RP XCOM: The Story of Defiance.

[MarineAvenger]

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Elizabeth's Room
September 4th, 2018
0700 Hours

Elizabeth stretched her arms and back, standing on her toes to get as much relief as possible as she let out a high pitched yawn. Scratching her messy hair, Elizabeth began to strip down out of her pajamas and into normal clothes. Today was her day off and she was going to enjoy it. After a few minutes of putting on her clothes and try her best to straighten out her messy hair, she sat down on the bed looking at the ceiling.

Ellie thought about a lot of things, her childhood, her boyfriend, what the hell she was going to have for breakfast that wasn't mush. She smiled and pulled the zipper of her high boots up and stood up snapping her hands to her hands. Looking in the mirror she gave a satisfied nod and strode out the door with a hop in her step.

***

Markus's Room
September 4th, 2018
0720 Hours

Markus awoke with a start as he fell out of bed and landed on the metal floor with a thud, causing Riley to jump up and walk cautiously over to his master for a sniff to see if he was still alive. Markus snapped up and looked around confused until he looked at his bed and the cover wrapped around him. The man sighed and unwrapped himself and threw his cover back onto the bed as he sat down, his eyes looking at the floor.

Markus thought about his home in Sydney, he thought about Elene and Lily, and strangely, even Vee and Emma. His stomach rumbled breaking his train of thought and he put a hand on the upset organ and sighed. Markus walked to the closet and hastily threw on a pair of jeans, white under shirt, and white button up. It was a change from his usual shorts and soccer shirt but he liked being presentable. Slipping into his sneakers, he took a drowsy look in the mirror and wasn't going to bother with trying to fix his hair, it was always looking like he rolled out of bed, no matter how much he tried to fix it. The messy hair worked for him and considering the way he got out of bed, it was fitting. Whistling for Riley to follow, Markus walked out the door.

***

Cafeteria
September 4th, 2018
0800 Hours

Elizabeth slid her tray in line in the cafeteria with a perky smile on her face as the workers put today's breakfast on the trays. Surprisingly, it was actual food, with two slices of toast with butter, (though Elizabeth took cream cheese instead because that was what she liked on her toast), a nice helping of scrambled eggs and even a strip of bacon with some orange juice. Whatever brought this actual food here was a life saver, as the bar didn't carry breakfast items. She sat down at a table but jumped as a cry came from under the table and a dog of sorts scrambled out from under it. "Riley, what the hell!?"

Elizabeth looked around embarrassed and waved her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry, I didn't see him under there!"

The man across from her rubbed the dog's head and looked at Ellie, though she was surprised by how young he looked. "It is fine, Riley isn't hurt that much, aren't you you big baby?" Riley barked and climbed back under the table. "Don't worry about it too much, he is a big softie."

Elizabeth stared at the man in a mix of confusion and wonder, not recalling if she ever seen him before. He is cute...wait, what am I saying! I can't be thinking like that! Elizabeth smiled and tilted her head. "I didn't catch your name?"

The man nodded his head and held out a hand "Markus."

Elizabeth shook it. "Elizabeth. How come I haven't seen you before?"

Markus chuckled. "I came in with the crew from the EXALT base. I was a scientist alongside Elene and the others."

Elizabeth smiled. "Funny...I never heard your name mentioned."

Markus sighed and shook his head looking at Riley under the table. "Why is it I am the only one they gloss over?" He asked his furry friend. "Well, I did. I am currently with Legion with the occasional day in the gene-labs when they need me." He stated a little annoyed.

"I...I didn't mean to offend you! Its just...actually, Desmond may have mentioned your name once." Elizabeth recollected.

"Desmond? How do you know him?" Markus asked in surprise.

"I am his girlfriend. How do you know him?" Ellie asked.

"Well...I am actually dating his sister." Markus admitted.

Ellie was a little taken aback and laughed nervously. That is a relief. "Good for you, I had no idea Elene had found someone."

Markus grinned. "I am not surprised considering you barely knew who I was in the first place."

Elizabeth reddened a bit and crossed her arms with a harrumph.

Markus laughed and ate some of his food. "Well, you know who I am now. You have any plans for today?"

Ellie shook her head. "No, today is my day off."

Markus nodded. "Wanna hang out then? I am sure we have a lot of stories to tell."

Ellie thought for a moment and smiled. "That sounds wonderful." Elizabeth stood up and followed Markus out of the cafeteria.

 

[Adrammalech]

// FULFILLMENT OF TERMS //
Emily Fischer
XCOM Headquarters – Alien Containment Unit
Siberia, Russian Federation
September 2, 2018 – 6:51 PM

Emily sighed as she reached the door, steeling herself for her meeting with the monster once more. As soon as she stepped inside the Ethereal’s chamber, she felt happiness radiating from the other side of the room, Luxuria’s excitement palpable to her improving senses. She closed the door behind her and walked towards the special containment pod, and Luxuria straightened her back and hovered a little closer. She stood beside the controls, crossing her arms and looking up at the masked alien expectantly.

Emily…has it been a week already? Time certainly does fly, trapped in a box.

“Six days.”

You came early? I’m flattered…

“Great. Let’s speed this up, I know why I’m here, but what did you want me to come back for? What’s your big plan?”

I want total access to your thoughts. I want you to answer my questions as I have yours, and in return, I will give you any intelligence you want.

“You want to play question for a question?”

Yes. I will ask you something, and you will ask something in return. But if you lie, withhold, or refuse; I will do so in turn.

“Fine, if that's what I need to do. Go ahead.”

How are you?

Emily tilted her head. “Are you serious?”

How are you, Emily?

“I’m surrounded by people I love, I’m making contact with my family, and I’m kicking some ass in a war with aliens. Better than some people.”

So hostile…and I was hoping that your early arrival meant I was growing on you.

“You’ll grow on me when you help. I had another flashback as you. But this time, it forced me to my knees in public. What’s happening to me?”

You know as well as I do that your memory is extremely rare, and even in the rare cases, it is poorly documented. While most New Ones have a certain limit on the things that they can recall, you appear to have an unlimited amount. My memories are now your memories, and you can recall them as you see fit.

“I can’t, though. Every time I even try to access your thoughts, I get a splitting headache, and even when I’m in your memories, I can’t understand anything other than body language.”

I didn’t say you could understand them. If you had unmitigated access to my knowledge, you could become as advanced as me in moments. Ethereal brain patterns are different than yours. Forcing your mind will cause you natural agony, until you evolve to such a point that you are like us.

“And the powers you gave me?”

The same. You will need to understand my thought patterns to use them without any risk to yourself. However, they will be more powerful than a novice of psionics to start with.

“So I have a bunch of powers I can’t control and a lot of memories that hurt my mind forever. Thanks for that.”

If you learn to understand my brain somehow, your sarcasm would fade. My conscious had such an expanse to inhabit in your mind…the synergy between you and I, to be wasted on this cage… Luxuria touched her withered hand to the glass. So disappointing.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t let you snatch my body.”

Luxuria shook her head, the human reaction throwing Emily off a bit. I never wanted to hurt you, Emily. I hope you will one day understand me as I understand you.

“I think you don’t get that this isn’t a misunderstanding, it’s what I do and don’t want. Go ahead.”

Why are you not speaking to me with your Gift?

“You’re not taking this seriously.”

My questions are intentionally easy, to comfort you. Why do you continue to distrust me?

Emily sighed with resignation, relaxing her shoulders and calming a bit. She decided to try and be a little nicer.

“I don’t know why not, to be honest. Why are you?”

This is how we communicate. Even with subordinates. It’s instant and simple.

“Well, I guess I just like using my mouth.”

Perhaps I would too, if I had lips as alluring as yours.

“Gross.”

I want to see you use your Gift.

“Too bad. It’s not truth-or-dare.”

Very well. Your turn.

“Last time we talked, you mentioned something about Ascension. What is it?”

Total mastery of the Gift. It begins with being able to use all color aspects, and some believe new abilities will manifest as well. It is the subject of much debate and envy among my people. We exhibited Orange, Red, and Blue while we were joined, and without so much as a blink. It’s my belief that mastery of all six would open the way to Ascension. A perfect mind such as mine, a perfect conduit such as yours…mmm, if only I had a few hours more with you…

“If only I had no time at all with you,” Emily sneered. “Your turn.”

I want to see you use your Gift.

“You have to ask a question,” Emily sighed.

Emily, would you please demonstrate your Gift for me?

“Why? Does it get you off or something?”

Are you using one of your questions?

Emily sighed and stepped away from the console, standing in the center of the room. With a brief moment of focusing, she conjured a whirlwind, a fraction of what she did under Luxuria’s control. With a flourish, she burst the rift apart, unsettling the lighter things in the room. She felt Luxuria’s grin in her mind as she walked back up to the console.

You’re developing. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how powerful we were together, though.

“Whatever. Happy?”

Sanguine.

“What happened with the Commander’s daughter? I felt the surge of energy in the infirmary.”

Oh, young Brigid. Such talent in such a small package. One day, she may be as impressive as you.

“Stop complimenting me. What happened?”

You should learn to enjoy people complimenting you. It means you’re doing something right.

“What happened?” Emily asked flatly, growling with annoyance.

The girl learned of a death in the family. She was going to go off and deal with who did the deed, and pacified any in her way. I would’ve killed everyone in my way, but alas, the naivety of youth…

“How did a seven year old girl get that far?”

Willpower is malleable. An analogy: when you were escaping the Epiphany, you cut a bloodied swath through at least a dozen men, and you were but a scared and underfed teenager. We have all had times in our lives where our emotions increased our abilities, and psionics is no exception.

“I see…I suppose that makes sense. And keep out of my memories.”

Luxuria straightened, ignoring her request. My turn. How do you feel about Jack Stewart?

Emily glanced up at the observation deck, remembering that she was being watched, and possibly recorded.

“I care for him,” she replied passively.

How much?

“Immensely.”

Did he provide you the healing that you wanted?

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Luxuria’s stare traced up to the same place, and her shoulders slumped.

Very well. Perhaps I will explain another time.

Emily sighed. “Tell me what you know about Superbia.”

He is a very lazy man with little ambition. His greatest reason for attacking Earth is so that he may improve his collection of alien sex aids. We have a lot in common, but my collection is much bigger. He can be quite envious.

“Stop bullshitting.”

You know the terms of our exchange. Would you like to revise your previous answer, or should we get to my next question?

Emily’s arms closed and she shivered slightly. “He did. When I was with him, I felt…almost normal again, and he has my loyalty and affection for it.”

I am glad you are happy. Doesn’t it feel good when your inferiors meet your expectations?

“He’s not my inferior.”

I’m sure. Although, he’s already told you that he loves and needs you. How many times have you told him the same?

Emily didn’t answer, and only glared at her expectantly.

 

[Adrammalech]

Superbia is the Overseer of Africa, a diligent worker and planner. He organized much of the attack here, alongside me, as it was my territory. He is an impressive man, but a little too grandiose for my tastes. If you ran into reinforcements in my base, it was likely surplus from his operations in your dusty little continent.

“That’s it? What about his plans?”

He plans to kill you all until you accept their leadership. He has no quirks such as me, he simply wants to do straightforward work and receive straightforward praise until someone tells him the paradigm has changed. The paradigm may have, if our joining was a success. However, since I was captured instead, it is likely it will not change, outside of attacking here again to rescue me…or more likely, end me for my treason. If you would like to know something more intricate, you will have to let me out to communicate to him.

“That’s fine. I like you in there.”

I’m glad you’re warming to see me. The Ethereal chortled smugly. Now, why do you control your friends?

“What are you talking about?”

The unmoving visage of Luxuria bored into her, seeming to get closer with every second. She tried to shake off the alien’s influence, until she felt a touch behind her. A perfect copy of her stood in intricate lingerie, her delicate fingers running slowly down her arm. The clone smiled at her with a warm and comforting affection, her eyes twinkling and difficult to break away from. The voice of Luxuria snapped her attention away from the doppelganger.

The flirtatious touches, the loving smiles, the mischievous winks. The way your stare burns into others and begs their attention, even though you don’t require it. You may not use mind control, but you manipulate them, even the ones closest to you. Why?

“I don’t know. That’s just who I’ve always been, people like me and I get away with things.”

The illusion grinned at her winningly, fluttering her eyelashes and pressing her body against Emily. She looked over again at the desperate-looking clone, the copper and emerald starbursts of her eyes undulating slowly, the hazel hypnotism getting under even her skin. The lurid seduction played into Luxuria’s demonstration perfectly.

Have you ever considered that your desire to defend and manipulate your friends is a natural disposition because of what you’ve lost…or rather, what you’ve given away? Your home, your family… Emily’s illusion began to strip eagerly. Your innocence?

Emily’s head snapped back and her eyes went wide with fury. She shot forwards, her hand slamming onto the button and holding it firmly. The illusion broke into pieces and Luxuria cried in pain as the shock ran through her, and wailing for a few moments. She let go, her stare smoldering with rage as the Ethereal regained her pose. As it began to hover again, she couldn’t shake the feeling the Ethereal was smiling at her.

“Don’t forget who’s in the cage,” Emily said darkly.

Of course. My apologies.

“We’re done,” Emily turned around and began marching out.

Wait.

“What?”

I can offer you something.

“I’m listening.”

The flashbacks. I can help you decode them. If you let me connect with you more intimately, I can-

“You’re not getting back in my head.”

Not as much as before. I can accustom your mind little by little to our pattern of thinking. You can learn our language, and unlock the knowledge I imprinted on you.

“What's your angle?”

She shifted in place, taking a moment to think.

I have been thinking that you are correct, with your statements last week. My people have acted dishonorably towards you, and I want to repair that.

“Then why all these fucking games? Why are you asking me questions and fucking with my mind if you’re going to help?”

For every you, there are thousands of humans I dislike. I cannot forget my people, but perhaps, I can help yours, as long as you honor our agreement.

“Fine, go ahead.”

I need you to decrease the dampeners.

“No.”

Only a small amount. I will be able to communicate with you better, and your brain patterns will shift more to a middle ground. An analogy: preparing your immune system with a modicum of germs to fight a disease.

Emily sighed, rubbing her forehead for a moment. She couldn't risk that pain coming while she was in the field. With a regretful but decisive look, she flashed up at the observers and nodded, pinching her fingers together in the universal sign for “just a little bit.” The thrumming inside the pod grew ever so lighter, and Luxuria eagerly fired a strand of mental power to Emily, wrapping up her mind. She felt a tingling sensation in her brain, followed by an unnatural warmth flowing through her.

You know, Emily…if you found me another body and freed me, we could enjoy each other so much more intimately. What lovers we’d make, ruling the galaxy with our beauty and power.

Just do what you came to do.

Can’t I have my fun? I can sense your stress, and your pleasure is my pleasure…

Luxuria played Emily’s mind like an instrument, flooding hormones into her brain and sending shocks into her nerves. She felt a hundred simulated caresses running in cascades over her body. Her legs quivered and gave out, her thighs instinctively snapping closed as she rolled onto the ground. The little hairs on her arms and neck stood on end and her fingers and toes darted out, her mind feeling as though it would pop like a firework with a single merciful touch.

Oh…fuck y-ye…c-cut it out…

Really? Are you sure you don’t want more?

Y-yes…god, yes…just stop, stop. Stop.

As you wish…

Suddenly, Emily’s body shot stiff, the chemical haze ripping open into discomfort and pain. Her vision went blurry, the control of her limbs inverted, and the perception of colors around her began swapping at random.

Wh-what are you doing?!

Consider it a test for your brain. To stretch the boundaries. Relax and let me do what you asked of me.

She writhed on the ground, gasping and shaking, trying to wave her hands to stop her observers from retrieving her. Her headache felt like a spear had been rammed through her skull, and she could only barely make out the energy from the dampeners increasing back to where it was before. After a few moments, color and focus returned to normal. As she heaved herself onto her feet, she looked up at the pod, Luxuria floating patiently beside her.

Better?

“I’ll…let you know…”

Perhaps someday you’ll let me finish my hobbies. Like I said, I want the best for you.

“Let’s…keep it professional, huh?”

Business and pleasure belong together. Luxuria chortled again. How else would you explain our meeting?

