I didn't expect things to change so quickly with just syncing with the Throne. However my robes now featured two new rank insignia. The outline of a Knight helm and the Titanicus Icon flanked the Mechanicus Opus Machina. I have officially earned the title of Tech Priest at the rank of Enginseer under the Divisio Fabricator for my work with the Dreadnoughts and tutelage under Master Doll, however my Princeps title takes precedence and will be the one used by others greeting me. Giving me the mark of the Titanicus without an accompanying house insignia was the only unconventional part of my new rank. If we met with someone from the Titanicus proper, my lack of study at the Collegia would be a large point of contention. Archmagos Doll assured me that things will work out and the chances of running into someone from the Collegia are slim within the Antimar Subsector or even the Scarus Sector as a whole. Considering that we are stuck in Imperium Nihilus warp travel is going to royally suck for the foreseeable future. Most of the normal crew thankfully didn't notice the subtle difference in my robes. However anyone with Noosphere access can see my new moniker. The Mechanicus personnel I am not familiar with have started treating me with a level of deference that makes me a bit uncomfortable. The refurbishment of the Sword of Vengeance is in full swing. Brothers Cogmane and Cogfist are overseeing a massive crucible with bubbling, molten adamantium, harvested from the remains of The Hollow Star, for the casting of the huge outer armor plates. Master Doll has taken it upon himself to reforge the Tempest Warblade as he claimed to have had a moment of inspiration. With the various Tech Priests working like a hive of ants to repair the frame itself that leaves only one last role. The restoration of the Castigator Bolt Cannon falls to me. The twin-linked rapid fire five-barrel Rotary Bolt Cannons are in a sorry state. The weapon lies on its side and is still wider than I am tall. However the work needed to bring the magnificent light vehicle and infantry annihilating weapon back to life is within my means. My size aids me as I climb inside the casing to access the firing mechanism. The work is messy, gritty, and makes me feel like a proper mechanic as my hands plunge into a pool of weapon grease that goes up to the middle of my forearms. I can't help but giggle and grin wide enough to show my pristine white fang like incisors. My auspex is running and mapping the weapon down to the micron. In the background my implants are running simulations of tweaks and various repairs I consider and discard constantly. All the while I commune with the spirit of the weapon, a two headed scaled beast that accepts my efforts and watches my progress with the passivity of a creature that has accepted the end but was unwilling to give up. "You're not ready to die yet, you beautiful, lethal beast. You haven't had the joy of firing all these new bolt shells we have schematics for yet." My Mechatendril yanks a gear with several missing teeth out and tosses it out the open hatch as I wedge a spent bolt casing the size of a paint bucket out from between the rotors. I hiss and stand up jumping up to grab one of the large barrels above my head "Come on, I want to see you spin!" I say as I do half a pull up and then let my weight drop giving the barrel a tug. I repeat the action three times before the assembly slowly shifts and moves me back down towards the barrel's twin. "Yes! Hahaha!" I release the barrel and drop back down. Unbeknownst to me the silver irises of my eyes have started glowing faintly as I indulge myself fully in the repairs. I feel my mind delving into the Noosphere network, linking me with all the Tech Priests and Acolytes aiding me, tracking them and sending them directions the moment I need them. "Princeps Nicole, would you perhaps like to take a break?" Enginseer L3-3T asks me from the hatch, his tone partially concerned. "NO!" I yell "Bring me gear CB-42T, the one with the fine teeth! I think I can fix the alignment issue with the barrels and increase fire rate by two percent!" —-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Throughout the Munitorum what the Magi will later call an episode of Forge Frenzy spreads. Knowledge is understood and put to use, glimpses of comprehension are gleaned, and production flourishes for a time. Archmagos Doll is the first individual to regain himself. Before him rests the massive pristine form of the Tempest Warblade fully reforged. He looks around and is both awed and horrified at what sights greet him. According to his internal chrono it has been thirty-six hours. Thankfully this unusual event seems contained to the Manufactorum. Through the noosphere network he can see Tech Acolytes and Tech Priests