Awareness comes slowly when you wake up from Cryo. Despite having ample time to settle my soul into my new body the first sensation is jarring. I tense and shudder, it is cold, they don't call it cold storage for nothing. I realize I'm naked as the whole bodily chill envelops me. The second sensation to hit after the cold is an aching thirst. My body responds via muscle memory reaching to the side of the pod reaching in to grasp at a thin tube. I yank it to my mouth and suck greedily. Purified water trickles out and I drink feverishly for nearly a minute. Gasping and taking a deep breath once I finish, my eyes crack open but the light, dim as it is, is momentarily blinding. I sit up, a cascade of long silver hair obscuring my face and vision for a moment as I try to get my bearings and let my eyes adjust. I hear a voice but the words aren't processing right, like a picture that is out of focus. I shake my head and let out a confused sound. I shiver and someone graciously puts a blanket over my shoulder. I look up and stare, there's a man, a strange man half machine, certainly human and a woman who is hovering over me adjusting the blanket. There's a symbol on her chest, a skull surrounded by a cog. It evokes a strange sense of familiarity and relief from my new body despite the physical memories being lost. It stirs some old buried memories in my soul but processing those stray thoughts will have to wait. I can't remember much at the moment but I get the sense more will come back to me from my previous life as I get settled into and adjust to my new body. Suddenly there is a strange buzzing in my head and when I focus my attention on that strange sensation I discover there is an odd ethereal connection, through which I can sense the various machines around me. I feel a brief twinge of pain as something in my head finally kicks on. When it does, the words finally snap into focus. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Cleon asks. "Yes" I reply after a moment. "I can hear now" my voice is soft, high pitched, feminine and slightly raspy from disuse. "Well Nicole you've been asleep for a long time. How about you come with me and we'll get you checked out?" He asks, doing his best to speak calmly. "Nicole?" I ask brushing my hair out of my face, the length surprises me as does the color, a silvery white almost metalic platinum color and it nearly reaches my waist. The man looks rather large, with an ornate mechadendrite hovering over his shoulder, but as I glance around the humans are all proportioned the same. It's not that they are large, I am small. I look down at my hands and flex my fingers one by one. The skin on them is quite pale and the digits are slim and dainty. The man, I instinctively reach out and read the personal digital identifier his body gives off. Translated by my implants. I find his name and title easily enough within the Noosphere. Cleon. Technomancer-at-Arms Cleon. "Your name is Nicole, I know you must be very confused and likely can't remember anything. Don't worry, we are here to help you. You are suffering from long term cryostasis induced memory loss." He starts pointing to my side. Where a large personal vault has slid out from under my pod. On the outside engraved is the name Nicole. The woman comes forward to help me exit the pod. She doesn't have a noospheric identifier but looks more like a typical nurse aside from the cog symbol on her smock. "I'm going to help you up." I nod when she extends an arm and I take the offered limb gingerly. Letting her help me up and ensure I don't fall. A good thing too as my legs wobble unsteadily from disuse and I nearly collapse when I instinctively lean forward and my sense of balance is thrown off for some reason. The nurse helps me put on some simple slippers, the cold metallic flooring tickling the soles of my feet. The blanket slides off of me as I focus on getting the footwear on. I shiver from quickly feeling the chill again. I turn and reach down to pick it up. Unknowingly exposing my bare back to the pair for the few moments it takes me to get the blanket back up and put it back over my shoulders and wrap it around myself. Cleon gasps sharply. Along my spine running from my tailbone to the base of my skull is an ornate piece of artifice. A Mind Impulse Unit meshed seamlessly with my small frame and several subtle implants of such quality it can only be some form of advanced technology. Discover more novels at NoveIＦire.net I turn to look at him in confusion but he recovers quickly. "Apologies. Please come with me Nicole. Let's get you to the Medical bay." I look around and take note of my height. Everyone else is a good two feet taller than me, even the woman who looks shorter than Cleon by a head is much taller than me. Rather than making me walk I am surprised to find that the nurse once I give her permission gently scoops me up with minimal effort carrying me bridal style while swaddled in the blanket. I make a small embarrassed noise but she just gives me a gentle smile and some comforting platitudes. I glance back at the vault and Cleon notices. "Don't worry we're bringing the vault along." Two very broad shouldered individuals with face masks, red robes and large mechanical lifter arms sticking out of their backs come over with considerable effort and with the help of the arms they manage to lift the apparently heavy vault together and settle into position behind myself, my bearer and Cleon. carrying my vault which is apparently quite heavy. I feel an eager innate desire to open it but I temper my desire for now. Before we leave I overhear Cleon