at her mentors face and the gaping wound in his chest. It takes her a moment, but she notices that the tiny arms inside are removing his beard and hair as well as working on the hole. Stepping back sharply she exclaims, "What are they doing to his hair?"
Arry glances over from the console, "Oh, the machines are fixing any deformities. It's a Skarli design healing pod, Brugroch was one before we rescued him from a Hive, the one with 4 arms. They don't have body hair."
"You have to get him out of there."
"He doesn't have a heart, can you fix that?"
"Ah, I don't know."
"Could you get him to a human that can fix it before he dies?"
Minerva's shoulders slump, "No. I see, I'll need to go back and tell people that he's currently in a healing sleep. How do I get back?"
Arry shrugs, "The same way Ptiana did. Give it a couple of rest cycles and your connection to the hive should firm up enough for you to understand how to do it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's a natural ability isn't it. Like being able to control your tail and talons when they grow in. It would be a little awkward if you disembowelled yourself accidentally while scratching an itch, or sliced your foot off with your tail because you forgot where it was."
Minerva just stares at Arry in horror.
As she kneels there, Arry watches as a tiny, featherless, version of the avian crawls out of the pile of ash. Carefully cleaning the ash away from it with a talon, she studies it intently as it squarks angrily at her. With a thought, she transforms and climbs back into her ovipositor. There she starts laying a very special adoption egg. As clearly the standard face hugger would swallow the small avian, that can survive having its head bitten off. Arry can see that it is growing rapidly, so she's not so worried about how small she makes it. As she finishes, raggedy feathers are starting to grow in, so she quickly climbs back down and returns to her humanoid form. Reaching into the egg, she feels the face hugger wrap itself around a finger before she pulls it out.
Fawkes can't believe it, she was doing a favour for her human by locating the child he misplaced 10 years ago. When she appeared, something killed her before she could even register her location. Unexpected burnings were always so uncomfortable. Then whatever it was stares at her from inches away. Well, it looks human so it could be the child, though she thought they grew slower than that. Then it grows into a monster and climbs up some awful creature before settling itself on top of it. Not liking the feeling she's getting, Fawkes tries to grow faster, to get to the point she can flame away. Two burnings in one day would be worth it, and, when she's recovered, she can have a loud word with her human. Oh, she thinks weakly, it lays eggs, why would it suddenly be laying eggs?
"No, no, no no no no, no. There's no way you're bring that thing anywhere close to me. Keep away or I'll mmmmph."
Weakly she tries to burn whatever it is, but it just holds onto her head harder, so she goes limp, very aware that she is at her most vulnerable at this moment in time. Whatever parasite she's been implanted with, can be burnt out later, she just has to survive to later. It detaches not too long later, and she coughs up the tube. Her stomach is bloated with whatever it left behind, but she can't cough it out. Tiredly she fights to say awake so that she can flame out as soon as she's recovered enough. It's a few hours later that she realises with a panic that the thing is getting smaller and part of her. The thing watches her in interest as she weakly bursts into flame, to no avail. It's still too early for another burning, and that also means she can't use the flame to travel. No longer having the energy to stay awake, she falls asleep in the puddle of ash.
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As Fawkes wakes up to the sound of a room full of people talking loudly to each other, she calls "Would you shut up, some of us are recovering from an unexpected burning day."
As everyone shuts up she lays her head down on the side of the nest, and then opens her eyes in alarm. Someone has wrapped some clothing into a nest and placed her in it. What becomes more alarming is the fact she's in a room on her own.
"I'm glad to see you're awake. I'm Arry, your new Queen. Who are you?"
"I'm Ptiana though my human calls me Fawkes."
"Hello Ptiana, why did you appear in my laying chamber?"
Ptiana can't help herself as she answers, "I was doing a favour for my human, he lost a male child 10 years ago. I followed the magic from one of his devices. It was obviously incorrect my Queen." - Where did that come from? – "What has happened to me? Why am I sharing so much?"
"You're part of my hive now, and I'm your Queen." Ptiana grumps as Arry obviously thinks that explains everything. In fairness, it probably does.
Arry continues, "I hope you don't mind, we moved you from your burnt pile, as you were rather small and I didn't want you to be stepped on accidentally."
Ptiana suddenly realises something, "How comes you can understand me?"
Arry sounds confused, "You're part of the hive, that means your memories are part of the hive too."
T'o-Ba'sall says, "Arry, you're forgetting that it takes longer to access the memories than it does to become part of the hive."
Ptiana squawks indignantly as she exclaims, "Why do I know your name T'o-Ba'sall?"
Sounding cheerful, Arry says, "That would be the accessing memories part of the hive."
Panicking, Ptiana flames back to her comfortable perch in the room her human uses. The voices all mute with the distance, until suddenly her Queen is right there.
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Albus sits at his desk, doing paperwork to take his mind off the fact that Minerva will be sending out the school letters in the next few days, and he still doesn't know where Harry is, only that he's alive, safe, and happy. If those enchantments had failed as well, he'd have spent more effort trying to find the child before now. However, he reasoned that if Harry couldn't be found with some effort on his part, then the Dark Lord's followers certainly wouldn't be able to find him. Fawkes should have found him, but the still empty perch says he probably ran into some difficulty, or a plum tree. Fawkes reappears on his perch and ruffles his feathers irritatedly. Probably difficulty then.
"Fawkes, I'm glad to see you're safe." Putting his quill down, Albus stands from his desk and is walking around it when something else flames in. Whatever it is, it fills most of the room, and has wicked looking talons on its hands and feet. With instincts honed through war, even if they are slightly atrophied, Albus pulls his wand and fires a brace of spells designed to put down a dragon. Each of them pierces it's hide, and he is bringing his hand around to send another brace, when he loses feeling in his hand and legs. It also feels like he's been punched and it's hard to breathe. He looks down stupidly to see the creatures tail protruding from his chest, as it lifts him up from the floor. How did he not notice the tail before? There's a sucking sound as the creature shrinks down into a young woman, who is holding her side with a taloned hand.
"What do you mean I have to heal him? Ptiana, does it look like I have tear ducts? Oh, fine, I have something that will help but you'll have to find someone we can explain the situation to."
Albus wonders why the young woman was using four different languages while talking, at least he thinks it's four. Curiously he touches the hole in his chest wondering why it doesn't hurt more. The young woman picks him up surprisingly easily, and flames form around them. Is she a new species of phoenix? When the flames clear, she puts him in a coffin, and he weakly raises his hands to stop the lid from closing. As the coffin fills with water, his last thought is of Tom's return and the missing Harry Potter.
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Ptiana screeches loudly in frustration, how is she supposed to find someone to explain things to. She can't exactly talk. That's not true, but only Arry can understand her. Oh, hell, she can't escape her Queen as obviously she's learnt to flame, so she might as well share the pain. She knows just the annoying cat to do it to too. Trying to tell her human not to keep feeding her those candied fruits indeed. Flaming back to the hive, she locates the eggs and carefully picks out an adoption egg.
"Hey Ptiana, have you found someone?"
"Yes my Queen, however they can't understand us. I'm taking an adoption egg so that we can talk to them."
"Well, I've put your human into a regeneration tank. It's Skarli design, but at least they're bipedal. The machine currently thinks it will take a full 2 cycles to finish healing him. Wow, your form of teleportation is much better than the method I came up with. Anyway, take this one, it should knock your human out so they don't try to kill anyone while it's working. I designed it for small children when we get to pirate raids too late, or we find a hive attacking a colony and there are children there."
"Thank you my Queen."
"You can just call me Arry like everyone else does. Of course, you have to accept the hive before your new instincts will allow that."
"Yes, my, Queen." Ptiana grinds out before flaming out with the egg.
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Minerva looks up from her transfiguration research as Fawkes flames in with a leathery egg.
"What's this then? Did Albus send it?"
Fawkes just trills at her in his mocking way. She casts a couple of spells at it to see if it was some new puzzle she needed to figure out, and is surprised when it comes back as mundane. She stands up to look at it more closely and sees four flaps on the top open up.
"Fawkes, I really think this should have been taken to Grubby urk." Whatever she was going to say next is cut off, as a face hugger leaps out and forces its ovipositor down her throat, at the same time it's tail wraps around her throat. She has enough time to attempt a single spell before the world goes dark.
A few hours later she's awakened by the sound of voices. As she opens her eyes, she finds herself lying on a hard bed in a spartan metal room. Her wand is on a desk that's too tall to be for sitting at, and too short to be stood at. A chair tucked under the table is similarly mis-proportioned, and has 4 armrests for some reason. What can only be described as a monster, pokes its head into her room, and she freezes instinctively. The monster turns and leaves quickly, and she hears a child shouting "She's awake, she's awake."
Standing up off the bed, she winces as she catches her ankle, because the bed is slightly higher than expected. Retrieving her wand, she conjures a goblet of water to soothe her aching throat. Now that she's standing, the fact that everything is uncomfortably too large is even more apparent than it was. With nowhere else to go, she makes her way through the doorway. Outside the room, the corridors are all covered in some sort of resin, putting her on guard. She jumps and whirls around when someone says, "Wait right there, I'm just coming to find you. Please don't fire any spells, our instincts are a little trigger happy."
Still not seeing anyone, Minerva quite deliberately puts her wand in its wrist holster and braces herself. What she sees doesn't match expectations in any way, as a naked young woman with a tail and claws, blood red hair, and killing curse green eyes, comes around the corner. Her arms and legs have black leathery skin that gives way to human like skin on her torso and head.
She lifts a clawed hand and waves, "Hi, I'm Arry, queen of our hive. I asked Ptiana to find someone we can explain what happened to the human I accidentally skewered with my tail. If you follow me I'll take you to see, him? Is him the right word?"
"Before we go anywhere, where are your clothes?"
"I don't normally need them. However, when I appeared in my normal form the human fired at me, leading to his skewering. So I figured this would be less likely to lead to bloodshed."
Minerva pulls all of her experience, in unexpected situations, around her like a shield as she responds, "That is, considerate, of you."
"Anyway, this way. Oh, and nobody that you see here will harm you. You're part of the hive now."
As she follows Arry, Minerva misses a step with that last sentence, "I'm a what of the what now?"
"You're part of the hive. Ptiana decided that it was the only way that you'd be able to understand us."
"Who?"
"You'll meet her in a moment, as she's watching over her human."
True enough, after a few minutes of walking through an alien environment, she is led into a room with a row of metal coffins, where Fawkes is perched on one.
"Fawkes! You're here."
"I'm not Fawkes you stupid human. My name is Ptiana, as I keep telling people. I'm also female!"
"What?!"
"You can understand me! Happy days. This is my, and now your, Queen, Arry. My human sent me to find a child he lost, and I appeared in front of her. She followed me back to him and he attacked her, thinking her a monster. Admittedly she is a monster, but she's not a needlessly aggressive monster."
"Oi! I resemble that remark, and good on you being able to make it now."
Minerva staggers at the vehemence in the phoenixes tone, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't, you never even questioned it. Just like you never question anything my human does. Not that he helped matters, never actually asking anyone else except the stinky human if their plans are ok. As if the stinky human as any sort of good judgment after joining the snake human. While I'm at it, what do you have against me eating those sugary fruits? I'm a phoenix! I don't need to eat, I only do it for pleasure. I get reborn every few years, which clears out anything that might have been bad for me. I can't wait until you have your own first burning day. Oh, and you can flame back to the nest on your own. I'm going to raid the sugared lemons now."
Once Ptiana flames out, Arry turns to Minerva, "I guess she had a few unresolved issues."
"I, uh, had no idea." – Something the phoenix said trickles through her mind – "Does the name Potter mean anything to you?"
"Eh, it's familiar somehow."
Wracking her brain for any sort of idea, she tries to remember that night. Hagrid had brought Harry on Sirius' motorcycle, in a moses basket. Then Albus had tucked the letter into the blue blanket that covered the baby. "Accio baby blanket!"
"Hey, what's that?"
"Dunno, let's chase it."
*fun* *chase*
A moment later, a filthy blanket with the odd blue spot, where a fold had protected it from the grime that accumulated, flies through the door, followed by a few monsters, one humanoid with 4 arms, another arachnoid with 3 fingers on the end of two of it's legs. Finally a couple of pitch black creatures with elongated heads, vicious looking claws, and a sharp barbed tail. Following shortly behind them is a massive humanoid with a hideous maw and beady little eyes. They proceed to crowd around her, the ones with hands picking at her robes.
"Who's this? What's she wearing? Why does she smell strange? Did she bring food? *hive mate*"
"Children, you're being disrespectful."
The humanoid and arachnoid both jump back as though they've been bitten. The arachnoid lowers itself to the floor, "This one is sorry, this one is known as Krizror. Would that one be willing to share their name?"
The other one puts all four arms down by their side and bows, "I'm sorry, we should have introduced ourselves. I am Brugroch."
The break and introductions are enough for Minerva to gather her wits, though the monsters rubbing their heads against her thighs aren't helping, "I am Minerva McGonagall. Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"What's a school?" "What's witchcraft?"
"A school is a place where children go to be taught how to do the things that adults know how to do. Witchcraft is magic involving potions and rituals, while wizardry is magic involving spells and enchantments."
"Children, Minva will be able to talk later ok?"
"Awww."
The two that backed off leave, while the others keep rubbing their heads against her. Deliberately raising her wand and enunciating the spell, she says "Scourgify". All of the dirt and grime flake off of the blanket, revealing a golden 'Harry' embroidered in a corner.
She turns to Arry, tears in her eyes, "You are, were, Harry Potter. I knitted this blanket for you when you were a baby. Can I hug you?"
Arry looks at her strangely, "What's a hug?"
"I don't know how to describe it, but it's gentle."
"Ok, go ahead."
Minerva steps up to Arry and pulls her into a gentle hug, just how tall Arry is, becoming apparent by the fact the top of her head only just reaches Arry's chin. "I'm so sorry I never looked for you. I trusted Albus when he said that you were safe and happy."
Awkwardly, Arry returns the hug, "I was safe and happy, well mostly safe. I have my children."
"You should have been raised in a loving household, not taking on so much responsibility so young."
"I wasn't, and instead I have seen so many amazing things, helped people, and even built up a good trophy collection. We can talk about my life later. At the moment, you need to know that the healing chamber says that the old human will be healed in 2 cycles."
Minerva looks up at Arry's face, "What happened?"
"Ptiana ran away so I followed her, when I arrived the old human shot me three times in the side. Reflexively I speared him with my tail and, well, you can see if you look through the window there. Ptiana demanded that I fix him, so I brought him here, and told her to find someone we could explain the situation to."
Minerva is surprised at how well she's taking this news, "I see. How long did you say it would take him to heal?"
"2 cycles."
"I have no idea how long that is."
"There's 360 ticks to a rest period, 360 rest periods to a cycle."
"I see, I think. You wouldn't know how long that is on Earth?"
"Dirtside it depends on the rotation of the planet."
"Earth is the name of our planet."
"You call your planet Dirt?"
"Some people call it Gaia?"
"I'm going to need a little more than that." – Arry walks over to a console on the wall and presses a few icons – "What colour is the star?"
"Erm, yellow I think."
"How many planets does it have?"
"9?"
"How many gas giants?"
"3 or 4, Jupiter has a large red spot, and Saturn has rings."
"Ok, which planet starting from the star do you live on?"
"The third one."
"Does it have any distinctive features?"
"A large moon?"
"I have 4 possibilities in this galaxy, do you recognise any of these?"
"That one."
"I see, it has been surveyed, and it apparently is part of a hunting preserve for the Yautja. There are currently debates about listing it as a developing world, after the last failed hunt showed significant technological development, that may preclude remaining unnoticed within 30 cycles. An average rotation of the planet is 4 ticks longer than a Rest Period."
Finally, tears prick Minerva's eyes as she walks over to the window indicated, and looks at her mentors face and the gaping wound in his chest. It takes her a moment, but she notices that the tiny arms inside are removing his beard and hair as well as working on the hole. Stepping back sharply she exclaims, "What are they doing to his hair?"
Arry glances over from the console, "Oh, the machines are fixing any deformities. It's a Skarli design healing pod, Brugroch was one before we rescued him from a Hive, the one with 4 arms. They don't have body hair."
"You have to get him out of there."
"He doesn't have a heart, can you fix that?"
"Ah, I don't know."
"Could you get him to a human that can fix it before he dies?"
Minerva's shoulders slump, "No. I see, I'll need to go back and tell people that he's currently in a healing sleep. How do I get back?"
Arry shrugs, "The same way Ptiana did. Give it a couple of rest cycles and your connection to the hive should firm up enough for you to understand how to do it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's a natural ability isn't it. Like being able to control your tail and talons when they grow in. It would be a little awkward if you disembowelled yourself accidentally while scratching an itch, or sliced your foot off with your tail because you forgot where it was."
Minerva just stares at Arry in horror.
Alien - 3
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Alien – 3
Madam Pomona Sprout is concerned, a few hours ago the school wards transferred over to her unexpectedly. Normally she wouldn't be that concerned, as it just means that both the Head Master, Deputy Head, and Filius were out of the castle. Which given it's the summer holidays, isn't actually that unusual. She knows that Fillius is judging on the duelling circuit, as well as giving classes on charms to up and comers. However, she is expected to be at her Niece's birthday party later this afternoon. After which she has a portkey booked for a conference in Germany about the latest research in fertiliser for magical plants. Making her way over to the Head Masters office, the Gargoyle moves out of the way and she climbs the stairs. As she enters she can see Fawkes on the Head Masters desk pecking at one of the drawers.
"Oh, hello Fawkes, you wouldn't happen to know where Dumbledore or McGonagall are?"
Ptiana looks up from the drawer that she knows contains the sweets, damn her lack of leverage. "Human, open this drawer or I'll… You can't bloody understand me can you. Fine miming it is." She then looks back down and continues to peck and claw at the drawer.
Pomona watches her for a moment, "Oh, is the answer in that drawer. Thank you Fawkes." Moving around the desk she pulls the drawer open to reveal a large paper sack of lemon drops.
"There's nothing there."
Not taking any chances, Ptiana jumps on her wrist and flames her to the egg room by the first adoption egg she was going to try. Jumping off she returns to the office to gorge herself on candied fruit.
Pomona lights the tip of her wand and looks around the room she finds herself in. It's surprisingly large, with some sort of large creature against one wall, a lot of weapons and skulls on another, and maybe two dozen leathery pods dotted around. Unnoticed, the one that she was deposited next to opens up, and a face hugger crawls out. As she swings her wand back to have a look, it jumps and latches onto her face. Stumbling backward, she trips over another egg and her wand goes flying. A minute or two later, the constriction on her throat finally knocks her out.
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Arry looks at Minerva in confusion, "Why do you look so horrified?"
"Tail, claws…"
Arry points at T'o-Ba'sall behind her, "Do you think that T'o-Ba'sall was born with her tail and claws?"
"How would I know?"
Arry stalks out of the room, "T'o-Ba'sall you talk to her, I'm going to brood."
Once in the hall she reverts to her normal form and runs down the hallway. As she enters the laying room her echolocation picks up something breathing when there shouldn't be anything. Making her way through the eggs, she locates the source of the breathing and sees another human with a face hugger around her neck. Letting out a keening noise, she flames to Ptiana, who is pulling yellow things out of a container as fast as she can. Lightning fast, Arry grabs the phoenix in a massive claw and flames out just before Irma Pince, the Librarian, walks into the office to ask why the wards have shifted to her.
Reappearing in her laying chamber, Arry points Ptiana's head at the human on the floor, "Explain!" she commands.
"The plant lady wanted to know where the cat lady and my human were. So when she helped me get at the candied fruit I brought her here."
"You almost killed her is what you did. The egg that she tripped over contains a chest burster. If she'd turned around before this egg opened, she'd have activated that one. I would then have to choose between killing one of my children, or letting her die. If you do that again, or think about bringing anyone to an egg chamber without me present and awake, I will find you and I will kill you every time you recover enough for 60 rest cycles. Do you understand?"
Ptiana had never understood why humans talked about shitting themselves in fear. As the lemon drops she ate take the express way out, she finally understands. The pressure her Queen is bringing to bear, along with the inner mouth snapping in and out a mere beaks length from her head, makes her realise that her carefree days are well and truly over. No longer would she be able to just pick an interesting looking human and while away a few decades watching their antics. Her Queen could and would ensure that Ptiana kept to her own standards.
"I said, Do, You, Understand?"
"Yes." Ptiana manages to squeak out.
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In the infirmary, Minerva notices an odd pressure in her head. What draws her attention more is T'o-Ba'sall pausing in mid-sentence and tensing up, along with the two… It's hard to call them monsters when they've just started cowering behind you.
"What's going on?"
T'o-Ba'sall shakes her head, "The Queen is very angry with someone. We can all feel it, and instinctively we are all worried that she's going to lash out at us. I know she won't, but our genetic memories are stronger than that. That and I've had that anger turned on me before. I had wanted to lead a hunt on a world where there was a research team. Much like hunters from my old clan would have done. The Queen made it very clear that we only hunt other hives and those who break the law. It's strange, I feel like I have more honour now, than I would have done as a hunter in my old clan. Yet, they and the other Yautja call us abominations and send hunters after us ever 30 rest cycles or so. The ones behind you were born a few months ago after a few of my siblings were killed defending a ship from pirates. They grow like younglings mentally, even though they mature physically in days. The oldest of them can hold very simple conversations. If you want, they like having the underside of the back of their heads scratched. Never touch the top of their head though, if they choose to rub their head against your hand that's different. The crest is full of their sensory organs, and allows them to navigate in pretty much any condition you can imagine. Arry allowed me to experience her senses once, and it incapacitated me for multiple rest cycles as my brain tried to cope."
"T'o-Ba'sall would you be able to show Minva to the sleeping quarters, Ptiana decided to endanger a human, and by extension possibly one of my children. Luckily it was an adoption egg that detected the human."
Minerva looks at T'o-Ba'sall with a confused expression, partly from the message, but also at how quickly she's got used to T'o-Ba'sall's appearance, "What's going on? And why do you all keep getting my name wrong?"
"Ptiana is the phoenix?"
Dawning understanding crosses Minerva's face, "Oh Merlin, that's bad."
Picking up her pace, T'o-Ba'sall nods, "It is. Arry has strong opinions about not just dropping that sort of thing on people. Especially when it could endanger one of her children. It's why the old command deck is her laying room. It's the hardest part of the ship for any intruders to reach."
Breathlessly, Minerva replies, "I still can't believe this is a spaceship. Or that we're so far away from earth."
"It's not nearly as unbelievable as Arry being a human male."
Minerva skids to a halt and falls backwards as she sees a monster that looks like one of Arry's children, only 15 foot tall, and dripping malice with every curve and spine. In its hands she recognises Pomona Sprout, with a face hugger covering her face. The only thing staying her wand is the sense of familiarity she's getting from the monster.
"Good, you're here, could you take the human from me and place her on the bed? I'm a little large to be squeezing through the door carrying someone."
T'o-Ba'sall steps forward and takes the unconscious human. At the same time, Minerva's face drains, and her hand goes limp, as she realises that the Monster is Arry, "Merlin, she's really not human."
Arry turns to her and leans down so her face is inches away from Minerva's own, "I did say. Come on, I'll show you my laying room."
As she enters the Laying room, and the lights come up, Minerva stops in shock, her hand covering her mouth. The source of the shock? A wall full of skulls mounted over the weapons they had when they were killed by Arry, "How? How could you?"
"Hmm? Oh, it was fun. This one was my first, he boarded the ship, oh, 6 cycles ago and killed the worker that raised me. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one to kill the other two, otherwise they'd be on the wall too. This one was another hunter that boarded the ship, in fact, most of these are. I don't have any from when T'o-Ba'sall joined the ship. But that's ok, she became one of my children instead. These ones were special, they were from our first bounty, Bad Bloods both of them…" As Arry continues, Minerva finds herself feeling more and more nauseous, until she can't take it anymore and staggers from the room, bile burning the back of her throat.
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Pomona wakes up with a sore throat, both inside and out, and no idea where she is. Sitting up she clutches her head as the room swims in front of her. Once it's subsided, she looks around and screams when she sees the weird spider thing next to where her head was.
Someone says slowly and carefully, "You are wake. Good, will inform Queen." Pomona's head swivels to find the sound, only to eep as she sees a monstrous humanoid kneeling on the floor, its tail curled around its knees.
"They coming. Sorry English bad, first speak it. Why oomans scream when see me? Oou second to do so."
Pulling her wits and dignity together, Pomona says, "While we have non-humans in our world, they are, ironically, either more human or less human than you are."
"Children coming, be gentle will not harm you."
True enough, Krizror, Brugroch, and the youngest Xenomorphs come charging into the room and stop when they see T'o-Ba'sall.
Brugroch bows to Pomona and says something she doesn't understand. T'o-Ba'sall shakes her head, and says, "Children, this human doesn't yet speak language. Use Minva language instead."
Using the smile she gives first years, Pomona says, "I'm Pomona Sprout, who might you four be?"
"I'm Brugroch and this Krizor, she can't speak ooman. What like only have two arms?"
"Let me ask you, what's it like to have four arms instead of two?"