with the least number of implants bordering on exhaustion and collapse. Archmagos Doll deftly connects himself to everyone present in the Manufactorum and he prepares an emergency message backed by the full force of his authority. He turns looking across the bay where Nicole was working. He sees Nicole perched atop the rear of the weapon. He watches as she plucks a single long strand of her silvery hair from her head and winds it around one of input umbilicals for the weapon control system. "Nicole, what are you doing?" Doll asks her, his confusion obvious when she wraps the connector in her hair. Nicole's head snaps up making eye contact despite the distance and he glimpses her glowing silver eyes and her slightly manic smile. "Master Doll! Guess what!? My hair is a natural superconductor!" Nicole letting out a series of giggles Having seen enough, Archmagos Doll sends the message to all Mechanicus personnel. "Attention! This is Archmagos Doll, by my order! Lay down your tools! Pause your projects! Power down your stations! All individuals within the Manufactorum are to take rest and seek sustenance immediately!" Thankfully this succeeds in snapping everyone from their focused fugue. Many collapse where they are and are helped shortly after by those who are in slightly better shape. Doll watches as Nicole blinks owlishly and shakes her head. A look of confusion crosses her face before she looks down at her filthy hands and stained robes. The glow in her eyes slowly fades back to their normal color. He can't hear what she says but reading her lips is easy enough as she momentarily closes her eyes and whispers "Uh-oh." with a guilty expression. Doll can feel a minor headache coming on but decides that can wait until they have resolved the current issue with the Manufactorum personnel. —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moments after the message from Master Doll knocks me out of my stupor the sensations hit me. I feel hungry, exhausted both physically and mentally. However the most concerning thing is a notification from my implants and a small update to my implant list. "Warning: Psybernetic load has exceeded the maximum threshold of the suppression system." "Psybernetics: Locked: Suppression 100%" "Uh-oh" I whisper to myself, quickly realizing that this whole situation might be my fault. I had never thought to question the locked Psybernetic implant. Psyker abilities are a double edged sword. On one hand they were fantastic and potent. On the other hand, individuals with high psychic potential had to worry about warp entities far more than normal people. It's not like I had a convenient metric like a psy rating to measure it. My advanced implant set is probably more than the typical cybernetic as well. It's already serving as a Psy-Jammer and the fact I had exceeded tolerances for that jammer. I could intuit that I was likely around a Delta power level at a minimum. I didn't have a ton of time to fuss over the notification and implications as Master Doll was approaching me from across the Manufactorum. I carefully move to climb down from the weapon. I have also been made aware that my hair was in fact some kind of natural superconductor at some point in that working fugue state that had embraced everyone. I was tired and worn out, I also felt bad and didn't bother trying to hide my guilty expression as I looked up at Doll. "Nicole, are you alright?" He asks clearly concerned. "I'm sorry!" I say with a small whine. Doll blinks slowly in response. "I beg your pardon?" "I think this was all my fault. I'm sorry. I was gonna say something but then I forgot and it just wasn't important." I end up babbling so much that Doll reaches out to put a hand on my shoulder. "Nicole, go rest. We shall discuss this later. In a more proper setting. Unless there is a risk of it happening again?" I shake my head vigorously in the negative, not really trusting my mouth at the moment. "Go. Clean up, eat, and rest. We shall convene to discuss this tomorrow with the other Magi." Doll says as one of his optical mechadendrites scans the area around him. "Yes, Master Doll." I nod and guiltily slink off towards the exit. I am in no shape to help any of the other exhausted Acolytes or Tech Priests. Despite the omni-prevalent mental and physical exhaustion the mood inside the Manufactorum is strangely positive from everything I overhear on my way out. I don't bother trying to talk to anyone as I go to the baths, drop off my messy robe and clean up. I head to the mess hall and down a simple hearty meal with a high calorie count and the moment I return to my room I promptly crash into my bed and gladly turn my brain off as I pass out. Waking up is a little awkward and my normal sleep schedule is now royally scrambled. Checking my internal