contacting someone over the noosphere. Likely his superior seeing how polite and deferential he's being. I am slightly surprised he didn't notice my presence listening in though it's by no means a heavily secure channel. They're talking in a condensed technical language that I seem to comprehend innately. "Magos Gertrude. I have thawed Nicole, the young girl, from cryo and have run into an… issue I believe you and the other Magi need to see. We are on our way to medical and will be there shortly with her and her vault." "Acknowledged Adept Cleon" is the curt response. I hum and my eyes dart around taking in everything like a sponge. I am not the only individual being woken up from stasis but as far as I can see I am the only one being carried out . My new mind and thoughts are sharp and focused, processing information at a rate that startles me at first. Something about the word "Magos" Cleon used tickles me in the innate memories of my soul. While I am doing my best to process my stray thoughts, our party continues on their way. The hallways are metallic, smooth floors with pipes running along the ceiling. We eventually enter a lift that takes us up several decks. The label of decks and the fact we are headed to the medical bay allows me to put together that we are in fact on some kind of ship. Once we start to move I watch the numbers change on the display and quickly realize that this ship is apparently massive, on a scale I can scarcely comprehend. When we exit the lift I finally catch a proper glimpse of myself on a reflective surface. Silver hair, striking silver eyes, pale skin, my build is lithe and petite. I look like a young girl. However my features are perfectly symmetrical and while I do not want to disparage the people I have seen thus far, I can say definitively that I am far prettier than anyone else I have seen. Though my appearance leans much more into cute than a more adult ethereal beauty. There is a bit of silver colored metal peeking around the back of my neck and along my collarbone but we are past the surface before I can shift my focus there. Despite the number of crew we pass everyone makes way. Even swaddled as I am in the large blanket, I garner a few curious glances and some double takes from my appearance but nothing more. The individuals we pass give off an air of stout professionalism and seem to be more than happy to keep to their own business. The people in work garb are for the most part plain in my opinion. Some of the uniform wearing individuals have decent appearances but none that I spot so far match what I saw of my own. Many of the people sport implants and cybernetics, an arm or leg here and there. Metal ports on the back of the necks or on the head. We finally move to enter a large chamber, it looks far more sterile than the halls. I immediately spot a plethora of individuals clad in scrubs and going through various tasks and obvious markings indicating that this is indeed a medical area. I am eventually deposited on a rather advanced looking medical bed well inside the depths of the compartment. Waiting for us is a woman dressed in what finally clicks in my mind is mechanicus attire. She has far more implants than Cleon. Her digital ID marks her as Chief Chirurgeon, Magos Biologist Gertrude Frigora. Unlike Cleon she seems to notice my minor probe at her in the noosphere. "Oh? Hello Nicole." She says in a friendly manner. I take a moment to look over the Magos. She sports a diverse plethora of mechanical dendrites from her back and one of her eyes has been replaced with a rather advanced cybernetic. Despite that her appearance is rather fetching under all the hardware and robes. "We will be conducting some scans and taking a bit of blood to make sure you're nice and healthy. Don't worry you will be fine. It's all perfectly safe." Gertrude tells me attempting to placate me. Which I suppose given my body's apparent age I would garner that type of response. I simply nod back at her and lay down. "Ok, let me know if you need me to do anything Magos Gertrude." The bed was comfy enough and I simply content myself to wait as the machine above me whirs to life sensors and scanners lowering themselves and slowly going over my body. The scans seem to go rather slowly and I lay there. One of the displays is thankfully facing me so I can at least watch a portion of the scans being taken as it examines the multitude of implants hidden within my body. It looks like I have quite a few. My sense of balance still feels off, and I feel like there is a piece or a few piece still missing from the set that I hope are in my vault. During the scans Gertrude notices that I am getting a bit bored and after confirming that my MIU provides noosphere connectivity. She forwards me a packet of data! I eagerly dive in, even when it turns out to just be a simple introduction on the history of the Imperium, the Mechanicus and their general tenants. She has cordoned me off from probing further afield in the network. I get the vague sense I could get around or through it easily if i really wanted to do so but I elect to behave myself and be patient. I do start to notice that I was getting strange impressions in my mind when I focused on certain objects. The information packet contains a rather bare bones explanation of machine spirits. If indeed those were the machine spirits I was indeed sensing I get the feeling it would not be terribly difficult to make contact with them. 