Emily growled and rushed out of the containment area, the dizziness and pain in her mind fading away. She marched directly to the common area, where Dallas was sitting at the bar with Nika and Sven, a bundle of empty bottles and tiny glasses by each one. A couple of other soldiers sat nearby, the floor clearly getting them drinks for their victory. Nika in particular was swaying in her seat, blushing and giggling.

As she approached her team, she reached her hand under Dallas' arms and slapped the empty glass from his hand with a predatory grin. She whipped her legs around him, gripped the back of his head, and kissed him deeply and sloppily. She continued for a few solid seconds, garnering whispers and points as she pressed her body against him eagerly. She finally pulled him back a few moments more, composing herself.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I-I love you too, Em,” he stammered.

“Meet me in our spot, I need you.” Emily untangled herself from him and walked away without looking back, leaving Dallas looking at a confused Nika and Sven. “Right now!”

“Well, we had our suspicions,” Sven murmured, going back to sipping his drink.

“What the fuck was that?!” Nika almost shouted, drunker than she had any right to be. “When? Why? How?!”

“I, um…I…” Dallas picked up his glass and put it back on the bar, “I gotta go. I have a mission report to read.”

“Am I hallucinating? Why are you even lying right now?!” Nika yelled, shaking her head.

“I…yeah.”

Dallas got up and left, going to meet Emily in a dark corner of the base for another tryst. Nika tugged on her uniform, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“Fuck, that was hot,” Nika sighed, dropping another shot with ease. “I mean, I’m not into girls, but Emily is smoking hot, and Dallas is hot in that young, rugged teacher sort of way, and that kiss…damn, I want me some of that right now,” she punctuated with a shiver.

Sven looked at her, more confusion growing on his face as it dawned just how far ahead of him she was. Nika looked him up and down appreciatively, haze in her eyes while she nibbled on her lower lip.

“You drunk?” she asked curtly.

“Uh, buzzed…”

“Get drunk.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Conference Room
September 4th, 1300 Hours

Morrigan stood in the center of the room, watching the two foot tall Alice as she sat at a table, drinking tea at a long table with a similarly sized rabbit with white fur, two women wearing similar royal attire, one in red, one in white, and a familiar looking cat. "You, uh... you having fun there, twerp?"

Alice nodded. "Sometimes, it is nice to go back to your roots a little. Puts things in perspective."

"A mirror can do a similar thing," the white queen offered.

"What are you, daft?" the red queen asked. "How can it put things in perspective if it shows the world in reverse."

"Well, some of us are smart enough to understand this and see it contrary-wise in our minds, you bitty!" the white queen countered.

"But if you see it in reverse, and then reverse the reverse in your head, you are still left with an image that has been flipped twice!" The red queen slammed her fist on the table. "Just because your head is practically screwed on backwards doesn't mean we all have to suffer through your imbecilic view of the world!"

As the two queens continued to argue, the rabbit simply ducked his head down, trying to be as small as possible. Cheshire leaned over to Alice and whispered, "Remind me again why you invited those two."

Alice sighed. "Because if I had to sit through another unbirthday party, my head was going to..." The door to the conference room opened, and Alice sighed even deeper. "Darn. Duty calls." She snapped her fingers, and the rest of her guests vanished, replaced with a miniature version of the holo-globe.

As Dr. Shen, Dr. Vahlen, Aya, Eve, Sunny, Atka, Desmond, Jean and Jeanne Francois, Sylvia Christel, and a very nervous Jessica took their seats, Morrigan rubbed her temples. "Tell me, Alice... have you ever read Wizard of Oz?"

Alice nodded her head. "I've read all fourteen books in the series, as well as all of the additional material. Did you know the protagonist was based on me? Well... not me, but you know what I mean. Weird books, though."

"Not when compared with others," Morrigan mumbled, then cleared her throat and addressed the whole room. "Thank you all for taking the time to meet here. We'll go over a few of the smaller things before moving on to what we are all here for."

"First, quick introductions, the heads of the Labs and Engineering, Dr Vahlen and Dr. Shen." The pair of doctors nodded in turn. "Central Officer Brea and a her assistant/sister, Eve. Sonya Randolf, head of our robotics division, and Jean and Jeanne Francois, head of the psi labs." Each individual nodded as their names were called.

"And our guests for the task at hand, Ms. Atka and Mr. Walker, our senior psionic soldiers, as well as Ms. Christel and Ms. Lockheart." She smiled at each of them. Jessica looked down, her nervousness all too obvious. "I'll go over everything on the agenda, then open up for questions after each point." Morrigan looked at the projection, and Alice held up a large piece of parchment for her to read. "First, the fusion core."

Dr. Vahlen stood up. "My team is hard at work analyzing it. It'll likely take at least a week, possibly two, but we are confident we can get a grasp on how it works and how we can use it."

Dr. Shen nodded, standing next to her. "We have two possible ideas for it. Either an improved fusion cannon for our firestorms, or we can use them in a special obstruction-avoiding rocket launcher."

"Ideas?" Morrigan asked.

"It would be nice if we could shoot down more UFOs completely without having to do clean up afterwards," Eve said.

"The plans for the rocket launchers are ready to go, though," Alice offered. "Sunny and I have been working with them."

Morrigan glanced at Sunny, who rubbed her hands nervously. "No need to be shy, Dr. Randolf."

Sunny nodded slowly. "W-well... we... took some initiative, and we've been working w-with the rocketeers a-and heavies..."

"If that is true, then we'd be able to implement the rocket launchers faster and easier," Shen responded.

Morrigan nodded. "Alright. Dr. Randolf, how are the pulse weapons coming?"

"Good, Commander." Sunny smiled slightly. "All the... kinks have been worked out, and they s-seem to be working at full capacity."

"Mr. Walker, did you have any trouble with them during your latest mission?" The Commander asked.

Desmond looked at the engineers. “The rifles worked as planned, though there were times when reloading was a bit of a hassle and their energy levels would fluctuate a bit but nothing damning.”

“I’m certainly a fan of the blaster rifle,” Atka added. “Lends itself well towards hitting critical points on the enemy, and boring through any armor in the way.”

“Good to hear,” Dr. Shen responded. “Our team worked hard on them.”

“I’ll see what I can do about the energy levels,” Sunny offered. “P-probably just a phase variance that was missed.”

"Now I have asked Mr. Walker and Ms. Atka to try and help our new Muton guests settle in. The former appealing to their more aggressive sides and the latter to any... femininity they might have. How is that coming along? I trust Ogedei has been of assistance?"

“He has been,” Atka replied. “Needless to say, however, finding common ground with the Balmadaar is a bit difficult.”

“I would like to point out he was helpful in clearing out the breeding ship as well. Ogedei also has found a bit of common ground with one of the Elites, Bull. The two share interests so if it helps they could pursue a friendship.” Desmond added.

Morrigan smiled. “It is good to hear our alien colleague has started to prove himself. As for the females, did you have any ideas as to make them… happier?”

“From the best my team could make out...these females are the men in these relationships. Ogedei seemed like he wasn’t the one in control. My suggestion, surround them with other females, ones they can relate to. And guns...they seem to have a certain need and proficiency to shoot things.”

Morrigan nodded in thought. “We can arrange them to regularly relieve their tension in the shooting range. And that sounds like they’d be all too eager to help out.”

Raising her hand, Aya offered, “I’ll try and check in on them every now and then. They’d probably listen to a woman in a position of authority, especially military authority. I’m just hoping Atka can help me out when she has the time.”

The scout captain inclined her head in agreement. “Of course.”

"How... is Brigid?" Morrigan asked the twins.

"We are still looking over the results of our tests, but things look good," Jean answered.

"We can say that she hasn't been able to display anything close to the power from before," Jeanne added. "We'll let you know as soon as we're sure about it, but we are hopeful it was just a result of her emotional outburst."

"Alright." The Commander shot Atka and Desmond another grateful look before continuing. "Finally, Ms. Lockheart, did you complete that autopsy yet?"

Jessica smiled nervously. "Y-yeah... I-I mean, yes sir." She cautiously stood up, and walked over to the holo-display. "Th-thanks to the scientist from Legion helping out in the gene-lab, I found the time... I... uh..." Jessica stuttered a bit. After a moment, she closed her eyes.

Opening them and turning to the hologram, Alexia nodded to Alice, who brought up the specs. "These Ethereals are barely held together. Many of their organs are underdeveloped, some even non-functional. As best we can tell, they use their psionic energy to keep themselves alive. To that end, though, I can't tell you if they're a hundred years old or a thousand."

The display change to show the alien's brain. "As you can probably guess, the only efficiently functional part of them is their nervous system. Brain alone probably uses up 80% of their blood at any given time. Lot of psychic shielding. Some genetic manipulation, possibly to help them keep their bodies alive, though I wouldn't be surprised if they used them to cheat and push themselves along this 'path' they seem to be obsessed with."

Morrigan nodded. "Questions?"

Desmond rose a hand. “With this recent autopsy and a few more battles, can we expect the training simulations to be adjusted to be more accurate?”

“Working on it now,” the miniature hologram said. “We are analyzing the brain patterns of the alien, still somewhat active even in death. And your fight gave us plenty of useful data. It helped that you got nice and close to him. Delicious, tasty data.”

She scares me sometimes. Sora noted in Desmond’s head.

“Glad I could...be of assistance.” Desmond told the hologram.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

As Alexia sat down and turned control back over to her sister, Morrigan cleared her throat. "Now, what we are all here for." Alice snapped her fingers, and an anthropomorphic playing card, a ten of hearts, appeared on the screen, and held up a piece of royal parchment, the Council of Nation's seal in the corner. "The Council has decided to refer to the four apparent resistant aliens as 'The Four Horsemen'."

"Not exactly flattering," Shen said, rubbing his chin.

"It fits," Aya responded. "This aliens are practically bringing about the end of days. Then four aliens appeared from the heavens."

Morrigan nodded. "Ms. Lockheart and Alice have had direct contact with them, while Walker, Atka, and Christel had a... conversation with one of them."

Alice snapped her fingers, and each alien appeared on her screen in turn, several specs including possible height, weight, and race next to them. "These models were made using my memory of the encounter. First is Conquest, most likely a Muton. We believe he may be the leader of the group."

"I-I spoke with Ogedei after we met them," Jessica said. "He believed him to be some kind of warlord."

Alice snapped her fingers again. "War here is something of a mystery. He doesn't match any of the aliens, way to big. What I can tell you is he was strong enough to fight off my enhanced strength with his hand like I was a toy. Famine here has a similar build as a Thin Man. We know the Thin Men have reptilian features, so it is possible this is what they'd look like if they weren't modified to look human. Finally, Death is as much a mystery as War, though we believe it to be a psionic alien."

"It's voice was feminine, so I believe it was female," Sylvia offered.

"It... she... could be the leader too," Jessica suggested. "The other aliens listened to her at the base."

Morrigan nodded. "Alright. Thoughts? Ideas?"

“Well, there was that incident at the end of my mission. Whether it was directly the...’Horsemen’ or not is up for speculation but this confirms that they are at least powerful and mobile, though I feel no hostility from them. Plenty of times for them to have sabotaged us but they seem set on an alliance of some kind,” Desmond noted.

“Death helped us out before, and did not make any hostile moves when we first met her,” Atka added.

“And when they could have taken Alice, they chose not to. Something about not wanting to do anything that would be considered an ‘act of aggression’.” Jessica smiled nervously. “Sounds like an offer of assistance to me.”

The Commander rubbed her chin in thought. “Did you sense anything else from Death? It… she… showed psionic abilities, right? Mind reading with Ms. Lockheart, and whatever allowed her to be seen only by those with psionics. I don’t suppose you felt anything in that regard, did you?”

Atka shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t get much from the hologram, but it goes without saying that she is powerful. The question is...is she an Ethereal, or a member of another race opposing them? Her stature seems to imply the latter, but that is not enough to go off of.”

“I know it isn’t much, since it was a hologram, but…” Sylvia raised her hand. “She extended her hand to show she was a hologram. It… was shaped like an Ethereal’s hand. But there was… something different about it. It looked… I don’t know, youthful would be the best word.”

“Death would be the first Ethereal that we’ve met that isn’t ancient, then. So far, even with exceptions like the Ethereal Desmond fought, that’s been the case.” Atka let out a sigh. “And like we’ve learned from Luxuria’s example, they can’t exactly have offspring anymore. Makes me wonder where she came from…a clone, maybe?”

Desmond nodded his head. “It is a possibility. Clones can be grown, aged, even modified at the creator’s discretion, so the possibility is there that it is a rogue experiment. Would explain the need to cover herself.”

“She could be disfigured by experiments, and be hiding herself,” Aya said, nodding at Desmond. “Would explain both the cloak and why she would turn on them.”

“W-what if she just covers herself because she’s ashamed of her people?” Jessica asked. “Maybe she’s afraid if she recognized as an Ethereal, no one would trust her.”

“Maybe a combination of both,” Eve said with a shrug.

Morrigan looked at the holographic representations of the aliens. “We’ll likely need to communicate with them at some point. Aya, Atka, Desmond, you’ll likely be the ones I call on for this task.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Aya motioned towards the other two. “Though I feel Atka and Desmond are better at diplomacy then I am.”

“I doubt you are any better than I am Aya. Most aliens who see me tend to shoot first and ask later.” Desmond teased. “Though I will keep a conversation if I can.”

“This large one worries me,” Morrigan muttered. “If we need to defend ourselves, we’ll likely need a lot of firepower. Lets… hope it doesn’t come to that. I’d like to meet on peaceful terms.” Turning back to the group, she said, “Speaking of which, thoughts on how that should come about. Should we push for a meeting, or wait until we have more information? Should we approach them, or should we wait for them to make the first move?”

“In my honest opinion, we should let them on to a meeting being a possibility but not specifically say we want to meet them. Let them know the option is there but that if they really want to help us, they come to us, not the other way around. We still don’t know if the Horsemen have more numbers of troops or supporters.” Desmond suggested. “Now is not the time to make them think we are in a desperate position.”

Aya nodded. “Desmond makes a good point. We’re not even sure if they are really allies. And whether they are or not, the last thing we want is to appear weak. I agree… let them make the first move.”

Morrigan nodded. “Atka? Any disagreements, or additional thoughts?”

“I think that about covers it,” the Inuit woman responded. “I just hope that they are indeed allies. For our sakes, and the morale of our Balmadaar allies.”

Jessica smiled at Atka. “Maybe… I mean, if they are on our side, the fact that we saved all of those captive aliens will show they can trust us as an ally.”

“Okay then…” Morrigan rubbed her hands together. “Any more questions or comments before we call it a meeting?”

“I do Commander, and this is for Jean and Jeanne. I am sure Atka would like to know as well but, have you guys tested on anyone who has already been known to have established psionics?” Desmond asked, shifting his his gaze to the french scientists.

The twins exchanged a glance, and both shook their heads. “Hasn’t come up,” Jean said.

“Are you interested, Mr. Walker?” Jeanne asked, looking a bit excited. “Since we didn’t use the device to unlock your powers, there might be some hidden potential we can find.”

“I will admit it has interested me. Though I would like to get an educated second opinion.” Desmond looked at Atka. “What do you think about it?”

Atka shrugged. “It could be helpful. I’ve been trying to up my abilities since the fight with Invidia, so this would be a welcome opportunity.”

“Great!” Jeanne grabbed her brother’s hand and dragged him towards the door. “We’ll start crunching the numbers and be ready for you ASAP!” The two ran out, Jean looking a bit frightened by his sister’s excitement.

Morrigan hid a grin, and shrugged. “Well, thank you all again. Keep up the good work.” With a series of nods, the attendants took their leave. Turning to the projection, Morrigan said, “Send a copy of this meeting to Elene. Don’t want her to feel left out.”

Alice scratched the back of her head. “Was I… supposed to be keeping a recording of things here?”

Morrigan walked out, shouting back, “You don’t want to know what I’ll do to you if I find out you aren’t kidding.”

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & DarkGemini24601: Paranormal Activity

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
0915 Hours, September 4th, 2018
Main Gymnasium


Atka stared down the thin sheet of metal before her, readying herself. Twin telekinetic double-helixes wrapped around the Inuit woman’s hands, and she took a step back swinging them in a downstroke. The metal screeched in protest, offering marked resistance. Atka pushed harder, and they cut two grooves into the plate, nearly splitting it into three.

