KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
I blearily open my eyes to the sharp sound. I feel my sleep addled brain still trying to form connections as I slowly look around the room. "Did Heya renovate while I was or the priest is knocking but he died trying to kill the-" the soup of ideas gradually forms into coherent thoughts as I blink. "The Unum tried to kill me. I'm on the relay. That's not the priest knocking." I call out groggily, doing my best not to disturb Ko-lee, who is somehow still asleep next to me. "One minute," I say, as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I drag myself over to the table, where I had discarded my clothes in the darkened room the night before, before giving them a sniff test.
"Sweat and adrenaline, disgusting," I think, before pulling them on anyways. "Not like I have anything else to wear, anyways." I approach the door, and it slides open in front of me, revealing a faceless Tenno. "Morning," I say, trying to blink the sleep from my eyes. Their masked face betrays no emotion, and the only reaction I see is some sort of fidgeting motion with their right hand. "There's no way they're nervous. What are they doing?" I think, my eyes getting drawn to the thumbstick like motion. "Are you Antimony?" they ask, mispronouncing my name. I go to correct them, but hesitate, unsure of their demeanor from just their vocal tone.
"Yea... yes, I'm Antimony," I say, stressing the second syllable instead of the first. There's a moment of silence before I follow up. "How can I help you?" The entire conversation is making me feel somewhat off-kilter; having to immediately try interacting with someone mere moments after waking, combined with being unable to read their facial expression is putting me on the back foot, socially. The chatter between me and the operative has also woken Ko-lee, and I hear her shuffling around in the room behind me. "I'm here to fit you for a TEPA suit," the Tenno says, their voice muffled through the mask. I feel the air shift behind me as Ko-lee approaches. "Are we both getting fitted?" she asks, her words strong and clear, with no hint of sleep warping them.
The operative shakes their head. "Someone will come gather you when they're ready. Please stay in your room so we don't have to track you down," they say to Ko-lee. The Tenno takes a step to one side of the door, one hand extended to the side with their palm up, in a clear gesture for me to follow. I give them a quick nod, before turning 180 degrees to plant on Ko-lee's lips. I linger for just a touch longer than is appropriate, and she raises an eyebrow when I break it off. "Last time someone came and knocked on the door and told me to follow them, I got swept into some stuff. So... you know. Just hedging my bets," I say, giving her a cheeky grin. She just responds with a scoff, a shake of the head, and an eye roll while leaning against the door frame, as I step out into hallway. "Onwards and upwards," I say, as the Tenno begins to make their way down the unmarked hall.
We're walking for about a minute before I start to speak, partially just in an attempt to fill the silence. "So... doesn't the headset bother you?" I ask, looking at the Tenno. "Headset?" they respond inquisitively. "Or goggles, or whatever you call them," I say, making a pointing gesture towards my eyes. I can't help but draw a parallel between the device I've seen every Tenno wear, and my Oculus headset from back home. "It's not heavy heavy, but that thing for sure gets on my nerves after a couple hours. I can't imagine wearing something similar all day, every day." The operative makes a sound of understanding, before shaking their head. "No, that would defeat the purpose," they say. I wait for them to elaborate, but they don't, and so I prod. "And what is the purpose?" I ask.
"Constant, dual way communication. Visual and audio feedback. Friend or foe identification. A whole bunch of stuff, really. If they were uncomfortable, we'd be more likely to take them off in our downtime. Then, in the case of an attack on the relay, we'd lose precious seconds having to reequip our gear. So, they're designed so that we don't want to do that. They're crafted according to the shape of our face, and made using lightweight materials. Honestly, I even forget I'm wearing it sometimes," they say. "Do you also have a bridge you wanna sell me?" I think, but outwardly, I just smile and nod. "Is that something that happens often?" I ask. "Attacks on the relay, I mean."
