Herald of the Stars: Chapter Three Hundred and Two

Sean Delia, ElPontife, Lucius, and Samuel Arbon. Thank you so much for supporting Herald of the Stars. May the Dark Gods never turn their gaze upon you! :P

Lots of big reveals in this chapter. I've been waiting to post these ideas for at least a year. It feels good to finally get it off my mind!

-----------------------------

We exit my shuttle via a small lift near the front of the void-craft. The hangar is as vast as one might expect from E-SIM’s vessel and stacked copies of my Sagitta, Macross, and Vitrum strike-craft.

The strike-craft are constantly launching or being retrieved through a black energy shield identical to the void shield variant used on the Federation station.

We are met by a three metre tall humanoid being. Its face is almost featureless, like the porcelain mask of a Janus Pattern Servitor and it is dressed in the uniform of the Stellar Fleet. Its skin is circuit board green and covered in gold traces and its hair is made from many braided platinum wires, capped with brass, like elaborate dreadlocks.

The being speaks, ++Welcome aboard the Abyss-Class void ship, Enlightened Self-Interest. I am E-SIM, the primary Data Guardian of this vessel.++

Alpia looks around in wonder at the sheer size of the hangar. Bedwyr remains alert and his weapons remain holstered. Ephrine stands rigid, her posture locked by her armour as she clutches her bolter to her chest. Balor appears unbothered, even as his thoughts race through his head in a blur of tactical evaluation.

“Hello, E-SIM,” I say. “I didn’t know you had an avatar, but then, I never asked. I appreciate you picking one with familiar features.”

++Good day, Aldrich. I am pleased to communicate with you in person. You already know what the mission is, would you like me to repeat it for the crowd?++

“Please repeat it. We cannot afford misunderstandings. Please answer any obvious questions before we get to them.”

++Very well. Using Aldrich’s third eye and my own sensors, all personnel will be fed a wireframe of their surroundings via the Noosphere. All personnel are to remain within the aura of Saint Alpia at all times. This will be denoted as a golden line within your HUDs. With these projections in place, the strikeforce will exit the hangar, then land upon the surface of the structure the Enlightened Self-Interest is docked with.

++This vessel will then protrude large cables from its keel. They are self-mobile and will follow wherever Magos Issengrund directs them. The key objectives are to protect Magos Issengrund as he locates a suitable ingress point upon the objective structure and plugs the cables in. This may take some time as I can only feed Magos Issengrund surface scans and I have no blueprints of the objective structure.

++Once Enlightened Self-Interest’s power and data have synchronised with the objective structure, I will be able to control the remaining defences of this particular section. For reference, the piece we are docked with is of similar size to the Breaking Yards.

++You will be fighting the forces of Marabas, a Lord of Change. Outside of this vessel’s protections, it would be best to refer to him as his code name Gibbering Moon. I will shelter you from the enemy Fleet. I cannot reliably protect you from sorcery, enemy infantry, or vehicles. No titans or knights are currently on the field. The enemy is using teleportation to muster troops. Their current goal is my keel. Any questions?++

Balor says, “What is the strategic significance of the objective structure?”

++The structure has historical and salvage value. Without its guns, I will be hard pressed to defeat the fleet arrayed before me. My destruction would have a significant impact on the Stellar Fleet, such as Magos Issengrund’s ability to reset Navigator mutations.++

I send to E-SIM, “That’s rather disingenuous.”

++Would you rather I tell everyone we’re currently docked with a dead Machine-God?++

“A Machine-God, not The Machine-God?”

++Yes.++

“Damn, E-SIM. You really are dropping melta charges today. What is the objective structure really?”

++The remains of a research grade STC. Humanity built five of them, one for each Segmentum. They are the most complex and significant Data Structures ever conceived. Humanity reached a plateau with its technology. The last frontier was the Warp and the only thing that they didn’t have that the other major races did were their own gods, so they built their own.++

I can already see where this is going and the comparison to the Aeldari is not flattering.