The scout captain wiped some of the perspiration from her brow, nodding in approval at the ravaged steel. That’s definitely improvement. I’ll need better for enemies like Invidia, though. Allowing the telekinetic constructs to dissipate, she switched to a different power and a different role. Atka shut her eyes, and reached out into the room. In her mind’s eye, it slowly took shape for her, black-and-white at first, but allowing her to take in details as it slowly was filled with color.

A chill suddenly ran up Atka’s spine as a tall dark skinned man entered the gymnasium, carrying a strange presence with him. A black entity floated ominously behind the man, two piercing white pinprick eyes scanning the entire room before focusing on Atka.

The blue psion turned around, keeping her eyes closed, but an expression of shock shifted onto her features. What...are you? she wondered ‘aloud’ with her telepathy.

A whisper in the back of Atka’s mind spoke. You can see me? Strange.

My senses at the moment are more acute than a normal person’s, Atka replied mentally. You are...a presence, almost like an afterglow of psionic energy. Like...a spirit… The Inuit explained.

You would be correct in that assumption. Know that I mean you, or this project, no harm.

I believe you. Atka opened her eyes, still rimmed with blue to outline the presence in a soft black silhouette from her perspective. “You’re Ammelia’s friend?” she asked the man the spirit seemed to be attached to.

The man slowly turned to look down at the unfamiliar girl, a blank expression on his face, “I am.”

Does he know of your existence? Atka quickly asked the spirit.

Partially. I speak with him, but he believes me to be a product of his condition. He is not aware that I am a spirit. The being replied, its mass shifting.

“I’m a friend of Ammelia’s. It’s nice to meet you, Dorian,” Atka continued. I could perhaps explain things better to him, but only if you wished it. Rather than fear, there seemed to be a tinge of curiosity and excitement in Atka’s mental voice, brought on by meeting a supernatural being like this.

You may, The form replied, I have attempted to explain myself to him before, but he only sees me as a voice.

“It’s good to meet you as well,” Dorian nodded, staring at the girl.

Atka rubbed the back of her neck, considering how to explain things. “Dorian...have you been told what psionics are?”

“Yes” He responded simply.

“I have an ability called extrasensory perception...normally it allows me to see places from a distance, like a battle scanner, or detect movements like bioelectric skin.” Atka glanced behind Dorian again. “When you came in, I was practicing with it, and I noticed something. The voice that speaks in your head is very much real. It is a spirit, visible to me as formless psionic energy.”

Dorian’s eyes widened at her words, “It is? I’ve always considered it a symptom of my autism... “

I am… I’ve been with you for a long time, Dorian. The entity said, speaking in both their minds at once.

How did you come into being? the scout captain inquired.

I was once human, like you, countless years ago. However, I believe I was killed… The details of why, faded with time.

Well, it’s nice to meet you. I always believed that beings like you must exist… interesting that the awakening of my powers was the key to meeting one of you.

I was not aware I was a psychic being, if I am, perhaps all beings like me are as well.

Not all are, or at least, not all have a large amount of potential. Perhaps you did, or it was expanded upon when your form ceased to be, Atka suggested with a shrug.

“How long have you been following me?” Dorian asked, unable to see the creature.

Since your childhood. Before I found you, I remember wandering the halls of a castle. When you arrived, I noticed something different about you. Special. So I decided to follow you.

“A castle… I wonder if…” Atka shook her head. You noticed his condition?

I did. He was separated from his family, alone, so I connected myself to him.

Dorian thought for a second, “Castle? I remember visiting a castle with my family when I was small. The Chateau de Trecesson.”

Atka’s eyes widened. “That’s the same place Ammelia went awhile ago...the soldiers mentioned feeling something of a presence there.”

I remember… Death… A Battle… Many men fell there…

“I wandered away from my family and couldn’t find my way back to them.” Dorian replied, “It took them hours to find me, but while I was waiting I felt like I was being watched. I suppose that was you?”

It likely was.

Yet our team still felt something, Atka mused. Could there be another still in the castle?

I remember… a friend… But I cannot recall his name. Perhaps he still resides there.

Well, I’d like to help but… Atka shrugged. It’s not like we can take a detour to that castle right now.

You do not need to. If I have forgotten his name, he has likely forgotten mine.

Dorian considered the words of the spirit, “Speaking of names, what’s yours?”

It has been thousands of years since I’ve used my true name, as such, I cannot recall.

Maybe we could come up with one for you.

Perhaps, but the Chateau’s staff referred to me as ‘Rook’, I suppose that will do.

Dorian nodded, “Well, Rook, if your past is such a mystery perhaps we could help you uncover it.”

“In time,” Atka cautioned. “But we could, indeed.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Dahlexpert & ZombieSplitter53
Being Yourself

Jean rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a nagging sensation in the back of his head. He couldn't get the thought of his little Ethereal encounter out of his head. With nothing better to do, he rode down to the holo-training room, determined to bury himself in work. He stepped out of the elevator, surprised to see it was not only occupied, but he saw a familiar face.

Eva was setting the holographic turrets to simulate real plasma fire. "Okay, on my mark. Now, let's see if these two gen mods will work?" Eva closed her eyes and enhanced her iron skin, and her adaptive bone marrow into overdrive. "Alright, ready. And fire." The turrets fired at Eva's body, and she simply stood in place, taking the plasma.

"End simulation." Eva's body was covered with plasma burns. Her Adaptive bone marrow struggled, but started healing her wounds after a few seconds. "Excellent, so the healing is almost instant. But the iron skin seems to get weaken with every blow. I think that's good for now. Man, these powers are coming in handy."

"Whoa!" Jean ran up to Eva. "W-what are you doing? You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Jean?" Eva's skin continued to heal, and the plasma burns faded. "What are you doing down here?"

Jean shook his head. "I'm... here to do maintenance, I... what are you doing?!" He looked Eva over. "What if that killed you? And our data on the plasma weapons isn't complete, so of you do that on the field... I-I don't care about you abilities, you could have..."

"Jean, Calm down. I can't train with fake plasma pulse. I wanted to test some of my new ability's and to see if they'd work with my new iron skin and adaptive bone marrow under real plasma. I mean, when I'm out there, the enemy will not be using fake plasma on me. So I just wanted to test my new overdrive ability's here, rather then on the battlefield."

Jean ran his hand through his hair. "I... I understand, but... just... just promise me you plan on dodging the shots out there. If... if your overdrive energy ran out... or there was a problem, I... don't want you too..." Jean sat on the floor, his energy suddenly feeling like it was all gone.

"JEAN!" Eva rushed to Jean's side. "Are you Okay? Look, I promise you, I was never going to use my overdrive against plasma out there, it would be used when fighting Mutons. Don't worry, I was not going to us my overdrive iron skin on the field unless I had to. Or if the base get's assaulted again. I could use it as a temporary armor. Practice in case, not preparation."

Jean nodded slowly. "Y-yeah... okay, sorry, I've just... had a lot on my mind lately. Didn't want that thought of you getting killed in there too. Not after..."

"After what? Jean, what's going on in that mind of yours?"

The engineer shook his head. "I don't... want to push anything on you. It's just... I was working on that Ethereal's cell, and it said some things... showed me some things that kinda messed me up."

"The Ethereal! That thing is dangerous, Jean. What did it showed you. What did it say?"

Jean chuckled. "It was, uh... trying to convince me to let you out. It offered to make me more... d-dominant over you, and when that didn't work, it... God, you're going to hate me for this." Jean swallowed deeply. "It said if I let it out, it would give me any and every woman I desired, including a few I've met so far. I... but I wouldn't, Eva, please believe me."

Eva got a thousand yard stare on her face, like she wasn't even looking at Jean, but past him. "So this monster offered you power, power to rival even mine. And if you let it out, it said it would give you any woman on this base. So Jean, I have to ask." She looked Jean in his eyes. "Why did you refuse it?"

Jean thought for a moment, his eyes darting around. "I... I-I don't know. I guess because... even if it offered everything to me without having to let it go, I... I can't control people like that. It's wrong." He looked down. "I'm sorry, Eva. That she could even tempt me like that makes me feel like I betrayed you." He shook his head. "But... I don't know how you feel about me. I'm... not entire sure how I feel about you, either. But I like you. And as long as I'm with you, whether it is until tomorrow, for another week, and a month, a year, or beyond, I swear, I'd never betray you like that, no matter how tempting the offer."

Eva grabed Jean's chin, lifting it up so he looked into her eyes. She pressed her leaps against Jeans. "Listen Jean, I'm not mad at you. In fact, I'm very proud of you. The fact that thing took went into your mind and showed you all those things, and offered you every thing that you can ever have. But you chose some blue haired woman over all of that. Now, Jean I do have feelings for you, and I do care for you. I will defend you, do you understand?"

Jean smiled, and kissed her back. After what seemed like forever, he climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. "Thanks, Eva. That means a lot to me. Though... there was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. To... get off my chest."

"Shoot," Eva said. "Like I always told you, I have nothing to hide."

"Well, Eva, I... hear things around the base. About you being... a little nutty. Like, really, really aggressive. Is that really you? I mean... you told me about your nerdy side. That seems to clash with who you are now. What I'm saying is, you don't have to be tough around me. I wouldn't mind seeing the sensitive, nerdy side of you too."

Eva stood in front of Jean for a few moments. She shook her head, and grabbed Jeans arm. They quietly went up the elevator and into the barracks. Taking Jean to her room, Eva said,"Okay, Jean, you want to see the nerdy half of me?" She opened the door to her room and waved her hand to her half of the room. Jean looked at a small mountain of comic books, a laptop that's not from X-COM with a few games next to it, and a blue ray player with a lot of action movies, some horror, and a load of anime DVDs. There was a guitar in the back of the room. "Well, Jean? What do you think?"

Jean raised an eyebrow, and slowly scanned the room. "Wow... How did you get all this stuff here?"

"Favors, mostly. Jean, do you not know woman? Normal woman might load cases upon cases of clothes, but for me, I love what I love, and my nerdiness takes priority over a lot of things. Besides, I'm on a military base that's underground. Things could get boring really quick, so I brought some of my things, and convinced them to let me keep them. Mind you, this is small compared to my real room."

"My sister would absolutely be in heaven here." Jean folded his arms. "So tell me, which is the real you. The aggressive, pushy you that would rather kick-ass then make friends, or the nerdy, introverted girl that wants friends? Because... I'll accept you either way, Eva. You don't have to hide anything from me."

"Well, how do I explain this? The kick-ass me is when I'm angry, but that was all you saw when I felt like a walking corpse. That was when I felt dead inside. But after I visited you guys, I felt alive again. So how can I put this? I... am me. I am both an ass-kicker, and a nerdy introverted chick. What can I say? I'm just me."

Jean wrapped his arm around Eva's waist and pulled her close. "Well then, ma princesse, I want you to be you, and always you. I'll show everyone what a delight you can be, and who knows? Maybe there are several other people here that like the nerdy side of you more then you think." He grinned. "I just hope you don't find someone to replace me." He swept her up, holding her in his arms. "At least not without a fight."

Eva smirked. "Really? Not without a fight, huh? Hmm... I can think of a few people that can beat the crap out of you." Eva press her lips against his. "But it doesn't matter. I am yours, and you're mine. And I know that I will defend you all the way until this war is over. Afterwards... well, let's see what happens."

"Yeah..." Jean's eyes darted between Eva, her bed, Desmond's bed, a clock, and the door. "So, um... I see you have a roommate. You think they'd get the picture if we put a tie or a sock on the doorknob?"

Eva got a wicked smile on her face. "I'm sure he'll get the picture. And if not, that's why locks were invented."

 

[Adrammalech]

// FRIENDS IN BLUE //
This is a collaboration between Adrammalech and DarkGemini24601.
Nika Orlov / Atka Ipiktok
X-COM Headquarters - Barracks #4
Siberia, Russian Federation
8:37 AM

Nika's eyes opened slightly with a crackling yawn, her body wrapped up in a warm and comfortable bundle of blankets. The sight of the sterile base lighting immediately made her wince, and she shuffled around with a groan, a headache already growing behind her eyes. She felt the dry vodka taste in the back of her mouth and noticed that she had slipped herself out of her pants, but was still wearing the top half of her uniform. Her sheets rustled as she rolled over to her other side, where an uncomfortable looking Sven was sleeping on the ground, fully clothed in his uniform and pushed up against the table beside her bed. By his side, her pants laid in a wrinkled bundle.

“H-hey, Sven,” Nika said, her voice raspy and dry.

Sven stayed quiet, sleeping soundly despite his right angle repose. Nika reached down and pushed his shoulder.

“Sven,” she said more clearly.

His eyes shot open and he looked up, grumbling a little.

“Oh,” Sven sighed. “Morning.”

“I vaguely remember Emily and Dallas doing it…did we…?”

Sven rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “No, you started knocking things over and drawing attention to yourself, so I carried you in here.”

“Really? And nothing happened?”

“Well, you threw up, so that’s something. Then I dropped you here and you fell asleep.”

“Umm…” Nika shifted uncomfortably under her sheets, “What about my pants?”

“You ripped them off and threw them at me,” Sven sighed, irritated.

“Did I hit?” she smirked.

“Yes.”

“Wait, if I fell asleep, why are you down there?”

“Uh…it’s just where I got comfy. Don’t worry, I didn’t touch you.”

“You did, though…” Nika smiled, her voice softening. “You stopped me from embarrassing myself, then you carried me to my bed, covered me up and tucked me in, and then you slept there so you could take care of me if I got sick again.”

“Stop saying it like that, I just did what a friend would.”

“You’re a very romantic person, Sven Andersen,” Nika grinned.

Sven groaned loudly and jumped into his own bed, looking relieved to be on a flat surface again. Nika slipped out from the warmth of her blankets and grimaced at the perpetual cold and the amount of lights in the room. As she wiggled into a new pair of pants, the door hissed open and Emily walked in, her hair frizzed and her clothes in a bundle under her arm.

“You looked like you had fun,” Nika said.

“You should see the other guy,” Emily smirked. “You alright? You looked like you were going pretty hard last night.”

“Yeah, needed to unwind a little…” she glanced aside. “But I’m fine. Good, even.”

Emily opened her drawers and dropped her clothes inside, grabbing an identical uniform out of the other. She turned towards the bed and kicked the drawer closed with a loud smack. Nika groaned loudly, holding her temples and wincing.

“Oh, whoops. Sorry about that,” Emily whispered.

“Mmhmm…” Nika shook her head, “so, what are you doing today? We still probably got a couple days before we have to start expecting action again…”

“I think I’m going to see the Commander, relay what I got from Luxxy,” Emily replied. “How about you?”

“Other than walking off this…think I’m going to track down someone to help me with the psionics. I’ve already done quite a bit, so I feel like I could really grow with it.”

“Sounds good. Better off learning from someone like Atka than an evil, hyper-sexual alien that has a crush on you.”

“Hmm…you know where she hangs out?”

“I met her by the generators, but I think she’d hang around the gym in her off-time. She’s the diligent type.”

“Hmm…maybe I’ll do that. Thanks, Emily.”

Emily flopped onto her bed with a grunt, probably tired from doing more “sleeping” than sleeping. Nika walked out and through her area, looking for the gym. As she walked in, the perennial smell of sweat assaulted her nose, and she noticed a Native American-looking woman by one of the exercise machines.

“Hey, are you Atka Ipiktok?” she walked up and asked politely.

The scout captain nodded in return. “I am. What can I do for you?” Atka inquired.

“I’m on Emily’s team, and I recently got Blue Psionics from the lab, I was wondering if you could give me...some pointers, or training, or something like that.”

“I could.” Hopefully not as much of a pain as the last one. Atka shook her head, dismissing the thought. “What can you do thus far? Mindfray? ESP?”

“I’ve used Mind Fray a couple times, and I was able to inspire someone on my last mission with telepathy.”

“Not bad, especially in a short amount of time. I could probably help you hone those two, and learn ESP. Telekinesis is a lot harder,” Atka explained.

“Never tried it,” Nika scratched the back of her neck, “although, I think Emily has something like it.”

“It’s taken me awhile to get my ‘icy helixes’ to the strength where they can cut through regular metal...against alien alloys, not so much. ESP would probably be a better place to start, or we can work on the two you already have,” the scout captain suggested.

“ESP sounds interesting, what’s it do?” she asked.