Brugroch frowns, "I don't know…"
"Exactly. You can't explain what it's like to have something that another person naturally doesn't. Nobody can. That being said, I would imagine that having an extra pair of arms would be handy when I'm working with my plants. However, your fingers don't look as dexterous as my own."
Brugroch looks at his four fingered hands thoughtfully, "I don't know."
"And that's OK. Now how old are you?"
"I'm six and Kirzror is 7. Arry adopted us when bad xenomorphs attacked our home. We're good xenomorphs now."
"I've got a niece that's the same age as you. I was supposed to be going to her birthday party later."
"What's a birthday party?"
"Do you know what a party is?"
"No?"
"How about celebration?"
"Oh yes."
"A party is a type of celebration."
Minerva and Arry come in, with Arry shrinking down to her humanoid form to fit through the door conveniently.
"Arry, Arry, can we go party?"
Minerva speaks up first, "Not until you've met more humans. We are more fragile than you're used to, especially children."
"Aww."
"Pomona, how are you feeling?"
"My neck hurts."
Arry shakes her head, "I have taken Ptiana to task for bringing you here. She's lucky that nobody was killed."
Pomona frowns, "Ptiana?"
Minerva laughs, "Fawkes, turns out she's not just female, but called Ptiana."
"Minerva, have you seen my wand?"
"Accio Pomona's wand."
"Thank you. Arry was it?" – Arry nods – "Would it be possible for me to go back to Earth. I promised my niece I would go to her Birthday Party this afternoon."
Arry frowns, "It would be best if you were near me until you've fully joined my hive. I'm not sure what would happen if your connection matured without me there. If you were a pure xenomorph, you'd be driven to start a hive yourself. Even if I turned the ship around now, we're still 25 cycles from your planet."
"What if you stayed on earth?"
T'o-Ba'sall says, "I think I can handle things here if you take the children."
Minerva hands Pomona her wand.
Casting a tempus, Pomona breathes a sigh of relief, "I've still got an hour. If we go now I might be able to get the bruise dealt with at St Mungo's."
Minerva stares at Pomona, hard, "Pomona, you understand what's happening to you?"
"Oh, yes. I'll cry and scream about it later, but right now I need to be happy for my niece, so I'm not thinking about it."
Minerva just gives her a couple of slow, catlike blinks, "I'll never understand how you do that."
"It's simple, ask two different questions – Is it a problem that needs to be dealt with now? If no, why worry about it? Can I do anything about this problem? If no, why worry about it? I teach it to all my badgers. Whatever's happening isn't something I can control, so I'll worry about it when I have time."
"If Arry can do it, then we can go. I will need to contact the ministry and the board about Albus' absence. I also need to find someone to take over as Deputy while I'm the acting Head Master. I'll also need to talk to Babbling about taking over my duties to Gryffindor."
Arry shakes her head, "Very well, this might take me a while to work out, as carrying more people is a learnt ability, so I'm having to read Ptiana's memories. Everyone that's coming, hold onto my tail."
It takes her 10 ticks, but she's able to get everyone to the Head Masters office.
Thank you to @LostArchivist for beta'ing this chapter and allowing me to bounce ideas off them.
Madam Pomona Sprout is concerned, a few hours ago the school wards transferred over to her unexpectedly. Normally she wouldn't be that concerned, as it just means that both the Head Master, Deputy Head, and Filius were out of the castle. Which given it's the summer holidays, isn't actually that unusual. She knows that Fillius is judging on the duelling circuit, as well as giving classes on charms to up and comers. However, she is expected to be at her Niece's birthday party later this afternoon. After which she has a portkey booked for a conference in Germany about the latest research in fertiliser for magical plants. Making her way over to the Head Masters office, the Gargoyle moves out of the way and she climbs the stairs. As she enters she can see Fawkes on the Head Masters desk pecking at one of the drawers.
"Oh, hello Fawkes, you wouldn't happen to know where Dumbledore or McGonagall are?"
Ptiana looks up from the drawer that she knows contains the sweets, damn her lack of leverage. "Human, open this drawer or I'll… You can't bloody understand me can you. Fine miming it is." She then looks back down and continues to peck and claw at the drawer.
Pomona watches her for a moment, "Oh, is the answer in that drawer. Thank you Fawkes." Moving around the desk she pulls the drawer open to reveal a large paper sack of lemon drops.
"There's nothing there."
Not taking any chances, Ptiana jumps on her wrist and flames her to the egg room by the first adoption egg she was going to try. Jumping off she returns to the office to gorge herself on candied fruit.
Pomona lights the tip of her wand and looks around the room she finds herself in. It's surprisingly large, with some sort of large creature against one wall, a lot of weapons and skulls on another, and maybe two dozen leathery pods dotted around. Unnoticed, the one that she was deposited next to opens up, and a face hugger crawls out. As she swings her wand back to have a look, it jumps and latches onto her face. Stumbling backward, she trips over another egg and her wand goes flying. A minute or two later, the constriction on her throat finally knocks her out.
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Arry looks at Minerva in confusion, "Why do you look so horrified?"
"Tail, claws…"
Arry points at T'o-Ba'sall behind her, "Do you think that T'o-Ba'sall was born with her tail and claws?"
"How would I know?"
Arry stalks out of the room, "T'o-Ba'sall you talk to her, I'm going to brood."
Once in the hall she reverts to her normal form and runs down the hallway. As she enters the laying room her echolocation picks up something breathing when there shouldn't be anything. Making her way through the eggs, she locates the source of the breathing and sees another human with a face hugger around her neck. Letting out a keening noise, she flames to Ptiana, who is pulling yellow things out of a container as fast as she can. Lightning fast, Arry grabs the phoenix in a massive claw and flames out just before Irma Pince, the Librarian, walks into the office to ask why the wards have shifted to her.
Reappearing in her laying chamber, Arry points Ptiana's head at the human on the floor, "Explain!" she commands.
"The plant lady wanted to know where the cat lady and my human were. So when she helped me get at the candied fruit I brought her here."
"You almost killed her is what you did. The egg that she tripped over contains a chest burster. If she'd turned around before this egg opened, she'd have activated that one. I would then have to choose between killing one of my children, or letting her die. If you do that again, or think about bringing anyone to an egg chamber without me present and awake, I will find you and I will kill you every time you recover enough for 60 rest cycles. Do you understand?"
Ptiana had never understood why humans talked about shitting themselves in fear. As the lemon drops she ate take the express way out, she finally understands. The pressure her Queen is bringing to bear, along with the inner mouth snapping in and out a mere beaks length from her head, makes her realise that her carefree days are well and truly over. No longer would she be able to just pick an interesting looking human and while away a few decades watching their antics. Her Queen could and would ensure that Ptiana kept to her own standards.
"I said, Do, You, Understand?"
"Yes." Ptiana manages to squeak out.
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In the infirmary, Minerva notices an odd pressure in her head. What draws her attention more is T'o-Ba'sall pausing in mid-sentence and tensing up, along with the two… It's hard to call them monsters when they've just started cowering behind you.
"What's going on?"
T'o-Ba'sall shakes her head, "The Queen is very angry with someone. We can all feel it, and instinctively we are all worried that she's going to lash out at us. I know she won't, but our genetic memories are stronger than that. That and I've had that anger turned on me before. I had wanted to lead a hunt on a world where there was a research team. Much like hunters from my old clan would have done. The Queen made it very clear that we only hunt other hives and those who break the law. It's strange, I feel like I have more honour now, than I would have done as a hunter in my old clan. Yet, they and the other Yautja call us abominations and send hunters after us ever 30 rest cycles or so. The ones behind you were born a few months ago after a few of my siblings were killed defending a ship from pirates. They grow like younglings mentally, even though they mature physically in days. The oldest of them can hold very simple conversations. If you want, they like having the underside of the back of their heads scratched. Never touch the top of their head though, if they choose to rub their head against your hand that's different. The crest is full of their sensory organs, and allows them to navigate in pretty much any condition you can imagine. Arry allowed me to experience her senses once, and it incapacitated me for multiple rest cycles as my brain tried to cope."
"T'o-Ba'sall would you be able to show Minva to the sleeping quarters, Ptiana decided to endanger a human, and by extension possibly one of my children. Luckily it was an adoption egg that detected the human."
Minerva looks at T'o-Ba'sall with a confused expression, partly from the message, but also at how quickly she's got used to T'o-Ba'sall's appearance, "What's going on? And why do you all keep getting my name wrong?"
"Ptiana is the phoenix?"
Dawning understanding crosses Minerva's face, "Oh Merlin, that's bad."
Picking up her pace, T'o-Ba'sall nods, "It is. Arry has strong opinions about not just dropping that sort of thing on people. Especially when it could endanger one of her children. It's why the old command deck is her laying room. It's the hardest part of the ship for any intruders to reach."
Breathlessly, Minerva replies, "I still can't believe this is a spaceship. Or that we're so far away from earth."
"It's not nearly as unbelievable as Arry being a human male."
Minerva skids to a halt and falls backwards as she sees a monster that looks like one of Arry's children, only 15 foot tall, and dripping malice with every curve and spine. In its hands she recognises Pomona Sprout, with a face hugger covering her face. The only thing staying her wand is the sense of familiarity she's getting from the monster.
"Good, you're here, could you take the human from me and place her on the bed? I'm a little large to be squeezing through the door carrying someone."
T'o-Ba'sall steps forward and takes the unconscious human. At the same time, Minerva's face drains, and her hand goes limp, as she realises that the Monster is Arry, "Merlin, she's really not human."
Arry turns to her and leans down so her face is inches away from Minerva's own, "I did say. Come on, I'll show you my laying room."
As she enters the Laying room, and the lights come up, Minerva stops in shock, her hand covering her mouth. The source of the shock? A wall full of skulls mounted over the weapons they had when they were killed by Arry, "How? How could you?"
"Hmm? Oh, it was fun. This one was my first, he boarded the ship, oh, 6 cycles ago and killed the worker that raised me. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one to kill the other two, otherwise they'd be on the wall too. This one was another hunter that boarded the ship, in fact, most of these are. I don't have any from when T'o-Ba'sall joined the ship. But that's ok, she became one of my children instead. These ones were special, they were from our first bounty, Bad Bloods both of them…" As Arry continues, Minerva finds herself feeling more and more nauseous, until she can't take it anymore and staggers from the room, bile burning the back of her throat.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Pomona wakes up with a sore throat, both inside and out, and no idea where she is. Sitting up she clutches her head as the room swims in front of her. Once it's subsided, she looks around and screams when she sees the weird spider thing next to where her head was.
Someone says slowly and carefully, "You are wake. Good, will inform Queen." Pomona's head swivels to find the sound, only to eep as she sees a monstrous humanoid kneeling on the floor, its tail curled around its knees.
"They coming. Sorry English bad, first speak it. Why oomans scream when see me? Oou second to do so."
Pulling her wits and dignity together, Pomona says, "While we have non-humans in our world, they are, ironically, either more human or less human than you are."
"Children coming, be gentle will not harm you."
True enough, Krizror, Brugroch, and the youngest Xenomorphs come charging into the room and stop when they see T'o-Ba'sall.
Brugroch bows to Pomona and says something she doesn't understand. T'o-Ba'sall shakes her head, and says, "Children, this human doesn't yet speak language. Use Minva language instead."
Using the smile she gives first years, Pomona says, "I'm Pomona Sprout, who might you four be?"
"I'm Brugroch and this Krizor, she can't speak ooman. What like only have two arms?"
"Let me ask you, what's it like to have four arms instead of two?"
Brugroch frowns, "I don't know…"
"Exactly. You can't explain what it's like to have something that another person naturally doesn't. Nobody can. That being said, I would imagine that having an extra pair of arms would be handy when I'm working with my plants. However, your fingers don't look as dexterous as my own."
Brugroch looks at his four fingered hands thoughtfully, "I don't know."
"And that's OK. Now how old are you?"
"I'm six and Kirzror is 7. Arry adopted us when bad xenomorphs attacked our home. We're good xenomorphs now."
"I've got a niece that's the same age as you. I was supposed to be going to her birthday party later."
"What's a birthday party?"
"Do you know what a party is?"
"No?"
"How about celebration?"
"Oh yes."
"A party is a type of celebration."
Minerva and Arry come in, with Arry shrinking down to her humanoid form to fit through the door conveniently.
"Arry, Arry, can we go party?"
Minerva speaks up first, "Not until you've met more humans. We are more fragile than you're used to, especially children."
"Aww."
"Pomona, how are you feeling?"
"My neck hurts."
Arry shakes her head, "I have taken Ptiana to task for bringing you here. She's lucky that nobody was killed."
Pomona frowns, "Ptiana?"
Minerva laughs, "Fawkes, turns out she's not just female, but called Ptiana."
"Minerva, have you seen my wand?"
"Accio Pomona's wand."
"Thank you. Arry was it?" – Arry nods – "Would it be possible for me to go back to Earth. I promised my niece I would go to her Birthday Party this afternoon."
Arry frowns, "It would be best if you were near me until you've fully joined my hive. I'm not sure what would happen if your connection matured without me there. If you were a pure xenomorph, you'd be driven to start a hive yourself. Even if I turned the ship around now, we're still 25 cycles from your planet."
"What if you stayed on earth?"
T'o-Ba'sall says, "I think I can handle things here if you take the children."
Minerva hands Pomona her wand.
Casting a tempus, Pomona breathes a sigh of relief, "I've still got an hour. If we go now I might be able to get the bruise dealt with at St Mungo's."
Minerva stares at Pomona, hard, "Pomona, you understand what's happening to you?"
"Oh, yes. I'll cry and scream about it later, but right now I need to be happy for my niece, so I'm not thinking about it."
Minerva just gives her a couple of slow, catlike blinks, "I'll never understand how you do that."
"It's simple, ask two different questions – Is it a problem that needs to be dealt with now? If no, why worry about it? Can I do anything about this problem? If no, why worry about it? I teach it to all my badgers. Whatever's happening isn't something I can control, so I'll worry about it when I have time."
"If Arry can do it, then we can go. I will need to contact the ministry and the board about Albus' absence. I also need to find someone to take over as Deputy while I'm the acting Head Master. I'll also need to talk to Babbling about taking over my duties to Gryffindor."
Arry shakes her head, "Very well, this might take me a while to work out, as carrying more people is a learnt ability, so I'm having to read Ptiana's memories. Everyone that's coming, hold onto my tail."
It takes her 10 ticks, but she's able to get everyone to the Head Masters office.
Thank you to @LostArchivist for beta'ing this chapter and allowing me to bounce ideas off them.
Code Vein
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
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Code Vein
For as long as he could remember, Harry dreamt of a mother with platinum silver hair and glowing blue eyes. These dreams only happened when his relatives had been especially harsh or neglectful. Something that he occasionally deliberately provoked when he hadn't seen her for too long. She was dead, she freely told him that when he asked during a particularly long visit after he'd got onto the roof of the school without permission. From her he learnt all about math, science, reasoning, and her own language and literature. Reluctantly, she also taught him about revenants, the great collapse, and the importance of blood.
Cruz Silva looks over at the foundling who visits occasionally, "Yes Harry?"
"If you're dead, how can I still visit you?"
"My body is still alive, though it's now driven by a parasite, code named BOR. I have been unable to pass on because of this. When you come here, you are always very close to death. I still remember the first time you came, a babe barely able to walk. I had to feed you then, and you visited almost every night."
"What does BOR stand for?"
"Biological Organ Regenerative, my father helped develop it during the great collapse." – Cruz's eyes unfocus – "Our world was invaded by beings from beyond our dimension. I was a child at the time, and I remember how everything fell to ruin so quickly, like a house of cards with it's support cut. Air and Sea travel became hazardous once you left sight of land, where the invaders prowled the world. Occasionally they would come ashore around the world and seed monsters, the news showed that these monsters were all but immune to conventional weapons. We were moved by the government to a city with a lot of other scientists and they bio-engineered an existing parasite that created zombies in order to make it work faster and more resiliently. But that's enough from me, show me your homework."
Harry looks up at her, his green eyes glowing for a second, before he hands over the tablet with the exercises she'd given him completed.
"Well done, I can see that you understand the concept so we'll move on next time. Don't forget to eat your fruit." Cruz holds out a blood fruit to Harry and shakes her head sadly at the slight hint of fang when Harry takes and drinks it.
Cruz just raises an eyebrow, "Oh?"
"Apparently, my birth parents didn't die in a car crash. Hagrid, he's a massive man easily as tall as the ceiling at my relatives home, he brought me my letter for a school called Hogwarts."
Cruz nods seriously, "I see, and what did your relatives do to you this time?"
Harry smiles widely, his eyes glowing with Misama, "Absolutely nothing, now I know magic is real I figured it must be magic that kept bringing me here." Frowning he continues, "It still took me most of a week to do it."
"No frowning, you did it that's what's important. It took you longer than that to understand Hammurabi's theorem."
"I know Mum, but I wanted to be able to see you whenever I wanted, not just when things were rough."
She looks up at Harry and opens her arms, "Thank you Harry, how did you manage this?"
Harry hurries over and then settles into her lap, "I wanted to. I've never been able to give you anything, but you've given me so much."
"Silly boy, you've already given me so much just by visiting."
"Mum, what happens if I don't want to be a boy?"
"Then you'd be a silly girl that's already given me so much just by visiting."
"That might be nice. I wish I didn't have to leave."
"What about your friends?"
Harry sighs, "Hermione's great, but she remembers stuff rather than knowing it. I mean, what's the point in knowing the exact wording that was used in a theory if you don't actually understand why that theory exists."
"Harry, some people learn by doing, others by reading, others by thinking, and any of a multitude of different ways. You are a very creative person, this means that you need to know the boundaries and limits and you then colour in your own space. You seemed to learn best when I gave you the basic grounding in things and then you had to work out the applications yourself. It's likely that your friend is more structured than that. What about your other friends?"
"Actually, she's the only one that I'd really call a friend."
"What about Ron?"
Harry shakes his head, "He's alright, but he treats me like some sort of prize or possession. I didn't really notice before Halloween, but since then Hermione's opened up a bit, and he also trapped me in a proposed duel. Not that it was a duel, we ended up running from the caretaker and finding a 3 headed dog. Neville is a better friend than Ron is, and the only time I ever get to talk to him is in Herbology when he relaxes. However, I think Ron's a fun guy to be around, just don't trust him as a friend as all he wants to do is goof off. Oh, would you mind if I did my homework here?"
Cruz laughs, "As long as it doesn't interfere with your mundane studies."
"Thanks Mum, and thanks for looking after me."
"You are my child, and I do what I do out of love. Same as I agreed to go through Q.U.E.E.N for my father, because I loved him."
"What happened to him?"
"He's dead, my body killed him."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
"It's ok, it happened decades ago." Opening one of the books she shakes her head, "What language are these books written in?"
"English."
"Huh, I guess you'll be teaching me to speak the English of your world then."
"Oh Harry, what have you done?"
Harry coughs and spits out some blood, "I killed Professor Quirrell and stopped Voldemort from getting the philosopher's stone. Here, can you look after it for me please?"
"Shouldn't you take it back with you?"
"Voldemort isn't dead, and there's nowhere safe from him there."
"Harry, you need to find somewhere else to be, as you're vulnerable when you come here, and if he's hunting you, you could be killed while visiting."
"I can't Mum, you know that, I'm still a child."
"Oh my dear child, if I could I'd spirit you away to the Union and find a magic school over there."
Harry laughs weakly, "It's the United States here mum, you know that."
"Of course, silly me. Still, I'm going to teach you how we made mistle, as I don't trust that you won't need it before long."
Harry coughs again, a mixture of phlegm and blood this time as his lungs continue to heal, "Thanks Mum, you're the best."
Harry frowns, "Why wouldn't I be awake?"
"You took a bludgeoning curse to the chest, something that has killed many others. Ah, but you are young so your magic was still flexible enough to help."
Looking around he notices all the cards and gifts, "What are these?"
"Ah, well we were trying to keep your escapades secret, so naturally the whole school knows."
Harry turns his gaze to the headmaster, and his eyes glow with light, "What do they know?"
"Why, that you went through the 3rd floor corridor of course."
"I see. Headmaster, can I stay here over the summer?"
"I'm afraid not Harry, you must return to your home and your family."
"Why?"
"Because your mother laid a set of protections on you as a baby, and only living with your blood relatives will keep them going."
After a few minutes of conversation, the headmaster makes his excuses and leaves. As soon as he's out the door, Hermione rushes in followed by Ron, "Harry, you're ok!"
Harry smiles at Hermione, "I am, thank you, what about you and Neville?"
"I'm fine, you know that. I'm not the one that faced a dark wizard. We got our exam results, I've got yours here."
Harry smiles at the way Hermione bounces excitedly as he opens the folded parchment, "O's in everything except potions and history. Though I have a note on my Astronomy that I need to use the Latin names for constellations rather than Indian names."
Hermione huffs, "How did you do so well when I hardly ever see you studying?"
Harry laughs, "If by hardly ever, you mean an hour an evening, then it's because we think differently."
Ron grouches, "Yeah, think differently. At least you know how to have fun."
Harry shakes his head in disappointment, "And that is why you're just a mate while Hermione is a friend. Hermione, think about it this way, can you describe a creature that's a cross between an elephant and a kangaroo?"
"What? No! There's no such thing."
"Imagine one then?"
"Well, erm."
"How about a platypus?"
"Oh, that's easy, it looks like a creature that was made by committee, it's a mammal that lays eggs like a reptile, has a bill like a bird, and venomous claws like a snake or scorpion…"
Harry holds up a hand, "See, this is the difference, I could describe or draw the first one, but I know where to find the information I need about a platypus. You on the other hand remember those facts, but find imagination and creativity harder."
Ron scowls, "Hey, what about me?"
Harry shakes his head, "You're a lazy slob who is only interested in chess. If it wasn't for us you wouldn't have done any studying at all. Hey, Hermione could I get your telephone number, and maybe address?"
Harry lets the humanoid go, as it starts looking around in confusion, "This is Dobby apparently, he doesn't want me to return to school next term."
The now named Dobby startles and begins wringing the dirty tea towel that he's wearing, "The Great Harry Potter mustn't go back to Hogwarts, there is great danger there."
Cruz shakes her head, "What danger is there for my child?"
"Dobby can't say, bad master has forbidden it."
"Then what about his friends?"
"Friends who don't even write?"
Harry looks confused, "Why would Hermione write? I've spoken to her a couple of times over the phone, and she's in France at the moment, I got a postcard the other day."
Dobby looks like the world's just stopped making sense, "But Dobby has been catching all your mail"
Harry just looks relieved, "Oh, great, thanks for that. I dread to think what Vernon would have been like if an owl turned up to deliver post. He has enough trouble with Hedwig. Oh, hang on, if I brought you here I can bring Hedwig here."
As Harry vanishes, Cruz looks at the distraught Dobby, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what manner of being are you?"
"Dobby is a house elf miss…"
"I see, and what is a house elf?"
"House elves are like Dobby."
"Ah, I mean things like do you go to school, have jobs, earn money, use wands, that sort of thing."
"Oh, noes, Dobby just have jobs to do. Dobby is a good elf and doesn't take money."
"What about school and wands?"
"Elves learn from other elves and no need wands. We use wish magic."
"I see, and how did you come to be in my son's bedroom?"
"Dobby elf popped there."
Harry reappears with Hedwig on his shoulder, "Sorry for taking so long, I had to dismantle Hedwig's cage as Vernon had locked it. Oh, and Dobby, you're currently passed out on my bed. I might be keeping you here until Vernon's guests leave, but there's no reason you body can't be comfortable."
Dobby bounces in excitement, "The great Harry Potter cares about Dobby's comfort. Dobby isn't worthy of such comforts and will iron his fingers when he gets home."
Harry kneels down in front of Dobby as Hedwig takes flight, "Dobby, as one servant to another, you are always worthy of comfort and decency."
"How can the Great Harry Potter be so kind, even when Dobby was going to get him in trouble with the Ministry."
Cruz shakes her head, "I have taught Harry better than that. Now, before I will let Harry return you to the living world, you will promise me that you will not do anything to get Harry in trouble with the ministry before they have boarded the train."
Hermione pulls in a deep breath and stumbles backwards for a moment before she registers the different surroundings, "Harry! Run, it's a Basilisk."
Harry carefully pulls Hermione into a hug, "It's ok, it can't find you here. I'd like you to meet my mum, Cruz. Mum, this is my friend Hermione Granger."
Hermione looks over, "Pleased to meet you Mrs Potter."
Cruz laughs, "No child, I'm not their birth mother, I'm Cruz Silva. Harry found their way here as a toddler, and I've been looking after them and teaching them whenever they make it here."
Hermione frowns as she works her way through the sentence, "Is there more than one person?"
Cruz laughs while Harry looks confused, "No Hermione, Harry once asked me what would happen if they didn't want to be a boy. Since then, I've referred to them using the English gender-neutral pronouns. When Harry's ready, they'll let me know who they are, and I'll start using their pronouns."
Harry gapes, "You remember that?"
Cruz gets up and ruffles Harry's hair before drawing them into a hug, "Of course I did, you're my child."
While they're sharing a hug, Hermione manages to get her thoughts into some sort of order and the fact that she's no longer in Hogwarts becomes clearer in focus, "Ah, I'm sorry to interrupt, but where are we?"