'Hello' I thought to the Machine scanning me. Its spirit slowly came into focus. It appeared in my mind like a glowing green eye. It paused for a moment as it turned to regard me. It wasn't hostile but wasn't very receptive to my bothering it, I got a sense of frustration emanating from the scanner, it was struggling to identify the material my implants were made from. 'Oh. My apologies please continue' I told it and it resumed its troublesome task. I hastily withdrew my senses and went back to the files I had been given. Storing copies of what I felt was relevant in my internal storage. As it turns out I have internal storage! Something the scanner had flagged as a Cortex Implant. Which held an absolutely massive amount of storage space. "Pardon me Nicole, the scans are just about finished. However I need to step away for a short period of time. I have instructed one of the staff to fetch you something to eat and we will get to your Void Coffer when I return alright? Please remain in bed and let them know if you need anything." "Okay, thank you." I say politely. Before leaning my head back against the pillow to continue my exploration of the digital landscape around me. They seem very interested in my cybernetics, which is honestly fair, they do seem to be of a much higher quality than most I've seen so far. —-------------------------------------------------------- Doll and the other Magi form a private digital chatroom to discuss the scans generated from Nicole. Having a secure private virtual conversation within the Noosphere. "She bears all the core mechanicus implants and several additional ones, particularly the MIU and cortex implant are quite telling. Though all of them are much more subtle than expected, it is master artisan work. Her entire set is some form of dark age tech. The alloy material used in them is not recognized, we were only able to pick up that there are trace amounts of adamantine." Gertrude says as the holographic of Nicole's petite frame hovers over the table. Doll's digital avatar nods "Despite her age those are full Tech-Priest implants. They're archeotech and clearly all made from that same unusual material, likely part of a set and tailored to her. The subtle compact style reminds me of a Factor of the Lathes." The others nod their heads in agreement. "It looks like there is a dendrite port at the base of her spine." "Yes I noticed she was off balance whenever she moved, likely missing the weight of her cybernetics. I assume it rests within her vault." Gertrude said. "Hmm it's a shame she lost her biological memories and her internal storage was wiped. However I believe we can afford to give her Tech-Acolyte status and move her up as she requalifies. Perhaps allow her to work with the various Divisio's aboard as she is re-educated and monitor them to determine where she excels. We aren't sure what her implant suite is fully capable of or what her vault contains. At the very least she would serve as a suitable ambassador. I believe her appearance qualifies as 'cute' to non-mechanicus." says Altair. Doll nods his head "An excellent suggestion. I could sense her probing the public noosphere the moment we allowed her access with remarkable finesse." "Alright I believe we have waited long enough. Shall we go assist her with the unpacking of her vault? I have acquired a set of Mechanicus robes as I was unsure if there would be some within." Gertrude. "We are on our way." The holograph winking off as they departed for the medical bay. —--------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is only a matter of hours before Gertrude returns, my meal was simple spread to avoid upsetting my stomach. She is not alone accompanying her are several other very augmented individuals bearing the mark of the mechanicus. I ping them with my digital sense and flinch when all of them light up brightly. The ping seems to have amused several of them. Their names and titles eventually flicker into my field of view like a VR overlay. I had been given a chart listing various mechanicus titles with that intro packet and note that all of them hold quite high ranks. "Oh! Greetings seniors." I sit up and give a small bow from my spot on the bed. "Greetings Nicole, we are prepared to unlock your Void Coffer. Would you like to do so now? We hope to find suitable attire for you within." "Yes please!" I say quickly, scooting to the edge of the examination bed, my legs dangling without touching the floor before I hop down, wearing the medical gown and slippers they had given me wasn't the most comfortable attire. I follow them a little ways away from the medical bay proper to a private side room. My vault sits by a large exam table. I am trying not to stumble repeatedly along the way as my body struggles with its balance. I glance over for permission and getting a nod I scamper over and place my palm over the sensory device. The locks on the vault are genetically locked to an individual and thankfully don't require a password. It takes a long moment before the seals snap open with a hiss, the locks disengaging. The inside of my arrayed similarly to the Magos's vault. A case for weaponry rests on the left, a set of armor hangs on the right with the other items individually shelved between the larger compartments in small cubicles. "Now please lay out all your items on the table one at a time. We must be sure they are working properly before we release them to you and take a full inventory." Magos Doll tells me as I look around the vault. I know that they're not doing this just for my benefit, and that they will probably confiscate anything they deem dangerous or heretical given my age but they have been polite and differential thus far. I pull out the first item that catches my eye, it's