chrono reveals I slept for a good eleven hours. I get up and start to go through the motions of my typical routine but I can't help but feel a twinge of guilt when I think about what happened. It isn't long after I wake up that I get a message from Master Doll. Informing me that I need to show up to a meeting in two hours. My robes are thankfully clean and I go get something to eat and procrastinate until it is finally time to head towards the meeting location. The conference room is partially filled when I arrive. The Magi on one side, the other has several individuals I have not met before. An older looking woman and a younger looking one sit at the table along with Captain Bolaar, Brother Librarian Astrovas, Brother Cogmane and Brother Cogfist and a new Astartes, Brother Chaplain Maxien Tigald. "Welcome, Nicole, I do not believe you have met Esailla Supine Choir-Master Telepathica or Lily Nostromo our Navigator Primaris. Everyone, this is Princeps Nicole Cavalerio. Lord Drakios will not be attending personally." Master Doll gestures a dendrite at some of the empty chairs letting me pick one where I like. "Now that everyone I requested has arrived we shall now begin. We are here to discuss the event that occurred roughly forty hours prior inside the Manufactorum." Archmagos Doll presses activates the table, sealing the room from anyone curious from eavesdropping. I give a small wave and then quickly take a seat at the table feeling more than a few pairs of eyes on me as I do so. "This event shall be further denoted by the descriptor the 'Forge Frenzy' lasted approximately thirty-six hours. The effects were confined to the Manufactorum for the entire duration. Our Tech Adepts and Tech Priests reported increased focus, drive, and motivation. Hundreds of Mechanicus members have progressed past blocks in their understanding and progressed their levels of comprehension in their respective fields. Many claimed it felt like the Omnissiah was guiding them personally and felt intimately in tune with the machines around them. The vast majority of those affected claim they managed to produce an item or part at a quality that exceeded their own known level of ability during the event. Myself, several of the Magi and Brothers Cogmane and Cogfist, and Princeps Nicole can all attest to this effect. We made significant progress on the repair efforts of Nicole's Knight, the Sword of Vengeance." Doll looked around the table and produced a 3D image of the forge on the table's holo-projector. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "At roughly the same time Lady Nostromo, Lady Supine, and Brother Astrovas reported detecting a faint unknown psychic signature in the Manufactorum which remained in place until the effect ended. However they could not pinpoint the individual responsible due to the additional wards erected around the Manufactorum. Those same wards may have also inadvertently contained the effect." Doll tapped one of his metal fingers on the surface of the table. "At the time of the event we recorded no Mechanicus Psyker personnel on site and none of the other Psykers of The Argent Drake were within the Manufactorum at that time. As far as we are aware." Doll states getting a round of confused murmurs from around the table. I am doing my best impression of trying to get the oversized chair I am in to eat me as I shrink in on myself. I cringe a little but I decide that honesty may be the best policy "Soooo… about that…" I say softly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. I give them all a small smile "Sorry?" Master Doll interlaces his fingers "Nicole, please elaborate and thoroughly clarify your statement for the record." His red eyes focused on me. I sigh and fidget in my chair as I consider how to word this. "So… you know of the list of Cybernetics you generated when you first performed your scans and my physical? Well there is an extra hidden one" I admit looking guilty. "I have administrator access to all my cybernetics and implants except this one and it was and is locked out of my ability to control. I made several attempts to access the implant initially but was thoroughly rejected. My internal display calls them Psybernetics?" Several of the Magi stiffen and Xor lets out a low hiss. Doll hums softly. "Nicole, that Psybernetic hardware, how integrated is it with the rest of your set?" Magos Gertrude asks as she pulls up my medical scans. "Oh yes, it's totally integrated with my entire nervous system and all my implants as far as I can tell." I admit as I reach up to brush a few stray strands of hair behind my ear. "What are Psybernetics?" asks Lady Supine as her blindfolded face turns to stare at me with a frown. Read full story at novel⁂fire.net Master Doll is the one who speaks. "Psybernetics are an