Cruz breaks the hug and turns to face Hermione while Harry dries their eyes, "We don't know. What we do know is that only souls or spirits and non-living things can come here. Not even plants can be brought here, though pots and dirt can. Apparently it's very useful when you're repotting flowers. Also, what happens here is reflected in the waking world. Harry comes here most nights to do his home work and mundane studies."
Hermione rounds on Harry, "So that's why you're always going to bed early."
Harry smiles sheepishly, "Guilty as charged. I've been keeping my books and things here after some money went missing during first year."
"I want to read your notes so that I don't fall behind."
Harry is about to agree when Cruz interrupts, "Miss Granger, would you care to rephrase that."
Hermione swallows, "Sorry Harry, would I be able to read your notes so that I don't fall behind please?"
"Sure, not sure you'll be able to read them though."
"Oh? Why's that?"
Harry just starts to laugh while Cruz explains, "I don't actually speak the same language as you, though it's called English. Much the same as they language spoken in the Union and Confederacy is English but bears only superficial relationships with English English. From what I can tell, the biggest difference in the language development was that the Library of Alexandria was never burnt down in my world. As such, the written language borrows more from cuneiform and hieroglyphs than it does from roman letters. Equally, there was no Christianity, so Gaelic and Norse are still common languages. As I have been Harry's main teacher growing up, I taught them in my own language rather than the language they taught at school."
Harry shakes their head, "I'm going to head back before someone tries to wake me, I'll see you both tonight. I figure that you're better off here than laying in the hospital bed as a statue."
"Thank you Harry, I think I appreciate that."
When the blood doesn't seem to do anything, Cruz looks down at her child sadly, "Harry, you're dying and there's only one way I can save you."
Even as Hermione collapses to the floor and starts crying, Harry reaches up and touches his mothers cheek, "I love you, and I trust you. Give me a BOR parasite."
Standing up, Cruz steels herself as she draws a wickedly sharp sabre. Taking a deep breath she brings it down in a precise arc that cleaves through Harry's ribs as though they were made from paper. Immediately heart-blood and ichor begin to fountain out of the small incision she made in the heart. Stabbing the sword into her own heart, she pulls out a parasite and weakly drops it into Harry's heart, where it immediately burrows in, and starts to connect to the chambers. Suddenly, the wound starts healing rapidly. As the wound on the heart seals over, Harry bursts into golden motes before recoalescing into a young woman with long straight white hair, and features that look like Cruz's even though the nose is definitely Potter. Of course, there's still the scar just above her eye. A moment later her killing curse green eyes open, glowing from the ichor flowing through her veins.
Harry smiles, over at her mother, who's wound has already healed, "Thank you, and I guess I'm your daughter now. Can I have a blood fruit and the philosophers stone please?"
"Are you sure? Remember, it was the Mistle that broke me."
Harry smiles, showing fang, "Oh, I'm sure. It just has to be linked to a soul, and Tom is trying to steal someone elses."
What does catch his attention is the golden light that fills the chamber momentarily. Spinning around with his stolen wand, he watches aghast as a young woman with platinum hair stands up holding the sword lightly in one hand. A split second later, he's already in motion, the wand spitting hexes and curses at the woman, even as she turns into smoke and disappears. As he looks around, a tinkling laugh catches his attention, and he spins around before raising the wand when he realises that the girl has his diary.
"It's too late you know." Tom speaks urbanely even though he hasn't quite got enough energy for corporality, "I've already got her soul, a few more minutes and she'll breath her last."
She smiles up at him while she places a red gem on top of his horcrux, then places a blood red fruit on top of that, "I don't think she will, as you'll be far too busy. You wanted immortality? Well, I'm going to give it to you, I hope you enjoy it."
Tom watches for a moment as she stands and slices open her wrist, blue ichor spilling out and over the three components. As the first drop touches the fruit, he springs into motion firing curse after curse at her and the pile of things. Alas, it's far too late, and when the ichor touches the fruit, it sprouts white roots that dig deeply into the floor, through the philosophers stone and his diary. Even as his spells find their mark, he feels his connection to Ginny snap as something else usurps the connection. Turning to flee, he gasps as the wand falls from his insubstantial grasp, even as he's dragged back towards the growing tree. The girl explodes into golden motes of light before reforming next to a tendril that's growing out of the floor on the other side of the chamber.
Harry watches dispassionately as Tom's soul fragment is linked to the new Mistle network. According to her mother, it will slowly grow Mistle nodes for a few miles around the parent tree. In that area it will absorb all of the Miasma that the BOR parasites produce and channel it into the person linked into the network.
"Well, that's something you don't see every century." Harry looks around before spotting the sorting hat lying on the floor, "Well, what are you waiting for, pick me up."
Harry smiles as she looks down at the sword she's holding. It takes her a few moments to work it out, but she's able to find the mental trigger that allows it to dissolve into the same dust she does, waiting to be called when she next needs it. Walking over to the hat, she scoops up her own wand on the way, and does the same thing.
"Well, that's much better. Hats are supposed to be worn, not left on the floor. That's what Mats are for. Now what do we have here. Well, I've got good news for you girl, you're still alive after all that. I still think you'd have done well in Ravenclaw."
Harry laughs as she goes over to check on Ginny and Fawkes, who appears to be unconscious near the basilisk, "If I was interested in knowledge for knowledge sake I would agree. However, my mother taught me better. I'm surprised that Hermione wasn't sorted there though."
"Indeed."
For as long as he could remember, Harry dreamt of a mother with platinum silver hair and glowing blue eyes. These dreams only happened when his relatives had been especially harsh or neglectful. Something that he occasionally deliberately provoked when he hadn't seen her for too long. She was dead, she freely told him that when he asked during a particularly long visit after he'd got onto the roof of the school without permission. From her he learnt all about math, science, reasoning, and her own language and literature. Reluctantly, she also taught him about revenants, the great collapse, and the importance of blood.
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A 10-year-old Harry looks up from the work he's doing, "Mum?"Cruz Silva looks over at the foundling who visits occasionally, "Yes Harry?"
"If you're dead, how can I still visit you?"
"My body is still alive, though it's now driven by a parasite, code named BOR. I have been unable to pass on because of this. When you come here, you are always very close to death. I still remember the first time you came, a babe barely able to walk. I had to feed you then, and you visited almost every night."
"What does BOR stand for?"
"Biological Organ Regenerative, my father helped develop it during the great collapse." – Cruz's eyes unfocus – "Our world was invaded by beings from beyond our dimension. I was a child at the time, and I remember how everything fell to ruin so quickly, like a house of cards with it's support cut. Air and Sea travel became hazardous once you left sight of land, where the invaders prowled the world. Occasionally they would come ashore around the world and seed monsters, the news showed that these monsters were all but immune to conventional weapons. We were moved by the government to a city with a lot of other scientists and they bio-engineered an existing parasite that created zombies in order to make it work faster and more resiliently. But that's enough from me, show me your homework."
Harry looks up at her, his green eyes glowing for a second, before he hands over the tablet with the exercises she'd given him completed.
"Well done, I can see that you understand the concept so we'll move on next time. Don't forget to eat your fruit." Cruz holds out a blood fruit to Harry and shakes her head sadly at the slight hint of fang when Harry takes and drinks it.
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A couple of weeks after his 11th birthday, Harry again visits his mother, "Hi Mum, I'm a wizard."Cruz just raises an eyebrow, "Oh?"
"Apparently, my birth parents didn't die in a car crash. Hagrid, he's a massive man easily as tall as the ceiling at my relatives home, he brought me my letter for a school called Hogwarts."
Cruz nods seriously, "I see, and what did your relatives do to you this time?"
Harry smiles widely, his eyes glowing with Misama, "Absolutely nothing, now I know magic is real I figured it must be magic that kept bringing me here." Frowning he continues, "It still took me most of a week to do it."
"No frowning, you did it that's what's important. It took you longer than that to understand Hammurabi's theorem."
"I know Mum, but I wanted to be able to see you whenever I wanted, not just when things were rough."
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Cruz looks down at the wrapped package with a confused expression, it was apparently a celebration called Christmas and Harry had found a way to bring her a present. Carefully unwrapping the present, she takes out a couple of books, a photo that moves without any sign of technology, and a sealed pot of ink, a quill, and a large stack of parchment.She looks up at Harry and opens her arms, "Thank you Harry, how did you manage this?"
Harry hurries over and then settles into her lap, "I wanted to. I've never been able to give you anything, but you've given me so much."
"Silly boy, you've already given me so much just by visiting."
"Mum, what happens if I don't want to be a boy?"
"Then you'd be a silly girl that's already given me so much just by visiting."
"That might be nice. I wish I didn't have to leave."
"What about your friends?"
Harry sighs, "Hermione's great, but she remembers stuff rather than knowing it. I mean, what's the point in knowing the exact wording that was used in a theory if you don't actually understand why that theory exists."
"Harry, some people learn by doing, others by reading, others by thinking, and any of a multitude of different ways. You are a very creative person, this means that you need to know the boundaries and limits and you then colour in your own space. You seemed to learn best when I gave you the basic grounding in things and then you had to work out the applications yourself. It's likely that your friend is more structured than that. What about your other friends?"
"Actually, she's the only one that I'd really call a friend."
"What about Ron?"
Harry shakes his head, "He's alright, but he treats me like some sort of prize or possession. I didn't really notice before Halloween, but since then Hermione's opened up a bit, and he also trapped me in a proposed duel. Not that it was a duel, we ended up running from the caretaker and finding a 3 headed dog. Neville is a better friend than Ron is, and the only time I ever get to talk to him is in Herbology when he relaxes. However, I think Ron's a fun guy to be around, just don't trust him as a friend as all he wants to do is goof off. Oh, would you mind if I did my homework here?"
Cruz laughs, "As long as it doesn't interfere with your mundane studies."
"Thanks Mum, and thanks for looking after me."
"You are my child, and I do what I do out of love. Same as I agreed to go through Q.U.E.E.N for my father, because I loved him."
"What happened to him?"
"He's dead, my body killed him."
"Oh, sorry to hear that."
"It's ok, it happened decades ago." Opening one of the books she shakes her head, "What language are these books written in?"
"English."
"Huh, I guess you'll be teaching me to speak the English of your world then."
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Harry appears in front of Cruz beaten and bloody, so she quickly hurries over and pulls out a blood fruit before forcing it down their throat. As the fruit enters their system, their eyes flicker open, "Hi Mum, sorry to drop by like this.""Oh Harry, what have you done?"
Harry coughs and spits out some blood, "I killed Professor Quirrell and stopped Voldemort from getting the philosopher's stone. Here, can you look after it for me please?"
"Shouldn't you take it back with you?"
"Voldemort isn't dead, and there's nowhere safe from him there."
"Harry, you need to find somewhere else to be, as you're vulnerable when you come here, and if he's hunting you, you could be killed while visiting."
"I can't Mum, you know that, I'm still a child."
"Oh my dear child, if I could I'd spirit you away to the Union and find a magic school over there."
Harry laughs weakly, "It's the United States here mum, you know that."
"Of course, silly me. Still, I'm going to teach you how we made mistle, as I don't trust that you won't need it before long."
Harry coughs again, a mixture of phlegm and blood this time as his lungs continue to heal, "Thanks Mum, you're the best."
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Harry blinks as he wakes up in the Hospital wing, sitting nearby is the headmaster, "Harry my boy, I'm glad to see that you're awake."Harry frowns, "Why wouldn't I be awake?"
"You took a bludgeoning curse to the chest, something that has killed many others. Ah, but you are young so your magic was still flexible enough to help."
Looking around he notices all the cards and gifts, "What are these?"
"Ah, well we were trying to keep your escapades secret, so naturally the whole school knows."
Harry turns his gaze to the headmaster, and his eyes glow with light, "What do they know?"
"Why, that you went through the 3rd floor corridor of course."
"I see. Headmaster, can I stay here over the summer?"
"I'm afraid not Harry, you must return to your home and your family."
"Why?"
"Because your mother laid a set of protections on you as a baby, and only living with your blood relatives will keep them going."
After a few minutes of conversation, the headmaster makes his excuses and leaves. As soon as he's out the door, Hermione rushes in followed by Ron, "Harry, you're ok!"
Harry smiles at Hermione, "I am, thank you, what about you and Neville?"
"I'm fine, you know that. I'm not the one that faced a dark wizard. We got our exam results, I've got yours here."
Harry smiles at the way Hermione bounces excitedly as he opens the folded parchment, "O's in everything except potions and history. Though I have a note on my Astronomy that I need to use the Latin names for constellations rather than Indian names."
Hermione huffs, "How did you do so well when I hardly ever see you studying?"
Harry laughs, "If by hardly ever, you mean an hour an evening, then it's because we think differently."
Ron grouches, "Yeah, think differently. At least you know how to have fun."
Harry shakes his head in disappointment, "And that is why you're just a mate while Hermione is a friend. Hermione, think about it this way, can you describe a creature that's a cross between an elephant and a kangaroo?"
"What? No! There's no such thing."
"Imagine one then?"
"Well, erm."
"How about a platypus?"
"Oh, that's easy, it looks like a creature that was made by committee, it's a mammal that lays eggs like a reptile, has a bill like a bird, and venomous claws like a snake or scorpion…"
Harry holds up a hand, "See, this is the difference, I could describe or draw the first one, but I know where to find the information I need about a platypus. You on the other hand remember those facts, but find imagination and creativity harder."
Ron scowls, "Hey, what about me?"
Harry shakes his head, "You're a lazy slob who is only interested in chess. If it wasn't for us you wouldn't have done any studying at all. Hey, Hermione could I get your telephone number, and maybe address?"
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Cruz sighs and puts a piece of paper in the book she's struggling through as Harry appears holding a struggling humanoid, "What have you done this time Harry?"Harry lets the humanoid go, as it starts looking around in confusion, "This is Dobby apparently, he doesn't want me to return to school next term."
The now named Dobby startles and begins wringing the dirty tea towel that he's wearing, "The Great Harry Potter mustn't go back to Hogwarts, there is great danger there."
Cruz shakes her head, "What danger is there for my child?"
"Dobby can't say, bad master has forbidden it."
"Then what about his friends?"
"Friends who don't even write?"
Harry looks confused, "Why would Hermione write? I've spoken to her a couple of times over the phone, and she's in France at the moment, I got a postcard the other day."
Dobby looks like the world's just stopped making sense, "But Dobby has been catching all your mail"
Harry just looks relieved, "Oh, great, thanks for that. I dread to think what Vernon would have been like if an owl turned up to deliver post. He has enough trouble with Hedwig. Oh, hang on, if I brought you here I can bring Hedwig here."
As Harry vanishes, Cruz looks at the distraught Dobby, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what manner of being are you?"
"Dobby is a house elf miss…"
"I see, and what is a house elf?"
"House elves are like Dobby."
"Ah, I mean things like do you go to school, have jobs, earn money, use wands, that sort of thing."
"Oh, noes, Dobby just have jobs to do. Dobby is a good elf and doesn't take money."
"What about school and wands?"
"Elves learn from other elves and no need wands. We use wish magic."
"I see, and how did you come to be in my son's bedroom?"
"Dobby elf popped there."
Harry reappears with Hedwig on his shoulder, "Sorry for taking so long, I had to dismantle Hedwig's cage as Vernon had locked it. Oh, and Dobby, you're currently passed out on my bed. I might be keeping you here until Vernon's guests leave, but there's no reason you body can't be comfortable."
Dobby bounces in excitement, "The great Harry Potter cares about Dobby's comfort. Dobby isn't worthy of such comforts and will iron his fingers when he gets home."
Harry kneels down in front of Dobby as Hedwig takes flight, "Dobby, as one servant to another, you are always worthy of comfort and decency."
"How can the Great Harry Potter be so kind, even when Dobby was going to get him in trouble with the Ministry."
Cruz shakes her head, "I have taught Harry better than that. Now, before I will let Harry return you to the living world, you will promise me that you will not do anything to get Harry in trouble with the ministry before they have boarded the train."
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Harry stands beside the bed where they've put Hermione, still crouched down holding her mirror at an angle, even though they've laid her on her back. Coming to a decision, he pulls up a chair and sits beside her before laying his head down as he grasps her hand. Searching for the same feeling he gets when he takes Hedwig to see his mother and stretch her wings, it takes him nearly 15 minutes to find her presence and get a good grasp on it.Hermione pulls in a deep breath and stumbles backwards for a moment before she registers the different surroundings, "Harry! Run, it's a Basilisk."
Harry carefully pulls Hermione into a hug, "It's ok, it can't find you here. I'd like you to meet my mum, Cruz. Mum, this is my friend Hermione Granger."
Hermione looks over, "Pleased to meet you Mrs Potter."
Cruz laughs, "No child, I'm not their birth mother, I'm Cruz Silva. Harry found their way here as a toddler, and I've been looking after them and teaching them whenever they make it here."
Hermione frowns as she works her way through the sentence, "Is there more than one person?"
Cruz laughs while Harry looks confused, "No Hermione, Harry once asked me what would happen if they didn't want to be a boy. Since then, I've referred to them using the English gender-neutral pronouns. When Harry's ready, they'll let me know who they are, and I'll start using their pronouns."
Harry gapes, "You remember that?"
Cruz gets up and ruffles Harry's hair before drawing them into a hug, "Of course I did, you're my child."
While they're sharing a hug, Hermione manages to get her thoughts into some sort of order and the fact that she's no longer in Hogwarts becomes clearer in focus, "Ah, I'm sorry to interrupt, but where are we?"
Cruz breaks the hug and turns to face Hermione while Harry dries their eyes, "We don't know. What we do know is that only souls or spirits and non-living things can come here. Not even plants can be brought here, though pots and dirt can. Apparently it's very useful when you're repotting flowers. Also, what happens here is reflected in the waking world. Harry comes here most nights to do his home work and mundane studies."
Hermione rounds on Harry, "So that's why you're always going to bed early."
Harry smiles sheepishly, "Guilty as charged. I've been keeping my books and things here after some money went missing during first year."
"I want to read your notes so that I don't fall behind."
Harry is about to agree when Cruz interrupts, "Miss Granger, would you care to rephrase that."
Hermione swallows, "Sorry Harry, would I be able to read your notes so that I don't fall behind please?"
"Sure, not sure you'll be able to read them though."
"Oh? Why's that?"
Harry just starts to laugh while Cruz explains, "I don't actually speak the same language as you, though it's called English. Much the same as they language spoken in the Union and Confederacy is English but bears only superficial relationships with English English. From what I can tell, the biggest difference in the language development was that the Library of Alexandria was never burnt down in my world. As such, the written language borrows more from cuneiform and hieroglyphs than it does from roman letters. Equally, there was no Christianity, so Gaelic and Norse are still common languages. As I have been Harry's main teacher growing up, I taught them in my own language rather than the language they taught at school."
Harry shakes their head, "I'm going to head back before someone tries to wake me, I'll see you both tonight. I figure that you're better off here than laying in the hospital bed as a statue."
"Thank you Harry, I think I appreciate that."
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Hermione screams as Harry appears holding a sword, and covered with cuts and abrasions, a massive tooth sticking out of their back where their kidneys should be. Cruz hurries over and pulls the tooth out without care, even as she pulls a blood fruit out from somewhere and feeds it to Harry. Hermione looks aghast as black veins bulge taut against Harry's skin, and their back arches in agony.When the blood doesn't seem to do anything, Cruz looks down at her child sadly, "Harry, you're dying and there's only one way I can save you."
Even as Hermione collapses to the floor and starts crying, Harry reaches up and touches his mothers cheek, "I love you, and I trust you. Give me a BOR parasite."
Standing up, Cruz steels herself as she draws a wickedly sharp sabre. Taking a deep breath she brings it down in a precise arc that cleaves through Harry's ribs as though they were made from paper. Immediately heart-blood and ichor begin to fountain out of the small incision she made in the heart. Stabbing the sword into her own heart, she pulls out a parasite and weakly drops it into Harry's heart, where it immediately burrows in, and starts to connect to the chambers. Suddenly, the wound starts healing rapidly. As the wound on the heart seals over, Harry bursts into golden motes before recoalescing into a young woman with long straight white hair, and features that look like Cruz's even though the nose is definitely Potter. Of course, there's still the scar just above her eye. A moment later her killing curse green eyes open, glowing from the ichor flowing through her veins.
Harry smiles, over at her mother, who's wound has already healed, "Thank you, and I guess I'm your daughter now. Can I have a blood fruit and the philosophers stone please?"
"Are you sure? Remember, it was the Mistle that broke me."
Harry smiles, showing fang, "Oh, I'm sure. It just has to be linked to a soul, and Tom is trying to steal someone elses."
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In the Chamber of Secrets, Tom looks dispassionately at the dead basilisk, and the dying Harry Potter lying on the floor in front of its mouth. With a shake of his head, he turns his attention back to the girl and his connection to her. Because of this he misses the tooth in the back of the body disappear, as well as the massive rent opening up on the chest. The mournful song of the Phoenix barely moves him, as it cries desperately into Harry's heart.What does catch his attention is the golden light that fills the chamber momentarily. Spinning around with his stolen wand, he watches aghast as a young woman with platinum hair stands up holding the sword lightly in one hand. A split second later, he's already in motion, the wand spitting hexes and curses at the woman, even as she turns into smoke and disappears. As he looks around, a tinkling laugh catches his attention, and he spins around before raising the wand when he realises that the girl has his diary.
"It's too late you know." Tom speaks urbanely even though he hasn't quite got enough energy for corporality, "I've already got her soul, a few more minutes and she'll breath her last."
She smiles up at him while she places a red gem on top of his horcrux, then places a blood red fruit on top of that, "I don't think she will, as you'll be far too busy. You wanted immortality? Well, I'm going to give it to you, I hope you enjoy it."
Tom watches for a moment as she stands and slices open her wrist, blue ichor spilling out and over the three components. As the first drop touches the fruit, he springs into motion firing curse after curse at her and the pile of things. Alas, it's far too late, and when the ichor touches the fruit, it sprouts white roots that dig deeply into the floor, through the philosophers stone and his diary. Even as his spells find their mark, he feels his connection to Ginny snap as something else usurps the connection. Turning to flee, he gasps as the wand falls from his insubstantial grasp, even as he's dragged back towards the growing tree. The girl explodes into golden motes of light before reforming next to a tendril that's growing out of the floor on the other side of the chamber.
Harry watches dispassionately as Tom's soul fragment is linked to the new Mistle network. According to her mother, it will slowly grow Mistle nodes for a few miles around the parent tree. In that area it will absorb all of the Miasma that the BOR parasites produce and channel it into the person linked into the network.
"Well, that's something you don't see every century." Harry looks around before spotting the sorting hat lying on the floor, "Well, what are you waiting for, pick me up."
Harry smiles as she looks down at the sword she's holding. It takes her a few moments to work it out, but she's able to find the mental trigger that allows it to dissolve into the same dust she does, waiting to be called when she next needs it. Walking over to the hat, she scoops up her own wand on the way, and does the same thing.
"Well, that's much better. Hats are supposed to be worn, not left on the floor. That's what Mats are for. Now what do we have here. Well, I've got good news for you girl, you're still alive after all that. I still think you'd have done well in Ravenclaw."
Harry laughs as she goes over to check on Ginny and Fawkes, who appears to be unconscious near the basilisk, "If I was interested in knowledge for knowledge sake I would agree. However, my mother taught me better. I'm surprised that Hermione wasn't sorted there though."
"Indeed."
Code Vein - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
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Code Vein – 2
Harry looks down at Ginny, who is still unconscious on the floor, "Do you think she'll recover?"
The hat on her head grumbles, "Put me on her head and we'll find out."
Being careful, Harry takes the hat and, lifting Ginny's head, places it on her. It takes a few minutes for the hat to stop humming and harring, but eventually it speaks up, "I can find no signs of possession, and she appears to still be in there."
"That's good. Hopefully she'll be able to recover. Do you do that at the sorting?"
"Not anymore. Put me back on your head. It used to be that everyone was tested, including the headmaster and deputy. Of course, that was back in the first few centuries the school was open, when demon summoning was still a common theme. Especially for home protection. Of course, occasionally it would go wrong."
"What about angels?"
"No such thing, one pantheon's angels are another pantheon's demons. Now what do we have here, hmm. Well, your possessed alright, benign human possession. If you die in a highly magical area it will probably turn into a ghost."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"Hmm, it used to. If someone died a violent death it could shatter their soul. If you were close enough, a bit of the soul could get lodged in you. Can't get rid of them like you can demonic possession either, as they're not tied to another plane."
As the hat falls silent for a little while, Harry searches around for Ginny's wand. Finding it she puts it in Ginny's pocket before hefting the girl over her shoulder. Making her way over to Fawkes, she gently picks the phoenix up and walks back towards the entrance.
"Did you know you've got a parasite in your heart?"
Harry stumbles at the sudden noise, "Yes, yes I did. It was the only way we knew of to save my life. I've probably also lost large chunks of memory, so it's not something we did lightly."
"Why's that?"
"The parasite only works on dead bodies. The natural parasite that it was engineered from makes zombies."
"Who's that?" Ron's voice comes down the corridor.