resting just above the suit of armor resting in the armor rack, it's a black and slightly glossy fabric. I set it on the table and one of the Magi comes over to examine it with an advanced looking auspex and narrates to the room what it is. "Dark Age Synskin suit in Nicole's size. It has impact gels sewn in between the inner armor layers and…" His eyes narrow and extend slightly towards the item "Hexagrammic Wards. It's safe. Very safe. You may don this now if you like Nicole." I eagerly jump at the opportunity to get dressed. I slip the suit on feeling much more comfortable and less of a chill once I do and it covers my bare skin. It lives up to its name being skin tight and molds my frame flawlessly once I don the entire thing. Though the suit does leave several of the ports on my back uncovered. The next items I pull out are a pair of boots. One pair is a lot clunkier and heavier than the other. "Well made Magnetic boots and Hydromotion boots, both sized for Nicole. You can put one of them on if you wish." He replies after just a few seconds to look the boots over. I elect to put on the slimmer mag boots before I continue inspecting the insides of the coffer. As I look around for anything to put on over the skin tight garment besides the other armor I frown. "No robe" I mutter with a disappointed huff. There is a hook where one probably should have been at some point that currently sits empty. "I have a robe here for you to wear over your Synskin Nicole." Gertrude informed me as she handed me the folded garment. The robe is similar to the attire I had seen various tech-priests wearing. Primarily a vivid red with accents varying in color. The ones on my new robe are silver and accent my hair and eyes quite well. Even the magi themselves had similar attire over or under their various augmetics though they had gold trimmings. Once I was finally properly dressed I felt much less exposed. The next thing I decide to do is pull out a few items on the lower shelves. Like before I set it aside and it is immediately examined by one of the Magi who identifies them for me. "Archotech multitool of fantastic craftsmanship. No abnormalities." "This Opus Machina is either an Archeotech Multikey or Icon of Passage. No abnormalities." "Archeotech Auspex. I believe this is known as the Ghost Voice model. No abnormalities." "Everything appears to be biolocked to Nicole." "This is simply a well made utility belt with clips and pouches for gear." He states aloud "One of the pouches has a three dimensional puzzle. Another has some spare data wafers and a pen." The next item makes them all pause as I pull out a blocky plastic case and then crack it open. I grin as inside is a silver mechadendrite tendril. Doll comes over and whispers as he examines it "Archeotech Mechatendril, this one is set up for what appears to be a spinal tailbone port. Made of the same alloy as Nicole's implants." He glances at me and picks up the dendrite as I give him an eager expression. "It appears ready to have already self sterilized and is ready for insertion. Turn around Nicole." "Yes sir!" I spin so quickly my new robe flares out briefly. It turns out there is a slit in the robe made for dendrites and I hold the fabric out of the way. As he lines up the port on my spine with the device. I let out a small yelp "cold!" and hiss as it clicks into place and then seals. A pins and needles sensation briefly goes up my spine making me flinch and shiver. As it locks in the base of the tendril flawlessly meshes with that port seamlessly. I notice a mental prompt appearing informing me of the connection. I quickly tell the device to run a full self diagnostic and accept the prompt telling me to install its operating systems and drivers. When the cybernetic curls up against my lower back and goes still Doll frowns. "Is everything alright Nicole?" "I told it to run a full self diagnostic first. Should I not have?" "No, that is ideal. We would like you to share the data with us when the diagnostic is finished." "Okay! There is a lot more stuff though!" I say eagerly as I pull out the long rectangular weapons case from the left side and pop it open. Inside is a collection of weapons. Collection certainly being the apt term, a row of pistol firearms with a single conspicuous gap in the rows of pistols sits empty. All the weapons are conveniently tagged both within the Noosphere and with little placards. "Archeotech Laspistol. One empty energy cell, holster, tailored custom grip. No sight." "Acheotech Hellpistol, three empty energy cells, a red dot attachment, custom grip, and holster." "This is a Belasco Dueling Pistol. One empty energy cell. No modifications." "Another Duelling Las Pistol. One empty energy cell. This appears to be a more common Khayer-Addin pattern. No Modifications." "Mars Pattern Command Laspistol a Mark III or IV I believe. One empty energy cell and a holster. No modifications. "Mauler pattern Bolt Pistol, fire selector, red dot attachment with three clips of ammunition, one of Retribution Shells, two of Tempest Shells, with a Mag Lock instead of a holster." "Mars Pattern Inferno Pistol, red dot attachment, three full melta ammunition canisters and a holster." "Needle Pistol, one clip of ammunition, custom grip, and holster." "Archeotech Neural Jammer. Two power cells, custom grip, and holster." "An Exitus Pistol. Uncustomized. One clip of standard ammunition and one of mixed specialty ammunition: one hellfire, two shield breaker, and two penetrator rounds. The tag explicitly states that this was acquired directly from the craftsman and not from any other source." I could practically hear the expiration in his voice as Doll finally moved to the final two objects in this case. A ring and a small hand sized disk. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Digi-las ring. Small sized bearing the sigil of the Cog. Finished in a platinum alloy." "And lastly. Hmm." He examines it and I peer up over the edge of the table. I can vaguely sense the machine spirit within the device. It connects with me as soon as I give it a digital mental poke which gives me a hint to the function. "Oh! That one is a sword!" I tell him getting several strange looks from all the other Magi for a brief moment. He picks it up and carefully manipulates it in his hand for a few moments "Is that so? Nicole would you please turn this on?" Once I reach out and mentally unlock the device he continues to manipulate it until suddenly a shimmering blade of energy appears from the handheld portion, almost like a lightsaber. "It is indeed a blade. A compact archeotech power blade." He carefully retracts the blade and sets it down. Since we finished with the weapons coffer and my strange collection of pistols I turn back to my vault. The next object is a lovely looking mechanicus pendant on a thin chain. "An Amulet of Warding of good make. Bearing the skull and cog of the Mechanicus. This device once activated will form a protective refractor field. However due to the small size these types of fields generally can only be used once an hour or so. Nicole please put this on. Do you know how to activate it? It's biocoded to you so it should be easy for you to access." I inspect the device with my eyes, feel it with my hands and poke it with my digital senses. The device is quite happy to give ME the activation sequence. "I have the activation code." "Please activate it for a moment." I allow the device to turn on and instantly a shimmering bubble forms around me rippling and lightly crackling with energy. I look around wide eyed and take a step back. The protective bubble moving with me. "Woah." He nods and I turn the field back off with a mental flick. "That was amazing" I whisper with a huge smile on my face. My reaction seems to amuse the Magi and I catch one of them whispering. "At least she is showing the machines proper awe and respect." Next I put a small hockey puck like item on the table along with a small cube with a golf ball sitting cradled on top of it. "A multicompass. Capable of attuning itself to almost any planet and giving precise locational data." he says after a quick look. Popping it open to show the lovely inlaid dial within. "No abnormalities. It has the Imperial Aquila on one side and the Cog Mechanicum on the other." "This is a Sky Eye and its docking station. A tiny techno-arcane scout drone. Excellent for mapping out areas. Though they tend to be quite fragile." "That's all of it besides the armor and the two cases in the hidden bottom compartment I think" I inform him. "Hidden compartment?" Doll asks his concern obvious even with his digital voice tones. I nod and hum "Yeah the one hidden under the other ones? We gotta take the armor out first though to get to it." He helps me remove the armor stand which isn't nearly as heavy as I expected. "Archeotech Compact Pressure Carapace" He turned the helmet upside down "Advanced Helmet Systems, Deflective construction with reflective coating, it also has an inbuilt rebreather, Vox and thermal insulation, tailored to an individual of Nicole's body size. It's subtle enough that it could probably be worn under her robes aside from the helmet. Over top of her Synskin. The carapace can serve as a void suit too." Once the armor was out of the way there was one last garment hiding behind it. I almost missed it but the Magos did not. He pulled out a shimmering layer of cloth. "Archeotech Cameleoline Cloak. Unfamiliar pattern, precisely made." He put it next to the armor. "Nicole can you please show us where this hidden compartment is located?" "Sure!" The vault itself told me about the secret compartment. I have to kneel down and reach into one of the cubicles to undo a series of latches. Then I have to twist another lever which causes a seam to appear in the bottom of the vault and a drawer to open. Inside are two cases. One is another weapons case, the other looks more like a small shipping crate. Both of these cases are a lot heavier than the previous so I let Doll lift them out onto the table. Opening the weapons case there are only two weapons inside this time. Both appear to be larger rifle style weapons. "This rifle is some sort of energy weapon… It's tagged as a Xenos Relic… However it has been sanctioned and tagged for use by a former Martian Archmagos. No ammunition. An Imperial Omni-Scope has been attached. It's tagged as Nicole's" He seemed reluctant to touch it and none of the other Magi were inclined either. The other weapon just looked like a tube with a stock on it. It wasn't very impressive visually to me and was the only item not tagged as mine in the vault but Doll seemed to think otherwise. "This other weapon is an Entropic Accelerator. It does not appear to be tagged to Nicole. We will be sending this off to the armory immediately." Doll looked over at me but I just nodded and let them take the thing, it looked rather heavy anyway and sounded dangerous. Inside the last case was a set of twelve cylinders. "Twelve Isotropic Fuel Rods. Potent portable power sources and quite valuable. One of these could power a hab block for weeks if not months." These rods were thankfully tagged as mine. "All of these items are Nicoles by right. Given that they're nearly all