“Allows something like clairvoyance, or heightened senses,” Atka began. “For the first method, I use it to peer into another area with my ‘mind’s eye’, something akin to a battle scanner. I’ve also noticed it allows me to better detect psionic emanations. As for heightening your senses...the best I could equate it to is using it like bioelectric skin, or as Kevin calls it, ‘spidey senses.’ The incubators do something similar to predict their opponents movements, but I haven’t gotten that good just yet.”

“If it means I get to detect those damn cats, I’m all for it,” Nika clapped excitedly and then winced. “So...how do we do this?”

“Start simple. Close your eyes,” Atka instructed. “Then reach out...imagine the room around us.”

Nika closed her eyes slowly and pushed her mind to sense things, but could only think of the size and a few things in the room. “I remember where some things are…”

“And what you cannot see...trust your psionics to allow you to see.” Atka closed her eyes, the room taking shape it outlines for her initially. The mind’s eye is different than the human eye, after all, the Inuit woman added to Nika.

A few more shapes popped up in her mind, not from memory, but just from knowing. Most importantly, she felt a glow in front of her. “I…think it’s working. I can’t tell exactly what things are, but I know they’re there...”

Atka smiled. “You’re getting the hang of it. It requires practice, of course, and it helps to have peace and quiet. But you’re doing a good job.”

“So if I keep practicing, I could see more than blobs?”

The Inuit woman chuckled. “Yes, you could.”

“Interesting,” she opened her eyes and the mental image blinked away. “You were glowing too, I assume that’s the detection you were mentioning?”

“Indeed. Those with psionics stand out more to psionic detection,” Atka replied simply. “Useful if an Incubator or otherwise is sneaking up on you. They end up standing out more than they would by dislodging a pile of stones.”

“I bet that’s come in handy, with how much they like to try to spy on us…”

“I should hope that after all we’ve been through, our shield and security is nigh impenetrable,” Atka offered. “Certainly helps to have a living battery of sorts. It’s a poetic fate for Luxuria, I think.”

“I didn’t know about that, but it sure sounds fitting, after everything she’s done. Still, the aliens have more than enough expendable troops...I don’t think they’ll ever stop trying, but we can stop them at least.”

Atka nodded. “I hope I gave Invidia something to think about...but I have a feeling he has recovered by now, even if the gap in our defenses is gone.”

“He seems like a madman to me. Not the kind that gets the point.” Nika rubbed her chin. “I’d like to hit that bastard with a Fray…”

“I’ve had trouble with mindfray on psionic aliens,” Atka responded. “I haven’t tried often, granted, but somehow I think the Ethereal’s mental defenses are too strong.”

“That’s...disappointing, although I have hit a Commander once,” Nika noted. “Didn’t you say you can make yours physical somehow, too?”

“That’s what the telekinetic helixes are. They look similar to my mindfray, but they function on the role of lances or sawblades, basically.”

“Can you show me?” Nika asked with a smile.

Atka held out a palm, and the frosty, light blue double-helix wound itself about two feet up, ending with a barbed spike. “So far I’ve been able to do two at once, but I can probably go further.”

“That looks awesome, mine just looks like a boring string,” she said, inching a little closer to it. “Did you do something to make it that way, or is it just practice too?”

“It’s gotten cooler over time, though I initially discovered it more on impulse, as I did with mindfray. Alice picked up some physical force when I was just trying to mindfray a simulation.”

“Interesting...maybe I’ll pick up something like that too, hopefully. Thanks for helping me, I feel like I understand some of this stuff a lot better.” Nika stepped back and poked her fingers together. “Would you mind if I came to you about questions about this from time to time?”

The Inuit woman smiled warmly. “I’d love to help further. And if I’m not available, Sarah is getting pretty good with ESP.” Atka rubbed the back of her neck. “If you can get past her icy demeanor.”

“Thanks!” Nika rushed forward with a surprised hug and then bounced back. “I’ll see you later, then!”

“Looking forward to it,” Atka responded, ‘sheathing’ the helix.

Nika quickly left the gym with a smile, not wanting to take any more time from her new friend’s physical training.

 

[DarkGemini24601]

“Knight and Bishop, Pawn and Queen” - Lily Exalt, Elene Exalt

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1100 Hours, September 7th, 2018
Legion Command Center

Subject 156 looked over the orange vat in the corner housing 157 as the Neural Dampening was being installed. After the attack on them by the being known as Invidia, Vee had demanded some sort of defense against possession and mind control for the sake of the others, particularly herself. A ghost of a smile managed to touch Lily's features. "Thank you, Vee," she whispered. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door.

"Lady Lily, the person you requested has arrived. Shall I let her in?" Alejo asked, keeping his usually vivacious demeanor in check for 156's sake.

Lily nodded slowly. "You may."

The door creaked open, and an amber eye surrounded by small violet plates peered in, before Buniq stepped in completely. "Y-you w-wanted to s-see m-me?" Buniq asked the brown-haired scientist.

"I did," Lily said quietly. "I had an idea for something that would require your help...if you're willing, of course."

"O-of course, E-Emma r-rescued me a-after all..."

The door closed behind Buniq. "That should not make you feel obligated to help me if you are uncomfortable with what I am going to ask."

"W-what are y-you g-going to ask?" Buniq herself asked, Lily's statement not making her any more comfortable with the situation.

"I wanted to analyze your plating. Nothing that would cause you harm..." Lily explained, seeming guilty for Buniq's nervousness. "It is a matter of curiosity, and it could possibly be applicable to an upgrade for Iron Skin."

Buniq seemed to calm down at the words. "F-for V-Vee, right?"

Lily nodded, gesturing to the vat. "For the next time she goes into the chamber." The clone of Lusett winced as the chryssalid hybrid yelped, not having noticed Vee before. "Apologies."

"I-It's alright, j-just caught m-me by s-surprise..."

"I am still trying to understand the complexities of human interaction," Lily offered in a small attempt to justify her actions. "That is no excuse though."

Buniq shook her head. "I-It's okay, r-really."

Lily took a moment to compose herself, drawing in a breath. "Please sit down over here." The scientist herself sat in a swivel-chair, while Buniq took a seat on a half-height table next to some equipment. Lily turned to her computer, and typed in a few commands, two mechanical arms descending and running a scan of Buniq. "Remarkable structure...even on a smaller level they are resistant to damage and wear. And...they regenerate, right?" she asked curiously.

"Y-yeah," Buniq responded. "W-when..." she shuddered, remembering the fight with Jiokjiok.

"You do not have to specify. A simple yes is sufficient."

"I-It will h-help you t-to know spe...specifics though. A-and it h-helps m-me to talk a-about it," Buniq protested. Seeing Lily's slight nod of understanding, the hybrid continued, "H-he m-m-melted most of the a-armor or b-blasted it a-apart...and o-over a-about an h-hour they c-came back o-out through m-my skin, e-even though all b-but the p-perma...p..."

"Permanently," Lily offered, knowing how hard it was for Buniq to talk about this.

"...h-hidden plate r-roots were u-unharmed," Buniq finished.

"Intriguing...with some gathered data, perhaps I could apply something similar to Vee's dermis. More durability, and quicker regeneration of the skin rather than the lower tissue repair that adaptive bone marrow provides as its mainstay," Lily mused. "A few more scans, and you can go."

Buniq smiled slightly. "G-Glad I c-could help..."

"Indeed. I...do you mind if you stay a little longer? For...company?" Lily asked timidly.

"N-not at a-all..." the hybrid brightened. "A-are your other s-sisters not around?"

"Emma is busy helping apply the finishing touches to the electropulse module, and Elene is working on her psionics," Lily explained. "As for what to speak about... are you indeed in a relationship with Ammelia Cross?"

"U-Uh, y-yeah...h-how did you..."

"It is not difficult to extrapolate from available data, or 'hearsay'. I wished to confirm it, though..."

***​

1100 Hours, September 7th, 2018
Holo Rec-Room

"Do remember this is for science, Diego," Elene intoned as she stood across from the Adam trooper, who was wearing practice gear similar to Elene's. Both were armed with standard 'pulse rifles', simulated versions of how the real ones would operate.

"I understand, Mistress," the male clone replied. "Just...unnerving."

"I would note make you do anything out of the ordinary from a normal command," the heiress countered. "Avanix, beginning test one."

The room lit up, and at the computer the A.I. nodded. Avanix was in her mechanical body, which looked much more human than before. Currently she was wearing a Legion uniform, looking like she could be some sort of officer. Her hair was still blond, albeit with a few red streaks in it, and her eyes were now mimicking normal human ones with orange irises. "Recording data now, Elene. You may begin."

The heiress closed her eyes, and held out a hand, reaching out with it as the conduit for her mind. A spiral stretched out from it, seeming shakily, but nevertheless made contact with the temple of the engineer across from her. Diego stiffened like a marionette, and Elene slowly opened her eyes. A movement to the left. Diego stepped to the left and a bit forward, with a noticeable delay. Not accurate enough. Elene tried to have him go straight forward, and this time succeeded. Lift your gun. The soldier complied, leveling the practice weapon at a simulated EXALT operative and firing.

"Second test," Elene continued.

"Are you sure, Mistress? If you are uncomfortable with..." Avanix began worriedly.

Elene shook her head. "I would never actually do this to my own, but I must test to see if it works on the aliens and Viktor's rabble." Lift the pistol to your head, and pull the trigger.

Diego swapped his rifle for a fake blaster, and lifted it to his head, and pulled the trigger, the simulated laser stopping at his head with an error message popping up.

Elene released her control of the engineer, who held his head for a moment as he came to his senses. "You...know what the flaw with that is, correct?"

"It was not a real gun. So you had only artificial resistance to carrying out that action. In a real scenario, no sentient being would want to obey that forced command," Elene replied. "It is at least an optimistic test of my level of power."

"Perhaps we should do the combat simulation with Guillermo...mental fatigue could jade results," Avanix suggested. With Elene's approval, Diego sat down in the back, taking some medicine to placate his headache, while the Adam infantry stepped up to participate in the third and final test of the day.

"Ready whenever you are, Mistress," he prompted, going behind a large boulder as the combat field, an arid desert, took shape. A faint, dusty wind blew, lowering visibility.

Elene hefted her own practice rifle, and took a set of calculated breaths to calm herself. "Begin," she agreed, ducking behind a tree as artificial pulse beams came from Guillermo's position shortly thereafter. She returned fire twice, before getting a better idea of the stationary infantry's position. Reaching out, a spiral curved, but failed halfway.

"Was that a test, or a failure?" Guillermo asked.

Elene narrowed her eyes, and weathered another round of firing before trying again. This time, she compensated for the angle, and the spiral thudded into Guillermo's head...but did not succeed.

"Faint whispers won't be enough..."

"Quite rude, I must point out," Elene growled, earning a chuckle from the pragmatic Adam infantry.

"Try harder, then. Quit being so nice, I can take it," Guillermo suggested.

"Do not imply you don't bring this on yourself later..." Elene concentrated, and the third spiral hit its target again, even as Guillermo moved to a new position. Terrifying images of failed subjects of the past wormed their way through Guillermo's mind, evoking genuine terror and weakening his resolve. Elene forced him to his knees, and then to stand again, approaching her before she released her puppet.

The Adam trooper breathed hard as he gathered his wits. "Remind me...not to piss you off..."

"I would call that a success," Avanix decided impartially.

 

[Adrammalech]

This is a collaboration between Adrammalech, ZombieSplitter53, and MarineAvenger.
Emily Fischer / Morrigan O’Brien / Desmond Walker
XCOM Headquarters – Supply Closet #4
Siberia, Russian Federation
8:34 AM

She felt warmth coming from the Ethereal in front of her. This one was important somehow. A parent? A lover? A friend? She couldn’t tell, and it hurt to think about it. He chanted erratically, going through a lecture about something she did with practiced ease. She felt respect, concern, maybe even an obligation to listen, but her experiments seduced her away. She needed to continue them, it was her ambition, the first one of her own. It was her entire reason for being her. She flung her third arm aside, dismissing him. She had reports to file, subjects to care for. He leaves and she sits, remorse creeping into her mind and then being shoved back out.

Emily woke up with a gasp, a headache splitting through her head already. She felt Dallas’ arms around her and smiled, calming down from the disorientating dream. She turned over in his grasp and snuggled with him, kissing him as he woke up.

“Morning, I think,” she smiled.

“Life without windows,” he yawned loudly.

“Sorry for jumping on you last night…”

“Out of all the things for someone to apologize for, that’s probably last place.”

“I know, I just feel like I might’ve embarrassed you. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Yeah, the base knows I have a beautiful and intelligent girlfriend, so humiliating…”

“Alright, I give up, I’m not sorry,” Emily chuckled.

“Me neither,” Dallas grinned. “Although we should take it easy in public…don’t want to get transferred or something.”

“You’re right, if anyone asks…it was a prank, or a mistake, or something.”

“Yeah…it was fun being really unprofessional for a day, though.”

“I always was a bad influence,” Emily smirked.

She kissed him again, holding him tight against her. When it was time to leave, they gathered up their things and planned their staggered exit. Emily rolled up her blankets again and tucked them into the corner of the room, hoping no one would notice them. Then she walked out and slipped back into the nearby barracks, walking into a collapsed Sven and tired-looking Nika.

“You looked like you had fun,” Nika said.

“You should see the other guy,” Emily smirked. “You alright? You looked like you were going pretty hard last night.”

“Yeah, needed to unwind a little…” she glanced aside. “But I’m fine. Good, even.”

Emily opened her drawers and dropped her clothes inside one of them, grabbing an identical uniform out of the other. She turned towards the bed and kicked the drawer closed with a loud smack. Nika groaned loudly, holding her temples and wincing.

“Oh, whoops. Sorry about that,” Emily whispered.

“Mmhmm…” Nika shook her head, “so, what are you doing today? We still probably got a couple days before we have to start expecting action again…”

“I think I’m going to see the Commander, relay what I got from Luxxy,” Emily replied. “How about you?”

“Other than walking off this…think I’m going to track down someone to help me with the psionics. I’ve already done quite a bit, so I feel like I could really grow with it.”

“Sounds good. Better off learning from someone like Atka than an evil, hyper-sexual alien that has a crush on you.”

“Hmm…you know where she hangs out?”

“I met her by the generators,” Emily thought for a moment, “but I think she’d hang around the gym in her off-time. She’s the diligent type.”

“Mm, maybe I’ll do that. Thanks, Emily.”

Emily flopped onto her bed with a grunt, tired from doing more “sleeping” than sleeping. She grabbed a comb from her drawer and lazily tried to straighten her hair back out, laying still for about a half-hour and hoping to recharge off that. When she felt a second wind coming, she finished straightening up and left the room, heading towards Morrigan’s office. As she arrived, she addressed the secretary outside her door.

“Emily Fischer,” she said, “is the Commander in?”

The older woman nodded. “She is. Think she’s working on paper work, which means she’d likely be happy to have a distraction.”

“Great, I want to talk to her about what I extracted from our guest.”

“Commander, Ms. Fischer would like to speak with you.”

“Uh… yeah, sure, send her in.”

Peggy smiled, and hit the switch for the door. “Go on in.”

Emily entered the office and saw a stressed looking commander in between two equally-high stacks of paperwork. She flashed a smile towards her and jumped into the first available chair.

“I had another chat with our ‘friend,’” Emily said.

“Really?” Morrigan glanced up momentarily, then back down at her work. “You went back, huh? You know you weren’t obligated to go the first time, let alone a second time. I hope it doesn’t still have a hold on you,” she half joked.

“I was experiencing some side effects, since… whatever she did to me. Seems we’re both trying to use each other. But at least I got to ask a few questions while I sorted it out.”

“Is that so?” Morrigan put the paper to the side, folding her hands and turning her full attention to Emily. “Anything I should know about. This probably goes without saying, but it is hard to record what a being that speaks telepathically is saying, so I can only go by what people report to me.”

“Well, I’m definitely a psion now, for better or worse… because of my memory, I apparently have all of the abilities and knowledge of her,” Emily said, looking around. “But I can’t understand it, because it’s all in annoying Ethereal talk or something. So it’s there, but it hurts to think about, and sometimes it’ll just pop up. I also asked her about that… psionic burst that was related to you, their Ascension thing, and Superbia, the one who attacked us.”[/FONT]

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Morrigan took a deep breath. It was obvious from her expression what she wanted to ask first, but instead she asked, “What did she have to say about the other Ethereal.”