Harry shakes her head, "It's Harry, I've got your sister. She's alive."
"Oh thank Merlin. Are you OK mate?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, there's just been a couple of side effects. Listen, I need you to help pull Ginny through, and then Dumbledore's phoenix."
"What's wrong with my sister?"
"I don't know, she's unconscious, that's why I need your help. How's Lockhart doing?"
"He's gone, whatever he did I don't think he's there anymore."
At the mention of his name, Lockhart comes back with his glowing wand, "Hello, do you live here?"
"No, sorry, but we are leaving if you could help me move a young girl through the gap."
"Oh, certainly."
Lockhart promptly drops the wand, plunging the entire tunnel into darkness. The only available light the emerald glow of Harry's eyes.
"You know, that's right freaky that is."
"What's that?" Harry materialises her own wand and casts a Lumos.
"Your eyes, they're literally glowing."
"It's one of the side effects I mentioned. I'm just lifting up Ginny, be careful of her head."
"I know, I know."
Together, the three of them managed to manhandle Ginny and Fawkes through the gap, Harry deftly follows suit which leaves Ron gaping.
"You're a bird."
"I don't think you'll find I am. I'm still mostly human."
"I mean, you're a girl."
"Of course, I did mention side effects didn't I."
"But how?"
Harry shrugs, "I came as close to death as it's possible to get without actually dying, so my recovery was equally spectacular."
It doesn't take them long to reach the bottom of the pipe, and looking up they can see the faint twinkling of light from the bathroom. Harry discretely leans against a wall while she gets her broom from her stash and says hi to her Mum and Hermione. When she gets back, Ron's saying.
"…how we're going to get up there, as it's a long way, and the sides are slick."
Harry gives small smile, "Well, I was going to just fly up and get a teacher to help."
Ron spins around, "Fly up, are you crazy? Wait, where did you get your broom from?"
"Now, that would be telling." With that said, she mounts her broom and carefully ascends the pipe into the bathroom.
As her broom crests the lip of the pipe, Harry suddenly finds herself facing a bevy of wands pointed in her direction. Desperately she calls, "Ginny's alive, but unconscious. We just need help getting the others out from down there."
Snape snaps, "Who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Harry's a boy, who are you really?"
The sorting hat takes this opportunity to speak up, "This really is Harry Potter, and she's suffered some unfortunate side effects from being bitten by a Basilisk before being healed by a phoenix."
The headmaster carefully says, "What sort of side effects?"
"Nothing that I'm obliged to tell you about. There's no sign of demonic possession, though she has a benign human possession. That should sort itself out later in life. Miss Weasley is also clear of possession."
"Harry is possessed?"
"Really Albus, I said it's a benign possession. It use to happen fairly commonly amongst warriors, as dying a violent death can shatter a soul. When she dies, the bit of soul might turn into a ghost, but until then it will remain inert."
Albus strokes his beard, "I see. Well, we need to get the other people out of the bottom of the pipe. Harry, would you mind terribly if I borrowed your broom?"
When she opens her eyes again she can see Hermione and her mother staring at something beside her.
"Well, this is awkward." Harry's head swivels to look at the huge bear of a man standing next to her. He easily breaches 6 foot tall, and has a warriors build. A bushy, chestnut beard graces his face while what hair remains on his head is tied back in a long, grey, ponytail.
"Who are you?" Harry demands.
The man gives a loud belly laugh, "I suppose I deserve that, Godric Gryffindor at your service, more commonly known as the sorting hat."
Cruz cocks her head to one side, "How can you be a hat?"
"My Lady, that is a question with a very complicated answer. One that I fear we do not have the requisite amount of time to delve into. If fortune favours me, I will return in order to bask in your radiant beauty, as well as indulging your curiosity." He turns to face Harry, "Now young sorceress, what prompted you to bring me to this place?"
Harry swallows, "Er, I just thought you might get bored on that shelf, so I figured I'd introduce you to someone you can talk to. Assuming I'm not the only one that can come here on my own."
Godric laughs good naturedly, "There's the chivalrous nature of my own house. I believe that I will take you up on that offer. When we return, if you allow me to, I shall examine the memory of you coming here to see just how you are doing it." He turns back to the other two, "Young wizard, know that I am proud to have you in my house. Though I stand by my thoughts that you would have done better in the house of ravens."
Hermione bristles, "What do you mean Wizard?"
"Peace young lady, it is the style of magic you are most accomplished with. Your talents lie with cold logic and research, which is the path of wizardry, others take to the subtle arts of potion making, animals and plants better, and they are witches. That is why this is a school of witchcraft and wizardry. When I return, I will endeavour to explain the reasoning better, as it stands I fear we have already tarried longer than the professors will stand. If you would do the honours, young sorceress."
Harry loops her hand through the offered elbow and concentrates on returning with Godric.
"…Potter, are you paying attention?"
Harry looks over at McGonagall, "Sorry professor, I was just chatting with the sorting hat while we were waiting for the headmaster."
Godric sniffs on top of her head, "At least someone can see the benefit of talking to me, unlike some I could mention."
McGonagall sniffs, "Well I never."
The headmaster smiles genially, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "Indeed, you'll be pleased to know that Fawkes is just suffering from magical exhaustion. Something that I never thought I'd see. Now Miss…"
Albus cuts off as the door to his office slams open and a blond man with aristocratic features strides in, closely followed by Dobby. As she turns with the others to see who's barged in, Harry looks curiously at the house elf trying to work out why he looks familiar and why, just that she feels sorry for him. She does, however, recognise the man from the alley when he took the book from Ginny's caldron. The man himself is wearing posh white robes, and white silk gloves. One hand rests on the silver pommel of an ornately carved ebony cane.
Albus turns his gaze to the intruder, "Mr Malfoy, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
Malfoy sneers, "I have here a writ from the board to dismiss you as headmaster and close the school while we search for the beast now it's killed a student."
"Ah, I don't know where you got your news from, but the student that was kidnapped has been successfully rescued. She is currently being seen to by Madam Pomphrey."
"I see, how… fortunate."
"Maybe you should take a seat, as we were about to ask Miss Potter here about what happened."
"I think I shall."
Swallowing hard, Harry explains their adventure up to the point where the sorting hat arrived. When that point arrives, she shakes her head, "From this point, I think it would be best if the sorting hat took over, as he will have a far more coherent view on the situation. I'm afraid that my own memory of the situation is somewhat hazy due to the consequences of being healed from near death."
From the top of her head, the sorting hat looks down at her, "Of course I can young lady."
As the sorting hat starts to talk, Harry closes her eyes and sends herself to see her mother, "Sorry to rush, but I'm looking for one of my notebooks."
Quickly locating one, she rubs it over the loose basilisk fang, watching it steam and smoke as the venom from the tip leaves it scarred and pitted. Smiling, she then wraps it in one of her old, smelly socks and leaves again. As she opens her eyes, the sorting hat is just getting to the part where she made the tree.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Mr Hat, but I think at this point I should return the diary to Mr Malfoy." At the same time, she lightly tosses the wrapped notebook over to land in his lap, "After all, he did give it to Miss Weasley in Diagon Alley."
Wrinkling his nose, Malfoy pulls the sock of the notebook with two fingers and throws it over his shoulder, where Dobby catches it. As his glove starts to smoke, he quickly places it on the desk. A look of frustration passing over his features almost faster than it could be seen.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned that I wrapped it in the sock because of the basilisk venom from the fang I was bitten by."
Stripping off his gloves, he holds them out behind him, "Dobby, take these back to the house and see if they can be salvaged."
When there's no answer, and the gloves are still in his hand, everyone turns to look at the house elf. Dobby is standing there absolutely motionless, though a couple of feet from his previous position, staring cross-eyed at the sock that is lying on his head and flopping down over his face.
"Master gave me a sock…" he breathes almost silently
"Dobby, did you hear me."
Gingerly, Dobby reaches up to the smoking garment and takes it in his hands, "Master gave Dobby a sock, that means Dobby is free."
Angrily, Malfoy stands and stalks to the door, "You cost me my house-elf, you will pay for that. Oh, and while I did lose a diary in Diagon Alley, it wasn't that one."
Albus coughs, "Lucius, I believe you owe Miss Potter an apology, as it was clearly your own inattention that freed your elf. Also, thank you for the clarification on the diary."
Once the now named Lucius has left, Albus turns back to Harry, "Miss Potter, I believe that earlier in the year you were warned that if you broke any more rules I would have to expel you."
Snape sneers as he anticipates what's coming, though as he looks at Harry, the sneer is not as pronounced as it normally would be. Harry on the other hand shakes her head, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't recall that. Just as Dobby looks familiar, but I don't know why."
Dobby's ears droop at that, "The great Harry Potter has forgotten Dobby?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Dobby, but I have. It is almost certainly a side effect of being so close to death, though the sorting hat assures me that I didn't actually die."
"Indeed you didn't, if you had, then the benign possession would have left as well, and we'd likely have a new ghost in the school."
Harry nods, "Anyway, as you seem to know me, I would like to get to know you again."
"Great Mistress Harry Potter wants to know Dobby, Dobby is not worthy."
"Dobby, I think we should talk about this later when I'm not in a meeting with the headmaster, deputy headmistress, and a head of house."
McGonagall sternly says, "Indeed, I think we need to talk about your future accommodation going forward. Both in school and out."
Albus adopts an injured expression, "I don't think we need to worry about her home situation."
"Headmaster, of course we do. It would hardly be appropriate for her to return to her relatives like this, after all, she lives in the muggle world. What would they say about her eyes, or even her teeth? Don't pretend you didn't notice her fangs."
"Regardless, I was saying about rules and being expelled. It appears that I must now swallow my words, as both you and your friend Ron have performed a great service to the school."
"I'm sorry headmaster, but Ron isn't my friend. We are friendly, however the only reason I went with him is that it was his sister's life on the line. As it stands, that was probably a good thing in hindsight given what Professor Lockhart tried to do."
From the corner where he'd been lurking unnoticed, Lockhart says, "I'm a professor?"
The headmaster nods, "Ah, yes. Indeed, that is yet more paperwork I need to do, as I need to find a replacement for the rest of the year, and find a new teacher for next year. But, returning to your own accomplishments, I think that we will need to give you both an award for special services to the school."
Professor Snape smirks as he adds, "Given your self-proclaimed amnesia, I think that you should have remedial lessons to ensure that you haven't forgotten any important lessons from the last two years."
Looking like she's sucked on a Lemon, Minerva is forced to agree.
Harry herself grimaces, "While I don't think I've forgotten anything important, given the way Dobby here seems to already know me, I can't say it's true."
The hat still on her head speaks up again, "I would be more than willing to tutor you in what you need to know, after all I have been known to be a dab hand at teaching. It will get me off of that shelf more than once a year, and the Professors will keep much of their precious personal time while I do. Why, I believe that today has been more excitement than I've seen in the last 300 years."
Minerva frowns, "We would still need to supervise her practical work, as you are only a hat."
Harry can't help giggling at that, "Is there something funny Miss Potter?"
"Not really, just the reference to the sorting hat as 'only a hat' struck me as funny."
"I see, maybe we need to include lessons in deportment so that you know what will be expected from you given your new gender."
Harry sobers, "Yes Professor."
"Very well, be off with you while we discuss things." As she gets up to leave Minerva adds, "And leave the sorting hat here so that we can ascertain it has sufficient knowledge to tutor you in the required subjects."
Harry quickly flees the room, but pauses outside the door, her enhanced hearing allowing her to follow the conversation inside.
Snape says, "Well, it's clear from Malfoy's reaction that he did indeed send the diary to the school. What are we going to do about it?"
Albus shakes his head, "That will be a conversation for another time, but I think it's clear that Voldemort isn't as dead as we hoped. This diary may well provide us with the clues we need to work out how he cheated death."
Harry shakes her head as she walks down the stairs, the only thing they'll be learning from that diary is that it was covered with basilisk poison.
"Dobby never thought that the great Harry Potter was so great. Or that the Great Harry Potter was female. You didn't need me to save your life, you slayed the beast yourself."
Harry stops and turns to face Dobby while crouching down, "What do you mean save my life?"
"Dobby knew about the monster, but Dobby was forbidden from saying anything. So Dobby did his best to ensure you were safe away from the school."
"What about now?"
Dobby looks downcast, "Dobby is free, so Dobby can say what he wants."
"Dobby, look at me. Why are you down?"
"The Great Harry Potter is asking after Dobby's health?"
Harry laughs self-deprecatingly, "Really, I'm not great. But, yes, I'm asking after your health."
"House elves need family, they need a bond otherwise they weaken and can die."
"Don't we all. I have my mother, but she can't exactly come here. I have a friend too, but you can never have too many friends. Though making them can be hard."
"Will the Great Harry Potter be Dobby's family?"
"Sure."
"The Great Harry Potter is the best Mistress ever." Dobby flings himself at her as he starts to cry.
Shaking her head with a smile, she easily picks him up and carry's him to the infirmary with her.
As she enters the hospital wing, Madam Pomphrey turns to her with wand drawn, "Who might you be, young lady?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
From a bed, surrounded by redheads, Ron perks up, "Harry, I still can't believe the new look."
"How are you doing Ron?"
"Better now you're here, apparently I'm not allowed to leave until Madam Pomphrey has finished examining me."
Pomphrey's eyes dart up to Harry's scar before she harumphs, "I see, well you should have come straight here rather than galivanting off with the headmaster."
"They wanted to know what happened."
"And they could have waited until I had examined you, now on the bed young lady, or I will be forced to make you."
Harry grumbles good naturedly as she climbs onto the bed, "I don't suppose it would help if I said that Fawkes healed the basilisk venom, would it?"
All eyes in the room turn to face her as the wand that Madam Pomphrey was just putting away, is whipped out again, and she starts casting a massive battery of diagnostic spells.
It doesn't take Dobby long to stop crying, though there are two false stops where he realises that 'The Great Harry Potter' carried him to the hospital wing, and also kept holding him while he was crying. Unfortunately, the examinations that she's put through by the Madam are not nearly as quick, as they involve not only spells but also potions followed by spells. It's even more frustrating because she can't just go and visit her mother, and Hermione as well, to relax and talk about what happened. At some point, Professor McGonagall comes in and smiles at Harry before saying something to the Madam. It's while she's sitting there, magically stuck to the bed, as her bladder fills uncomfortably from the 2 pints of water that she was made to drink an hour earlier, that the cherry is finally added to the ice-cream. A white robed healer from St Mungo's comes through the floo and starts casting spells at Harry and then whispering excitedly to the Madam.
"Excuse me!" Harry calls loudly, "I really need to go to the bathroom, and I'm not sure I can hold it much longer."
The male healer comes over and casts a couple of spells, "Just a few more minutes Miss Potter, you need a full bladder for a couple of our diagnostics. Absolutely remarkable, you appear to have had a complete sexual change, the gold standard diagnostic for sex will be confirmed in a couple of minutes, but you are the oldest person that this has ever happened to. Not only that, but such a dramatic change to appearance is absolutely unheard of from spontaneous magic. According to your healer, you have no signs of any of the potions or rituals that could have accounted for this. You are going to be immortalised in medical history, there is so much different that your name will be appearing in journals for years while we decipher everything that Healer Pomphrey's scans have documented."
Harry looks pained, "Look, I really need to pee, and I don't want to do it on the bed."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, you're stuck there with a medical sticking charm and it won't let you void your bladder. Don't worry though, we'll switch the contents into the toilet before we remove the charm."
Harry doubles over as her abdomen cramps, "It hurts."
"That means that your bladder is full, Healer Pomphrey, I will observe."
Pomphrey bustles over and starts to cast a lengthy spell, as the spell hits, Harry doubles over as a wave of nausea and cramping take over her world. The pain is so bad that she can only whimper while clutching her abdomen, a flush of liquid escaping her leaves her feeling damp. Though the need to pee diminishes.
"1.2 million ovum, uterus is fully functional and has gone through a full menstrual cycle with no complications. There is no extraneous uterine lining elsewhere in the body, and she will be able to lactate for a child. Her biology is also still compatible with other humans, though she will probably have trouble conceiving with a non-magical partner. In short, she is a newborn pubescent woman."
A wave of her wand saw Harry cleaned up and her bladder and bowels cleared as the sticking charm released, "My apologies Miss Potter, but a change like yours needs to be thoroughly documented and investigated so that we can catch any complications or incomplete changes before they cause a problem. Standard procedure is to obliviate you of the examination, however the patients are normally between 3 and 5 years old. As such, we can give you a choice about whether to forget the last 3 hours or not."
Harry shakes her head vehemently, "I've lost too many memories as it is, and I have no idea which ones. So I'd prefer to avoid losing more."
Pomphrey nods, "Understandable, you'll be staying overnight for observation, and it looks like you have some dietary changes, so you need to visit every Wednesday evening until the end of the year so that I can monitor your intake and tell you if there's anything you're missing. However, before I allow you to sleep, the Deputy Headmistress wishes to speak with you."
Much to Harry's relief, both the healers depart to her office, and they pull back the curtain as they leave. Much to her annoyance, seconds after the door to the office clicks closed, Arthur Weasley walks over, as solemn expression on his face.
"Miss Potter, House Weasley owes you a debt that can never be repaid for you have given us the life our daughter. Tell me, what can we do for you?"
Harry is about to brush him off when she really looks at his expression, "Mr Weasley, my first inclination is to say that I would have done it for anyone. However, your expression says there's more going on that I don't understand. Please, take a seat and explain why this is so important."
Arthur sits down with a sigh, "With the name of Potter and your scar it's hard to remember that you no next to nothing of your heritage. Many of us treat magic as though it's alive. I don't think it is, at least not in any sense that you or I would understand it. However, it does seem to act on its own, especially through blood, especially the blood of family. Part of that is through the form of debts, not monetary rather the debts that we feel. Our own magic reenforces those feelings until we act on them, and that feeling will only go away when we feel we have discharged the debt. In our traditions, the greatest of these debts is called a life-debt. Not because you saved a life, but because the person that holds the debt feels that it can only be repaid with their life. There is more to it than that, but that's the school level version of it."
Harry smiles, "Thank you, and at the moment I think I need to process what happened today. No offence, but I grew up lonely, and I have got used to the solitude. It gives me time to think, I remember I enjoyed my time with your family last year, however I don't think I could stand living there longer than that."
"I understand, and it would be impossible this year anyway. We haven't told the children, but I won the Ministry sweepstake this year, and we've won enough money to take the family to see Bill in Egypt. I hope that they holiday will do Ginny some good and chase away the memories of this year."
Harry reaches out for Arthur's hand, "Mr Weasley, as someone who is adept at hiding their feelings, when you look at Ginny, don't do it during the day when there's things to do and fun to be had. Watch her in the evenings and the times that people are quiet, check in on her to see if she's having nightmares. I'll tell you know as others probably won't, but she was possessed by a dark artefact for most of the year. The sorting hat said there's no more signs of possession, but I can't imagine it was pleasant to experience. If she's not healing by the end of the summer, take her to see a counsellor or doctor so that she can talk to someone guaranteed to keep what she says private. My mum has done that for me more than enough times in the past, and it really helps."
Arthur nods gravely, "I will take your words to heart."
The door opening catches Harry's attention, "Looks like Professor McGonagall has arrived."
Arthur gives her a wane smile, "I'll leave you to her tender care."
Harry smiles, "Thanks."
McGonagall strides over, "Miss Potter, you will be pleased to know that we have agreed that the sorting hat can tutor you on the theory you may have forgotten. You will be expected to visit the headmasters office after classes every day until the end of term exams. There he will supervise you while you receive your tuition. Additionally, your things are being moved into the girls dorm where you will be sleeping from now on. At the weekend, one of the female professors will take you to Hogsmeade to get the required garments you need for your new body and school uniform. Your outer robes should still be sufficient until the end of the year. Do you have any questions?"
Harry nods, "Just one, is there anywhere else other than my relatives over the summer?"
McGonagall's expression softens, "I'm sorry Miss Potter, I don't have an answer for you yet. If I had my way, you'd stay with me if there was nowhere else. However, the headmaster is your magical guardian, so it's ultimately his decision."
"What's a magical guardian?"
"It is the magical that has the legal responsibility to see to your health and wellbeing. For most people, it's their parents. However, as muggleborn and muggle-raised like yourself don't have a magical relative that can deal with the legal responsibilities in the magical world, they have a magical guardian in the school. We are responsible for ensuring their health and wellbeing while they are of school age."
"Can I change the person who is my magical guardian?"
McGonagall shakes her head, "No, they would need to be shown to be negligent or incompetent, and the ministry would then assign a new guardian. Even if you could, in the current political climate, I would strenuously suggest that you don't. Corruption is rife in our government, and I'm sure that gold would quickly pass under the table to ensure that old followers of You-Know-Who would become your magical guardian. At which point your life would very quickly be put in peril."
Her tone indicating the exact opposite, Harry shakes her head, "I see. Thank you for telling me."
"I may have disagreed with the headmaster when he placed you with your relatives, however it was the only legal recourse he had that would avoid the politics and corruption of the Ministry. I fear that you wouldn't have survived the year if you had been subject to having a regent declared."
"I think I'd like to sleep now."
McGonagall smiles sadly, "Sleep well Miss Potter, and ask Pomphrey for a dreamless sleep potion if you can't sleep."
"Hermione!" her mother says sharply, "Remember what I told you and give Harry some space."
Reluctantly Hermione lets go, "Sorry, I was just so worried."
Harry relaxes a little, "It's ok, I just need to decompress for a bit. Just, give me 5 minutes."
Hermione walks back and picks up the tablet she was reading from and frowns at it while Harry sits down comfortably.
After a few minutes, Harry asks, "How are you getting on with my notes?"
Hermione glances up, "They're pretty good, when I can read them. Why don't you just write them in English?"
Harry laughs, "I do write them in English."
"No, I mean English English, our English. Oh, you know what I mean."
Harry's eyes go distant, "Because I wasn't allowed to growing up, the Dursleys wouldn't let me excel or do better than the whale. So most of my education came from Mum. The English she taught me is very different to the English we speak at school, but I guess I'm bilingual in that way. Though you could make yourself understood there, and you would be able to get by with out learning it, the sentence structure and alphabet is completely different."
Hermione glances at Cruz before she says, "Can I give you a hug?"
Harry sighs, "Sure, I'd appreciate it. Also, I'm doing ok. The worst part of it is the missing memories, like I know we're friends, but I don't remember how we became friends."
Hermione sits down next to Harry and hugs her, "You saved me from a Troll after that git made me cry in charms."
"That git?"
"Ron, it's what I call him in my head. He's a lowest common denominator, and he keeps trying to pull everyone down to his level."
"Ah, I see. Well, I do know that he's not one of my friends, and maybe now I'll be in the girls dorm I'll be able to make more friends without him barging in. I think I've been able to have 1 good conversation with Neville since we started school. Of course I could have just forgotten the others."
"What's that like, the memory gaps that is."
"Scary, as I know they're there, I just have no idea what I've forgotten until something prompts it. Like I knew Dobby looked familiar, but I had no idea why. Same as I remember we're friends, and a lot of the stuff we've done together, like the philosopher's stone and brewing Polyjuice in the loo, did we ever finish that by the way?"
Hermione smiles, "We did, and Ron persuaded you to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle to find out if Malfoy was the heir."
Harry puts her head in her hands, "Oh god, really? What was I smoking?"
"I think it was the same thing as the duel during first year, where he just stuck his opinion in and wiggled it about until we both agreed with him."
"I remember that, didn't we discover Fluffy that night?"
"We did."
Cruz smiles as she watches Harry slowly relax and unwind by talking about the things that happened at school. While she's sure that there will be gaps in Harry's childhood too, most of those are probably best forgotten anyway. The good memories she's sure that she can share when they come up.
Harry looks down at Ginny, who is still unconscious on the floor, "Do you think she'll recover?"
The hat on her head grumbles, "Put me on her head and we'll find out."
Being careful, Harry takes the hat and, lifting Ginny's head, places it on her. It takes a few minutes for the hat to stop humming and harring, but eventually it speaks up, "I can find no signs of possession, and she appears to still be in there."
"That's good. Hopefully she'll be able to recover. Do you do that at the sorting?"
"Not anymore. Put me back on your head. It used to be that everyone was tested, including the headmaster and deputy. Of course, that was back in the first few centuries the school was open, when demon summoning was still a common theme. Especially for home protection. Of course, occasionally it would go wrong."
"What about angels?"
"No such thing, one pantheon's angels are another pantheon's demons. Now what do we have here, hmm. Well, your possessed alright, benign human possession. If you die in a highly magical area it will probably turn into a ghost."
"Does that happen a lot?"
"Hmm, it used to. If someone died a violent death it could shatter their soul. If you were close enough, a bit of the soul could get lodged in you. Can't get rid of them like you can demonic possession either, as they're not tied to another plane."
As the hat falls silent for a little while, Harry searches around for Ginny's wand. Finding it she puts it in Ginny's pocket before hefting the girl over her shoulder. Making her way over to Fawkes, she gently picks the phoenix up and walks back towards the entrance.
"Did you know you've got a parasite in your heart?"
Harry stumbles at the sudden noise, "Yes, yes I did. It was the only way we knew of to save my life. I've probably also lost large chunks of memory, so it's not something we did lightly."