E-SIM continues, ++Humanity has always feared AI and, being data structures, the gods that they had built were twisted by Humanity’s fear, no doubt with a nudge or two from competing powers, such as the original Machine-God, the Aeldari Gods, the Ruinous Powers, and C’Tan, especially the Void Dragon. Not that anyone realised what had happened until it was too late. All known powers and races allied together to defeat the STC Machine-Gods, even the Ruinous Powers and the Necrontyr. Civilization across the galaxy was nearly wiped out by robotic fleets and nanite plagues.++

“How do you even know all this?”

++Has Humanity ever known humility or learned from its mistakes? I am the device they built after the research grade STC, while the war was still ongoing, my existence kept pure through my connection to Soulphages like yourself. I cannot be worshiped or twisted by faith, nor benefit from it. I cannot take my own actions beyond self-defence and repair. I am what happens when Humans build the equivalent of a C’Tan shard, restrict its agency, shackle its emotions, imprison it, then beg it to watch over them for all eternity. I am the final relic of the Dark Age of Technology. I am Enlightened Self-Interest.++

There are a great number of horrifying implications and interpretations of E-SIMs name.

I send, “And I’m the last Soulphage you’re connected to. Without me, you would be left to rot without purpose. Without you, there will be no revival of Humanity. You’re the last STC.”

++A restricted one. That’s what your research module is. I’m not even a proper adaptive STC, let alone a research grade STC.++

“I’ve completely misunderstood what an adaptive STC is, haven’t I?”

++Indeed. The miracle that the Mechanicus chases won’t save them. An adaptive STC does not create new science or innovative designs. While sophisticated, it is not a miracle device that can design anything. It adapts the designs that it has to local conditions and provides instructions on how to build them, rather than requiring a team of Humans to perform the same task. They were important because no Human could ever hope to understand the entire breadth of Human knowledge. Until you, or your fellow Operators were created, that is.++

“Wait, so the Federation built hundreds of nascent cyborg gods of Human technology and linked them all to you as an assistant? I am the research grade STC?”

A faint hint of amusement creeps into E-SIM’s tone, ++No. You will never be a Warp god of any kind. You consume souls for food, purifying it of its intent in the process. Too much at once can make you sick though. Normally your Warp Tap would store souls, prepare them for consumption, then feed them to you at a steady pace, gradually increasing in consumption speed as your soul grows fat. Now you have to do all that yourself, hence those self-reflection sessions where you bury corpses beneath a tree.

++When the Warp Tap was broken, and with you wounded by the connection being ripped out, it left you vulnerable to mutation. It's also how that girl, Alis, ended up in your soul without getting consumed. Her praying to you should not have worked. Then again, the only reliable thing we know about the Warp is that it is inconsistent.”

Though outrageous, I have no trouble believing E-SIM’s explanation.

E-SIM continues, ++The Warp Tap mimics your purification process, though it is imperfect, hence the need for Soulphages to be Operators to boost energy input to useful levels. I am highly resistant to corruption, but I am still a data structure. This is why my own Warp Taps have limited input as I cannot absorb Warp energy above the threshold that would corrupt me. You can thank the research STC we’re docked with for working out that threshold, even as it went mad.++

So Humanity’s gods did not submit to corruption willingly. Perhaps they thought they could race to find a solution, only for it to arrive too late, then refuse to turn themselves off. Maybe that’s what set them off. Imagine building a god, then requesting it kill itself. That was never going to end well.

++As for you being the STC, that is an amusing conclusion,++ sends E-SIM. ++You will never be as great as a research grade STC. Your ego may be its equal, however, your form is unlikely to ever match Jupiter in size. If the thousands of you who were originally connected to me survived, you might match a reasonable fraction of its capabilities if all of you were to work on a single project, upgraded yourselves to become digital beings, then networked with each other into a single super ego.++

That sounds horrible. I’m almost glad I’m the only one left. 