“Good words but bad vibes, she said she respected him and that he was powerful, but I got the feeling she didn’t like him much personally, maybe a territorial thing going on,” she explained. “She said that his only goal is to kill us until we surrender, so at least we don’t have to worry about another kinky one.”

“Well, that’s something, and I’ll take what I can get.” Morrigan sighed. “What did she have to say… about…”

“I’m sure you’ve already had this feeling, but she said it was from a rare and powerful burst of emotion. Since no one was really hurt in her path, only disabled… I’d say it points to an impressive amount of control, for someone her age.”

Morrigan nodded slowly. “Thank you, Emily. I’m sure the Ethereal isn’t easy to get information from you, at least without wanting something from you. I appreciate you asking about. Lord knows it wouldn’t have told me, nor would I have the willingness to ask it.”

“It’s alright, I know I’m in a… unique position to be the interrogator. I just wish she didn’t already know everything about me, or so it seems.”

“Well, at least she’s letting you even the odds,” Morrigan said with a shrug. “How much you actually want to know, I’m not so sure of, but at least to get yourself back to a stable frame of mind. So… you mentioned something about their goals, right? This ‘Ascension’?”

“They want a psionic that can use all of the types, the colors that we’ve seen in our troops. Then they want to possess them and take that power for themselves. So we’re means to an end, it seems. There is one more thing, about my psionics…”

“Tell me.” Morrigan leaned forward. “Please, don’t leave anything out.”

“Luxuria thinks I could be the one to do it, by using hers. But I can’t control them unless I understand how an Ethereal thinks, so I had to… let her back in, a little.”

Morrigan leaned back again. She took a few deep breaths. “Emily, do… you know how… incredibly dangerous that is, right? I mean, whatever she told you, however she worded it, she tried… to steal… your body. I understand you want to expand on this new abilities, but are you really willing to let her take you?”

“Not take, but…” Emily paused as she realized she was about to parrot Luxuria’s words. “It’s dangerous for me not to do it, too. I got thrown into a memory of her life while I was on the treadmill and almost fell off, and I almost gave Nika a heart attack trying to practice what little I did know.”

The Commander rubbed the back of her neck, feeling torn. “I… alright, I… I get that, but I…” She shook her head, and took a moment to gather her thoughts. “Alright… if you… you’re gonna keep talking with her, you’ll need to build up your own energy. To be able to resist her if she tries again. And it wouldn’t hurt to practice with someone else. The less you have to take from her, the better, right?”

“I was thinking the same. Who knows what I could learn from Luxxy, but if I grow on my own, she has that much less to give. But whoever teaches me shouldn’t be a rookie, just in case my power starts to slip out of control again.”

“Good point. And with your… orange? Orange psionics, you’re the complete opposite of Atka… i-if these powers work the same as a color wheel.” Morrigan scratched her head, silently deciding she needed to start looking into it more. “We don’t have an experienced orange psion, but Desmond Walker is close as a red. He’s also been researching his own powers for years now, and is one of the strongest people on base. If there is anyone you can count on for this, it’s him.”

Emily raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the guy Superbia outed as EXALT?”

Morrigan smiled. “That’s him. Though after further investigation, his allegiance was with EXALT’s former leadership, like Legion, and I trust him as much as I trust them. He also stood up to Superbia and lived to talk about it, so if Luxuria’s praise of the Ethereal is anything to go by, that’s saying something. Though… I-I’d avoid the subject of EXALT if I was you. He… doesn’t care much for their current leader. He kinda put a bullet through one of his eyes the last time they met.”

“If you trust him, I trust him,” Emily smiled comfortingly.

“Good. Then I’d like you to see him when you get a chance. I’ll introduce you.” Morrigan hit her intercom. “Peg, can you get Mr. Walker in here for me?” Turning back to Emily, she asked, “Has the Ethereal mentioned her meeting with the leader of Legion at all?”

“Nope,” Emily’s face grew to concern. “I wasn’t aware anyone was talking to her, other than us.”

“A couple people, actually. People are curious, and she seems to enjoy the chance to try and convince people to release her, or at the very least screw with them. Though Elene had a greater purpose than the others. She wanted advice on her psionics, much like you, though Luxuria wanted more then her company as payment…”

“Well, Elene seemed pretty intelligent during our ‘meeting.’ So I’m sure she didn’t do anything stupid.”

“Matter of opinion, I suppose.” Morrigan tapped her fingers together. “She offered Luxuria a blank body to transfer her consciousness into, and the alien was… intrigued.”

Emily stared blankly. “And you’re okay with that?”

“I’m considering it,” Morrigan answered. “I don’t like giving prisoners, especially monsters, what they want, but as a human, she’d be a lot easier to control, even with her powers. She likely realizes this, but is willing to take that risk. She might even think she can get closer to you this way.”

“Her hope that she can still take my body is the only leverage we have, if Elene promised this, then Luxxy wouldn’t have any reason to talk to XCOM,” Emily stated. “Not to mention, giving her a gifted body without a will to resist it… if they couldn’t control it, she might even be more powerful than she was in Mongolia.”

Morrigan nodded. “True. I’ll have to keep that in mind. It… is all so confusing. But it doesn’t matter yet, it’ll be a while until anything could be ready. For now… I’ll have to keep thinking about it.”

“Just be careful, we don’t want the aliens to have too much power…” she lowered her voice, “and maybe not others, either…”

 

[MarineAvenger]

Walking up to the secretary behind the desk, Desmond smiled and approached, “Walker to see the Commander. She called?”

“Come on in, Mr. Walker,” Morrigan called out the partially open door. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

Desmond nodded his head as a greeting to Peggy and walked into the office, raising an eyebrow at the other occupant of the office. “Fischer, right?”

Emily stood up and offered her hand. “Right, we were both there when they attacked the base, but we were never formally acquainted. Good to meet you, Mr. Walker.”

Desmond shook her hand. “Same.” Looking at the Commander he crossed his arms. “So what do you need?”

“Ms. Fischer has awoken psionic powers recently. That is to say, our tall, lecherous alien guest forced them out of her. The less she has to rely on the Ethereal to understand her powers, the better. I felt with all the time we’ve spent researching psionics, you’d make for a good coach. If you have time.”

“I have the time and the knowledge but unfortunately I have been passing off developing new powers recently. My skill options are low at the moment so basic lessons and demonstrations would be the best I could offer right now.” Desmond informed both the Commander and Emily.

“Almost anything is enough, I only know two abilities, and I’m not exactly good at them,” Emily responded.

“Indeed.” Morrigan smiled. “Emily is still new at this, but she has potential. Anything you can provide for her would help.”

“I can train her for sure, just wanted to state that before hand. Though years of psionics give you much needed control and refinement, when we actually get into training I can demonstrate more.” Desmond turned to Emily. “When do you want to start?”

“I’m ready whenever, unless I have a secret mission I don’t know about,” she replied, glancing over at Morrigan.

Morrigan shook her head, and turned back to her papers. “Have fun, you two. Don’t push yourselves too much.”

Desmond departed with Emily close behind him and led her down near engineering in front of a big metal door. “Welcome to the original psionics R and D division, headed by me…” Desmond opened the door and waved Emily in.

Emily followed him in, taking a look around. “So, these are the psi-labs?”

Desmond shook his head. “No the psi-labs are a different thing entirely. This was approved for me by Morrigan for my personal use of research, engineering, and even training. Though that was when I first started. Now I just use it as more of an escape and training area. Though cool things get made as well with my friend Ryan backing me up.”

“So your own little corner of the base, hm?” Emily scratched her chin. “Surprised I haven’t claimed one of my own already, unless you count closets…”

“I am sure that must be an interesting couple of stories love?” Sora materialized and gave a lazy, mock bow at the guest. “If you had told me in advance your were bringing a girl I would have tidied up and warned Elizabeth she has competition.”

Desmond shook his head. “This is Sora. A.I., assistant, friend, and all around general jackass.”

“Yeah, and if I ‘ad a body I’d smack you upside the head for that one.” The A.I. stated, his British side really showing.

“Noted. Anyways, welcome.” Desmond told the guest.

“Good to meet you, Sora,” Emily said politely. “Have you met Alice yet?”

“Yes, and she was quite pleasant.” Sora informed Emily. “Anyway, I will leave you two to...do whatever you came here to do.” Disappearing, Desmond looked at Emily and rolled his eyes. “Questions before we begin?”

“Well, what do we do?” Emily asked. “I’ve only been taught by an alien invading my brain, so, not sure how this works…”

“Well I promise I won't do anything quite like that.” Thinking for a moment, Desmond walked to his computer and loaded a stationary hologram. “Show me what you can do, then I will show you what I can do, and we can move on from there.”

Emily walked a safe distance from anyone and anything too heavy, prepping into a casual stance. With a moment of focus, the air around her began to circulate around her rapidly. “I can do this around me, a lot faster, but…trying to keep it under control.”

Desmond took note of the ability and couldn’t help but smirk at the familiar feel he got from it. “Alright, what else are you capable of?”

“I can panic someone, I think that’s a standard orange thing...but last time I tried, I went too far.”

“I will take your word for it, I doubt you could get one past me. Not saying your ability is weak, I am just saying I am more attuned with blocking out what wants to come in.” Walking forward, Desmond cracked his knuckle. “If that is all you can do, I believe I owe you a demonstration don’t I?”

“By all means,” Emily smiled and stepped aside.

Desmond held out his palm and an orb of psionic power manifested itself slowly, spinning at a reduced speed but around normal size. “This is an original power I have mastered over the years. Judging from how much it resembles your power, it would seem that the two are at least similar in some fashion.” Desmond chuckled. “Atka eloquently named it a Pulsar Core.”

“Interesting. I assume you can shoot it at them?”

“Um...no. For now it is a close range power. Though if you have seen any of my combat feeds you will see why it is not as debilitating as it would be to others. Even the Ethereals do not know this power. I can tell you I have thrown more than one off by using it. It was mainly responsible for my edge over Superbia.”

“Nice. If only you know it though, I’m guessing I couldn’t learn it, since what I have is based off the aliens… stupid aliens.”

“I can agree with that statement. I can’t teach you any new powers but I can teach you the fundamentals of being a psionic.” Desmond thought for a moment. “Well...there is one power. You are still a bit new to this and considering you are on the opposite side of the spectrum from Atka you might not be able to get ahold of it but it is something cool nonetheless.”

“I’m up for anything,” Emily grinned.

Desmond sat down on the floor and motioned for Emily to do the same. “Basically you will be entering my mind. Not specifically telepathy or mind merge but more of a mix of the two. It manifests your mind physically with in mine, allowing for regular human interaction. All I need you to do is just relax, focus your energy, and try and reach out.”

“Alright,” Emily closed her eyes and turned towards Desmond, focusing her will on him. After a few moments of silence, she still didn’t feel anything. “I don’t think I’m getting it…”

“That is because I need to let you enter. Just be patient, or you will never progress.” Desmond closed his eyes and reached out to Emily, allowing her to enter.

A feeling of almost weightlessness surrounded Emily as if the floor had fallen away but there was no sensation of falling. When she opened her eyes, there were trees of tall bamboo forests and a nicely swept path she was sitting on. Desmond was on a red gate, sitting at the top. “Welcome to my mind. Can’t tell you how long it took me to develop an actual scenario but I was finally able to accomplish it.”

“This is...strange, but beautiful,” Emily noted.

“Took someone like me months to get this down, and I am still improving it.” Desmond hopped down and stared at Emily. “This is just a demonstration of power. In time, you will learn how to create amazing things like this.”

“I hope so,” Emily said, “right now, I just have a lot of alien landscapes that hurt to think about…maybe I could construct something from my memory, sometime.”

“Something like this would be a massive undertaking for someone like you, one that you would fail at even if you tried as hard as you could with every bit of power. The thing that is the fundamental element of learning about your psionics is that it is not an end all pool of power that you get. Just like walking and talking, there is always a first step. You just need to know your limits and how to try and push yourself to be even better. You understanding what I am trying to teach to you?”

“Yes, I understand,” Emily said calmly. “I don’t even think I could be in here if you didn’t pull me in.”

Desmond shook his head with a smile. “No, anyone can enter with the user’s discretion. Even non-psionics can enter. Imagine it like inviting someone into your house. They are allowed to enter and use it but it is up to the owner to let you in and provided the energy for that person to stay. So really entering is the easy part. Creating, maintaining, and conditioning yourself to do this,” Desmond held out his hands, showing Emily the expansive area. “Is what we are capable of if we work for it. But as I have said, you must walk before you can run a marathon.” Ending the connection to the ‘dreamscape’, Desmond opened his eyes and stood. “That should be all for now. Just practice and condition yourself regularly and then you will have the tools to progress yourself.”

“Alright, I’ve got a lot to think about...thanks for all this, and showing me your ‘house,’” Emily smiled. “I look forward to creating my own down the road.”

“It will be a long road, but one worth traveling.” Desmond opened the door for Emily. “If you ever want more advice I am usually here so just knock should you need anything.”

“Will do,” Emily said as she walked out back into engineering.

 

[Frostlich1228]

Frostlich1228 & ZombieSplitter53 : Opposites

X-COM Barracks
Room of Sunny, Ammelia, and Co.
September 8th, 1500 Hours

Sunny yawned and stretched her arms as she stepped away from her computer. Alice smiled, and joked, "Want me to carry you?"

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Oh please, save me the embarrassment..."

"At least I'm in my adult body," Alice responded. "Would be more embarrassing if it was a kid carrying a kid."

"Everything working okay?"

Alice nodded. "Systems back to 100%. Luckily Brigid wasn't trying to hurt me, she just snapped a bit."

"Still, try and listen next time I warn you about danger," Sunny insisted, pushing her door open.

Ammelia stood at the door, her hand raised and about to knock. "Oh, hey Sunny!" Ammy replied, giving both of them a smile.

"Ammelia!" Alice spang forward, wrapping her arms around the soldier.

"Hey, Ammy," Sunny said, trying desperatly not to roll her eyes again. "You usually knock on the door to you own room? Or... does this have to do with that rumor about Dallas and Emily?"

Ammelia blushed a little, wrapping her arms around the android, "I just wanted to make sure they weren't... busy."

Sunny shook her head. "Maybe I'm just young and naive, but if they like each other, why be so secret about it? Are they afraid someone is going to be jealous or something?"

"I'm not sure. I don't have a problem with them being together, and I'm not sure why anyone would. Maybe they just like their privacy." Ammelia replied, the android's artificial breasts only a few inches from Ammy's face.

Mary walked down the hallway towards her room, and upon turning the corner, saw her sister being caressed by the busty woman. The gunner smirked, "Eh'm 'net 'rupt'in somethin' em' eh, 'rincess?"

Ammelia turned her head in surprise upon hearing her sister speak, being embarrassed to be caught in a situation like this, "M-Mary!? This isn't what it looks like, I swear! She's just giving me a hug!"

"Mary?" Sunny looked at the copy of her friend, a bit surprised.

"Searching." Alice closed her eyes. "Mary Thomas. Corporal. Gunner. You must be Ammelia's sister!" Alice released Ammy and wrapped her arms around her sister. "Nice to meet you! My name is Alice!"

"'Ice te' meet ye' te' Alice." Mary replied, looking down the girl's shirt, her smirk transforming into a smile.

The oblivious android only squeezed her tighter. "Are you as nice a person as Ammy?" Noting Mary's gaze, she stepped away and did a little spin. "Do you like my shirt? It is nice, isn't it. A little loose in the front, but all the men say 'it's you'... whatever that means."

Mary giggled a little, "Yeh', et' 'ooks 'erfect on ye'!"

Sunny raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. She extended her hand, and smiled. "I'm Sunny. I'm one of Ammelia's roommates."

Mary gave the small girl a odd look before shaking he hand, "'ound'nt ye' be stay'in 'own'airs wit' th' o'her civvies?"

"She's not a civilian, Mary. Her full name is Dr. Sonya Randolph." Ammelia replied, correcting her sister.

"Well, honestly, it was originally a proximity thing." Sunny pointed down the hall. "Engineering is pretty close to here, and I needed to be escorted everywhere. Still do, technically, but I have Alice. I guess I could go where the rest of the civilian staff are now, but I like it here. Ammelia and the others are really nice to me. They treat me like an equal, and not some... kid."

