Sentient Worm

Pulling back the curtain

Pulling back the curtain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Who?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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