The Tenno gives a small tilt of their head. "Sort of. Thing is, the relay is a high value target, but both sides are aware. We generally have a few warframes nearby, and in the case of an attack, we usually have more that will fly in. Also, in space you tend to get a lot of warning. It's not like they can sneak up on us through the trees, you know?" they say. "But combat can and does happen. It rarely directly reaches the relay, if that's what you were worrying about." I nod my head, but something on my face must've read as apprehension or disbelief, because the Tenno follows up. "Seriously, you'll be fine. They relay's have been here forever. They're not going to be destroyed."
Their words are like sticking my finger in an outlet. "Oh, fuck, that's right! Strata Relay gets blown up, and then Steel Meridian helps rebuild it! That's why the Concourse looks so weird," I think, feeling a shot of adrenaline run through me. "Shit, I don't even remember when that happens! Fomorian events happen all the time in game, but the specific one that blew up Strata? Shit, I'm not sure I was even playing at the time." The tension must've been apparent in my body language, because the Tenno looks at me with what I assume is concern on their face. "You doing okay?" they ask. "Yup. I'm fine," I respond, my words clipped. It effectively ends the conversation, and we continue walking in silence, until the Tenno stops at what appears to be a completely random door. As they approach, I see them fidget once more, moving their thumb as though fiddling with an invisible joystick. A small beep sounds out, and the light of the door changes from red to green, before the door slides open. I peek my head inside to see an empty closet.
"Uhh..." I say, but the Tenno just gives a gesture for me to enter. I do so, and the door slides shut behind me. At almost the exact same moment, a holographic display pops up on the wall, laying out instructions. "Please remove all clothes, and stand in the center of the room, arms down at your side in a resting position? Is this some sort of weirdo future TSA?" I give a quick glance at the door behind me, but it's still firmly shut, and before I can convince myself otherwise, I start to strip down to my birthday suit. As I do, a small, previously hidden cubby pops open in the wall, and I place my clothes inside before shutting the door. Two footstep outlines glow on the floor in the center of the room, and I make my way over to them, feeling oddly exposed as I stand there naked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"Ten bucks says there's gonna be a 'problem' with the scan," I think derisively. I briefly hear what appears to be the high pitched whine of a mechanical motor, and some lights appear on the wall and floor, but I have no context for any of them. Moments later, I hear a sharp ding, and the pitch of the motor drops down. "Huh. Guess not," I think, reaching into the cubby to pull out my clothes. As I put them on, I watch the instructions change to a hyper detailed readout of apparently every minute physical detail on me. "Look at me, my cholesterol is in range." I hear a knock on the door, and I quickly throw on the last of my clothes before stepping over to open it. It slides open, and the Tenno speaks the moment it does.
"Your hormones production seems to be lower than expected. Were you aware of that?" they ask. I shrug, trying not to look to frustrated. "Yea, I'm aware. I used to take a medication for it, but... that's just not been an option recently." They give me a nod. "Common for those from lower tech situations. I wish we could send some of the technology we have to settlements and the like, but the Grineer will just destroy it, and the Corpus will strip it for parts." I can imagine a rolling of the eyes as they shake their head. "Anyways, there's a series of injections we can give that will convert your endocrine system to produce the appropriate hormones in range. It's a six week schedule, once a week. Is that something you'd be interested in? If not, we can likely replicate the medication you were taking."
The whole thing is said with the blasé tone of someone letting me know that they're picking up groceries after work.
Rote.
Simple.
Barely worth mentioning.
I feel something tickle my cheek, and reach up to find liquid. A tear. "You... you can just do that?" I ask while brushing it away, doing my best to match their calm energy. They respond with a nod, their expression still fully hidden. I take a deep, unsteady breath, feeling my face break out in a huge smile. "Yea, I think I'll do that, then," I say, my voice just on the edge of cracking. They stand there for a moment more, before taking a few steps past me. "Follow me," they say, purpose to their walk as they head off farther down the hall. I half jog to fall in line behind them, and it's a few turns more before we end up in front of a new unmarked door.