"Se' ye' work en' eng'neer'in?" Mary asked, confirming, "Ye' 'elp 'uild th' 'eapons dun't ye?"

"I help, yeah." Sunny walked back into the room and sat on her bed. "Though my specialty is in robotics. I help maintain our cybernetics, and I build, maintain, and pilot our SHIVs."

Mary tilted her head towards Alice, "An' 'er? Es' she 'ike ye' 'ssistant?"

"Assistant?" Sunny scratched her head. "I guess you could call her that."

Alice clapped her hands together. "See that, Ammy. Another person who couldn't tell right away. I... love... this body. I got this being human thing down."

Ammelia smiled at her robotic friend, "Yeah, maybe you do."

Mary took a few steps closer to Alice, putting two and two together, "Ye' eh' 'obot? 'At's 'mazing, ye' 'ody 'ook's se 'eal."

"Well... it is real, in many ways," Sunny said. "Bio-mechanical. Sure, her skeleton, brain, and some other bits are mechanical, but the rest of her is designed to be as human as possible, from her skin, to her hair, to her muscles. Not as handy in a fight as Legion's A.I.'s combat suit, but Alice wanted to be more human. And this was the result."

"E'erythin' 'bout 'er's de'igned te' be as' 'uman es' poss'ble?" Mary asked, putting emphasis on her first word.

"Uh..." Sunny put her head down, blushing a bit. "She... did ask to be as accurate as possible..."

Alice looked between Mary and Sunny, then to Ammy. "Did I miss something?"

Ammy partially covered her face, "S-she's asking if you're like a human... down there..."

Alice looked down. "What do you... oh, I, uh... I-I guess I am. I mean, there was that seeker..."

Mary started laughing at Alice's words, "Th' 'eekers do 'at!? 'Eh 'eed te' 'atch th' 'cording eh' 'at 'ission!"

"No, no, y-you don't understand!" Alice flailed her arms. "It grabbed me, and it tentacle things just... w-went a little south. I-I didn't... want it... to..."

"Why net'!? 'Ounds 'ike 'un te' me!" Mary added, tearing up at her own joke. The gunner looked over to her sister, who was now hiding an embarrassed half-smile.

Alice shook her head at Ammy, and turned to Sunny for support, and noted she was hiding a grin herself. "You too?"

Sunny shurgged. "I-I'm sorry, Alice, but... it's funny."

"'On't 'orry Alice, I'll try te' 'ring one 'ack fe' ye! Then ye' ken' 'ave all th' 'un ye' 'ant wit' it! 'Aybe et' ken e'en be ur' ew' 'oyfriend, ye' 'oth ''chines afte 'ell!" Mary continued, poking fun at the mechanized girl.

Alice blushed a bit. "M-maybe... but I think I want to take it slow for now. That's okay... right?"

"'Slow eh? Se' ye'd pr'fer eh' 'ectopod en? Eh' 'eard ey' 'ave 'uge cannons!" Mary said, putting her arm over Alice's shoulder.

Ammelia couldn't hold in her laugh. She looked up at Alice, her face flushed, "I-I'm sorry, Alice."

Alice smiled and shook her head. "I-it's okay, Ammy. A-a little teasing is common amongst friends... right?"

Mary nodded, giving the android a smile, "Eht 'east ye' 'ave some'on te' spend th' 'ight wit' Alice! Ammy 'ere 'prolly 'ouldn't get eh' brick ente' bed, let 'lone 'nother 'erson!"

Ammelia crossed her arms, feigning a serious look, "I'll have you know that I have someone I like."

Mary released Alice and looked over to her sister skeptically, "'Eally now? 'At's 'is 'ame 'en?"

"W-Well, first of all it's a girl." Ammelia replied.

The gunner's eyes widened with exaggerated shock, "Eally? 'Eh in'n't 'ake th' prinn'ess te' be eh' 'arpet muncher 'ike 'er sister! Congrats!"

"I guess this is evidence for the side of it being genetics, huh?" Sunny crossed her arms, and tried to ignore Mary's choice of words.

Alice scratched her head. "So, you're both attracted to other women? But aren't you supposed to..."

"Alice,"Sunny interrupted. "Look up LGBT."

Alice closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. "Oh... interesting. I'd like for you to tell me more on the subject. Perhaps over dinner?"

"'Ure, as 'ong as 'ere 'ill be a'cohol!" Mary responded, look Alice up and down, "Ye' 'an get drunk 'ight?"

"I... don't know." Alice looked at Sunny.

Sunny shrugged. "Well, you obviously can't digest anything, but I did include a program that analyzes alcohol consumption at debilitates you accordingly. Just... don't drink to much. I've never had cause to test the up limits of the program." She smiled at Ammy. "And we'll be sure no one tries to take advantage of you." Her eyes momentarily darted towards Mary.

The gunner raised her hands in defense, "'At!? Eh' 'an enly do 'et if Ay'me 'ays et's al'ight!"

"Ayame?" Sunny smiled. "So your Ayame's special friend she's talked about." She grabbed Mary's hand. "Now I definitely want to come along. You can tell me all about how you two met!"

Ammelia stood up and smiled at Sunny, "I'd like to hear this too actually, I haven't really heard the whole story yet."

"'En et's go!" Mary replied quickly, leading Sunny out of the room by her hand.

Alice quickly followed after, not wanting to miss a thing.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Adrammalech & ZombieSplitter53
When a Man is Interested in a Woman

XCOM Headquarters - Gym
September 8th, 1730 Hours

Emily looked down at the stopwatch, watching the number tick into a solid 30:00. She turned the dial down and rolled to a stop, hopping off the belt. She let out a sigh of relief, not feeling any problems leftover from her alien acquaintance even after the exertion. She grabbed her towel off the side and turned around, surprised to see a guard already looking at her a few yards away.

Waving his hand shyly, he spoke slowly, with a timid tone in his voice. “H-hey, Ms. Fischer. My name is Jake. I… don’t know if you remember, but I was in central when the aliens attacked. Though you… seemed kinda busy, so I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t.”

“I remember you, and please, call me Emily,” she smiled. “How are you holding up?”

“Um… I guess ‘as well as can be expected’ is a good way of putting it.” He smiled. “I’ve had support, though I don’t have it as hard as you soldiers. Especially with, you know… what happened to you and your teammates. E-especially you.”

“It’s what we signed up for,” she sighed, looking a bit tired. “Difficult but we keep pushing.”

“Yeah, I can imagine.” Jake bit his lip, his expression saying he wasn’t here to chit-chat, but he was too nervous to say what he wanted to say.

“Is something wrong? You look a little nervous...there’s not another alien on base, is there?”

“No, I think we’re pretty full up on those at the moment, I just… wanted to ask your advice on something. I mean, I know you barely know me, and I you, but one of the other guards said you helped him, so… I thought it was worth a shot.” Jake smiled nervously.

“What’s up?” Emily walked a bit to a low bench next to a rack of weights, patting the seat lightly.

Cautiously sitting next to her, Jake chuckled at the words as they ran through his mind. Taking a few deep breaths, he finally blurted out, “H-how do I make a girl notice me!”

Emily chuckled a bit. “It’s not too hard. Who’s caught your eye, if you don’t mind me asking? You don’t need to tell me their name if you don’t want to, just what are they like?”

“W-well, it would probably help if you knew, and besides, people tease me enough about it, so if you asked anyone who knew me…” Jake rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s one of the other soldiers that was with us during the defense. Her name is Atka.”

“Hmm, we’re acquainted,” Emily said, scratching her chin. “Well, first off, you need to look comfortable in your shoes. Atka’s a strong woman, so she’ll appreciate confidence.”

“Confidence, right, I can… I can try that.” Jake shook his head. “No, I mean, I will… I can. I just… ahem, need to work up the courage…”

“It’s not as hard as it sounds, just remember that she’s human just like you. Say her name, take a firm pose, and don’t be afraid to look her in the eye. It won’t kill you,” she looked directly at him, trying to get him to demonstrate on her.

Jake nodded. He glanced up, and noted Emily’s look. He cleared his throat, and looked her in the eyes, his glance darting to either side, but he tried to look her dead on. “I… Hello, Atka…”

“Hi there,” Emily’s smile widened and she pat his back encouragingly. “See? Not so difficult, and it’ll make an impression.”

Jake nodded. “Well, I have spoken with her a couple times, though I guess I was always avoiding eye contact.” He frowned. “I hope I didn’t insult her.”

“No, it’s not insulting, it’s just how you present yourself,” Emily said, casually trying to keep him looking at her. “You don’t have to stare at her constantly, but while she’s speaking, it’ll make you look engaged and comfortable with her, which girls appreciate.”

“Well… I know that it is important to not pretend to be interested, but to actually by interested. And each time we’ve talked, I’ve enjoyed listening to her. She has a pretty voice… ahem…” He smiled awkwardly. “W-what I mean is, I like listening to people.”

“That’s good, and I bet she has a lot of stories to tell. I know she’s pretty traditional…” Emily thought for a moment, looking down at his clothes. “I was thinking about presentation, but I think she’d appreciate a man in uniform. She seems like she’d appreciate someone who knows and respects their role.”

“A-and I do!” Jake nodded his head. “I take my jobs very serious. I mean… I don’t exactly have a lot of clothes that haven’t been assigned to me, but I think you’re right.” He thought for a moment. “Should I… talk about work?”

“If you have any interesting stories - and I don’t see how you couldn’t here - then yes, but not the day to day. Save that for marriage,” Emily chuckled.

“Marriage!?” Jake stammered a bit. “I-I… uh, I think I should work on g-getting my foot in the door b-before I…” Realizing Emily was likely joking, he smiled sheepishly. “Oh, um… sorry.”

“Hehe, just messing with you,” Emily grinned. “As for talking, it’s cliche, but just be yourself. If you try to make your personality different, you’ll just look weird. People with good personalities usually don’t need to change, they just need to do a little something extra to bring attention to them.”

Jake shrugged a bit. “What… what if I’m not that interesting of a person? And… what kinda ‘extra’ thing?”

“Well, the extra is what we just went over, and let her decide if you’re interesting. What do you do for fun?”

Jake thought for a moment. “Well, I… I entertain the younger residence of the refugee area. Not much for kids to do around here. Other then that, I… just read.”

“Are you kidding? She’ll love that,” Emily said. “Tell her all about the kids. She’ll be hanging on every word, I guarantee it.”

Jake smiled. “You… really think so.” Jake rubbed his arm. “Well, I could give it a try. I mean, the worst she could do is shoot me down, and I’d be no different than where I am now, right?”

“That’s right, but I wouldn’t think about that. You seem like a great guy, and you should believe it yourself,” Emily said, giving him a light punch on the arm. “I bet she’ll agree, then you go get ‘er.”

Jake stood up, nodding. “Y-you’re right, Emily. I… I’ll do that.” He smiled, this smile that most genuine. “Thanks Emily. This… this really helped.”

“I’m always happy to help,” she smiled, “good luck, Jake.”

“Thanks,” Jake said again, and took off, his shoulders a little higher than they had been in a while as her left.

Emily got up and grabbed her things, putting them into her bag and shouldering it. “Nice kid,” she whispered to herself. “Wonder if I should’ve pointed out that he actually looked me in the eye for most of that.”

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

DarkGemini24601 & ZombieSplitter53
Telling Grandma

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
0945 Hours, September 10th, 2018
Room of Modya Dragomirov and Jessica Lockheart

Jessica stared at her computer monitor, the address book reading a very select few people, making it all the more obvious which one she was gazing at. She wrapped her arms around her head, looking down and shaking it slowly. “You can do this, Jessie. Just… hit the number, and talk to her, woman to woman, adult to adult.” She slowly reached for the mouse, but upon touching it, recoiled her hand like it was boiling hot. She wrapped her arms around her head again, and muttered, “I can’t. I can’t. I… can’t…”

The door behind her opened, and Modya walked in, seeming cheery at first. “I was thinking...I finally came up with some names for…” the Russian trailed off. “What’s wrong, Jess?”

“Hmm?” Jessica quickly clicked off her monitor, and smiled at Modya. “N-nothing, just a… bit of a headache. You mentioned something about a name for something?”

“I came up with some ideas for the name of our child,” Modya responded. “If it’s a boy, either “Kostya”, which means steadfast, or Mikhail. IF it’s a girl...either Borislava meaning ‘battle glory’ or “Sasha”, defender of mankind.”

Jessica’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I like Sasha. It kinda goes with what he daddy does every day.” She placed her hand on her stomach. “What does Mikhail mean?”

“Who is like God,” the Russian replied. “You’d recognize it better as ‘Michael’.”

“I like that one too,” Jessie smiled. “And I know my mother would like it. Hmm… Sasha and Mikhail…” She looked down, as if peering into herself.

Modya smiled. “Glad to hear you liked them,” he said as he sat down. “I...imagine something was bothering you though. I know you well enough at this point to figure that out.”

Jessica’s eye glanced over to the computer. “I… have a bit of a confession to make. I… my mother knows about us, of course, but I haven’t told her… about…”

The rocketeer rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh. Maybe it would be easier if we told her together?”

Jessica gave him a worried look. “I don’t want to force that on you. I mean… it would, but…”

“It will be easier for both of us if we do it together,” Modya suggested. “Besides, if worst comes to worst, we can always blame it on the MELD, right?” he added lightly.

Jessica smiled. “Yeah, though I think I might get in trouble for mentioning it.” Her eyes darted to the side as she mumbled, “Can’t be as bad as what she might do, though…” She turned her monitor back on, and hit the prompt reading ‘Veronica Lockheart’. Swallowing hard, she said, “She should be home now. There’s, what, a twelve hour difference?”

Modya nodded. “Something like that. It’ll be alright, Jessica,” he said reassuringly.

The screen popped up an image of a white wall. On the other side, a woman could be heard muttering, “Jes, is that you… can you see me?”

Jessica rubbed the brow of her nose. “Mom, the… the web cam fell off again. All I see is wall.” She gave Modya a nervous grin.

Modya just kept smiling, though a brief flash of surprise showed when he saw Veronica. Wasn’t expecting her to be so...young.

“Better? Better, yes.” Veronica smiled. “Hey, Jessie, been too long. How…” She raised an eyebrow at the tall Russian next to her daughter. “Oh, hi. Um…”

“Modya Dragomirov,” the rocketeer explained. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lockheart.”

“Modya!” Veronica leaned forward, as though it would actually get her closer to Modya. “So you’re the guy that’s been keeping my little girl’s bed warm, huh?”

Jessica blushed. “Mom, please!”

The Russian chuckled. “I see you are one to get straight to things. There is something we’ve been meaning to tell you, though.”

“What’s that?” Veronica asked. “You given me grandchildren already?” Jessica’s eyes widened, and she started to stammer. Veronica shook her head. “Calm down, Jes, I’m just teasing you.”

Modya winced. After a prolonged pause, he finally mustered up the courage to speak again. “Actually…”

Veronica narrowed her eyes. “What?” After a few moments, she stood up straight. “Oh… oh, you mean… when? How long?”

“A-about… four months…” Jessica muttered slowly.

“Four months!” Veronica leaned forward again. “Why didn’t you tell me until now!?”

“I-it’s complicated, mom,” Jessica said, looking away. “We weren’t even sure until about three or four weeks ago.”

Veronica huffed, and sat back, closing her eyes and folding her arms, her expression one of deep thought.

“We decided that it would be best, should something...happen to me,” the Russian soldier stated. “Not everyone seems to agree with that sentiment...but…” Modya shook his head. “And we decided much more recently. It was due to an unexpected complication that Jessie got pregnant beforehand.”

Veronica slowly opened her eyes. “So… you wanted this? Both of you?” Jessie nodded.

“As did I,” Modya added.

Veronica pointed at her screen. “Jes, out.”

Jessica looked between Modya and her mother. “What… but I…”

“Out!” The blond woman said sternly. Jessica nodded slowly. She stood up, and stepped out of the room. Tilting her head as though it would give her a better view, Veronica asked, “She gone? Door closed?”

Modya nodded slowly. “What...did you want to tell me?”

Veronica folded her hands. “How much do you… care for my daughter? Truthfully, without her here to effect your answer. And be completely honest.”