"Why's that?"
"The parasite only works on dead bodies. The natural parasite that it was engineered from makes zombies."
"Who's that?" Ron's voice comes down the corridor.
Harry shakes her head, "It's Harry, I've got your sister. She's alive."
"Oh thank Merlin. Are you OK mate?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, there's just been a couple of side effects. Listen, I need you to help pull Ginny through, and then Dumbledore's phoenix."
"What's wrong with my sister?"
"I don't know, she's unconscious, that's why I need your help. How's Lockhart doing?"
"He's gone, whatever he did I don't think he's there anymore."
At the mention of his name, Lockhart comes back with his glowing wand, "Hello, do you live here?"
"No, sorry, but we are leaving if you could help me move a young girl through the gap."
"Oh, certainly."
Lockhart promptly drops the wand, plunging the entire tunnel into darkness. The only available light the emerald glow of Harry's eyes.
"You know, that's right freaky that is."
"What's that?" Harry materialises her own wand and casts a Lumos.
"Your eyes, they're literally glowing."
"It's one of the side effects I mentioned. I'm just lifting up Ginny, be careful of her head."
"I know, I know."
Together, the three of them managed to manhandle Ginny and Fawkes through the gap, Harry deftly follows suit which leaves Ron gaping.
"You're a bird."
"I don't think you'll find I am. I'm still mostly human."
"I mean, you're a girl."
"Of course, I did mention side effects didn't I."
"But how?"
Harry shrugs, "I came as close to death as it's possible to get without actually dying, so my recovery was equally spectacular."
It doesn't take them long to reach the bottom of the pipe, and looking up they can see the faint twinkling of light from the bathroom. Harry discretely leans against a wall while she gets her broom from her stash and says hi to her Mum and Hermione. When she gets back, Ron's saying.
"…how we're going to get up there, as it's a long way, and the sides are slick."
Harry gives small smile, "Well, I was going to just fly up and get a teacher to help."
Ron spins around, "Fly up, are you crazy? Wait, where did you get your broom from?"
"Now, that would be telling." With that said, she mounts her broom and carefully ascends the pipe into the bathroom.
As her broom crests the lip of the pipe, Harry suddenly finds herself facing a bevy of wands pointed in her direction. Desperately she calls, "Ginny's alive, but unconscious. We just need help getting the others out from down there."
Snape snaps, "Who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Harry's a boy, who are you really?"
The sorting hat takes this opportunity to speak up, "This really is Harry Potter, and she's suffered some unfortunate side effects from being bitten by a Basilisk before being healed by a phoenix."
The headmaster carefully says, "What sort of side effects?"
"Nothing that I'm obliged to tell you about. There's no sign of demonic possession, though she has a benign human possession. That should sort itself out later in life. Miss Weasley is also clear of possession."
"Harry is possessed?"
"Really Albus, I said it's a benign possession. It use to happen fairly commonly amongst warriors, as dying a violent death can shatter a soul. When she dies, the bit of soul might turn into a ghost, but until then it will remain inert."
Albus strokes his beard, "I see. Well, we need to get the other people out of the bottom of the pipe. Harry, would you mind terribly if I borrowed your broom?"
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After a deft bit of spell work to get everyone out of the pipe, Harry finds herself sat in the headmasters office with Professors McGonagall and Snape while the headmaster examines his familiar. She glances up to the sorting hat, which has been placed on a shelf along with a lot of other knickknacks. Coming to a decision, she stands up and, ignoring the glares from the two teachers, grabs the sorting hat and places it back on her head before taking her seat again. Closing her eyes, she sends herself to the place she meets her mother.When she opens her eyes again she can see Hermione and her mother staring at something beside her.
"Well, this is awkward." Harry's head swivels to look at the huge bear of a man standing next to her. He easily breaches 6 foot tall, and has a warriors build. A bushy, chestnut beard graces his face while what hair remains on his head is tied back in a long, grey, ponytail.
"Who are you?" Harry demands.
The man gives a loud belly laugh, "I suppose I deserve that, Godric Gryffindor at your service, more commonly known as the sorting hat."
Cruz cocks her head to one side, "How can you be a hat?"
"My Lady, that is a question with a very complicated answer. One that I fear we do not have the requisite amount of time to delve into. If fortune favours me, I will return in order to bask in your radiant beauty, as well as indulging your curiosity." He turns to face Harry, "Now young sorceress, what prompted you to bring me to this place?"
Harry swallows, "Er, I just thought you might get bored on that shelf, so I figured I'd introduce you to someone you can talk to. Assuming I'm not the only one that can come here on my own."
Godric laughs good naturedly, "There's the chivalrous nature of my own house. I believe that I will take you up on that offer. When we return, if you allow me to, I shall examine the memory of you coming here to see just how you are doing it." He turns back to the other two, "Young wizard, know that I am proud to have you in my house. Though I stand by my thoughts that you would have done better in the house of ravens."
Hermione bristles, "What do you mean Wizard?"
"Peace young lady, it is the style of magic you are most accomplished with. Your talents lie with cold logic and research, which is the path of wizardry, others take to the subtle arts of potion making, animals and plants better, and they are witches. That is why this is a school of witchcraft and wizardry. When I return, I will endeavour to explain the reasoning better, as it stands I fear we have already tarried longer than the professors will stand. If you would do the honours, young sorceress."
Harry loops her hand through the offered elbow and concentrates on returning with Godric.
"…Potter, are you paying attention?"
Harry looks over at McGonagall, "Sorry professor, I was just chatting with the sorting hat while we were waiting for the headmaster."
Godric sniffs on top of her head, "At least someone can see the benefit of talking to me, unlike some I could mention."
McGonagall sniffs, "Well I never."
The headmaster smiles genially, his eyes twinkling with amusement, "Indeed, you'll be pleased to know that Fawkes is just suffering from magical exhaustion. Something that I never thought I'd see. Now Miss…"
Albus cuts off as the door to his office slams open and a blond man with aristocratic features strides in, closely followed by Dobby. As she turns with the others to see who's barged in, Harry looks curiously at the house elf trying to work out why he looks familiar and why, just that she feels sorry for him. She does, however, recognise the man from the alley when he took the book from Ginny's caldron. The man himself is wearing posh white robes, and white silk gloves. One hand rests on the silver pommel of an ornately carved ebony cane.
Albus turns his gaze to the intruder, "Mr Malfoy, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
Malfoy sneers, "I have here a writ from the board to dismiss you as headmaster and close the school while we search for the beast now it's killed a student."
"Ah, I don't know where you got your news from, but the student that was kidnapped has been successfully rescued. She is currently being seen to by Madam Pomphrey."
"I see, how… fortunate."
"Maybe you should take a seat, as we were about to ask Miss Potter here about what happened."
"I think I shall."
Swallowing hard, Harry explains their adventure up to the point where the sorting hat arrived. When that point arrives, she shakes her head, "From this point, I think it would be best if the sorting hat took over, as he will have a far more coherent view on the situation. I'm afraid that my own memory of the situation is somewhat hazy due to the consequences of being healed from near death."
From the top of her head, the sorting hat looks down at her, "Of course I can young lady."
As the sorting hat starts to talk, Harry closes her eyes and sends herself to see her mother, "Sorry to rush, but I'm looking for one of my notebooks."
Quickly locating one, she rubs it over the loose basilisk fang, watching it steam and smoke as the venom from the tip leaves it scarred and pitted. Smiling, she then wraps it in one of her old, smelly socks and leaves again. As she opens her eyes, the sorting hat is just getting to the part where she made the tree.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Mr Hat, but I think at this point I should return the diary to Mr Malfoy." At the same time, she lightly tosses the wrapped notebook over to land in his lap, "After all, he did give it to Miss Weasley in Diagon Alley."
Wrinkling his nose, Malfoy pulls the sock of the notebook with two fingers and throws it over his shoulder, where Dobby catches it. As his glove starts to smoke, he quickly places it on the desk. A look of frustration passing over his features almost faster than it could be seen.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I should have mentioned that I wrapped it in the sock because of the basilisk venom from the fang I was bitten by."
Stripping off his gloves, he holds them out behind him, "Dobby, take these back to the house and see if they can be salvaged."
When there's no answer, and the gloves are still in his hand, everyone turns to look at the house elf. Dobby is standing there absolutely motionless, though a couple of feet from his previous position, staring cross-eyed at the sock that is lying on his head and flopping down over his face.
"Master gave me a sock…" he breathes almost silently
"Dobby, did you hear me."
Gingerly, Dobby reaches up to the smoking garment and takes it in his hands, "Master gave Dobby a sock, that means Dobby is free."
Angrily, Malfoy stands and stalks to the door, "You cost me my house-elf, you will pay for that. Oh, and while I did lose a diary in Diagon Alley, it wasn't that one."
Albus coughs, "Lucius, I believe you owe Miss Potter an apology, as it was clearly your own inattention that freed your elf. Also, thank you for the clarification on the diary."
Once the now named Lucius has left, Albus turns back to Harry, "Miss Potter, I believe that earlier in the year you were warned that if you broke any more rules I would have to expel you."
Snape sneers as he anticipates what's coming, though as he looks at Harry, the sneer is not as pronounced as it normally would be. Harry on the other hand shakes her head, "I'm sorry sir, but I don't recall that. Just as Dobby looks familiar, but I don't know why."
Dobby's ears droop at that, "The great Harry Potter has forgotten Dobby?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Dobby, but I have. It is almost certainly a side effect of being so close to death, though the sorting hat assures me that I didn't actually die."
"Indeed you didn't, if you had, then the benign possession would have left as well, and we'd likely have a new ghost in the school."
Harry nods, "Anyway, as you seem to know me, I would like to get to know you again."
"Great Mistress Harry Potter wants to know Dobby, Dobby is not worthy."
"Dobby, I think we should talk about this later when I'm not in a meeting with the headmaster, deputy headmistress, and a head of house."
McGonagall sternly says, "Indeed, I think we need to talk about your future accommodation going forward. Both in school and out."
Albus adopts an injured expression, "I don't think we need to worry about her home situation."
"Headmaster, of course we do. It would hardly be appropriate for her to return to her relatives like this, after all, she lives in the muggle world. What would they say about her eyes, or even her teeth? Don't pretend you didn't notice her fangs."
"Regardless, I was saying about rules and being expelled. It appears that I must now swallow my words, as both you and your friend Ron have performed a great service to the school."
"I'm sorry headmaster, but Ron isn't my friend. We are friendly, however the only reason I went with him is that it was his sister's life on the line. As it stands, that was probably a good thing in hindsight given what Professor Lockhart tried to do."
From the corner where he'd been lurking unnoticed, Lockhart says, "I'm a professor?"
The headmaster nods, "Ah, yes. Indeed, that is yet more paperwork I need to do, as I need to find a replacement for the rest of the year, and find a new teacher for next year. But, returning to your own accomplishments, I think that we will need to give you both an award for special services to the school."
Professor Snape smirks as he adds, "Given your self-proclaimed amnesia, I think that you should have remedial lessons to ensure that you haven't forgotten any important lessons from the last two years."
Looking like she's sucked on a Lemon, Minerva is forced to agree.
Harry herself grimaces, "While I don't think I've forgotten anything important, given the way Dobby here seems to already know me, I can't say it's true."
The hat still on her head speaks up again, "I would be more than willing to tutor you in what you need to know, after all I have been known to be a dab hand at teaching. It will get me off of that shelf more than once a year, and the Professors will keep much of their precious personal time while I do. Why, I believe that today has been more excitement than I've seen in the last 300 years."
Minerva frowns, "We would still need to supervise her practical work, as you are only a hat."
Harry can't help giggling at that, "Is there something funny Miss Potter?"
"Not really, just the reference to the sorting hat as 'only a hat' struck me as funny."
"I see, maybe we need to include lessons in deportment so that you know what will be expected from you given your new gender."
Harry sobers, "Yes Professor."
"Very well, be off with you while we discuss things." As she gets up to leave Minerva adds, "And leave the sorting hat here so that we can ascertain it has sufficient knowledge to tutor you in the required subjects."
Harry quickly flees the room, but pauses outside the door, her enhanced hearing allowing her to follow the conversation inside.
Snape says, "Well, it's clear from Malfoy's reaction that he did indeed send the diary to the school. What are we going to do about it?"
Albus shakes his head, "That will be a conversation for another time, but I think it's clear that Voldemort isn't as dead as we hoped. This diary may well provide us with the clues we need to work out how he cheated death."
Harry shakes her head as she walks down the stairs, the only thing they'll be learning from that diary is that it was covered with basilisk poison.
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As Harry's idly making her way to the hospital wing, in order to check on Ginny, there's a soft pop beside her and Dobby appears."Dobby never thought that the great Harry Potter was so great. Or that the Great Harry Potter was female. You didn't need me to save your life, you slayed the beast yourself."
Harry stops and turns to face Dobby while crouching down, "What do you mean save my life?"
"Dobby knew about the monster, but Dobby was forbidden from saying anything. So Dobby did his best to ensure you were safe away from the school."
"What about now?"
Dobby looks downcast, "Dobby is free, so Dobby can say what he wants."
"Dobby, look at me. Why are you down?"
"The Great Harry Potter is asking after Dobby's health?"
Harry laughs self-deprecatingly, "Really, I'm not great. But, yes, I'm asking after your health."
"House elves need family, they need a bond otherwise they weaken and can die."
"Don't we all. I have my mother, but she can't exactly come here. I have a friend too, but you can never have too many friends. Though making them can be hard."
"Will the Great Harry Potter be Dobby's family?"
"Sure."
"The Great Harry Potter is the best Mistress ever." Dobby flings himself at her as he starts to cry.
Shaking her head with a smile, she easily picks him up and carry's him to the infirmary with her.
As she enters the hospital wing, Madam Pomphrey turns to her with wand drawn, "Who might you be, young lady?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
From a bed, surrounded by redheads, Ron perks up, "Harry, I still can't believe the new look."
"How are you doing Ron?"
"Better now you're here, apparently I'm not allowed to leave until Madam Pomphrey has finished examining me."
Pomphrey's eyes dart up to Harry's scar before she harumphs, "I see, well you should have come straight here rather than galivanting off with the headmaster."
"They wanted to know what happened."
"And they could have waited until I had examined you, now on the bed young lady, or I will be forced to make you."
Harry grumbles good naturedly as she climbs onto the bed, "I don't suppose it would help if I said that Fawkes healed the basilisk venom, would it?"
All eyes in the room turn to face her as the wand that Madam Pomphrey was just putting away, is whipped out again, and she starts casting a massive battery of diagnostic spells.
It doesn't take Dobby long to stop crying, though there are two false stops where he realises that 'The Great Harry Potter' carried him to the hospital wing, and also kept holding him while he was crying. Unfortunately, the examinations that she's put through by the Madam are not nearly as quick, as they involve not only spells but also potions followed by spells. It's even more frustrating because she can't just go and visit her mother, and Hermione as well, to relax and talk about what happened. At some point, Professor McGonagall comes in and smiles at Harry before saying something to the Madam. It's while she's sitting there, magically stuck to the bed, as her bladder fills uncomfortably from the 2 pints of water that she was made to drink an hour earlier, that the cherry is finally added to the ice-cream. A white robed healer from St Mungo's comes through the floo and starts casting spells at Harry and then whispering excitedly to the Madam.
"Excuse me!" Harry calls loudly, "I really need to go to the bathroom, and I'm not sure I can hold it much longer."
The male healer comes over and casts a couple of spells, "Just a few more minutes Miss Potter, you need a full bladder for a couple of our diagnostics. Absolutely remarkable, you appear to have had a complete sexual change, the gold standard diagnostic for sex will be confirmed in a couple of minutes, but you are the oldest person that this has ever happened to. Not only that, but such a dramatic change to appearance is absolutely unheard of from spontaneous magic. According to your healer, you have no signs of any of the potions or rituals that could have accounted for this. You are going to be immortalised in medical history, there is so much different that your name will be appearing in journals for years while we decipher everything that Healer Pomphrey's scans have documented."
Harry looks pained, "Look, I really need to pee, and I don't want to do it on the bed."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, you're stuck there with a medical sticking charm and it won't let you void your bladder. Don't worry though, we'll switch the contents into the toilet before we remove the charm."
Harry doubles over as her abdomen cramps, "It hurts."
"That means that your bladder is full, Healer Pomphrey, I will observe."
Pomphrey bustles over and starts to cast a lengthy spell, as the spell hits, Harry doubles over as a wave of nausea and cramping take over her world. The pain is so bad that she can only whimper while clutching her abdomen, a flush of liquid escaping her leaves her feeling damp. Though the need to pee diminishes.
"1.2 million ovum, uterus is fully functional and has gone through a full menstrual cycle with no complications. There is no extraneous uterine lining elsewhere in the body, and she will be able to lactate for a child. Her biology is also still compatible with other humans, though she will probably have trouble conceiving with a non-magical partner. In short, she is a newborn pubescent woman."
A wave of her wand saw Harry cleaned up and her bladder and bowels cleared as the sticking charm released, "My apologies Miss Potter, but a change like yours needs to be thoroughly documented and investigated so that we can catch any complications or incomplete changes before they cause a problem. Standard procedure is to obliviate you of the examination, however the patients are normally between 3 and 5 years old. As such, we can give you a choice about whether to forget the last 3 hours or not."
Harry shakes her head vehemently, "I've lost too many memories as it is, and I have no idea which ones. So I'd prefer to avoid losing more."
Pomphrey nods, "Understandable, you'll be staying overnight for observation, and it looks like you have some dietary changes, so you need to visit every Wednesday evening until the end of the year so that I can monitor your intake and tell you if there's anything you're missing. However, before I allow you to sleep, the Deputy Headmistress wishes to speak with you."
Much to Harry's relief, both the healers depart to her office, and they pull back the curtain as they leave. Much to her annoyance, seconds after the door to the office clicks closed, Arthur Weasley walks over, as solemn expression on his face.
"Miss Potter, House Weasley owes you a debt that can never be repaid for you have given us the life our daughter. Tell me, what can we do for you?"
Harry is about to brush him off when she really looks at his expression, "Mr Weasley, my first inclination is to say that I would have done it for anyone. However, your expression says there's more going on that I don't understand. Please, take a seat and explain why this is so important."
Arthur sits down with a sigh, "With the name of Potter and your scar it's hard to remember that you no next to nothing of your heritage. Many of us treat magic as though it's alive. I don't think it is, at least not in any sense that you or I would understand it. However, it does seem to act on its own, especially through blood, especially the blood of family. Part of that is through the form of debts, not monetary rather the debts that we feel. Our own magic reenforces those feelings until we act on them, and that feeling will only go away when we feel we have discharged the debt. In our traditions, the greatest of these debts is called a life-debt. Not because you saved a life, but because the person that holds the debt feels that it can only be repaid with their life. There is more to it than that, but that's the school level version of it."
Harry smiles, "Thank you, and at the moment I think I need to process what happened today. No offence, but I grew up lonely, and I have got used to the solitude. It gives me time to think, I remember I enjoyed my time with your family last year, however I don't think I could stand living there longer than that."
"I understand, and it would be impossible this year anyway. We haven't told the children, but I won the Ministry sweepstake this year, and we've won enough money to take the family to see Bill in Egypt. I hope that they holiday will do Ginny some good and chase away the memories of this year."
Harry reaches out for Arthur's hand, "Mr Weasley, as someone who is adept at hiding their feelings, when you look at Ginny, don't do it during the day when there's things to do and fun to be had. Watch her in the evenings and the times that people are quiet, check in on her to see if she's having nightmares. I'll tell you know as others probably won't, but she was possessed by a dark artefact for most of the year. The sorting hat said there's no more signs of possession, but I can't imagine it was pleasant to experience. If she's not healing by the end of the summer, take her to see a counsellor or doctor so that she can talk to someone guaranteed to keep what she says private. My mum has done that for me more than enough times in the past, and it really helps."
Arthur nods gravely, "I will take your words to heart."
The door opening catches Harry's attention, "Looks like Professor McGonagall has arrived."
Arthur gives her a wane smile, "I'll leave you to her tender care."
Harry smiles, "Thanks."
McGonagall strides over, "Miss Potter, you will be pleased to know that we have agreed that the sorting hat can tutor you on the theory you may have forgotten. You will be expected to visit the headmasters office after classes every day until the end of term exams. There he will supervise you while you receive your tuition. Additionally, your things are being moved into the girls dorm where you will be sleeping from now on. At the weekend, one of the female professors will take you to Hogsmeade to get the required garments you need for your new body and school uniform. Your outer robes should still be sufficient until the end of the year. Do you have any questions?"
Harry nods, "Just one, is there anywhere else other than my relatives over the summer?"
McGonagall's expression softens, "I'm sorry Miss Potter, I don't have an answer for you yet. If I had my way, you'd stay with me if there was nowhere else. However, the headmaster is your magical guardian, so it's ultimately his decision."
"What's a magical guardian?"
"It is the magical that has the legal responsibility to see to your health and wellbeing. For most people, it's their parents. However, as muggleborn and muggle-raised like yourself don't have a magical relative that can deal with the legal responsibilities in the magical world, they have a magical guardian in the school. We are responsible for ensuring their health and wellbeing while they are of school age."
"Can I change the person who is my magical guardian?"
McGonagall shakes her head, "No, they would need to be shown to be negligent or incompetent, and the ministry would then assign a new guardian. Even if you could, in the current political climate, I would strenuously suggest that you don't. Corruption is rife in our government, and I'm sure that gold would quickly pass under the table to ensure that old followers of You-Know-Who would become your magical guardian. At which point your life would very quickly be put in peril."
Her tone indicating the exact opposite, Harry shakes her head, "I see. Thank you for telling me."
"I may have disagreed with the headmaster when he placed you with your relatives, however it was the only legal recourse he had that would avoid the politics and corruption of the Ministry. I fear that you wouldn't have survived the year if you had been subject to having a regent declared."
"I think I'd like to sleep now."
McGonagall smiles sadly, "Sleep well Miss Potter, and ask Pomphrey for a dreamless sleep potion if you can't sleep."
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Harry appears in the place his mother lives, and is immediately hit by a Harry seeking Hermione, "You're alive! Are you OK? What took you so long? What's it like being a revenant? Did you save Ginny? Was that really Godric Gryffindor?""Hermione!" her mother says sharply, "Remember what I told you and give Harry some space."
Reluctantly Hermione lets go, "Sorry, I was just so worried."
Harry relaxes a little, "It's ok, I just need to decompress for a bit. Just, give me 5 minutes."
Hermione walks back and picks up the tablet she was reading from and frowns at it while Harry sits down comfortably.
After a few minutes, Harry asks, "How are you getting on with my notes?"
Hermione glances up, "They're pretty good, when I can read them. Why don't you just write them in English?"
Harry laughs, "I do write them in English."
"No, I mean English English, our English. Oh, you know what I mean."
Harry's eyes go distant, "Because I wasn't allowed to growing up, the Dursleys wouldn't let me excel or do better than the whale. So most of my education came from Mum. The English she taught me is very different to the English we speak at school, but I guess I'm bilingual in that way. Though you could make yourself understood there, and you would be able to get by with out learning it, the sentence structure and alphabet is completely different."
Hermione glances at Cruz before she says, "Can I give you a hug?"
Harry sighs, "Sure, I'd appreciate it. Also, I'm doing ok. The worst part of it is the missing memories, like I know we're friends, but I don't remember how we became friends."
Hermione sits down next to Harry and hugs her, "You saved me from a Troll after that git made me cry in charms."
"That git?"
"Ron, it's what I call him in my head. He's a lowest common denominator, and he keeps trying to pull everyone down to his level."
"Ah, I see. Well, I do know that he's not one of my friends, and maybe now I'll be in the girls dorm I'll be able to make more friends without him barging in. I think I've been able to have 1 good conversation with Neville since we started school. Of course I could have just forgotten the others."
"What's that like, the memory gaps that is."
"Scary, as I know they're there, I just have no idea what I've forgotten until something prompts it. Like I knew Dobby looked familiar, but I had no idea why. Same as I remember we're friends, and a lot of the stuff we've done together, like the philosopher's stone and brewing Polyjuice in the loo, did we ever finish that by the way?"
Hermione smiles, "We did, and Ron persuaded you to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle to find out if Malfoy was the heir."
Harry puts her head in her hands, "Oh god, really? What was I smoking?"
"I think it was the same thing as the duel during first year, where he just stuck his opinion in and wiggled it about until we both agreed with him."
"I remember that, didn't we discover Fluffy that night?"
"We did."
Cruz smiles as she watches Harry slowly relax and unwind by talking about the things that happened at school. While she's sure that there will be gaps in Harry's childhood too, most of those are probably best forgotten anyway. The good memories she's sure that she can share when they come up.
Code Vein 3
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
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Code Vein – 3
The next day was strange, everyone just kept staring at her. Some of those stares, especially from some of the older male students, left her feeling very uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the house gossips, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, were absolutely brilliant.
"Girls, sorry to interrupt your morning, but I would like to introduce your new dorm mate."