biolocked to her and tagged they wouldn't be of use without her permission." Doll turns to stare down at me making strong eye contact with his bionic eyes "However, the weapons are to be kept in your vault which will be installed in your personal quarters or secured in the armory or in the munitorum until you pass a sufficient level of combat training. Is that clear?" "Yes Magos!" I squeak out, fidgeting under the intense scrutiny. Doll eases up after a moment " Do you know where you are?" I had an inkling given their titles and the compass not responding when he opened it. "I believe we are onboard a ship?" "Indeed. You see, carrying weapons on board a void ship is an earned privilege. Due to the inherent danger a hull breach or damage to the ship could cause." "Yes sir, I understand Magos Errant Doll" I bow and nod with a serious look on my face. I followed the orders dutifully, my dainty hands carefully packing up the gun case and returning it to the vault, while Magos Doll helped me put the armor back as I elected not to wear it for the moment. "The tools are fine to carry around given the belt and that they are genelocked to you. The necklace should be worn at all times. It can and will help protect you from danger." He tells me as he shows me how to reseal the vault. I was not prepared for the Vault once closed to announce in a prerecorded voice "Locking complete. Have a good day Nicole Cavalerio." What a nice vault. It was nice knowing my full name at least. Cavalerio was a pretty cool last name all things considered. Magos Doll snaps his head to the container when it speaks. The other vault certainly hadn't spoken when they closed it after they transferred ownership of the vault to Doll. "Cavalerio?" he repeats his processors thrumming and his eyes glowing as he starts a background search via noosphere for a match in the ship's database. I spy one of the other vaults across the room knowing they brought mine when I woke up and the other pods had still been sealed. "Who's coffer is that sir?" I ask politely. "That was the vault of Magos adjacent to your pod. He perished in transit." I feel an odd sense of contentment with that knowledge but also a desire to check his vault. "Did you open the hidden compartment in his vault?" I ask. "Does it have one?" One of the other magi asks. I nod confidently "Yup! I don't remember why but I feel like his is important." I admit. The Magi started to privately converse over the Noosphere. I can however glimpse the encoded data being exchanged even if I can't read or hear it. "Does anyone recognize that family name? Cavalerio? We will have to do some research." "So half the items in her vault are some form of Dark Age Archeotech. Aside from the multicompass, fuel rods, some of the pistols and the Xenos rifle. Absolutely absurd. The amount of wealth in these two vaults has been obscene." TH-102 stated. "Everything besides the boots and the entropic weapon are at least Genelocked to her. Some of those items are linked to her with some kind of advanced arcanotech. Nothing to fuss over. Though it does raise many questions. They could also prove useful for further study later with her permission." Altair replied. "I am curious to see if she is worried about the fragment or if it's something else. We should let her look. Considering we failed to notice this secret hidden compartment before." "Alright." Doll says going over he opens the vault. I look around scanning it. My eyes slide over the various mechadendrites but linger on the small dendrite blades. I spot the small case containing the STC fragment and feel an intense unconscious relief. However that doesn't help me open the hidden drawer so I narrow my eyes and focus. Just in time as the diagnostic finishes and I feel my extra limb link into my nervous system. It's like a metalic prehensile tail. I grin and have it pick up my belt and even help put it on in a small show of its finesse, control and dexterity. "My mechatendril is fully functioning. The Diagnostic shows no abnormalities aside from a small lack of coolant for the tool attachments." I informed them while sending them the data pack from the diagnostic as I continued to loiter in front of the vault. I felt much more in balance with the extra weight behind me though not quite perfect. I recoil my tail against my lower back to avoid snagging it on anything, however I quickly find if I don't pay attention I find it subconsciously starts to stretch out behind me and undulate. Doll continues chatting with the other Magi while they observe me. "It is obvious based on her vault that she was an individual of importance. Given the pendant, implants, armor and weapons. We are unfortunately cut off from Mars so we cannot ask for confirmation. I have started a probe into the ship's data stores for the name Cavalerio. I ask that you also check your personal data stores and let me know if you uncover anything." "No results yet" Replied both TH-102 and Gertrude. "She shows signs of extensive but subtle genetic modification in addition to her implants." Gertrude added "She is human of that there is no doubt, her genetic line might be the best on the ship and borderline transhuman." "I have never seen implants like hers before" Altair states. "I have twice, both MIUs of that quality were high ranking members of the Collegia Titanica." Doll replied. "So the child could have the potential to be a princepts?" TH-102 asks. "Estimates put the suitability for an individual to have the potential to be a princepts at one in ten million. Then there is the additional training and implants required, that lessens