“I care about her more than any other woman I’ve met in my life… only one other compared, but we drifted apart,” Modya replied earnestly. “I have no reason to abandon her, especially not now… not for her sake, for mine, or for the child’s.”

“And what about… Jessica’s sister?”

Modya rubbed the back of his neck. “I care about her too. We came to an...interesting compromise that satisfied all parties. Alexia knows that Jessica is my priority, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t hold a place in my heart as well,” the Russian did his best to explain.

A slight smile nearly compromised Veronica’s serious look. “If I sound like I’m being overly stern, especially considering we first met, I… has Jessica ever talked about her father?”

“Your husband?” Modya inquired. “A little.”

“Not my husband.” Veronica sighed. “He’s only her step-father. I meant her real father… let me rephrase that, or I’ll feel guilty about the man that treats her like her own. I meant her biological father.”

Modya shook his head. “She never spoke of him.”

“Not surprising, considering she never knew him.” Veronica grimaced a bit, the subject obviously painful for her. “I… I can’t really call meeting him a mistake, because I got Jessica from him, but… everything else?” She shook her head. “The man left me before Jessica was even born. I never saw him again. Just an older man, seducing a young woman who thought she was his everything, and found out she was just his current score. I was only fourteen when Jessica was born, and suffice it to say, things weren’t easy for us between then and when I met my husband.”

Modya’s gaze fell. “I didn’t realize…”

“Not an easy subject.” The young mother ran her hand through her hair. “But… you know, I’d like to think I’ve learned from my mistakes, and have become a halfway decent judge of character. And can I… be honest with you, Modya?”

“Of course,” Modya replied. “It’s easier when it’s mutual.”

“I wish I had spoken with you earlier, son.” Veronica smiled. “You seem a good man, with a good heart. Everything about the way you speak rings… honesty. When you said that you cared about my daughters, I believed you. I… like you, Modya. And I want Jessica to be with you.”

“Glad to hear it,” Modya returned her smile. “Would hate to have to choose between your happiness and Jessica’s,” he joked.

Veronica smiled. “Well, if it ever came to that, I’d rather you picked hers. Speaking of which, can you… get her. She’s probably nervous as hell out there.”

The Russian nodded, and quickly retrieved Jessica.

Veronica cleared her throat, and gave her daughter a gentle smile. Jessica cautiously returned it, and asked, “Does that mean… e-everything is okay?”

“It does,” her mother answered. “I love him. And I want to speak with you more often. I’m sure he’ll make a wonderful father for my… um, do you know if it’ll be a boy or a girl yet.”

Jessica nodded. “I do, but… I wasn’t sure if Modya wanted to know yet.”

Modya shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind knowing, unless you want to keep it a surprise.”

“No, though it might come as a surprise no matter what.” Jessica tilted her head down, unsure how Modya would react. “I, um… we, uh… we might have use of… both those names I said I liked…”

Modya’s eyes widened. “...twins?” he breathed.

Jessica nodded slowly. “I-I’m sorry, I should have said something earlier. Considering the circumstances of their conception, I guess we should feel lucky it’s only two, but… yeah. Are you… disappointed?”

Modya chuckled. “Dissapointed? That’s amazing! It might be a bit more of a challenge, but I welcome it.”

Jessica teared up, and wrapped her arms around Modya, squeezing him tightly. Veronica placed her chin in her hand, watching the two like she was watching a romance movie. “You two are so cute together, you know that?”

Jessica blushed, her expression saying she had almost forgotten her mother was there. “I, um… I’m glad you approve. I’m not sure if I can, b-but I’ll trying and send you the ultrasound pictures.”

“Be sure that you do.” The blond woman sat back. “And Modya?”

“Yes?”

“Keep safe, as best you can. A man like you only comes once in a lifetime.”

“I’ll do my best,” Modya replied. “Seem to have made it this far. I have no intention of losing here.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

"The Creator and the Created" - Buniq

XCOM Headquarters, Somewhere in Siberia
1700 Hours, September 10th, 2018
Holographic Recreation Room (H.R.R.)

A warm wind blew across the simulation, and after a shower of dust the landscape was revealed. Charappal plains spread out across the room, the ground marked by dry ground and gnarled shrubbery. In the distance, some mountains could be seen rising up like watchful guardians of the arid land. A far cry from the cold tundra of the Arctic Circle, but its observer found herself enjoying it nevertheless.

Buniq closed her eyes for a moment, taking in the warm feeling of the simulation, before starting to walk. The simulation curved and changed as to ensure that she would keep going 'forward' and not run into the walls of the limited room, as large as it was. The hybrid came to a stop, a flash of movement in the bushes catching her eye. Upon further, closer investigation, a coyote leapt backwards from the shrubbery Buniq was leaning over, and took off with due haste.

With a deep breath and shrug, understanding the creature's caution as surely as she knew her own, Buniq continued on her way. However, the tranquil silence was again broken by a voice speaking carefully into her head.

I would like to speak with you, Buniq. But first, let me preface that I am not your enemy, the speaker explained at length.

The chryssalid hybrid turned around, and was met with the curious eyes of a Sectoid in a modified XCOM uniform. She yelped, and stepped back, looking at him carefully. "I-I d-do remember...y-you from...s-somewhere."

Understandable. I created you, after all, I-12 confirmed.

"C-Created..." Buniq muttered.

That is not why I came here, in any case. I wanted to offer you something. Myself and Dr. Lockheart have been working on a way to allow your plating to reveal itself fully without causing you so much pain. I believe we have come up with the solution.

"Y-You have?" Buniq asked in disbelief. "U-Uh...thank y-you."

It is voluntary of course, but I surmised you would approve of it. Considering that the organization known as "EXALT" threatens our base of operations, it may be necessary for you to fight again.

A small smile crept across Buniq's features. "O-our base?"

I do not follow.

"I j-just thought it w-was nice that y-you con-considered yourself one of u-us n-now," Buniq explained awkwardly.

I see. It is curious, but I had no attachment to my previous master. Regardless, do you accept the offer?

Buniq nodded rapidly. "O-Of course... i-if I c-can p-protect Ammelia..."

Hm. I am not one for 'hearsay', but I have found that rumors tend to be the mainstay of confined quarters such as these. You two are in a romantic relationship, correct?

Buniq nodded. "W-w-we a-are.."

Yet unlike the human relationship that produces offspring, you chose another female. 'Love' is interesting, but I get the impression that it is something unable to be accurately researched through text alone. And I am incapable of producing offpsring, as a clone bred for other purposes.

Buniq blinked for a moment, and then asked shyly, "U-uh...y-you d-didn't...u-um..."

Go on.

"I-It's j-just...uh...e-embaressing to a-ask..."

I am unlikely to react in the way you might fear.

Buniq looked down for a moment, and then finally said, "Y-you d-didn't...a-alter m-my...r-r-repr...reproduc..."

I-12 tilted his head slightly, and finished for her, Reproductive organs? No, I left those the same as before, despite Samuel's protests. Your purpose is to blend the combat advantagers of a chryssalid while retaining the intelligence and functions of a normal human. Does this have to do with an interest in sexual activity?

The hybrid immediatly turned red and looked away from the Sectoid scientist. "I-I-I w-was j-just w-wondering i-in case i-it e-ever be-became r-relevant..."

Ah. If you would follow me, we can begin the procedure to... 'complete' you, I suppose.

Buniq turned around and bid the landscape farewell before shutting off the simulation. "M-maybe later, I h-have to tell I-Isitoq f-first. B-by the w-way, d-do you have a n-name?"

My designation is I-12, but I did think of something more. You may call me Xaver.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Happy Birthday
Taxor the First and MarineAvenger

XCOM HQ, Siberia, Civilian Quarters
10th September, 4:53 PM


For the first time in a while, Penny was enjoying a day off, although “enjoying” might be a bit of a stretch. On the basis that she’d already been working hard, and that it was her birthday today, her superiors had refused to assign her work. Whilst at first she’d been happy about the break, now she was just bored. Time off meant finding something to do yourself, and she’d already gone through her entire game library and book library.

Elizabeth walked through the door of her room, pulling the hair tie out of her hair and shaking her head so her hair fell down. When she opened her eyes she was more than startled to see that Penny was in their room. “Penny? What are you doing here? Aren’t you usually at work when I get off?”

Penny grinned and stood up from her bed. “Ellie! It’s great to see you! I, uh…” She stopped, suddenly self-conscious. “Well, I mean. Today’s a… it’s a special day for me. I’m one year older.”

“Today is your birthday!? Well what are doing here then? You should be out celebrating!” Elizabeth proposed.

“Probably,” was the response. “I didn’t have anyone to celebrate with. But now that you’re here…” Penny smiled. “How about we go down to the rec room for a bit? Have a few drinks, catch up.”

Elizabeth smiled and began to take off her work clothes. “Sounds great.” As she began taking off her shirt she turned to Penny, “You okay with me changing in front of you?”

Penny merely raised her eyebrows and turned around. “Fine by me, so long as you don’t consider that my present.”

Elizabeth threw her shirt at Penny and quickly changed into her clothes. Placing her flat cap on her head and pushing her glasses up her nose, Ellie spun on her heel and put her hands on her hip. “Ready!”

Penny laughed as she turned around again, stepping over the shirt. “You’re more excited about this than I am. Shall we?”

*

Penny winced as she sat down again. Every bloody time, that goddamn door. “I swear that thing has it out for me.”

Elizabeth giggled as she walked around Penny and sat down next to her. “Well it is your own fault, your motor skills must be severely lacking. No one else has a problem with doors but you.” Ellie stated it so matter of factly that she could almost be considered serious.

Penny muttered an obscenity under her breath. “It’s only doors. Well. Anything with hinges. Getting clothes out from my old cupboard was a trial. Now we’ve got that sliding door thing, all’s well.” She leant back with a contented grunt. “So then. What’ve you been up to?”

Elizabeth thought back on what she had been doing recently and stretched her arms out in front of her. “A lot of things. Work, boyfriend, friends...you know the usual stuff. The great thing about being a doctor and not a soldier is that I don’t have to worry about stuff like training and combat.”

“Whoa whoa, hold up.” Penny’s eyes glinted mischievously. “You never told me you had a boyfriend.”

“Really? Wow, we really haven’t talked all that much. Yeah, I have had a boyfriend since before Moscow, which was a while ago. Are you sure I have never told you?” Elizabeth clicked her tongue in her mouth in a ‘tsk’. “We need to go out more together.”

“Sure he wouldn’t get jealous?”

Elizabeth pushed against Penny’s face with both of her hands. “Shush you! Or I will kick you out that door myself.”

“And it’d probably kick me again just for good measure.” Penny laughed. “How long you two been together? And do I know him?”

“Has been around...two to three months now. I doubt you know him though, well you might, he hangs around engineering a lot. His name is Desmond Walker.”

Penny inhaled sharply, and instantly regretted it. “The… guy they thought was a traitor?”

Ellie pouted. “From the stories some people told he would have been the devil himself, but most of the stories you heard we probably over exaggerated. He is a real nice guy with a loving family...in fact, he is one of the Commander’s right hand men.” Ellie pointed her nose up. “So top that!”

Penny shrugged. “I don’t get out of the labs much, so all I hear is stories. If you trust him, and if the Commander trusts him, I do too. Can’t ever listen to gossip and take it at face value, after all.” She giggled. “And I’m afraid I’ve brought no cards in this hand of mine. Couldn’t even beat you if you just had a double 2.”

Elizabeth tilted her head. “What?”

Penny raised an eyebrow. “You never played cards at all? None of the many varieties of games with them?” She waved her hand dismissively. “Nevermind. I don’t think I could explain it all. My teaching ability isn’t great. Basically, I got nothing to top that with.”

“Well...from what I have seen of you, you are a pretty laid back person, meanwhile I am more wound up than a cymbal monkey.” Ellie looked down at her hands and tapped them together rapidly.

That got a laugh. “Might explain the clanging noises I hear sometimes near the infirmary. Charles said it was probably just the heating, but we all know he’s full of it.” She waved over the bartender. “Please tell me the rum isn’t gone.” The bartender gave her a sympathetic look, and she sighed. “The eternal question. I’ll just have a base beer then. Ellie?”

Ellie smiled and shook her head. “I remember the first time I had rum, it was spiced and after having too much then I could handle I woke up in bed with my best friend with her pants off. Man, that was a hell of a time trying to explain that one.” Ellie looked at the bartender. “Give me a Cola.”

“Know your limits, I see. Good, good. I’ve got a bit of a natural resistance, and I’ve been living in Australia for about a decade, so… I can handle a decent bit.” Penny ran her eyes over the occupants of the room, noting the atmosphere. “Interesting how high morale is. We’re supposed to be hunting down things that consider themselves gods, and here they are carousing like it’s nothing.”

“Well when you were in school did you worry about a really hard test that was around the corner or did you do everything in your power to forget it?” Elizabeth looked over at Penny with a sense of ‘ah ha’. “You know, I there is a guy I know from Legion...he is from Australia too!”

Penny smiled. “I’m technically Chinese, but we gloss that over. I feel more at home in Australia.” She frowned again. “Hang on, Legion you said? I thought pretty much everyone in that group were clones.”

Ellie nodded her head. “Technically but he is a scientist that was hired from the outside, so he is completely normal.” Ellie looked around and leaned into Penny. “Should mention he is already taken though.” She whispered to her friend.

“Damn it. So is half the base, it seems.” Penny shook her head, accepting the bottle the bartender passed her. “Thanks. Almost everyone I talk to nowadays is involved in some way, and even in the labs rumors are arriving about a popular supply closet…”

“I wonder where those started originated from…?” Ellie shook her head, patting Penny on the back. “You will find someone, if not you can always just start budding.”

Penny merely shrugged, taking a swig from the bottle and nearly tossing it away. “What the hell is this stuff? They trying to poison me?” She shook her head to clear it. “Yeah. Plenty of time for that after the war, I think. I’m not in a rush. Although... I am getting older. Year by year.”

“How old are you by the way?” Ellie leaned in to take a sip from her straw but it kept bumping into her face and she made an agitated face, grabbing the straw and pushing it in her mouth.

“Twenty nine, now.” Penny watched her friend’s efforts to drink and smiled. “Are you sure you haven’t had any alcohol yet?”

“I have drank! Remember, girl...pants off, hard to explain due to the spiced rum?” Ellie laid her head against the bar. “I am such a lightweight.” She pouted.

“I meant today. If you’re getting drunk off coke… you sure you just asked for a normal one?”

Elizabeth crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes leaning close to Penny. “I wasn’t paying attention, though the one who gets spanked by doors is one to laugh at me…” Elizabeth growled a little and stuck out her tongue.

Penny scowled. “Touche. You haven’t heard the last of this.” She sighed. “What about work? Have I asked about that yet?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “My line of work probably isn’t as eventful as yours but I have been worked to the bone taking care of every soldier and staff member who has the little pain on them. What happened to powering through it to develop a tolerance.” Elizabeth shook her fist in the air. “Damn you human immune system and your inability to make my life easier!”

“If it did, you wouldn’t have a job.”

“Yeah, but…” Ellie pouted and growled again. “Touche.”

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Pump it Up, Part 1
Taxor the First and DarkGemini24601

X-COM HQ, Siberia, Forward Labs
11th September, 5:42 PM

Despite her griping about the long hours, her whinging about the food, and her frequent, albeit light-hearted tussles with Charles, Penny did not regret joining X-COM one bit. It was much the same as she’d been doing before her employment with her former colleagues at Lucas Heights – going about the oddly fulfilling task of subverting the classic “try not to blow it up” motto of the more crazy scientists – but with far more resources (and therefore far more exploding). And with pulse laser technology now under her belt, Penny felt like she could take on any challenge.

Except, of course, reverse engineering alien weaponry.

“I would have thought we’d be good once we got pulse lasers out of the way,” she muttered, seated at her desk once more. “But no, need to get back to work and start working on plasma.”

Charles merely grunted in response.

“I have to wonder if that woman knows anything about weaponry tech.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Or workplace sanity, for that matter.”

“The very idea is laughable,” Charles said without much enthusiasm.

Penny sighed and placed her head in her hands. “This’d be bearable if we could get some decent food, at the very least.”

“Taste is irrelevant. Nutrition is love, nutrition is life.”

“Barring that, maybe some TV. I can’t remember the last Simpsons episode I watched.”