advanced form of invasive Archeotech implants. They can turn a non-psyker into a Psyker or improve on an existing Psyker's control and power. They were deemed high tech-heresy millennia ago in the Calixis Sector. That did not stop certain radicals from experimenting, usually with catastrophic results. Attempts to produce such technology invites visits from the Lords Dragon and the Inquisition." "That's all well and good but there is a problem. I do not sense any signs of her being a Psyker." Lady supine says, still staring at me. "I have also been around Nicole several times and sensed no such phenomena." Brother Astrovas says as he looks at me with open curiosity. His eyes flash for a brief moment as he strokes his chin. "Well… My Psybernetics gave me an error message recently and I believe they capable of acting as a Psy-Booster and Psy-Suppressor. At the moment it's set to full supression." I give a small shrug. "While Nicole has the genetic markers predisposing her for psychic talent nothing was detected during her physical exam. I was extremely thorough." Gertrude says grumpily. "Nicole, would you please share that message if you still have it?" Doll asks me politely. "Of course, Master Doll" I bring up the message and ping it to the projector. "Warning: Psybernetic load has exceeded the maximum threshold of the suppression system." "Psybernetics: Locked: Suppression 100%" "Perhaps this may be bold of me to ask, what is the nature of Nicole's implants?" Lady Nostromo asks softly. Doll pings me asking for permission to share the information with the individuals currently in the conference room and I send back an immediate affirmative. "Lost Dark Age Archeotech. We cannot identify the arcane materials used in their construction." Doll gives them the matter of fact answer which seems to draw consideration from the psyker side of the table. "A suppressor system capable of totally suppressing a Psyker would need to be extremely potent. A Dark Age relic fits the criteria. However what concerns me is the fact she exceeded the suppressor." Chaplain Tigald is the one who speaks. "I have seen portable blockers, jammers and nullifiers of all sorts in my service. To exceed that level of suppression draws the conclusion that she is at least at the level of Delta." Doll nods to Brother Tigald "The conclusion I reached concurs. Nicole is likely a natural Psyker with the Psybernetics acting as a suppressive device for now. Considering the scope of the unusual effect she generated inside the Manufactorum. Delta is the minimum that meets the threshold. Nicole, was your conjuring of the effect intentional?" He asks and I almost scoff. "It was entirely unintentional. I was communing with the machine spirit of the weapon I was working on while also linked to the Noosphere. The more I worked and deeper I focused the better the responses from the spirit got. It felt like a feedback loop and I lost sense of time. There was only me, the machine and what needed to be done. I knew exactly what I needed to do, step by step. Where to put parts, bad parts to remove how many rotations to perfectly seat each bolt. It was glorious." I say wistfully with a small smile. "An unusual effect but then again the situation itself is unusual." Lady Nostromo comments leaning back in her chair. "This is mostly a moot point if the little Princeps cannot unlock her abilities. That is the case, yes?" she asks and I shiver a little when I meet her solid black eyes, a common Navigator mutation. "Yes." I say and just to prove it I pull up a real time display of the locked implant. "I can only inuit that there are unknown prerequisite criteria I must satisfy before control of the implant will be returned to me. I apologize for my inconsiderate actions and will accept any punishment you deem fit." I say as I stand and bow. Doll barks out a single static filled laugh "Punishment?" The entire Mechanicus side of the table expresses amusement in a variety of ways, the Techmarines both scoff, confusing me as I raise my head. "Nicole, in those thirty-six hours the forge produced two hundred and seven items I would not hesitate to slap the mastercraft or lathe quality designation onto. Triple that in exquisite craftsmanship items. The forge did not produce a single average or lesser quality item for thirty-six hours." Doll leaned back in his chair and shook his head, his dendrites undulating with delight. "A small cadre of the more traditional Tech Priests are loudly extolling that they have personally experienced a miracle from the Omnissiah. The closest thing to punishment you are receiving is a set of lessons in Psychic tutoring, meditation and the dangers of the craft from Brother Astrovas, Lady Nostromo, and Lady Supine." "How much do you know about The Warp, Princeps?" Lady