All the girls stopped what they were doing, and swivelled to face the two of them, with Fay even poking her head around a door that presumable leads to the bathroom, a toothbrush in her mouth. Suddenly uncomfortable, Harry tries to step behind the professor. However, McGonagall puts her hand on the small of her back and pushes her forward.
"This is Harry Potter, she's moving from the boys dorm after being involved in a magical event that has left her as much a witch as the rest of us. Be gentle with her, as she's new to this. One of the professors will be taking her to get the necessary foundation garments and changes to the school uniform at the weekend."
Lavender, with a towel wrapped around her, walks over from where she was brushing Parvati's hair and stands up straight next to Harry. After turning left and right a couple of times she says, "Well, we're about the same size, so you can borrow some of my clothes until you've got your own. We can't have a witch as pretty as you are walking around wearing those rags. Fay! Hurry up in there so that Harry can shower."
Silently McGonagall leaves, as a confused Harry asks, "Stays?"
Lavender nods, "Uh huh, they're a support garment, though Granger has a training bra from the muggle world. They do the same job, however once we're older we'll learn support charms. My mum says that they feel like you're wearing stays, so that's why we have to wear them now." She lifts a lock of Harry's hair, "I love your hair, it's a pity it's dead straight, as until we learn styling charms the only thing we can do with it is braid it or leave it long."
"I'm done, Harry can take the shower now."
"Go on, do you have a large towel?", Lavender indicates the towel she has wrapped around her.
Harry shakes her head, "No, sorry. I, uh."
"Parvati, grab one of your towels, mine are being cleaned."
Once Harry finished her shower, Lavender brushed her hair for her and Parvati showed her how to brush Lavenders hair. All the while they talked about fashion, makeup, and, unfortunately, boys. Once she was dressed and down at breakfast, they were the ones that stood up to McLaggen, a 2nd year creep that Harry had heard the girls on the quidditch team complain about a couple of times. This also happened when Malfoy came over to chat her up in his smarmy way.
As she walks through the door, Fawkes trills happily to see her, and Harry smiles, "I'm glad to see that Fawkes is up and about."
The headmaster nods, "Indeed, he was most disgruntled to find himself lying down this morning. However, I don't think you are here to chat. I have set up a desk by the window there. I hope you'll forgive me if I seem short, I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I need to cover Lockharts lessons as well."
Harry looks around and spots the desk, with the sorting hat sitting on it. As he does, the sorting hat looks at her, "Well, come on and put me on already. I hope you know how to meditate, as we're doing these lessons in your mind."
Shaking her head, she sits down and places the sorting hat on her head, closes her eyes and takes the two of them to her mother.
"Are you really Godric Gryffindor? Why are you in the sorting hat? What happened to the other founders? What was life like back then?"
Godric laughs and ruffles Hermione's hair as she gets close enough, "You remind me of Rowana young wizard. Now, I am supposed to be tutoring Miss Potter on the things she should have learnt in the first two years." Hermione looks downcast at that, "However, I don't think there's anything stopping me from tutoring two people instead of one. Come, let us find the Matriarch of this place and we can begin."
As they walk over to her mother, Harry can almost see literal stars in Hermione's eyes. When he reaches Cruz, Godric bows, "My lady, would you care to join us as I instruct the children in the ways of magic?"
Cruz laughs, "Certainly kind sir. It will be a most welcome distraction, much like the children have been while they're here. Hel, we sound like someone from the middle ages."
Godric laughs, "Nay fair lady, we sound nothing like English from that period." Standing, he puts a hand on his chest, "Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. þa cwæð he, 'Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon.'"
Cruz shakes her head, "I'll be honest, I have no idea what you just said."
"It was a passage from Aelfrich's 'Homily on St. Gregory the Great', it was quite popular at the time we build our school. Anyway children, it's time we started, and I'll start the same way that we did when the school was founded."
Godric takes a few steps away before turning to face Harry and Hermione, "The first and most important lesson you need to learn about magic, is that you are only limited by your own thoughts and will. While you are here you will be taught the basics of witchcraft and wizardry. However, we are not ignoring sorcery or battle magic, you will be expected to partake in the exercises that will expose those talents. Yes Hermione?"
Hermione puts her hand down, "Um, what's sorcery and battle magic?"
Godric strokes his beard, "Ah, yes, you don't have the basic knowledge that was common in my era. Simply put, there are four major ways of performing magic, all of which have some level of overlap. Sorcery is the foundation of all magic, and it is what our children exhibit as they're growing up. A sorcerer can use their magic purely on willpower, intent, and desire. Most of the famous magical artists were sorcerers, as it is a skill that is strongly linked to creativity.
"Next we have Battle Magic, which is magic channelled through your body and weapons. Someone, like myself, can use their magic to make impossible leaps, cleave through things that our weapons shouldn't be able to, shrug off blows that would fell a dragon, and even spit fire from our weapons.
"Following that, is witchcraft. This encompasses working with the natural world through animal husbandry, gardening, and potion brewing. Don't be mistaken for thinking that there is no magic in this craft, for while it may not be as obvious as the other three. There is true magic involved. The accomplished witch can heal the direst of injuries with a potion brewed from the right plants and animals, they can send you into an enchanted sleep, and they can ensure full and bountiful crops.
"Lastly, we come to wizardry, the study of magic itself and the application of magic through rigorous study and development of spells."
Hermione frowns, "Wait, I'm sure that we use spells in Herbology, and Potions has all sorts of reaction tables."
"Indeed, I believe I did say that there was overlap. What you need to remember is that first lesson, you are only limited by your own thoughts and will. Tell me, what is a wand? You bought one because it was required for your schooling, but what is it?"
Harry is about to speak while Hermione is deep in thought, but Godric raises his hand, "Hold young sorceress, the wizard needs to work this one out for herself."
After a few minutes Hermione looks up, "According to Spellman's syllabary, a wand is a magical focus made from magically reactive wood and core that comes from a magical creature."
"Miss Granger, what is the key part of that definition?"
"A magical focus?"
"Indeed, now what does focus mean?" Hermione takes a deep breath and Godric continues, "I don't mean the various dictionary definitions. What do those definitions have in common?"
Hermione's mouth opens and closes as she runs through all the definitions in her head, "To concentrate or bring to bear?"
Godric nods approvingly, "Indeed, and it is absolutely required for wizardry, where knowing exactly how much magic, what type, and even how focused it is, is important. However, there are applications of magic where that focus makes it much harder. The first spell you ever learnt here used to be a teaching aid."
Holding out his hand, a glowing ball of light appears floating over his hand, and easily illuminates the area, "Now do the same with your wand."
"Erm, I can't as my wand didn't come with me."
Godric sighs, "Miss Potter, if you would."
Harry materialises her wand and casts a lumos, a brilliant point of light appears at the end of the wand, though it doesn't illuminate nearly as much as Godric's light does.
"Miss Granger, which of these two lights would you prefer if you were tidying up a room?"
Hermione looks between the two lights, "Er, your one sir."
"How about if you were inspecting a carving for flaws?"
"I guess Harry's one, as it would throw sharper shadows."
"Indeed, the lesson here is that sometimes less precision is better than more. A lesson that took Rowana nearly 2 decades to learn after we started the school. Oh, she was a wizard without peer, but she'd often come up with massively elegant solutions to problems that Salazar or I could fix with a mere thought. Now, I'm going to have both of you start on the exercises we gave to the students who were older when they were discovered. They should allow you to get in touch with your magic, and loosen it up so that you can perform focus-less magic."
At dinner, Ginny Weasley shyly approaches Harry, "Excuse me Harry."
Harry half turns to face her, "Can I help you?"
"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life."
"You're most welcome, I'm just glad I could get there in time. How are you doing?"
"I've got lots of blank spots, but I think I'm doing ok. Erm, could we be friends?"
Harry takes one of her hands, "I don't know, friendships take time to develop, and I've only ever had one friend before."
"I know, Ron won't shut up about how you're best friends."
Harry shakes her head with a sad smile, "It's not Ron, it's Hermione. Ron needs to do more growing up before he has a chance of being a friend. However, I'm certainly willing to try. I also know about the debt, and your father has been very helpful with my understanding of that."
Ginny nods firmly despite the tears in her eyes.
Either way, she found out from Madam Pomphrey when she was going to administer the restorative during one of her weekly check-ups. She used that information to let their house mates know, so that there would be friends around while the draft worked its magic. This was actually to cover the fact that Harry needed to bring Hermione back to her body.
The next day was strange, everyone just kept staring at her. Some of those stares, especially from some of the older male students, left her feeling very uncomfortable. Surprisingly, the house gossips, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, were absolutely brilliant.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Early morning, before breakfast, Professor McGonagall leads Harry up the stairs to the second year girls dorm. As she opens the door, Harry looks around curiously before averting her eyes, as the girls are all in the process of getting up and dressed."Girls, sorry to interrupt your morning, but I would like to introduce your new dorm mate."
All the girls stopped what they were doing, and swivelled to face the two of them, with Fay even poking her head around a door that presumable leads to the bathroom, a toothbrush in her mouth. Suddenly uncomfortable, Harry tries to step behind the professor. However, McGonagall puts her hand on the small of her back and pushes her forward.
"This is Harry Potter, she's moving from the boys dorm after being involved in a magical event that has left her as much a witch as the rest of us. Be gentle with her, as she's new to this. One of the professors will be taking her to get the necessary foundation garments and changes to the school uniform at the weekend."
Lavender, with a towel wrapped around her, walks over from where she was brushing Parvati's hair and stands up straight next to Harry. After turning left and right a couple of times she says, "Well, we're about the same size, so you can borrow some of my clothes until you've got your own. We can't have a witch as pretty as you are walking around wearing those rags. Fay! Hurry up in there so that Harry can shower."
Silently McGonagall leaves, as a confused Harry asks, "Stays?"
Lavender nods, "Uh huh, they're a support garment, though Granger has a training bra from the muggle world. They do the same job, however once we're older we'll learn support charms. My mum says that they feel like you're wearing stays, so that's why we have to wear them now." She lifts a lock of Harry's hair, "I love your hair, it's a pity it's dead straight, as until we learn styling charms the only thing we can do with it is braid it or leave it long."
"I'm done, Harry can take the shower now."
"Go on, do you have a large towel?", Lavender indicates the towel she has wrapped around her.
Harry shakes her head, "No, sorry. I, uh."
"Parvati, grab one of your towels, mine are being cleaned."
Once Harry finished her shower, Lavender brushed her hair for her and Parvati showed her how to brush Lavenders hair. All the while they talked about fashion, makeup, and, unfortunately, boys. Once she was dressed and down at breakfast, they were the ones that stood up to McLaggen, a 2nd year creep that Harry had heard the girls on the quidditch team complain about a couple of times. This also happened when Malfoy came over to chat her up in his smarmy way.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
Potions was also odd, as Professor Snape didn't seem to be as abrasive towards Harry as normal. Finally she was done with classes for the day, and slowly makes her way to the headmasters office on the 3rd floor. Going up the spiral staircase feels odd, like she should be in trouble, but she knows she isn't. Finally, she reaches the top and, before she can knock, the headmaster calls "Come in Harry."As she walks through the door, Fawkes trills happily to see her, and Harry smiles, "I'm glad to see that Fawkes is up and about."
The headmaster nods, "Indeed, he was most disgruntled to find himself lying down this morning. However, I don't think you are here to chat. I have set up a desk by the window there. I hope you'll forgive me if I seem short, I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I need to cover Lockharts lessons as well."
Harry looks around and spots the desk, with the sorting hat sitting on it. As he does, the sorting hat looks at her, "Well, come on and put me on already. I hope you know how to meditate, as we're doing these lessons in your mind."
Shaking her head, she sits down and places the sorting hat on her head, closes her eyes and takes the two of them to her mother.
"Are you really Godric Gryffindor? Why are you in the sorting hat? What happened to the other founders? What was life like back then?"
Godric laughs and ruffles Hermione's hair as she gets close enough, "You remind me of Rowana young wizard. Now, I am supposed to be tutoring Miss Potter on the things she should have learnt in the first two years." Hermione looks downcast at that, "However, I don't think there's anything stopping me from tutoring two people instead of one. Come, let us find the Matriarch of this place and we can begin."
As they walk over to her mother, Harry can almost see literal stars in Hermione's eyes. When he reaches Cruz, Godric bows, "My lady, would you care to join us as I instruct the children in the ways of magic?"
Cruz laughs, "Certainly kind sir. It will be a most welcome distraction, much like the children have been while they're here. Hel, we sound like someone from the middle ages."
Godric laughs, "Nay fair lady, we sound nothing like English from that period." Standing, he puts a hand on his chest, "Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. þa cwæð he, 'Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon.'"
Cruz shakes her head, "I'll be honest, I have no idea what you just said."
"It was a passage from Aelfrich's 'Homily on St. Gregory the Great', it was quite popular at the time we build our school. Anyway children, it's time we started, and I'll start the same way that we did when the school was founded."
Godric takes a few steps away before turning to face Harry and Hermione, "The first and most important lesson you need to learn about magic, is that you are only limited by your own thoughts and will. While you are here you will be taught the basics of witchcraft and wizardry. However, we are not ignoring sorcery or battle magic, you will be expected to partake in the exercises that will expose those talents. Yes Hermione?"
Hermione puts her hand down, "Um, what's sorcery and battle magic?"
Godric strokes his beard, "Ah, yes, you don't have the basic knowledge that was common in my era. Simply put, there are four major ways of performing magic, all of which have some level of overlap. Sorcery is the foundation of all magic, and it is what our children exhibit as they're growing up. A sorcerer can use their magic purely on willpower, intent, and desire. Most of the famous magical artists were sorcerers, as it is a skill that is strongly linked to creativity.
"Next we have Battle Magic, which is magic channelled through your body and weapons. Someone, like myself, can use their magic to make impossible leaps, cleave through things that our weapons shouldn't be able to, shrug off blows that would fell a dragon, and even spit fire from our weapons.
"Following that, is witchcraft. This encompasses working with the natural world through animal husbandry, gardening, and potion brewing. Don't be mistaken for thinking that there is no magic in this craft, for while it may not be as obvious as the other three. There is true magic involved. The accomplished witch can heal the direst of injuries with a potion brewed from the right plants and animals, they can send you into an enchanted sleep, and they can ensure full and bountiful crops.
"Lastly, we come to wizardry, the study of magic itself and the application of magic through rigorous study and development of spells."
Hermione frowns, "Wait, I'm sure that we use spells in Herbology, and Potions has all sorts of reaction tables."
"Indeed, I believe I did say that there was overlap. What you need to remember is that first lesson, you are only limited by your own thoughts and will. Tell me, what is a wand? You bought one because it was required for your schooling, but what is it?"
Harry is about to speak while Hermione is deep in thought, but Godric raises his hand, "Hold young sorceress, the wizard needs to work this one out for herself."
After a few minutes Hermione looks up, "According to Spellman's syllabary, a wand is a magical focus made from magically reactive wood and core that comes from a magical creature."
"Miss Granger, what is the key part of that definition?"
"A magical focus?"
"Indeed, now what does focus mean?" Hermione takes a deep breath and Godric continues, "I don't mean the various dictionary definitions. What do those definitions have in common?"
Hermione's mouth opens and closes as she runs through all the definitions in her head, "To concentrate or bring to bear?"
Godric nods approvingly, "Indeed, and it is absolutely required for wizardry, where knowing exactly how much magic, what type, and even how focused it is, is important. However, there are applications of magic where that focus makes it much harder. The first spell you ever learnt here used to be a teaching aid."
Holding out his hand, a glowing ball of light appears floating over his hand, and easily illuminates the area, "Now do the same with your wand."
"Erm, I can't as my wand didn't come with me."
Godric sighs, "Miss Potter, if you would."
Harry materialises her wand and casts a lumos, a brilliant point of light appears at the end of the wand, though it doesn't illuminate nearly as much as Godric's light does.
"Miss Granger, which of these two lights would you prefer if you were tidying up a room?"
Hermione looks between the two lights, "Er, your one sir."
"How about if you were inspecting a carving for flaws?"
"I guess Harry's one, as it would throw sharper shadows."
"Indeed, the lesson here is that sometimes less precision is better than more. A lesson that took Rowana nearly 2 decades to learn after we started the school. Oh, she was a wizard without peer, but she'd often come up with massively elegant solutions to problems that Salazar or I could fix with a mere thought. Now, I'm going to have both of you start on the exercises we gave to the students who were older when they were discovered. They should allow you to get in touch with your magic, and loosen it up so that you can perform focus-less magic."
At dinner, Ginny Weasley shyly approaches Harry, "Excuse me Harry."
Harry half turns to face her, "Can I help you?"
"I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life."
"You're most welcome, I'm just glad I could get there in time. How are you doing?"
"I've got lots of blank spots, but I think I'm doing ok. Erm, could we be friends?"
Harry takes one of her hands, "I don't know, friendships take time to develop, and I've only ever had one friend before."
"I know, Ron won't shut up about how you're best friends."
Harry shakes her head with a sad smile, "It's not Ron, it's Hermione. Ron needs to do more growing up before he has a chance of being a friend. However, I'm certainly willing to try. I also know about the debt, and your father has been very helpful with my understanding of that."
Ginny nods firmly despite the tears in her eyes.
═══════ ೋღ ֍ ღೋ ═══════
It's only a few weeks later when the Mandrakes they were looking after finally mature, much to Hermione's relief, as Godric has worked out how to visit on his own. An unfortunate result of which is that he and Cruz are starting to do adult things together. Much to Hermione's frustration, Godric's only answer to 'How do you do it' is 'I just do'. Privately, Harry was sure she was more upset that this was something that couldn't be found in a book, only done.Either way, she found out from Madam Pomphrey when she was going to administer the restorative during one of her weekly check-ups. She used that information to let their house mates know, so that there would be friends around while the draft worked its magic. This was actually to cover the fact that Harry needed to bring Hermione back to her body.
Ranma Sekirei
DarkPhoenixLady
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2016
- Messages
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- 1,782
Ranma sekirei
There was, Ranma reflected as he, well currently she, slowed her descent down the side of the skyscraper to survivable levels, a certain sense of irony that she was the one who was kidnapped. Cradled in one arm is a young girl with long blond hair, wearing a hospital gown, and who is thankfully unconscious given the screaming she'd been doing 5 minutes ago.
Below, she can see jackbooted thugs boiling out of the main entrance of the skyscraper. Making a split second decision, she times her next touch carefully, and pushes hard off the side of the building. Angling herself across the road to another skyscraper, putting a little chi into her jump allows her to make the impossible distance, where she uses her momentum to run sideways across the glass frontage. Reaching the corner of the skyscraper, somewhat lower than she started, she pushes off to the next skyscraper. Behind her, the sound of a helicopter becomes apparent as it crests the top of the building she just left. Cursing slightly under her breath, she redoubles her efforts to escape. Seeing some shorter buildings in the distance, she quickly diverts her course away from skyscraper central to an area that's likely to have some alleyways and buildings that she can actually roof hop across.
Alighting on the ground, to the screams and shouts of the pedestrians, Ranma takes a moment to orientate herself in Tokyo before cursing. 'Why did they bring me all the way to Minato Ward?' Shaking her head and spitting out a mouthful of flame red hair, she takes a moment to reposition the girl in her arms before launching to the top of a nearby building and heading towards the closest ward, Meguro. Some discrete thefts from washing lines later, as well as stolen cup of tea from a small café, and Ranma is a young man carrying his sleeping imouto to the station. Overhead, the black helicopters fly past without stopping, by the time they turn back Ranma has entered the subway and is heading north to Nermia Ward.
It is around 20 minutes later that the young girl wakes up briefly and looks up at Ranma with her deep green eyes.
"You are my Ashikabi."
"Wha… mumph", before Ranma can say more, the young girl kisses him on the lips, massive green wings rising out of her back, to the shock of everyone else in the carriage. As if nothing had happened, the girl then moves around on his lap and goes back to sleep.
Sahashi Takami looks over at the operator, "Did we at least get a fix on her location?"
"No Ma'am, she's in the subway."
Takami pinches the bridge of her nose, "What about 109?"
"She disappeared from our sensors before 108 boarded the subway."
"Tell me we at least have CCTV footage?"
Another operative shakes his head, "No Ma'am, they were moving too fast and unpredictably to locate them."
"Ancestors help me! Does anyone have any good news?"
The door to the operations centre clicks closed in the silence and Miyajima coughs, "Um, that probably means that now is a bad time to say that 109 escaped with a Jinki then."
Takami spins around, "Why in the hells was a Jinki even here?"
Miyajima crosses her arms, "Why do you think? 109 has never been regulated, so I was tasked with seeing how much regulation she needs. Which, as you well know, requires the use of a Jinki. I was coming here to tell you that 109 needs to go to the island, as I don't think she's a Sekirei in the same way that Miya isn't a Sekirei."
"Shit! How did we miss that?"
"I don't know, what I do know is that her Tama has never been used."
Takami stalks towards Miyajima, "What did you do?"
Miyajima shakes her head, "What do you think I did? You're a regulator, you do the math. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say."
Takami fumes as Miyajima turns and leaves. Suddenly she spins around and shouts at the operators, "What are you all looking at? Find that Jinki or else!" For emphasis she raises her omnipresent clipboard. Hurriedly everyone turns back to their consoles.
Ranma shakes his head, "It's a long story, where's everyone else?"
"Baka! They're out looking for you, where have you been all week?"
Carefully, Ranma lays the girl down on some cushions, and struggles to disengage her grip as she murmurs, "No onii-chan, don't let me go", in her sleep.
"It's been a week? Last I remember I was heading home from Ome overland as it was a nice day. How are you doing after Jusenkyo?"
"How do you think I'm doing Baka! You missed our wedding!"
Ranma scratches his head, "Huh? What do you mean I missed our wedding?"
"We were supposed to get married last week, and you ran out on me."
Ranma raises his hands, "Now hang on! I don't know about no wedding, and there's no way I'm going to marry an uncute tomboy like you."
Ranma only has a moment to roll backward before a mallet smashes through the floor where he was sitting, "Stay still and take your beating like a man!"
Ranma jumps over a wild swing as he shouts, "What are you doing?!"
"Stay still and let me beat you, you damn baka! You think I'm not good enough to marry?"
Sleepily the girl on the cushions looks up, "No beating up onii-chan." As she says that, vines quickly grow through the cracks in the floorboards and latch onto Akane, wrapping her up like a mummy.
"Ranma! Get me out of here so that I can beat you!"
Ignoring Akane, Ranma crouches down in front of the girl, "Are you awake now?"
The girl nods, "Yes onii-chan."
"I'm Ranma, and the tomboy over there is Akane, what's your name?"
The girl smiles, "I am Sekirei 108, Kusano, and you are my Ashikabi."
"Oh My!" Ranma looks up to see Kasumi standing in the doorway looking at the damage and the trussed up Akane, who has a faint red aura around her as she glowers impotently at Ranma.
"Boy! Where have you been?"
"My manly son has returned!"
"Arien will take Shampoo on a date now."
Ranma sighs when everyone that's piling into the room stumble to a halt at the sight of Kusano, "Everyone, meet Kusano, a girl I rescued while I was rescuing myself."
Pulling himself together, Genma looks at his son, "You've been slacking boy, there's no way that you should have been kidnapped."
"Says you!"
Cologne pogos into the room and takes a seat, "I think we should hear what son-in-law has to say before we start the normal entertainment."
"Well it was like this."
Ranma blushes as Nodoka, his mother, pulls him into a hug, "Ah, it was nothing. I just needed to get out of the house for a bit."
"No matter, you still came to see me. Now be careful and try to avoid cold water."
"Yes mum."
Once Nodoka lets go, Ranma scratches the back of his head, "Hey, mum. As it's a nice day, I'm going to walk home rather than take the train. I need time to think."
"I'll let your fiancé know if she calls."
Around 30 minutes later, after a freak shower, that she is passing through Musashimurayama when a scythe comes out of nowhere towards her. Despite being the pre-eminant martial artist of her generation, and possibly the world, there's still not a lot she can do when an attacker comes out of nowhere. Despite this, she's able to roll with the blow and face the black haired assailant. Her top fluttering down to the street below.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
"You face Sekirei number 14, and I will remove you from the game before you can threaten my Ashikabi."
"It's not like it would take much to threaten your guy, at least I have boobs."
"Why you!"
"Why me, urk!" Whatever Ranma was going to say next is cut off as a wire saw loops around her neck. Flipping over, in a modified cartwheel, she uncrosses the wire even while she's leaping over the head of the assailant behind her. Ducking down, she slips out of the garrot and under a claw swipe from a third assailant.
"What, it takes 3 of you to attack poor little me?"
14 swipes her scythe at him again, "Just stand still so we can terminate you."
"Nah ah, not happening, you need to do better than that." Privately, Ranma's worried, as all three of the women are almost as fast as the old ghoul. On top of that, they seem to be accustomed to working with each other in a fight. It's only the last year and a bit of near constant fighting between himself and the fiancé's and rivals, culminating in fighting Saffron, that has allowed him to keep up with the three of them so far. Unfortunately, while Ranma Saotome doesn't lose, sometimes it takes more than one fight for him to win. Such is the case today, where number 14 manages to catch his temple with the haft of her scythe while he dodged back away from both the blade and a lunging metal claw. This sends him cartwheeling over the edge of the building, to land face down unconscious in the street below.
