#about rendering and the amount of detail warframes have

[kaiserouo]

she knows what her skills are for

[spaceybot]

A Cephalon’s Heart (Warframe Ficlet)

So on Warframe's website for Heart of the Ordis there's this gem:

“Operator, as is the custom, allow me to join in the celebration of the heart! Appreciating the cardiovascular system which facilitates your continued existence is a very worthwhile celebration. Happy Heart of the Lotus Ordis! Oh? What’s that? Hmmm…..how strange. Cephalon Suda just communicated to me that the holiday is more sentimental than biological. That seems misplaced. Ordis will never understand your strange celebrations, Operator.”

It then mentions that Ordis messed up the decorations so OF COURSE I HAD TO RUN WITH THIS. This is a DIFFERENT take on how Ordis found out about the true nature of the Heart of the Lotus. 

Before the Eros Heart Ornament there was another. Ordis is still sulking about it.

“Ordis...why.”

The Operator holds the holo sculpture in their arms. Ordis had been eager to show it off the second the foundry had finished putting it together, calling his Operator over to inspect the festive decor. He had hoped that it would please them, but, judging from their tone their reception seems...mixed.

“It’s for the celebration, of course. What do you think of it?” He beams. “Ordis made sure to include every little detail, and it is quite accurate to human biology.”

“I can see that.”

“I thought, perhaps you’d like something to spruce up your personal quarters, what with it being a holiday and all. And I know how much you adore Tennobaum decorations.”

“Ordis, this is an anatomically accurate heart. You’ve replicated an actual organ.” They reply. There’a a beat of silence, and then a faint burst of static.

“－ just say you don’t like it, Operator －”

“No, it’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just, you’ve made a heart .”

“I am not understanding you. Is that not the point?”

Are they not celebrating the cardiovascular system?

The Operator only sets the sculpture back down with a barely suppressed laugh, the heart hologram flickering upon impact with the foundry table. Both of them feel a rush of alarm, for different reasons, when an unflattering choking noise rushes out of the Operator’s throat, giving away their failure to keep their laughter in check. Are they dying, Ordis wonders?

“The Heart of the Lotus celebration was－” They stop to correct themselves. Looks like the Tenno will need a new name for the holiday. “－ is , more symbolic and less…”

They gesture to the floating, red organ hovering above its polished pedestal.

“...literal. It’s about expressing love for one another. Your heart is a bit...realistic looking..”

The Operator can practically feel the Cephalon’s confusion radiate throughout the ship, his perplexity rendering him speechless. They're glad that their warframe conceals their wide grin. It'd only make it worse. The quiet stretches on and on.

In fact, Ordis remains so silent that the Operator almost fears they’ve broken the Cephalon’s poor, symbolic heart, and that he would never again speak to them. When he pipes up again it’s a sheepish whisper, as if he were saying something taboo and forbidden.

“I’m sorry, Operator. I’m sure the Lotus would have known this better than I.”

They don’t miss a beat. A photo-realistic heart sculpture and an innocent misunderstanding is not going to put a damper on their Cephalon’s mood. Not if they had anything to do with it.

“Well she’s not here.”  A gentle smile lights up their hidden face. He can hear it in their voice.  “But you are. Despite everything.”

“...Always.” They don’t know if it’s some form of affectionate annoyance or plain indignation that makes him say it that way, like it’s a simple fact, an obvious and steadfast truth that could never be changed. The Operator’s casual nod says it all: I know, I know. Before he can say anything else, the sculpture is back in his Operator’s hands and they’re making their way to their quarters, but not without giving the resting wyrm sentinel a few knocks.

“And since you are here, you’re going to come help me string up the lights.”    

Assuming control of the wyrm, Ordis brings it out of its bay and sullenly trails behind them as they enter the artificial comfort of their own “room”. Even with their true self being shut up in the transference pod their more traditional quarters are growing on them They scan their surroundings until they find what they’re looking for. And there it is.

There’s garlands of red and pink lights coiled inside a box: leftovers from previous celebrations, back when the Lotus was around and Ordis less prominent as a result. The Operator wonders if he still feels that same neglect from them whenever they were away on a mission.

They’re trying their best to make up for it.

The time passes by in relative silence, with Ordis lifting up the garlands of light to whatever height the Operator finds most pleasing, and the two of them working together to create a warm and lovely space for the Operator to simply look at. Ordis almost doesn’t see where they’ve put his failed sculpture, until the Operator turns to look at it, admiring it with no small amount of amusement. On the table with the somachord, the heart rests, glowing in tandem with all the reds and pinks from the string lights. The room is bathed in too many different shades of the same color but neither seem to mind.