the one in ten million to a fraction that are truly suitable. Any forge world would spare no effort to recover their princepts if at all possible. Worlds have burned for less." Doll stated. "This is all just theory." Altair posited "Until we can confirm it with data. We should perhaps focus on educating her in our various disciplines and the ways of the Omnissiah and monitor her. Even if she is not suitable as a princepts her intellectual potential is quite high. Manipulating her dendrite was second nature to her as was accessing the noosphere. Something some of my acolytes still struggle with." "Agreed. We will monitor her, she needs training, self defense and weapons training, training in the ways of the machine. Training about the ship. We should validate her status as a Tech Acolyte and have her shadow some of our adepts. Exposure to the many Diviso should prove enlightening. The room we have assigned her is in our section of the officers quarters for now." Doll extolled. "Hold on, she appears to have found the trigger for this vault" Gertrude stated drawing their attention back to Nicole. I crouched down and began rubbing along the bottom, my dendrite coming over to probe as well. Unlike my own vault this one was hiding from he so I had to carefully poke around until I figured out the trick to it. "Nicole, could you explain what you are doing?" Gertrude asked me politely. I do my best to verbally explain my process as I continue to poke around until I feel something move under one of my fingers and I hear a click. The front part of this vault pops out just like mine did. The drawer sliding smoothly as I look up beaming at the Magi. I slowly open the drawer and then pop open the lid. Inside is a row of a dozen or so vials on one side, the other has bars of a material and between them is a big blocky bolt gun of some sort. There is a small intake of breath from several of the Magi. "That is a relic boltgun." Doll says reverently. I step out of the way quickly as he moves in with the others to take a look. Gertrude is eyeing the vials. She picks one up and carefully places it in her suite of medical dendrites. "These are raw rejuvenat drugs." "And those are Lorelei wafer stacks." Zephyr informed them after a moment to prod one of them with a mechanical digit. Doll recovered first. Looking down at me. "Acolyte Nicole. We thank you for revealing this to us. We will have you escorted to your personal quarters now along with your vault. There was nothing else sticking out to you about this vault?" I imediately realized I was being dismissed and bowed gracefully. "Thank you sir. There is um… those." I point at the three dendrite blades "I think they're mine? Aside from that other than whatever is in that case being… important?" I tell him not knowing what it was since that small case blocked my attempt to probe it with a scan and it lacked digital tags. Doll leans over and hums "They do appear to be made of the same material as your implants. I had overlooked that earlier. Unfortunately they are classified as weapons not tools. As such you will not be permitted to install them until your combat training is completed to a satisfactory level. However, we can move them to your vault before you go." "Yes Marcoteck I understand" I interlace my fingers in front of me and give a deep bow which seems to please the various Magi. I depart as soon as my escort arrives and collects my vault. Leaving the magi in the room. Doll seemed to realize none of them had bothered to check the tags of ownership for the items within the deceased Magos's vault. Doing so took but a moment but it confirmed that the dendrite blades were indeed Nicole's. Oddly enough most of the items besides the other dendrites, the Armor, the Axe, the storm bolter and the data slate were not registered to the Magos. The Conversion Beamer, Phased Plasma Rifle, and the micro grenades were registered as belonging to Nicole as well. Doll updated the tags for the items that would be soon receiving new owners but left Nicole's tags alone. Doll decided that if she wanted she could reclaim the items from the ship's armory later should she wish to do so. "This is a fortune of materials and an additional archeotech relic." Doll states. Gertrude is still looking at the vials. "The captain was due for his next treatment soon as he is nearing three hundred years old. One of these is enough for a person to gain another century. Twelve is obscenely excessive. There are planets worth less." "This is either a payment or the deceased Magi's life savings converted into tangible potable assets. Given the implant that killed him I assume the former." Zephyr declares. "A payment for what though and from whom?" Altair asks. Doll removes the Relic and sets it reverently on a stand. "We shall continue to look into our findings. I believe our newest acolyte has earned herself personal quarters, retention of her possessions and then some." "Agreed." Came the chorus of replies. "I shall take this to the armory and then I must seek out the captain. As this more than qualifies as an issue of importance. Gertrude you secure the vials and the remainder of you secure the bars and the remaining possessions of the former Magos. Those of you that wish to join with my briefing of the captain are welcome to do so. Technomancer Cleon should proceed with his awakenings but continue to keep us apprised should he find other abnormalities." Doll left with an entire squad of armed skitarii who had appeared at his summons to escort him to the armory. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Captain, Drive Master Doll is requesting an audience. He says there have been further developments of importance. I know you were told to not be disturbed but he was insistent." Lord Drakios hauled himself out of his bed. He had barely gotten a bit of rest but would have liked a bit more. So whatever news Doll had better be good as far as he was concerned. He called out "Tell Doll to meet me in my private office. In thirty minutes." Drakios moved into the ornate personal space, a large desk made from real grown wood, a plush rug made from some long dead beast dominating the floor space. He settled into the chair that had been in use since his ancestor freed the Drake from the space hulk. Doll arrived exactly thirty minutes later. Gertrude was with him as was Altair. Drakios looked between his three highest ranking mechanicus members. "It's only been a day Doll, Gertrude, Altair. I'll bite, what's got you three so riled up?" He asked imperiously. "You asked to be appraised. We have awoken one Nicole Cavalerio. Human, female, approximately fifteen years old at most. She has extensive mechanicus implants and is essentially a living piece of Dark Age Archeotech." Doll summoned a holographic display of Nicole's implants. "We have given her temporary Tech Acolyte status due to her unfortunate missing memories. We do not expect her to remain there for long. Her vault was opened. Inside was a plethora of additional Archotech items and a single xenos weapon which we have allowed to remain in her possession. Nearly all of her items are biocoded and genelocked to her. It is inadvisable to attempt to separate them from her." Drakios looked at the display for a moment before his brows began to raise. "She has all of those implants? She looks like a normal girl." he commented on the image before him. "That's quite the list of gear. You didn't let her keep the weapons on herself did you?" "No, the weapons are to remain in her vault until she passes the required training as per standard protocols. she willingly turned over a dangerous weapon to our care." Doll continued "The young acolyte despite her lack of memory acted on an impulse and illuminated to us a hidden compartment on the previous Magos's vault. Inside we found fifty stacks of Lorelei wafers, twelve full doses of rejuvinant drugs, and an archeotech relic bolter. Truly we have been blessed by the Omniciah." Lord Drakios took a moment to process what Doll had just told him. "You… You found WHAT?!" "I heard you the first time, Doll, that was rhetorical!" The Captain exclaimed, cutting him off. The Captain needed a moment to compose himself "My Apologies but this… Did you say, truly? Twelve doses?" He looked to Gertrude who had brought one dose with her and was holding it carefully "Correct. You will no longer need to purchase your third treatment." That was a small fortune in and of itself saved. "Thank you for informing me. This is actually fantastic news. Fifty full stacks. That's a considerable amount of funds. The relic I assume you wish to retain?" "Indeed. When not in possession of a Mechanicus Magi or a Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy individuals possessing such a relic have been accused of minor Heresy with unusual regularity." He warned Lord Drakios. "Still a set of extremely valuable mechanicus relics and the STC fragment. If we can get back to the Lathes, Mars or really any prominent forge world after this mess." Drakios leaned back and sighed. "Indeed, the rewards would be considerable." Doll hesitated and Drakios barely caught it but he had been dealing with nobles for hundreds of years and was quite familiar with his head artificer. "There's more?" He asked. "We are still investigating Nicole's background. We plan to re-educate her and expect she will swiftly become a valuable member of the Mechanicus and the ship. We have several possible theories that we will adjust as the other Alpha pods are thawed and the individuals within identified. However, the extreme time gap is making research difficult. Cut off from Mars as we are now. Retrieving pertinent data is limited to what we possess ourselves and the ship's data stores." "Alright though all this good news is making me weary. It is welcome after the hell we went through." "We are ready to make way at any time. Repairs are already underway. However the Hammer and Lady could use a few more days to enact their repairs and finish producing servitors to bolster the Lady's crew." "We can afford a few days. I was planning to send the pair to the gas giants to collect plasma once they were ready. Top off our reserves before we head to the nearest inhabited Imperial system. It should take us a month to get there from here. Though Lily warned that this little pocket of calm we ended up in might eject more ships or objects. She's been getting intermittent pings on the Witch Augur so I grow weary of loitering. Deploy the Lux Net for fifty hours to speed things along." "That course of action seems prudent." "Thaw Kantor and give him a dose of rejuvenat would you please? He's earned it. The remaining ten doses are to be kept securely stowed for now. I will likely require my Seneschal when we do reach the system." "It will be done." Gertrude replies with a bow. "Now then as long as there is nothing else. I think we should all get back to work." The captain says eyeing the trio wearily idly hoping there wasn't any further bombshells of information they needed to inform him of. The three Magi turn to leave but pause as a noosphere message comes in from Adept Cleon. "Situation. We have a problem! Please help! I am being held hostage in cold storage."