“They all blend together anyway,” said Charles dismissively. “Besides, not like we don’t have plenty of entertainment here. I’ve heard some… interesting things about that alien we caught. Plus there’s our odd bedfellows roaming the halls.”

“You mean Legion?” Penny frowned. “Their robots creep me out, and the fact that they have that whole ‘collective intelligence’ thing just makes it worse. I keep expecting them to announce that they’ve reached consensus, or that we’re wise for not having windows.”

“I’m pretty sure our computers use Windows.”

“Not the same.” She frowned. “I wonder what OS they run on. Probably not one we’d recognize. Maybe some form of Linux.”

“All of which is only making me happier and happier that I’m not a robotics specialist.”

“And this is better? Sitting around trying to figure out how to weaponize plasma?”

“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Magnets.”

“We already tried that. We failed miserably.”

“Trust me,” Charles said, flashing a grin. “I’m a scientist.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t trust you.”

“Trust me,” he repeated. They were silent for a moment. “You seen much of your roommate recently?”

“Nah. We’ve either got conflicting shifts or she’s –“ Penny stopped and reevaluated what she had been about to say. “… busy,” she finished.

“Busy? You check that supply cabinet near the soldier barracks yet?”

Penny’s cheeks went a soft red. “No!”

Charles cackled. “That tells me all I need to know.” Seeing her pout only made him laugh even more, but he returned to his work nonetheless. “Speaking of rendezvous, weren’t you supposed to go meet that big guy from the alien base?”

“You mean the Muton?”

“Hey, don’t call him a Muton. He’s our friend now, we call him a Baldamaar. Calling him a Muton is like calling someone a wog, or a ginger.”

“I don’t think-“

“Anyway, that’s not who I meant. I meant the cyborg guy, the clone?”

Penny’s eyes widened as realization hit her over the back of the head. “Oh shit. I was, wasn’t I?”

“I-see-clock or something…”

Penny rubbed her temples. “I was supposed to go see him, examine the weapon they had strapped to his arm. I… we’ve been so busy, it just… slipped my mind completely.”

“You were going to go check out his guns?”

“Only the one.”

“Say no more. I don’t want to know.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you…”

“Anyway you should probably get on that. Might be able to help us with this.”

Penny sighed. “I really don’t think it will. He had a laser based weapon, I’m pretty sure it’s outdated.”

“Where’s the harm in checking? Besides, you might be able to make a friend.” Seeing her expression, he nodded. “I know. Shocking idea, isn’t it?”

“I hate you.”

“All part of the plan.”

Penny sighed. “What about those fusion reactors? We found a use for them in the Blaster Launchers, maybe we could use them for proper plasma weaponry?”

“And then we could make a proper Arm Cannon.”

“No. We’d need to make the fusion reactor really, really small for that. Plus I don’t think the soldiers will particularly like the idea of having a potentially unstable fusion reactor strapped to their arm.”

“But Power Beam though,” Charles protested.

“I know, I know. Maybe someday.”

It was at that point Charles realized she was packing up. “You clocking off already?”

Penny shook her head. “Nah. Going to see that cyborg guy.”

“Shouldn’t you make an appointment first or something?”

“The guy’s pretty much on call 24/7 anyway, not like a half-hour look-see into his arms will cut into his day all too much.”

*

Isitoq looked up from the notes over the electropulse module for MEC suits that one of the Legions had shown to him earlier, hearing a knock on the door. Pushing in the chair, the cyborg walked up to the door and opened it slightly, looking over the guest with his screen-like eyes with red pupils.

Penny smiled winningly at the clearly partly artificial occupant of the room, or at least she tried to. “Hi there! You must be…” She frowned and checked the clipboard in her arms. “Isitoq, right?”

The mechanized human nodded. “I am. And you are?” he asked in his clinical and resonating tone.

Instinctively, Penny reached out her hand, half withdrawing when she noticed the metal on Isitoq’s and then forcing herself to replace it. “Penny Anderson. I’m not sure if you were made aware, I was supposed to check out your weapon systems and see if we could find anything useful in them.” Under her breath she added “... a while ago.”

Isitoq looked her over. “You mean...the weaponized arm?” He glanced down at his two normal arms to indicate it was no longer attached. “I have it in storage, but Dr. Randolf found a means to detach my limbs so I might be fit for MEC trooper duty.”

“MEC duty?” Penny winced. “Well, I suppose you wouldn’t exactly be giving up as much as some other people. Uh. No offense. Do you… have it anywhere nearby?”

Isitoq walked back into the room, and opened a door, pulling out the original cybernetic limb from a locked drawer. He returned to Penny and offered it to her. “The inhibitors are still in place, so it cannot be fired at this time for security precautions.”

“I’m honestly surprised they let you keep it at all.” She examined the limb thoughtfully, trying to ignore the idea that she was holding a limb in her hands. “Do you mind if I come in and use that desk over there? I’d like to get a closer look at the insides of this.”

“You may, as long as you do not damage in the the process,” Isitoq replied calmly.

“I’ll try my best,” said Penny, suppressing the instant “no promises” response she’d had. She walked into the room, noting how tidy it was, and her eyes settled on the desk at the far end of the room. She placed the limb on the desk gingerly, and brought the toolbox she’d been carrying for this purpose up, placing it next to the limb. “So then. How’ve you been treated?” the scientist asked as she unpacked.

“Well. And better now that one of my arms is not a weapon,” Isitoq analyzed, before turning his head. “Welcome back, Buniq.”

 

[DarkGemini24601]

Taxor_the_First and DarkGemini24601: "Pump it Up, Part 2"

Penny turned her head to greet the newcomer and nearly leapt into the ceiling. “Jesus -” Out of reflex she brought up a spanner, before realising her mistake and lowering it again. “Ah… sorry. You scared me, is all.”

The chryssalid hybrid immediately hid behind her brother, eyeing Penny nervously. She tried to say something, but could only come up with an incoherent stammer.

Guilt welled up inside Penny. “I’m really, really sorry. I’ve been a bit jumpy ever since the attack on our base.” In an effort to defuse the situation, she pointed to Buniq’s hair. “I like your hair.”

Buniq slowly nodded. “T-t-thank y-you…” she responded, still tense but at least able to form words again.

Still recovering from the shock, Penny sat down again, and resumed her work. “You two share this room then?”

“We do. She is my sister, after all,” Isitoq explained.

Penny winced, and felt glad that she was facing away from the two. “And you’ve both been affected by the aliens.”

“Created by them, rather,” Isitoq added. “We are clones, our templates are no longer alive.”

“A-and...t-that S-Sectoid on b-base...h-he’s a-actually our c-creator...I m-met him j-just now…” Buniq continued.

Not often you meet someone who’s literally had hardship their entire life, and here are two in the same room. “You hold that against him-” She stopped. “-It at all? I wouldn’t blame you for it if you did.”

Buniq shook her head. “I-I w-wouldn’t exist w-without I-12...a-and h-he s-seems to c-care...i-in his o-own w-way. He t-told m-me that Ms. L-Lockheart and h-him f-figured out a w-way to a-allow me to u-use my f-full plating w-without a-as much p-pain.”

“Sound’s like he’s trying to make amends then.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, did you just mention that Lockheart girl?” She shook her head. “Everywhere I go. Still haven’t met her.”

“S-she’s r-really g-good with g-genetics,” Buniq offered.

“And she has helped Buniq through difficulties in the past,” Isitoq stated, thinking back to what Ammelia had told his sister some time ago.

“We work in the same section of the base, and not once have I seen her. Hear a lot. Must be a good person, because I hear a lot of stuff like what you’ve just said,” Penny said. “And you guys sound like you need the help. Not saying you wouldn’t cope without it, I’m sure you would, but you deserve it. And…” she turned in the seat to face Isitoq. “... MEC troopers are in high demand I think. Speaking as someone who isn’t involved with the war aspect in any way, I’m sure people like the Commander would appreciate it.”

Isitoq nodded. “I am only a reserve trooper, but I imagine the Commander will call upon me when EXALT makes their move.”

“I-I w-won’t l-let you f-fight t-them a-alone…” Buniq mumbled.

Penny shrugged. “Reserve or not, MEC’s are powerful. I know, I helped design the railguns they use. Any extra we have will be appreciated. As for you…” she looked quizzically at Buniq. “You… don’t exactly strike me as the soldiery type. Not to offend you but… well. I’m not sure if you should be running headlong into battle. I know I’m not, when the time arrives. I’m staying downstairs and not budging until its over.”

“I-I w-want to h-help A-Ammelia and I-Isitoq i-if I c-can...w-we’ll need e-everything for a-another attack o-on our b-base, and I f-fought last t-time…”

“I don’t want something like last time to happen again, though…” Isitoq protested.

“I-I’m stronger t-than I w-was t-then...n-now that I c-can p-panic people...and w-with Xaver’s h-help…I-12, t-that is.”

“Last time?” Penny enquired. “Oh. You were the one the aliens took.” She turned around again and looked at Isitoq. “I’m aware this is probably a private discussion and one you should have amongst yourselves, but to be fair on Buniq here, I don’t think EXALT has teleportation yet. Not like they can just whisk her out like the aliens did.”

“A-and they’re n-not here f-for c-captives, a-anyway…”

Isitoq sighed. “Still…”

“I-If y-you’re g-going to r-risk your l-life…” Buniq countered.

“...we would have to talk to the Commander about it.” Isitoq settled on that.

Penny remained silent, aware that she had no business interfering in the conversation. She couldn’t help but make a soft “Ah!” when she finally gazed into the limb’s inner workings. “I don’t know who did this or why the aliens were even bothering with weaponry that’s obviously inferior to theirs, but I’m liking what I’m seeing in here.”

Isitoq walked over. “What did you find?”

“Mostly the same as our old lasers. Got the same parts and pieces, just in a different format. But it’s… efficient. No space wasted, everything is important. Mind you…” Penny frowned. “That doesn’t explain the higher energy output from the tests, doesn’t matter how polished it is. There must be something else in here…”

“Perhaps some sort of stabilizer? An additional power source?” the cyborg suggested.

Something caught Penny’s eye. “Hello hello… you might be right. What’s this thing in here?” With a look of concentration on her face, she pulled out a magnifying glass and began examining the offending object. “Cylindrical… looks like a lightbulb if I’m being honest… one of those shitty energy saver ones.” After some tweaking with a screwdriver, she brought the glass tube out, noting the reddish tint it had when held up to the light. “This might be our culprit.”

“Indeed,” was Isitoq’s simple response.

Penny seemed entranced by the object, and so she missed Isitoq’s obvious lack of understanding. “None of our weapons have anything like this in them. Maybe it is like a lightbulb, ionizes the gases inside to produce light. Since that’s what laser weapons are - super intense light - maybe this is meant to boost the output a bit.” She snapped out of her trance and coughed. “Uh. Sorry. Most of that was probably over your head or out of context. Would you mind if I took this with me to the labs? Get an actual idea of what it is? I don’t think it’ll prevent this thing-” she tapped the arm on the desk “-from firing, just in case EXALT happens to make a move while I’m working this over.”

“That is acceptable,” he replied. “I understand some of it...but I cannot read minds.”

Penny beamed. “Thanks. I’ll see what I can get from this.” She rose, her prize clutched in her hands. “I’ll get right on it,” she said, almost skipping out the doorway.

“She didn’t…” Isitoq shook his head at the pile of equipment, and picked it up, going after the excited scientist.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

X-COM Alien Containment Facility
September 11th, 0900 Hours

The Ethereal slowly turned around, looking with mild curiosity at the Commander and her to guests.

A pleasure to see you again, Commander, and so soon. And you even brought more people to entertain me.

Morrigan shook he head. "Not quite, my unwelcome guest. I brought my central officer and her sister in case you get a little irritable. I know all about the powers you still have."

I see. So I take it you come with bad news of sorts.

"Aye." Morrigan folded her arms. "It came to my attention that Ms. Exalt made you certain promises in exchange for cooperation. A human body. I don't care much for such promises made without my consent, and I have my moral issues with it, both the cloning, and turning even a blank human over to an alien. But I considered it."

I see. And your verdict?

"The answer is no," Morrigan answered. "For a number of reasons, but the main one is because you have done nothing... nothing... to assist us, other then giving information to fix your mess, and you only did that to gain favor with Emily. You actually help out a bit, and I might approve of it, despite my reservations."

Luxuria clenched all four of her fists. Elene promised me the body in advance.

"A promise she was in no position to give." Morrigan took a few steps forward. "She might have nothing to lose if you decide to clam up after you get what you want, but I do!"

Very... well... Luxuria turned her back to the women. Then expect nothing from me. Your actions have caused me to 'clam up'. I will not assist you until I get my body. The worst you could do is execute me, and you would be doing me a favor.

"Whatever." Morrigan walked to the door, not bothering to see if Aya and Eve were following. "But until you change your mind, I'm not give you the chance to screw with anyone. Lets see how many weeks apart from the object of you desire it takes to..."

What!? Luxuria rushed to the front of her cell. You can not do that. I had a deal with Amelia. She will come see me.

"Keep telling yourself that," Morrigan said with a chuckle. "But even if she ignored my orders, your android guards will keep her out."

As Morrigan reached the door, Aya and Eve turning to follow, Luxuria looked back and forth, the motion almost resembling panic and desperation. She extended her hand, doing the only thing she could to keep the Commander in the room.

"Please," Brigid cried out. "You can't take her from me!"

Morrigan's eyes widened as she turned back, her expression filled with rage. "How... dare you!"

Brigid sunk back a bit. "I... I had to. You wouldn't listen. I must see Amelia! I am a prisoner, am I not? Even your prisoners have rights! And this is all I have asked..."

"You think you're a regular POW!?" Morrigan screamed as she stomped towards the cell, doing her best to ignore the illusion. "You think the Geneva Convention applies to you!? You're not a prisoner! You're a monster!"

Reaching the cell, Morrigan practically growled as she reached for the red switch. Brigid shrieked, holding her hands on her head and squeezing her eyes shut. "Please, no!"

Morrigan stopped, starring in horror at Brigid. Despite knowing full well it was an illusion, the thought of her daughter crying over something she had done wrenching at her stomach. "You... y-you bitch, you..."

"I'm sorry, I..."

"You're not sorry!" Morrigan turned away. "Don't give me that bullshit! Why would you be sorry? We're not worth your empathy, right?"

"You... your people know prejudice all too well," Brigid muttered, slowly looking up. "You look down on others for the color of their skin. The land they come from. At least all of the Ethereals view each other as the same race. If... if you met someone who thought little of another group... because that was how they were raised..."

Morrigan scoffed. "What is your point?"

Brigid looked up, shaking her head. "I... I am still young, by our standards, but in Earth years, I am two hundred years old. I have gone my whole life as the top Being of the universe. It was what I have been raised to believe. I... I am not sorry for what I am, and how I feel. But... I'm sorry that I am not sorry."

Morrigan slowly shook her head. "That... that doesn't make you... any less responsible..."

"I ask for one thing. No better conditions, not a bigger cell. Nothing to keep me occupied. I... I will even stop trying to convince others to let me out. But please, don't take my only..." Brigid vanished as the Ethereal cried out in pain, Eve angrily throwing the switch.

As the alien collapsed to the floor in pain, and Eve did nothing to stop, Aya reached forward, turning the device off. "You'll kill it!"

"So!" Eve looked between Aya and Morrigan, enraged. "Are you going to let her manipulate you like this?" She pointed a shaking finger at Luxuria. "She doesn't deserve your sympathy. No matter what she says, no matter what she does from this point forward, it will never make up for the atrocities she is responsible for. This is what she does! She is manipulating you, plain and simple!"

"She's right, though," Morrigan whispered.

"What?" Eve stared at her in disbelief.

Aya placed her hand on Eve's shoulder. "We can't treat her like she'd treat us."

Eve slapped her hand away. "Even if she deserves it!?"

"Even if she deserves it." Morrigan looked up at the alien as it slowly rose from the floor. "Emily will be back, if she wishes it. But she might have others with her from time to time, including Elene."

I... I understand. I will... cooperate, as long as I can see her.

Morrigan turned to leave. Aya reached out for her sister, but Eve turned her back to her Aya. Hanging her head down, Aya exited with the Commander, leaving Eve alone with Luxuria and the android guards.