Supine asks as she lifts a glass of wine to her lips. I am about to play stupid until I realize that the three most powerful Psykers in the fleet are probably screening my soul, surface thoughts and microexpressions for lies. "More than I should." I admit softly. Lady Supine pauses and sets down her wine glass. "Archmagos, I rescind my earlier comment. Your apprentice IS absolutely fascinating. I will make time in my schedule." Lady Nostromo chimes in "The purity of her soul is unlike any I have encountered before, almost like it's entirely detached from The Warp. It's immensely soothing to look at. I will make time for her as well." "I have informed the Captain and the Ancients of the situation. The Ancients have politely informed me that should I fail to properly educate you and inadvertently cause you harm they will do me the great honor of removing my legs and utilize them to beat proper sense into me." Brother Astrovas says with an entirely straight face. Brother Tigeld reaches over and gives Astrovas a consoling pat on his armored shoulder. "The Ancients are showing drastically increased mental stability under the care of the little Princeps, better than they have been in centuries. Stay in their good graces and you'll be fine, Brother." I do my best to politely smile all while internally trying not to panic and scream as my three new tutors stare directly into my soul. "I look forward to learning from you all?" I say the words but not with confidence before I turn to Master Doll. "I thought this would be a bigger deal." I admit and Doll reaches up to rub a mechanical hand over his face. "Nicole, sweet child of the Omnissiah, all of this isn't even the most ridiculous thing you've done this week." He says in a gentle but chastising tone. I slowly blink once "Huh? Wait… What else did I do?" I ask which just prompts a round of head shaking and sighs from the entire Mechanicus contingent. —------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Inside the Eye of Terror, The Sundering Forge A massive armillary sphere dotted with countless tiny crystalline orbs filled with various gasses, liquids and substances spun gracefully in front of a massive cloth tapestry as it was woven by a machine directly underneath the spehere. Suddenly one of the smoothly spinning arms twitched unusually and one of the gas filled crystal spheres cracked softly. A hooded head with nine eyes snapped up and looked towards the device. "A simple task was all I asked, fate churns and failure burns." Idolitrex Magi, Transmaterium Eligael, Calculating Manipulator of the Sundered Forge, twitched violently as he took another step closer to the device. A ripple slowly spread across the sphere and everything looked alright at first but as the ripple spread the largest eye of the nine, a bestail vertical eye sat in the center of his forehead and opened wide. "This cannot be! A minor trifle has turned spiteful." He rushed over to the device but it was too late, another pair of arms collided and started a cascade of destruction. "An anomaly hidden has come unbidden and of it I must be ridden!" He screeched and kicked out with a grotesque mechanical leg. He shrieked with unbridled rage and seethed "A pawn seeks to see themselves crowned queen. A ripple of contention preventing my ascension. It must be me, servant of He, not any of the unenlightened Three." The former Magos closed his eyes and thrummed with energy as he focused and divined the way ahead "Tricks and lies and a dangled prize bring little Drukahri like flies. To turn the tide I can use the machine's pride. Or wake what sleeps, the ground will shake and their soulless wave reaps." "I will have it! It is I that shall ascend to the highest ranks of the Dark Lord's court! Then the Akashic Records will finally be mine!" Several corrupted half-mechanical half-flesh tendrils emerged from the figure's back, they wildly lashed around and knocked over several displays. He flicked an ancient decrepit hand towards the entrance and opened the door before the messenger could knock with a flicker of psychic might. "Spare me your words for they have already been heard. You come to tell me of the failure Vox. This time he shall heed his leash lest he be put down." The destroyed armillary sphere let the various liquids and gasses mix together until finally they exploded in a flash of purple fire. Silhouetting the large hunched figure who ignored the fire even as it moved to consume the research study. "Ready my armies! Ready my fleet! Make ready My Battleship! A candle of hope must be extinguished. A caster of ripples expunged from my weave. My ninth trial is at hand! It must be perfect, it must be total, we bring EVERYTHING!" He grabbed his daemon-corrupted eye-covered power axe as he stormed out of the building.