Ranma wakes up suddenly as a searing pain scorches her back between her shoulder blades. Reflexively, she kicks out at other occupant in the room, kicking the weird crystal out of their hands. Leaping over the head of the middle aged woman, she deftly hits a couple of shiatzu points and knocks her out.
Taking stock of her situation, she realises that she's in some sort of hospital. Though she's never seen a hospital room with so much high tech gear before. Looking down at herself, she realises that she's wearing a hospital gown rather than her normal clothes. Quickly pulling a change of clothes out of her hidden weapons space, Ranma gets dressed and takes the crystal and a clipboard full of notes.
As she opens the door to leave, she hears the clear sounds of an alarm going off, as well as booted feet heading in her direction. Shaking her head, she slips into the Umi-Sen Ken and leaps up to the ceiling where she finds that it's a high quality suspended ceiling. Smiling, she pushes up one of the well concealed tiles and slips into the small gap, the tile being pushed back into place just as the guards arrive at the room. Silently she curses her father for her knowledge of how to sneak into and out of buildings like this, even though it's proving useful.
She carefully makes her way around the corridors until she comes to the door for the stairs. Making sure that there's nobody around, she slips out of the ceiling and is about to open the door when she hears a young girl scream. Before her conscious mind has even processed the sound, her body is already bouncing off the wall and down the corridor towards the scream. As she's heading down the corridor, she disables a few groups of guards that are obviously still searching for her, before bursting through a door into a similar room to the one she woke up in. Sitting on the bed is a blond girl with wires attached to her head, chest and arms. Off to one side is a grey haired woman working on a computer of some description.
Swiftly, Ranma knocks the woman out just as the girl starts to scream again. Not knowing how to fix this, she rips the wires off of the girls body and picks her up.
"It's ok, I've got you, nobody's going to make you scream again."
The girl looks her in the eyes before they roll back into her head, and she passes out. As she steps through the door, a large group of guards rounds the corner accompanied by a white haired woman, with bandages wrapped around her legs and arms. A tattered black kimono covers any other bandages she may be wearing. What catches Ranma's eye are the gauntlets she's wearing, that have scythe-like barb-tipped claws at least 6" in length. At the sight of those, Ranma executes the Saotome family secret technique and runs towards the stairs, quickly followed by the woman, and slowly followed by the guards.
As the door comes into view, she doesn't even slow down. Instead she fires a Móko Takabisha at the door and blows it off its hinges. Co-incidentally, she also knocks out a group of guards that were just coming down the stairs. As she's making her way up the stairs, it becomes clear that the woman with the claws doesn't have the same experience that Ranma does with parkour like movement. A frantic 15 minutes later, where they've been trying to use the lifts to cut off her escape, she finally arrives at a floor before the security guards. Kicking the door off it's hinges, she darts out and down a corridor where there's a glimmer of daylight. There's a ding behind her, and a shout as the claw wielder takes up the chase again, and starts to gain rapidly. Desperately Ranma slides under a claw swipe before bouncing off the wall and down a corridor that leads to an office with an external window. A Móko Takabisha takes care of the door, and she launches a pair of Móko's at the window, sending spiderweb cracks through the entire thing. Vaulting over the desk she turns to protect the girl she's holding from the glass and sees the woman slide to her knees just as Ranma breaks through the window.
"We were on the 110th floor Ma'am, and it just hit me."
Minaka Hiroto, head of MBI, and 'guardian' of the Sekirei, steeples his fingers, "What I want to know is how she did that."
Takami shakes her head, "We detected no flares of her tama during the entire time she was loose in the building. Coupled with her apparent ability to climb around the floating ceiling without making any sound, this made it impossible for us to triangulate her location in the building. In fact, a few times we lost track of her tama completely."
"What about outside?"
"The security team is still putting together the footage of their escape, it should be done tomorrow."
"Well this is an interesting twist to the game, do we know where 108 went after they split up?"
Takami nods, "Nermia."
Karasuba swears, "Shit, that's the place where we have virtually no coverage. I'm going out for a walk."
That said, she stands up and picks up her nodachi before leaving the room.
There was, Ranma reflected as he, well currently she, slowed her descent down the side of the skyscraper to survivable levels, a certain sense of irony that she was the one who was kidnapped. Cradled in one arm is a young girl with long blond hair, wearing a hospital gown, and who is thankfully unconscious given the screaming she'd been doing 5 minutes ago.
Below, she can see jackbooted thugs boiling out of the main entrance of the skyscraper. Making a split second decision, she times her next touch carefully, and pushes hard off the side of the building. Angling herself across the road to another skyscraper, putting a little chi into her jump allows her to make the impossible distance, where she uses her momentum to run sideways across the glass frontage. Reaching the corner of the skyscraper, somewhat lower than she started, she pushes off to the next skyscraper. Behind her, the sound of a helicopter becomes apparent as it crests the top of the building she just left. Cursing slightly under her breath, she redoubles her efforts to escape. Seeing some shorter buildings in the distance, she quickly diverts her course away from skyscraper central to an area that's likely to have some alleyways and buildings that she can actually roof hop across.
Alighting on the ground, to the screams and shouts of the pedestrians, Ranma takes a moment to orientate herself in Tokyo before cursing. 'Why did they bring me all the way to Minato Ward?' Shaking her head and spitting out a mouthful of flame red hair, she takes a moment to reposition the girl in her arms before launching to the top of a nearby building and heading towards the closest ward, Meguro. Some discrete thefts from washing lines later, as well as stolen cup of tea from a small café, and Ranma is a young man carrying his sleeping imouto to the station. Overhead, the black helicopters fly past without stopping, by the time they turn back Ranma has entered the subway and is heading north to Nermia Ward.
It is around 20 minutes later that the young girl wakes up briefly and looks up at Ranma with her deep green eyes.
"You are my Ashikabi."
"Wha… mumph", before Ranma can say more, the young girl kisses him on the lips, massive green wings rising out of her back, to the shock of everyone else in the carriage. As if nothing had happened, the girl then moves around on his lap and goes back to sleep.
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"Ma'am! Number 108 has just been winged."Sahashi Takami looks over at the operator, "Did we at least get a fix on her location?"
"No Ma'am, she's in the subway."
Takami pinches the bridge of her nose, "What about 109?"
"She disappeared from our sensors before 108 boarded the subway."
"Tell me we at least have CCTV footage?"
Another operative shakes his head, "No Ma'am, they were moving too fast and unpredictably to locate them."
"Ancestors help me! Does anyone have any good news?"
The door to the operations centre clicks closed in the silence and Miyajima coughs, "Um, that probably means that now is a bad time to say that 109 escaped with a Jinki then."
Takami spins around, "Why in the hells was a Jinki even here?"
Miyajima crosses her arms, "Why do you think? 109 has never been regulated, so I was tasked with seeing how much regulation she needs. Which, as you well know, requires the use of a Jinki. I was coming here to tell you that 109 needs to go to the island, as I don't think she's a Sekirei in the same way that Miya isn't a Sekirei."
"Shit! How did we miss that?"
"I don't know, what I do know is that her Tama has never been used."
Takami stalks towards Miyajima, "What did you do?"
Miyajima shakes her head, "What do you think I did? You're a regulator, you do the math. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say."
Takami fumes as Miyajima turns and leaves. Suddenly she spins around and shouts at the operators, "What are you all looking at? Find that Jinki or else!" For emphasis she raises her omnipresent clipboard. Hurriedly everyone turns back to their consoles.
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An hour later, Ranma carries a sleeping child into the Tendo home. As the door closes with a soft click, Akane looks up, "Where have you… been? Nani?"Ranma shakes his head, "It's a long story, where's everyone else?"
"Baka! They're out looking for you, where have you been all week?"
Carefully, Ranma lays the girl down on some cushions, and struggles to disengage her grip as she murmurs, "No onii-chan, don't let me go", in her sleep.
"It's been a week? Last I remember I was heading home from Ome overland as it was a nice day. How are you doing after Jusenkyo?"
"How do you think I'm doing Baka! You missed our wedding!"
Ranma scratches his head, "Huh? What do you mean I missed our wedding?"
"We were supposed to get married last week, and you ran out on me."
Ranma raises his hands, "Now hang on! I don't know about no wedding, and there's no way I'm going to marry an uncute tomboy like you."
Ranma only has a moment to roll backward before a mallet smashes through the floor where he was sitting, "Stay still and take your beating like a man!"
Ranma jumps over a wild swing as he shouts, "What are you doing?!"
"Stay still and let me beat you, you damn baka! You think I'm not good enough to marry?"
Sleepily the girl on the cushions looks up, "No beating up onii-chan." As she says that, vines quickly grow through the cracks in the floorboards and latch onto Akane, wrapping her up like a mummy.
"Ranma! Get me out of here so that I can beat you!"
Ignoring Akane, Ranma crouches down in front of the girl, "Are you awake now?"
The girl nods, "Yes onii-chan."
"I'm Ranma, and the tomboy over there is Akane, what's your name?"
The girl smiles, "I am Sekirei 108, Kusano, and you are my Ashikabi."
"Oh My!" Ranma looks up to see Kasumi standing in the doorway looking at the damage and the trussed up Akane, who has a faint red aura around her as she glowers impotently at Ranma.
"Boy! Where have you been?"
"My manly son has returned!"
"Arien will take Shampoo on a date now."
Ranma sighs when everyone that's piling into the room stumble to a halt at the sight of Kusano, "Everyone, meet Kusano, a girl I rescued while I was rescuing myself."
Pulling himself together, Genma looks at his son, "You've been slacking boy, there's no way that you should have been kidnapped."
"Says you!"
Cologne pogos into the room and takes a seat, "I think we should hear what son-in-law has to say before we start the normal entertainment."
"Well it was like this."
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"I'm glad you're save son, and thank you for coming to visit."Ranma blushes as Nodoka, his mother, pulls him into a hug, "Ah, it was nothing. I just needed to get out of the house for a bit."
"No matter, you still came to see me. Now be careful and try to avoid cold water."
"Yes mum."
Once Nodoka lets go, Ranma scratches the back of his head, "Hey, mum. As it's a nice day, I'm going to walk home rather than take the train. I need time to think."
"I'll let your fiancé know if she calls."
Around 30 minutes later, after a freak shower, that she is passing through Musashimurayama when a scythe comes out of nowhere towards her. Despite being the pre-eminant martial artist of her generation, and possibly the world, there's still not a lot she can do when an attacker comes out of nowhere. Despite this, she's able to roll with the blow and face the black haired assailant. Her top fluttering down to the street below.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
"You face Sekirei number 14, and I will remove you from the game before you can threaten my Ashikabi."
"It's not like it would take much to threaten your guy, at least I have boobs."
"Why you!"
"Why me, urk!" Whatever Ranma was going to say next is cut off as a wire saw loops around her neck. Flipping over, in a modified cartwheel, she uncrosses the wire even while she's leaping over the head of the assailant behind her. Ducking down, she slips out of the garrot and under a claw swipe from a third assailant.
"What, it takes 3 of you to attack poor little me?"
14 swipes her scythe at him again, "Just stand still so we can terminate you."
"Nah ah, not happening, you need to do better than that." Privately, Ranma's worried, as all three of the women are almost as fast as the old ghoul. On top of that, they seem to be accustomed to working with each other in a fight. It's only the last year and a bit of near constant fighting between himself and the fiancé's and rivals, culminating in fighting Saffron, that has allowed him to keep up with the three of them so far. Unfortunately, while Ranma Saotome doesn't lose, sometimes it takes more than one fight for him to win. Such is the case today, where number 14 manages to catch his temple with the haft of her scythe while he dodged back away from both the blade and a lunging metal claw. This sends him cartwheeling over the edge of the building, to land face down unconscious in the street below.
Ranma wakes up suddenly as a searing pain scorches her back between her shoulder blades. Reflexively, she kicks out at other occupant in the room, kicking the weird crystal out of their hands. Leaping over the head of the middle aged woman, she deftly hits a couple of shiatzu points and knocks her out.
Taking stock of her situation, she realises that she's in some sort of hospital. Though she's never seen a hospital room with so much high tech gear before. Looking down at herself, she realises that she's wearing a hospital gown rather than her normal clothes. Quickly pulling a change of clothes out of her hidden weapons space, Ranma gets dressed and takes the crystal and a clipboard full of notes.
As she opens the door to leave, she hears the clear sounds of an alarm going off, as well as booted feet heading in her direction. Shaking her head, she slips into the Umi-Sen Ken and leaps up to the ceiling where she finds that it's a high quality suspended ceiling. Smiling, she pushes up one of the well concealed tiles and slips into the small gap, the tile being pushed back into place just as the guards arrive at the room. Silently she curses her father for her knowledge of how to sneak into and out of buildings like this, even though it's proving useful.
She carefully makes her way around the corridors until she comes to the door for the stairs. Making sure that there's nobody around, she slips out of the ceiling and is about to open the door when she hears a young girl scream. Before her conscious mind has even processed the sound, her body is already bouncing off the wall and down the corridor towards the scream. As she's heading down the corridor, she disables a few groups of guards that are obviously still searching for her, before bursting through a door into a similar room to the one she woke up in. Sitting on the bed is a blond girl with wires attached to her head, chest and arms. Off to one side is a grey haired woman working on a computer of some description.
Swiftly, Ranma knocks the woman out just as the girl starts to scream again. Not knowing how to fix this, she rips the wires off of the girls body and picks her up.
"It's ok, I've got you, nobody's going to make you scream again."
The girl looks her in the eyes before they roll back into her head, and she passes out. As she steps through the door, a large group of guards rounds the corner accompanied by a white haired woman, with bandages wrapped around her legs and arms. A tattered black kimono covers any other bandages she may be wearing. What catches Ranma's eye are the gauntlets she's wearing, that have scythe-like barb-tipped claws at least 6" in length. At the sight of those, Ranma executes the Saotome family secret technique and runs towards the stairs, quickly followed by the woman, and slowly followed by the guards.
As the door comes into view, she doesn't even slow down. Instead she fires a Móko Takabisha at the door and blows it off its hinges. Co-incidentally, she also knocks out a group of guards that were just coming down the stairs. As she's making her way up the stairs, it becomes clear that the woman with the claws doesn't have the same experience that Ranma does with parkour like movement. A frantic 15 minutes later, where they've been trying to use the lifts to cut off her escape, she finally arrives at a floor before the security guards. Kicking the door off it's hinges, she darts out and down a corridor where there's a glimmer of daylight. There's a ding behind her, and a shout as the claw wielder takes up the chase again, and starts to gain rapidly. Desperately Ranma slides under a claw swipe before bouncing off the wall and down a corridor that leads to an office with an external window. A Móko Takabisha takes care of the door, and she launches a pair of Móko's at the window, sending spiderweb cracks through the entire thing. Vaulting over the desk she turns to protect the girl she's holding from the glass and sees the woman slide to her knees just as Ranma breaks through the window.
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Takami pauses the video and turns back to the audience, "What happened Haihane, she was in the perfect position to catch and you dropped to your knees?""We were on the 110th floor Ma'am, and it just hit me."
Minaka Hiroto, head of MBI, and 'guardian' of the Sekirei, steeples his fingers, "What I want to know is how she did that."
Takami shakes her head, "We detected no flares of her tama during the entire time she was loose in the building. Coupled with her apparent ability to climb around the floating ceiling without making any sound, this made it impossible for us to triangulate her location in the building. In fact, a few times we lost track of her tama completely."
"What about outside?"
"The security team is still putting together the footage of their escape, it should be done tomorrow."
"Well this is an interesting twist to the game, do we know where 108 went after they split up?"
Takami nods, "Nermia."
Karasuba swears, "Shit, that's the place where we have virtually no coverage. I'm going out for a walk."
That said, she stands up and picks up her nodachi before leaving the room.
Ranma Sekirei - 2
DarkPhoenixLady
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Ranma Sekirei – 2
Like normal, Ranma wakes up to the feeling of cold water hitting her face. It only takes her a few seconds to realise that she's not in the Koi pond. Instead, Genma has thrown a bucket of water over her face. The reason for this becomes apparent as he realises that someone is lying next to him.
Kusano opens her eyes and looks at Genma, "You're a poo head, why did you do that?"
In a panic, Ranma scrabbles off the futon, only for Genma's foot to catch her under the chin and launch her into the Koi pond. Unseen by Genma, Kusano starts to cry at the violence happening outside the window.
Meanwhile, on the lawn, Ranma and Genma are fighting like normal. This goes on for a few minutes until Ranma pushes a bit of chi, and something else, into a double handed strike. Genma doesn't have time to raise a block, dodge, or even redirect, before he's sent flying backwards with a collapsed sternum and crashes through the boundary wall and the wall of the house on the other side of the street. Ranma just waits for him to stand up and attack, and she waits a few moments more. Finally, she lowers her guard and starts to walk over to where he went.
"Otousan, come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
As Ranma picks her way through the hole that Genma made, she sees him lying against a broken sink, cold water spraying all over the unconscious panda. After making sure that he's still breathing, she grabs a leg and trudges back to the Tendo's home.
"Tell me you know where she is."
"She's very close to 108 in Nermia sir, beyond that we don't know."
Minka smiles, "Excellent, send out a message to all the current Ashikabi's, include the profile information we have. Tell them that she's a special release, how's the rest of the schedule going?"
The operator nods, "Certainly sir, we are releasing numbers 72, 88, and 100 later today, that will leave another 30 to release over the next few months."
"Delay the release for a couple of days to give the others a chance to catch 109."
Ranma sits, sulking as Kusano pours hot and cold water over his head under the watchful eye of Kasumi. Genma is propped up against a wall, bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs.
It's into this scene that Akane stomps down the stairs into, "Pervert! how could you do that to a child!"
"What did I do?"
"Ranma no baka! Urk!" Kusano's eyes glow green and Kasumi's spider plant shoots out and wraps Akane up like a mummy, with her hands held over her head holding the mallet.
"No attacking my Ashikabi meanie."
Everyone turns to stare at the young girl, as Nabiki tromps down the stairs, past Akane and into the kitchen. A minute later she comes out holding a mug of coffee and stops, staring at Akane.
"Akane, what happened?"
"Mmmph!"
Ranma looks around the room at all the silent people before quickly dashing to the kitchen, "I'm just going to prepare breakfast, be right back!" A moment later he darts back in and grabs the still warm kettle and pours a little over his head.
For once, breakfast at the Tendo household is a quiet affair, with neither Akane, who is being hand fed by Kusano, or Genma, due to his ribs, causing any problems for the other diners. The only minor disturbance was actually caused by Kusano.
"Onii-chan, why do you eat so fast?"
Ranma stops with his chopsticks full of rice half way to his mouth, "Hey old panda, why don't you answer this one?"
Genma coughs painfully, "Well… you see… it's speed training, if he can't eat fast enough then he deserves to go hungry."
Kusano puts on such a serious expression that it's comical, after a while she looks up at Genma, "You're a poo brain. You steal food from your child and call it training."
Ranma gently puts his hand on Kusano's, "The old man is often an idiot, but his training techniques did work."
"Na ah, you poo brain too. You like Akane?"
Ranma looks wildly around the table and then back to the child next to him, "Um, ah."
"See, you poo brain. Mutsubi says that love is the most important thing, if you love don't lie about it. You keep lying."
"But, I have other fiancés"
Akane stills as he says that, and gets a chopstick full of rice up her nose for the trouble as Kusano continues, "Then you strong Ashikabi. I don't want to share when I'm older, but you're strong so it be ok."
Ranma chokes on his rice as Nabiki turns a calculating eye towards the young Sekirei.
"Hello the house!" Dr Tofu's voice from the front gate cuts through the tension in the room like a knife, and Kasumi smoothly stands up and glides to the door, smoothing her skirt on the way.
Opening the door, she bows and blushes faintly as the Dr's glasses steam up, "Please come in Dr, we were just eating breakfast, if you would like to join us."
Tofu laughs as he pulls a skeleton from somewhere, "Don't worry, Betty and I have already eaten. Please, just show me the patients."
As Shampoo sizes up the two newcomers, the green haired one speaks up, "109, my Ashikabi wishes to add you to his flock. Come quietly and we will ensure that you arrive unharmed…"
"Shampoo not know what you talking about. But Shampoo already have Airen."
"Then, we will need to terminate you for the sake of the game. Know that you are facing #16 Toyotama."
The blond adds, "And I am #31, Sai."
With that, the two leap to the attack, even as Shampoo pulls her Bonbori from her weapons space and leaps backward.
"HoHoHo! What can the Black Rose do for you gentlemen?"
The teenager bows, "I am Mikogami Hayato, this is #05 Mutsu, and I would like you to become one of my Sekirei."
"We're just giving you a breather Ebinuma, we'll be back when you don't have a handy knight in shining armour to step in."
The man steps back and looks down at the now named Ebinuma, who is a young woman with black hair, grey eyes, and a tattered blue Yukata. The woman also seems to be breathing heavily, and her eyes are dilated. Concerned, he kneels down and bends over to have a closer look. As he does, she loops her arms around his neck and pulls herself up into a kiss. Wings of mirrored light leaping out from her back and surrounding the two.
"You are my Ashikabi, and I am Sekirei number 47, Ebinuma…"
She trails off as the man falls over backwards with a dazed expression and blood gushing from his nose. Worriedly, Ebinuma lifts the boy off the floor and kneels behind him, cradling his head between her breasts. This doesn't actually seem to help, as the nosebleed flows even more freely, even as she dabs at it with her sleeve. This situation resolves itself when the cistern of a toilet in the building behind them overflows, and a trickle of cold water pours out of the overflow pipe straight onto the mans head. At this point he turns into a small black pig.
Frowning, Ebinuma looks down at the pig in her lap, "I wonder if this happens to all Ashikabi?" Shrugging, she hefts the backpack onto her own back, and picks up the umbrella with a little effort.
"Wow, this is heavy, lets find somewhere to stay. I know, #6 told me about an inn in the north, we can go there."
Ebinuma promptly turns east and starts to walk in the wrong direction.
Takami spits out the tea she was drinking, "What? How can we lose one of the Sekirei?"
"I don't know Ma'am, she was in Edowaga fighting with Numbers 11 and 12, we have cctv footage of an unknown male stepping in and helping her. 15 minutes later she starts walking towards the coast and then disappears."
Another operator calls out, "I've got her MBI card on satellite, she's currently in the Himalayas in Tajikistan!"
"Check that again!" Takami shouts.
"I have triangulation with 5 satellites, she is 200km northeast of Chikhok"
Like normal, Ranma wakes up to the feeling of cold water hitting her face. It only takes her a few seconds to realise that she's not in the Koi pond. Instead, Genma has thrown a bucket of water over her face. The reason for this becomes apparent as he realises that someone is lying next to him.
Kusano opens her eyes and looks at Genma, "You're a poo head, why did you do that?"
In a panic, Ranma scrabbles off the futon, only for Genma's foot to catch her under the chin and launch her into the Koi pond. Unseen by Genma, Kusano starts to cry at the violence happening outside the window.
Meanwhile, on the lawn, Ranma and Genma are fighting like normal. This goes on for a few minutes until Ranma pushes a bit of chi, and something else, into a double handed strike. Genma doesn't have time to raise a block, dodge, or even redirect, before he's sent flying backwards with a collapsed sternum and crashes through the boundary wall and the wall of the house on the other side of the street. Ranma just waits for him to stand up and attack, and she waits a few moments more. Finally, she lowers her guard and starts to walk over to where he went.
"Otousan, come on, I didn't hit you that hard."
As Ranma picks her way through the hole that Genma made, she sees him lying against a broken sink, cold water spraying all over the unconscious panda. After making sure that he's still breathing, she grabs a leg and trudges back to the Tendo's home.
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Minka looks up from his seat as one of the operators pops up in a window on his computer, "Sir, we've just detected 109's signature.""Tell me you know where she is."
"She's very close to 108 in Nermia sir, beyond that we don't know."
Minka smiles, "Excellent, send out a message to all the current Ashikabi's, include the profile information we have. Tell them that she's a special release, how's the rest of the schedule going?"
The operator nods, "Certainly sir, we are releasing numbers 72, 88, and 100 later today, that will leave another 30 to release over the next few months."
"Delay the release for a couple of days to give the others a chance to catch 109."
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"Ashikabi, Sekirei, Ashikabi, Sekirei, Ashikabi, Sekirei…"Ranma sits, sulking as Kusano pours hot and cold water over his head under the watchful eye of Kasumi. Genma is propped up against a wall, bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs.
It's into this scene that Akane stomps down the stairs into, "Pervert! how could you do that to a child!"
"What did I do?"
"Ranma no baka! Urk!" Kusano's eyes glow green and Kasumi's spider plant shoots out and wraps Akane up like a mummy, with her hands held over her head holding the mallet.
"No attacking my Ashikabi meanie."
Everyone turns to stare at the young girl, as Nabiki tromps down the stairs, past Akane and into the kitchen. A minute later she comes out holding a mug of coffee and stops, staring at Akane.
"Akane, what happened?"
"Mmmph!"
Ranma looks around the room at all the silent people before quickly dashing to the kitchen, "I'm just going to prepare breakfast, be right back!" A moment later he darts back in and grabs the still warm kettle and pours a little over his head.