"Do they just have all of these doors memorized?" I wonder, still slightly reeling from the reveal that I'd soon be back on HRT. Part of me wants to react, in some way, but another part doesn't, as though I might accidentally break some sort of fragile spell by acknowledging it too hard. Instead, I just shelve the buzzing thought, doing my best to focus on the immediate now. I look into the room, and unlike the one I was previously just in, the machinery of this one is out in the open. The large device is chunking and whirring, and I can see textiles and wire and filament passing though various locations. They get heated, pressed, sewn and more, but I'm unable to get a clear idea of the final product until it comes to a stop, depositing a Tenno suit near the bottom portion of the machine.
"Is that one mine?" I ask, and the Tenno I'm with nods their head. I reach out for it, feeling the material, unsure of what exactly it's made of. I'm expecting a cotton feel, but instead it's incredibly smooth, like a ten thousand count bedsheet. I tug on it, and it has give, more than I had guessed. I try to fray the fabric with a fingernail, but my cautious attempt gives way to a genuine struggle to leave any lasting mark on the suit whatsoever. "Alright, bet. This is actually kinda wild," I think, as I lift up the suit to examine it more fully. "Tough, comfortable, and flexible. Other than the fact that it looks like it'll be a pain to get in and out of to pee, it's pretty neat. Even covers my hands, feet, and head. Trippy." I turn to look at the Tenno, who is calmly waiting for me to finish my inspection.
"Should I put it on now?" I ask, and they nod their head. "I can walk you through it. It's not immediately obvious," they say. "Pssh, how hard can it be?" I think, but I do my best to bite my tongue. It's a good thing I do as well, as I'm caught off guard by the magnet zippers used to open/close it up, or how to tighten and loosen various parts of it. "Thank god they mentioned how to open it for the bathroom as well. I really didn't want to have to ask." Finally, after nearly five minutes, I'm fully suited up, and I take a moment to move around the room, getting a feel for it. The suit is form fitting, nearly a second skin, but the flexibility of it prevents it from tugging or pulling as I put it through it's paces.
The material is also light and breathable; I was expecting to start sweating the moment I fully sealed it up, but I'm not even slightly warm. As I do a little interpretive dance, the Tenno hits a button on the machine, and I hear something depressurize. A chamber opens up, letting out a puff of gas, revealing a headset and mask. I stop moving around, and look at the piece of tech, as the Tenno reaches in to unclip it from the machine. The device now freed, they turn to me while holding it, pointing to the side of the headset and mask. "This portion clips into the head. Like the TEPA, it can be a little tricky to put it on for the first time," they say, as they reach for their own mask. It takes them a few moments before they get it off, and for the first time since meeting them, I have the opportunity to see their face.
They have dark eyes and a warm smile, and I can't help but give them one in return. "Here, watch me," they say, as they begin to walk me through the steps to connect the headset to the head covering. The process is somewhat involved, and I can't help but remember their previous words from less than an hour ago. "Alright, I get it, this would absolutely be a pain to put on if the relay was exploding," I think to myself. It takes me a few tries; I'm able to watch them do it, but on my end I have to feel it out since I can't see the attachment points next to my face. However, I'm eventually able to get it fully clicked in, covering my eyes and my mouth in their entirety. "It's pitch black," I say, and I hear a muffled sound of affirmation from the Tenno. "Yea, I need to activate it for you, just hold still."
I stand there for a moment, until a light in the headset flickers, causing me to instinctively shut my eyes. "Keep your eyes open please, I need to calibrate," they say. "If you need my IPD, you can just ask. No need to flashbang me," I think, as more lights and colors dance around in my field of view. "I wonder if you're just not allowed to be a Tenno if you have epilepsy." Despite the ocular assault, I do my best to keep my eyes open and straight. "Alright, that should be everything," I hear them say after about thirty seconds. "Let me know if everything is clear on your end." The headset is still pitch black, and I'm about to open my mouth to let them know, when suddenly, it springs to life.