They crash into the seating that surrounds the somachord, reclining back into the cushions, satisfied.

“Oh, Operator, you don’t have to place it there to make me feel better.”  Ordis chides after a while, the wyrm aimlessly hovering above the offending decor. A random song, no doubt playing from the somachord starts playing, and perhaps that was the missing element. The room seems complete now, the atmosphere gaudy and pink but perfect all at once. “Operator did you hear me?”

They increase the song’s volume ever so slightly, but not enough to drown out any significant noise. It’s only a quiet drone, a white noise meant to lull someone to sleep.

“No.” The Operator replies. “Music’s too loud.”

“You’re hilarious.”

They snort in amusement before scooting over and patting the seat next to them. The wyrm plops down into the cushion, sinking ever so slightly, like a petulant child forced to obey a command. Its tail awkwardly wraps around itself, in an attempt to settle in, but every movement threatens to topple the sentinel over. The Operator reaches over, and for a moment he thinks they’re trying to help him balance and stay in place.

Instead, Ordis watches, seeing as he cannot feel, them wrap their arms around the wyrm in the midst of its struggles. He stills in their embrace. Is this customary for the holiday as well? He wonders. He wouldn’t mind getting used to it. Ordis is almost taken aback by how cute his Operator could be when the stress wasn’t eating away at them. Almost enough to let go of his heart sculpture mishap.

“The heart’s staying in here.”

Complete silence, save for the gentle and light music, resounds through the room as Ordis considers this.

“So...you do like it?”

“Yes. I think it’s funny.”

“Hm, I suppose that’s acceptable then. I will not fail you next time, Operator.” He vows.

The Operator sighs in exasperation, releasing the wyrm.

“Ordis, it’s okay! It’s not a big deal. And it’s not all about the decor.”

“I am aware of that now, but…out of curiosity.” He pauses. “What is it supposed to look like?”

The Operator sighs again, deeper still, but obliges, making a heart shape with their warframe’s hands. “It’s supposed to look like this.”

“What is that.”

“A heart.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Look , it’s complicated. But that’s what it looks like.” Bringing their hands to either side of the wyrm's "face", they rest their head against the sentinel, in a way that’s so aggressively affectionate it borders on humorous. And yes, maybe that’s just what he needs knock it out of his processor. A tiny amount of blunt force applied to his mechanical proxy, a force that he couldn’t even feel.

“Happy Heart of the Lotus, Ordis. Let it go.”

“Happy Heart of the Lotus.” He replies, defeated. “I would tell you that I love you, but I have the feeling that you already know.”  

They laugh at that.

But he isn’t done with the questions just yet, no, Ordis spends a long time pondering it all, and the longer he spends the more questions arise. He supposes that he could eventually come to accept it, somewhat. Possibly . But what’s the use, the Tenno have such strange celebrations, and he’s sure that there are even stranger ones. As soon as he could process this one, another would be sure to pop out of no where and throw him back into the depths of confusion. He had much research cut out for him. The glow of his heart catches his attention once more.

The faithful recreation hovers in front of them both, translucent and bright. It is a much more reasonable model in his eyes. He had spent a good deal of time and effort to form the aorta, map out the textures, and to even have it beat in silent synchronization with the real deal, only to lose out to whatever strange symbol the Operator had made with their hands.  And, oh, that reminds him:

“I included a button that allows you to see a cross section of the organ.”

They only stare at him.

“Would you like to see it?”

The Operator sucks in a breath, in deep contemplation, before releasing it in a deep exhale.

“I would, actually.” They admit, unable to contain their curiosity from possessing their senses. They suppose it’s their turn to be defeated. Besides, they don’t need to be scolding him any further.

Reaching forward to grab the holo sculpture, they nestle back into their seat with it in hand, allowing Ordis to give them a presentation on the structure of the human heart, until even that devolves into casual conversation, half affectionate and half teasing words, and a good-natured promise to try creating another heart soon, together this time.  

The Operator stares out the observation window, watching the vast expanse of empty colors fill their vision as Ordis goes on. Finally, a moment’s rest with the their eternally faithful companion. It’s been too long.

They smile to themselves. The day tapers off to a quiet end, with Ordis’ heart still resting in their hands.