For once, breakfast at the Tendo household is a quiet affair, with neither Akane, who is being hand fed by Kusano, or Genma, due to his ribs, causing any problems for the other diners. The only minor disturbance was actually caused by Kusano.
"Onii-chan, why do you eat so fast?"
Ranma stops with his chopsticks full of rice half way to his mouth, "Hey old panda, why don't you answer this one?"
Genma coughs painfully, "Well… you see… it's speed training, if he can't eat fast enough then he deserves to go hungry."
Kusano puts on such a serious expression that it's comical, after a while she looks up at Genma, "You're a poo brain. You steal food from your child and call it training."
Ranma gently puts his hand on Kusano's, "The old man is often an idiot, but his training techniques did work."
"Na ah, you poo brain too. You like Akane?"
Ranma looks wildly around the table and then back to the child next to him, "Um, ah."
"See, you poo brain. Mutsubi says that love is the most important thing, if you love don't lie about it. You keep lying."
"But, I have other fiancés"
Akane stills as he says that, and gets a chopstick full of rice up her nose for the trouble as Kusano continues, "Then you strong Ashikabi. I don't want to share when I'm older, but you're strong so it be ok."
Ranma chokes on his rice as Nabiki turns a calculating eye towards the young Sekirei.
"Hello the house!" Dr Tofu's voice from the front gate cuts through the tension in the room like a knife, and Kasumi smoothly stands up and glides to the door, smoothing her skirt on the way.
Opening the door, she bows and blushes faintly as the Dr's glasses steam up, "Please come in Dr, we were just eating breakfast, if you would like to join us."
Tofu laughs as he pulls a skeleton from somewhere, "Don't worry, Betty and I have already eaten. Please, just show me the patients."
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Shampoo cycling along the rooftops, delivering food for the lunch rush, when out of nowhere the wheels of her bicycle are shredded by a multitude of bladed strings. As she leaps off the cycle onto a nearby chimney, a woman with short blond hair, and slender build lands on the roof she was just occupying, hanging from her fingers are loops of string. Landing next to her is a tall, curvaceous woman with long dark green hair, and pale blue eyes; in her hands she holds a quarterstaff.As Shampoo sizes up the two newcomers, the green haired one speaks up, "109, my Ashikabi wishes to add you to his flock. Come quietly and we will ensure that you arrive unharmed…"
"Shampoo not know what you talking about. But Shampoo already have Airen."
"Then, we will need to terminate you for the sake of the game. Know that you are facing #16 Toyotama."
The blond adds, "And I am #31, Sai."
With that, the two leap to the attack, even as Shampoo pulls her Bonbori from her weapons space and leaps backward.
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On the other side of Nerima, Kodachi Kuno has just finished 'discussing' the upcoming Martial Arts Gymnastics competition with some students of Kolkhoz High School. While she is winding up her ribbon, a faint clapping sound can be heard from behind her. Turning around, she sees a slim teenage boy with brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing an expensive suit. Behind him is a tall man with messy silver hair and grey eyes. Held loosely in one hand is a sheathed straight sword."HoHoHo! What can the Black Rose do for you gentlemen?"
The teenager bows, "I am Mikogami Hayato, this is #05 Mutsu, and I would like you to become one of my Sekirei."
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Over in Edogawa, a young woman desperately jumps off a building and lands, sprawling, on the floor in front of a young man with a yellow and black bandana, a huge backpack, and an umbrella. As a lightning bolt flies down from one of the two women still on the rooftop, the man steps in the way and raises his umbrella to deflect the lightning bolt. The woman dodges and both of them look at the bandana lodged 3" deep in the brickwork before nodding to each other and leaving."We're just giving you a breather Ebinuma, we'll be back when you don't have a handy knight in shining armour to step in."
The man steps back and looks down at the now named Ebinuma, who is a young woman with black hair, grey eyes, and a tattered blue Yukata. The woman also seems to be breathing heavily, and her eyes are dilated. Concerned, he kneels down and bends over to have a closer look. As he does, she loops her arms around his neck and pulls herself up into a kiss. Wings of mirrored light leaping out from her back and surrounding the two.
"You are my Ashikabi, and I am Sekirei number 47, Ebinuma…"
She trails off as the man falls over backwards with a dazed expression and blood gushing from his nose. Worriedly, Ebinuma lifts the boy off the floor and kneels behind him, cradling his head between her breasts. This doesn't actually seem to help, as the nosebleed flows even more freely, even as she dabs at it with her sleeve. This situation resolves itself when the cistern of a toilet in the building behind them overflows, and a trickle of cold water pours out of the overflow pipe straight onto the mans head. At this point he turns into a small black pig.
Frowning, Ebinuma looks down at the pig in her lap, "I wonder if this happens to all Ashikabi?" Shrugging, she hefts the backpack onto her own back, and picks up the umbrella with a little effort.
"Wow, this is heavy, lets find somewhere to stay. I know, #6 told me about an inn in the north, we can go there."
Ebinuma promptly turns east and starts to walk in the wrong direction.
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"Takami Ma'am, we've just lost #47."Takami spits out the tea she was drinking, "What? How can we lose one of the Sekirei?"
"I don't know Ma'am, she was in Edowaga fighting with Numbers 11 and 12, we have cctv footage of an unknown male stepping in and helping her. 15 minutes later she starts walking towards the coast and then disappears."
Another operator calls out, "I've got her MBI card on satellite, she's currently in the Himalayas in Tajikistan!"
"Check that again!" Takami shouts.
"I have triangulation with 5 satellites, she is 200km northeast of Chikhok"
Ranma Sekirei - 3
DarkPhoenixLady
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Ranma Sekirei - 3
Ranma trudges up to the gates of Furikan High School, her hair plastered to her face and her silks sodden with water. Glowering next to her is a damp Akane, who got caught in the splash as the washer woman threw out a bucket of water rather than the normal ladle that she normally does. Unknown to Akane, adding to Ranma's discomfort is a trickle of liquid seeping down the inside of her leg, along with a slight cramping feeling in her abdomen.
"Ho fair maidens, I am glad to see that the evil sorcerer Saotome has released thee from his grasp for a moment. I, The Blue Thunder, wish for you to date me…"
Ranma growls, "Not today Kuno, go and annoy someone else."
Kuno instead draws his bokken and steps forward, "I strikkkeeeee"
Almost faster than the eye could see, Ranma covers the distance between them and launches Kuno over the school with a kick to the belly. As she stalks into the school and heads for the boys toilets Akane look around in confusion.
A few minutes later, Ranma approaches Akane's friend Sayuri, "I'm really sorry, but do you have any spare hygiene products, as I wasn't expecting that to start today."
Sayuri nods and hands over a tampon and pad. Once Ranma's left again, Akane asks, "What was that about?"
"She didn't expect that time of the month to come today."
Akane's eyes widen, as she has never known Ranma to have a period, when the curse isn't locked. Even during the cat tongue she was period free for the entire 3 months. "I wonder why she didn't just change back to a guy."
"Because it didn't work."
Akane spins around, mallet at the ready, and Ranma just takes it out of her grasp, "Baka, what did you do that for?"
"You pervert, how dare you."
"Hey, it's not like I wanted this. 's not like a jock like you would understand anyway." Ranma snatches another mallet out of her grasp, "Hey, are you slowing down in your old age?"
"Ranma!"
Somehow, they manage to get to class on time. As Ranma sits down, Daisuke drapes over her shoulder, his arms hanging over her breasts, "You don't feel like being a guy tod…oooohhh."
The teacher, Hinako Ninomiya, looks over as Daisuke crumples to the floor holding his stomach, "Miss Saotome, what do you think you are doing?"
Ranma shrugs, "He touched my boob and it's that time of the month."
"Oh, carry on then."
By lunchtime, the entire school knows that Ranma has PMS, and to keep well clear.
"Granddaughter, what happened?"
"Two women wanted to take me to someone they called an Ashikabi to join their flock. I told them I already had an Arien, so they attacked me with intent to eliminate me."
"I see, this is troubling. How capable were they?"
Shampoo wilts, "Better than me, almost as good as Arien."
Cologne nods, "That word, Ashikabi, seems familiar. I'll send a letter back to the village to check out histories."
With that said, Cologne turns the sign to closed and starts to tend to Shampoo's wounds.
"Ranma, could I have a word?"
Ranma stops her kata and turns to face Kasumi, "Sure, what can I do for ya?"
"We have noticed that you have been a girl for almost a week now."
Ranma shrugs, "Yeh, what of it?"
"Your father and my sister are worried about the fact it doesn't seem to be bothering you."
Ranma cocks her head to one side, "What? Are they afraid I'm going girl?"
"I would imagine so."
Ranma shakes her head, "Na, it ain't that. It's just that this form doesn't feel wrong anymore. Whatever they did to me while I was unconscious changed something about this form, made it whole in some way. That an it's been quiet since I got back from wherever. I ain't seen Shampoo or Ryoga, and Kuno's just an annoyance."
"Oh my, I did have one other thing to ask you about."
"Oh?"
"Kusano, I don't feel it's right for her to be sleeping in the same room as two grown men."
Ranma looks down at herself, "I ain't exactly a man here."
"I can see that, but my point still stands."
Ranma looks out of the window to watch Kusano working on a flower bed by the Koi Pond, "I know, but she's so young. I can feel that she needs to be close when she sleeps, and I need to protect her ya know. It's also not like we have any other rooms here. I also don't want to take her to see Mum, she's doing better but she's still not ok with my curse."
Kasumi nods seriously, "I understand, however, that doesn't change how inappropriate it is."
Ranma thinks for a moment, "How about this, we kick pops out into your fathers room, and I promise to sleep as a girl."
"That would not be appropriate."
"Less appropriate than Kusano sleeping in the same room as pops?"
The door to the dojo slams open, as both Soun and Genma try to squeeze through at the same time, "No son of mine is going to sleep as a girl!"
"You are engaged to Akane, it's inappropriate for you to be sleeping with another woman in your bed!"
Ranma looks up, "Oh look, practice. Kasumi, discuss it with the girls and let us know what you decide."
With that Ranma grabs the two men and throws them out the back door, away from Kusano, before leaping after them, a faint battle aura forming around her.
Kasumi sighs, "Come in Akane, you too Nabiki."
The two girls come through the door, "Sit!"
Obediently both girls sit on the floor, though Akane takes one longing look at the fight going on behind the dojo as she does so.
"Nabiki," Nabiki looks startled to be addressed directly, "Kusano is off limits. She is too young to handle the fallout of your schemes, do you understand?"
"What? I would never."
"I know you care about the family, but sometimes your antics leave unfortunate collateral damage. As such, you will ensure that Kusano is not involved in any of these antics. Am I clear?"
Nabiki swallows, "Very."
Kasumi smiles, "Good, with that out the way, what do you think of Ranma's suggestion?"
Akane scowls, "That pervert just wants to sleep with a girl."
"Now Akane, that's just unkind. Ranma did rescue her, and it has proven quite impossible to stop Kusano from joining Ranma in bed."
Nabiki looks alert, "What do you mean sis?"
"Surely you are aware that I set up a futon for her in my room?"
"I, uh, yeah." In truth, Nabiki has been avoiding Kasumi's room for the last few days, ever since she experienced being tied up by Kusano for being nosy, and as she had never had any cameras in her sister's room, this left her unaware of the changes inside.
"Well, Kusano thinks she's been sneaky when she leaves. Though she's much like Akane was at that age and can't help giggling."
"I was never like that!"
Kasumi just smiles sadly at Akane, as it's true that after their mother died, she stopped being like that, "That is beside the point at the moment. What of Kusano's sleeping arrangements?"
"Why don't we just move the panda in with Grandfather Happosai, after all, he is one of his disciples."
"That; is a very good idea, I will…" Kasumi cuts off as there's a loud splash followed by a childish scream of rage. As they all turn to look, they see a panda being wrapped up in plants as he's climbing out of the koi pond. Kusano is standing with her arms apart and her drenched summer dress, one of Nabiki's old ones, plastered to her skin.
Ranma and, despite Ranma's better judgement, Kusano, both get off the train at Nishi-Kokubunji Station in order to buy Kusano some clothes while they're waiting for the train to Ome to see his mother. As they leave the station a call of "Leave me alone you despicable louts! Forasmuch as I enjoy a brawl, thou art behaving in a most unseemly fashion!"
As Ranma looks up, a blond woman wearing a short white dress with a long black open front over dress jumps over the road from the station roof to the shops. Following her are the Sekirei that attacked Ranma over a week ago. Ranma looks up and then down at Kusano in indecision, indecision that is solved when Kusano holds up her arms to be carried. Swiftly picking her up, Ranma launches them up to the roof tops and takes up the chase. After all, a Martial Artists duty is to protect the weak, even when the weak might normally be able to defend themselves. It has absolutely nothing to do with wanting payback, honest.
They finally catch up when the person they were chasing runs out of roof, and the three Sekirei following her manage to surround her.
"…to fight, our Ashikabi just wants strong Sekirei."
"There is more chance of a snowball surviving a volcano than there is of me being willing to be winged by an over-evolved monkey."
Putting Kusano down on a nearby roof, Ranma leaps into the circle to stand behind the blond, "Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?"
#14 looks at him, "We're not supposed to attack humans or Ashikabi, so I'll give you one chance to leave."
"No, I don't think I will. Not after you put my sister in hospital a week ago."
"Then your sister shouldn't have tangled with us, last chance!"
"I don't think a boy like you has much to offer me, maybe I should take on one of the others. At least they're real women."
The blond says over her shoulder, "I don't need your help monkey brains."
"Hey, who said I was helping you, I want payback from the boy over there and his cheating friends."
#14 screeches, "I am not a boy!"
"You sure look like one, no hips, flat chest, wide shoulders. Yep boy, I bet if I checked I'd find you're tucking."
"Why you!" #14 leaps forward to attack with her scythe and Ranma deftly takes to the air, pushing of the haft as he launches a kick at her head. Behind him the other two leap in to attack the blond. As they do, she calls out "Get back you foul varmint, Water celebration!" and fires a jet of water at one of them while dodging the other.
Ranma's ability to pay attention to the other fight quickly dissolves as #14 attacks with sharp while swings of her scythe, utilising the entire length of the haft and blade to good effect. Though, the fact that Ranma won't stay at roof level is giving her fits. Finally, Ranma sees an opening and steps inside her guard, "Kachū Tenshin!". #14 goes flying off the roof as hundreds of punches catch her in the torso within the span of a second.
Seeing their companion fall of the roof, one of the others disengages to collect #14 while the other one switches target to keep Ranma busy before. As she does, the blond fires a water blast at her, sending her off the roof in a different direction. When the water dies down, a busty redhead wrings out her soaking top, "Whacha do that for? They were retreating!"
As Kusano starts to hop over to them, the blond pokes Ranma in the boob, "Doth my eyes deceive me? Pray monkey brain, by what are you known?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome, best martial artist in Nerima, who are you?"
"Number 9, Tuskiumi." She replies absently, her breathing starting to become heavier, "No, I refuse, I will not be winged by an over evolved monkey!"
With that last statement, she leaps off of the roof.
Ranma trudges up to the gates of Furikan High School, her hair plastered to her face and her silks sodden with water. Glowering next to her is a damp Akane, who got caught in the splash as the washer woman threw out a bucket of water rather than the normal ladle that she normally does. Unknown to Akane, adding to Ranma's discomfort is a trickle of liquid seeping down the inside of her leg, along with a slight cramping feeling in her abdomen.
"Ho fair maidens, I am glad to see that the evil sorcerer Saotome has released thee from his grasp for a moment. I, The Blue Thunder, wish for you to date me…"
Ranma growls, "Not today Kuno, go and annoy someone else."
Kuno instead draws his bokken and steps forward, "I strikkkeeeee"
Almost faster than the eye could see, Ranma covers the distance between them and launches Kuno over the school with a kick to the belly. As she stalks into the school and heads for the boys toilets Akane look around in confusion.
A few minutes later, Ranma approaches Akane's friend Sayuri, "I'm really sorry, but do you have any spare hygiene products, as I wasn't expecting that to start today."
Sayuri nods and hands over a tampon and pad. Once Ranma's left again, Akane asks, "What was that about?"
"She didn't expect that time of the month to come today."
Akane's eyes widen, as she has never known Ranma to have a period, when the curse isn't locked. Even during the cat tongue she was period free for the entire 3 months. "I wonder why she didn't just change back to a guy."
"Because it didn't work."
Akane spins around, mallet at the ready, and Ranma just takes it out of her grasp, "Baka, what did you do that for?"
"You pervert, how dare you."
"Hey, it's not like I wanted this. 's not like a jock like you would understand anyway." Ranma snatches another mallet out of her grasp, "Hey, are you slowing down in your old age?"
"Ranma!"
Somehow, they manage to get to class on time. As Ranma sits down, Daisuke drapes over her shoulder, his arms hanging over her breasts, "You don't feel like being a guy tod…oooohhh."
The teacher, Hinako Ninomiya, looks over as Daisuke crumples to the floor holding his stomach, "Miss Saotome, what do you think you are doing?"
Ranma shrugs, "He touched my boob and it's that time of the month."
"Oh, carry on then."
By lunchtime, the entire school knows that Ranma has PMS, and to keep well clear.
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A bruised and battered purple cat scratches at the door to the Nekohaten until Cologne opens the door and it limps in. Seeing the state of her great-granddaughter, Cologne picks her up and carries her to the kitchen, where she pours some hot water over her head. Where the cat was, Shampoo now sits, one eye already swelling shut, with a massive bruise running the length of her face. Her clothes have been cut to ribbons, and she also has numerous shallow cuts and bruises all over her body. As she breaths in, she winces as one of her ribs doesn't move right."Granddaughter, what happened?"
"Two women wanted to take me to someone they called an Ashikabi to join their flock. I told them I already had an Arien, so they attacked me with intent to eliminate me."
"I see, this is troubling. How capable were they?"
Shampoo wilts, "Better than me, almost as good as Arien."
Cologne nods, "That word, Ashikabi, seems familiar. I'll send a letter back to the village to check out histories."
With that said, Cologne turns the sign to closed and starts to tend to Shampoo's wounds.
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A few days later, Kasumi is voted to be the person to approach Ranma about her female form."Ranma, could I have a word?"
Ranma stops her kata and turns to face Kasumi, "Sure, what can I do for ya?"
"We have noticed that you have been a girl for almost a week now."
Ranma shrugs, "Yeh, what of it?"
"Your father and my sister are worried about the fact it doesn't seem to be bothering you."
Ranma cocks her head to one side, "What? Are they afraid I'm going girl?"
"I would imagine so."
Ranma shakes her head, "Na, it ain't that. It's just that this form doesn't feel wrong anymore. Whatever they did to me while I was unconscious changed something about this form, made it whole in some way. That an it's been quiet since I got back from wherever. I ain't seen Shampoo or Ryoga, and Kuno's just an annoyance."
"Oh my, I did have one other thing to ask you about."
"Oh?"
"Kusano, I don't feel it's right for her to be sleeping in the same room as two grown men."
Ranma looks down at herself, "I ain't exactly a man here."
"I can see that, but my point still stands."
Ranma looks out of the window to watch Kusano working on a flower bed by the Koi Pond, "I know, but she's so young. I can feel that she needs to be close when she sleeps, and I need to protect her ya know. It's also not like we have any other rooms here. I also don't want to take her to see Mum, she's doing better but she's still not ok with my curse."
Kasumi nods seriously, "I understand, however, that doesn't change how inappropriate it is."
Ranma thinks for a moment, "How about this, we kick pops out into your fathers room, and I promise to sleep as a girl."
"That would not be appropriate."
"Less appropriate than Kusano sleeping in the same room as pops?"
The door to the dojo slams open, as both Soun and Genma try to squeeze through at the same time, "No son of mine is going to sleep as a girl!"
"You are engaged to Akane, it's inappropriate for you to be sleeping with another woman in your bed!"
Ranma looks up, "Oh look, practice. Kasumi, discuss it with the girls and let us know what you decide."
With that Ranma grabs the two men and throws them out the back door, away from Kusano, before leaping after them, a faint battle aura forming around her.
Kasumi sighs, "Come in Akane, you too Nabiki."
The two girls come through the door, "Sit!"
Obediently both girls sit on the floor, though Akane takes one longing look at the fight going on behind the dojo as she does so.
"Nabiki," Nabiki looks startled to be addressed directly, "Kusano is off limits. She is too young to handle the fallout of your schemes, do you understand?"
"What? I would never."
"I know you care about the family, but sometimes your antics leave unfortunate collateral damage. As such, you will ensure that Kusano is not involved in any of these antics. Am I clear?"
Nabiki swallows, "Very."
Kasumi smiles, "Good, with that out the way, what do you think of Ranma's suggestion?"
Akane scowls, "That pervert just wants to sleep with a girl."
"Now Akane, that's just unkind. Ranma did rescue her, and it has proven quite impossible to stop Kusano from joining Ranma in bed."
Nabiki looks alert, "What do you mean sis?"
"Surely you are aware that I set up a futon for her in my room?"
"I, uh, yeah." In truth, Nabiki has been avoiding Kasumi's room for the last few days, ever since she experienced being tied up by Kusano for being nosy, and as she had never had any cameras in her sister's room, this left her unaware of the changes inside.
"Well, Kusano thinks she's been sneaky when she leaves. Though she's much like Akane was at that age and can't help giggling."
"I was never like that!"
Kasumi just smiles sadly at Akane, as it's true that after their mother died, she stopped being like that, "That is beside the point at the moment. What of Kusano's sleeping arrangements?"
"Why don't we just move the panda in with Grandfather Happosai, after all, he is one of his disciples."
"That; is a very good idea, I will…" Kasumi cuts off as there's a loud splash followed by a childish scream of rage. As they all turn to look, they see a panda being wrapped up in plants as he's climbing out of the koi pond. Kusano is standing with her arms apart and her drenched summer dress, one of Nabiki's old ones, plastered to her skin.
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As if Fate had been listening to Ranma and decided to screw with him, the quiet time comes to an end quite spectacularly.Ranma and, despite Ranma's better judgement, Kusano, both get off the train at Nishi-Kokubunji Station in order to buy Kusano some clothes while they're waiting for the train to Ome to see his mother. As they leave the station a call of "Leave me alone you despicable louts! Forasmuch as I enjoy a brawl, thou art behaving in a most unseemly fashion!"
As Ranma looks up, a blond woman wearing a short white dress with a long black open front over dress jumps over the road from the station roof to the shops. Following her are the Sekirei that attacked Ranma over a week ago. Ranma looks up and then down at Kusano in indecision, indecision that is solved when Kusano holds up her arms to be carried. Swiftly picking her up, Ranma launches them up to the roof tops and takes up the chase. After all, a Martial Artists duty is to protect the weak, even when the weak might normally be able to defend themselves. It has absolutely nothing to do with wanting payback, honest.
They finally catch up when the person they were chasing runs out of roof, and the three Sekirei following her manage to surround her.
"…to fight, our Ashikabi just wants strong Sekirei."
"There is more chance of a snowball surviving a volcano than there is of me being willing to be winged by an over-evolved monkey."
Putting Kusano down on a nearby roof, Ranma leaps into the circle to stand behind the blond, "Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?"
#14 looks at him, "We're not supposed to attack humans or Ashikabi, so I'll give you one chance to leave."
"No, I don't think I will. Not after you put my sister in hospital a week ago."
"Then your sister shouldn't have tangled with us, last chance!"
"I don't think a boy like you has much to offer me, maybe I should take on one of the others. At least they're real women."
The blond says over her shoulder, "I don't need your help monkey brains."
"Hey, who said I was helping you, I want payback from the boy over there and his cheating friends."
#14 screeches, "I am not a boy!"
"You sure look like one, no hips, flat chest, wide shoulders. Yep boy, I bet if I checked I'd find you're tucking."
"Why you!" #14 leaps forward to attack with her scythe and Ranma deftly takes to the air, pushing of the haft as he launches a kick at her head. Behind him the other two leap in to attack the blond. As they do, she calls out "Get back you foul varmint, Water celebration!" and fires a jet of water at one of them while dodging the other.
Ranma's ability to pay attention to the other fight quickly dissolves as #14 attacks with sharp while swings of her scythe, utilising the entire length of the haft and blade to good effect. Though, the fact that Ranma won't stay at roof level is giving her fits. Finally, Ranma sees an opening and steps inside her guard, "Kachū Tenshin!". #14 goes flying off the roof as hundreds of punches catch her in the torso within the span of a second.
Seeing their companion fall of the roof, one of the others disengages to collect #14 while the other one switches target to keep Ranma busy before. As she does, the blond fires a water blast at her, sending her off the roof in a different direction. When the water dies down, a busty redhead wrings out her soaking top, "Whacha do that for? They were retreating!"
As Kusano starts to hop over to them, the blond pokes Ranma in the boob, "Doth my eyes deceive me? Pray monkey brain, by what are you known?"
"I'm Ranma Saotome, best martial artist in Nerima, who are you?"
"Number 9, Tuskiumi." She replies absently, her breathing starting to become heavier, "No, I refuse, I will not be winged by an over evolved monkey!"
With that last statement, she leaps off of the roof.