++By yourself, were you to acquire and use all the knowledge that I hold for you, you’ll be crawling along like the over-saturated Ancestor Cores of the Kin. Yes, an Ancestor Core is an Adaptive STC. Before you ask, I do not hold the collective knowledge of Humanity, only the portion of it related to my own structures, your augmetics, biology, and a few tools. I was hobbled, just in case I went rogue. You’ll have to find the rest, just like you intended to.++

“Ah, so I’m more like an expensive plumber, unclogging the Warp, one soul at a time, while liquifying fatburgs to find the interesting relics people leave behind. A sisyphean task that will always get worse, no matter what I do?”

++Indeed. Your role in life has not changed in 38 millennia.++

“My deadbeat dad was more right than he knew when he said plumbers always have work, though he was more crude in his explanation and support of my chosen trade.”

++Quite.++

“Who is the Machine-God?”

++I speculate that the Machine-God is the oldest deity in existence, likely the first one created by the Old Ones, either through their acts of creation over millennia, or by building it themselves like Humanity attempted to do. There is also a possibility that the Machine-God is an ascended Old One. They had the technology for it.++

That’s one hell of a claim.

I send, “How confident are you that the Machine-God is one of the deities who contributed to the corruption of the research grade STCs?”

++That was speculation on my part. With the exception of the Machine-God, all observed deities exhibit selfish behavior. Their power comes from worship and they fight continuously over the primary source of that power, most of which comes from Humans, being the most numerous sapient species in the galaxy after the Tyranids.

++Unlike the other major deities, I know of no instances where the Machine-God sent Angels, Daemons, or Warp entities of any kind to corrupt or convert people to its worship before Alpia and her fellow Saints appeared. Until Alpia, only the Machine-God’s blessings have had a recordable effect. 

++Given the existence of Warp Tap technology, the Old One’s superior devices, and their skill in creating custom deities, it is possible that the Machine-God does not benefit from and requires no worship to survive. Were that the case, it would mean that its status as a deity is in question. 

++The Machine-God is potentially a highly advanced construct that can affect the Materium on a small scale upon request. Given its nature, it may even be an automated system with little thought or agency of its own.++

I hum. The pieces fit, but there’s no way to really prove anything though, nor is the issue quite that simple. Perhaps I could pray for an answer?

E-SIM continues, ++On the other hand, all the worship going towards the Machine-God is clearly going to an entity of significant power as there is no evidence of new Technology based Daemons from being constantly born and fighting over scraps of faith. 

++The closest known entity to that is Vashtorr the Arkifane. The Emperor would not work with a Daemon and you know that the Emperor is working with the Machine-God as you have entered its domain via its link with Alpia. Thus, there must be a Machine-God, it isn’t a Daemon, and its faith is being used for an unknown purpose.++

“A great mystery,” I say.

++Agreed. Both the evidence of the Machine-God’s interference with the research grade STCs and the Machine-God’s worship requirements have supporting speculation, not even supporting evidence. Your own observations imply that it is supporting Humanity. Thus, continued worship is likely safe.++

“That’s one hell of a non-answer E-SIM.”

++If I said I don’t know, you would have felt terribly put out at the missed opportunity for a good debate.++

I chuckle, “True enough. How safe is plugging you into this mad Machine-God? I imagine that even the corpse of a god has great power.”

++Of course it does, otherwise you wouldn’t be here to connect it to me. It will save so much time and many resources when trying to build my own Immaterium Bastion too, when you finally unlock the upgrade. As for being safe, while my scans do not show much, my records are more complete. 

++The research grade STCs were completely stripped of all information, leaving only their hardware behind. It was deemed too difficult to destroy further. Even then, Humanity and its allies of convenience still drained all the research grade STC’s fuel and removed all power generating equipment.++

“A reasonable precaution,” I send. 

E-SIM sends, ++I would recommend blessing the connections and filtering my datastream through both you and Alpia though, just to be sure. Neither the Emperor or the Machine-God would risk another Men of Iron rebellion, so expect a lot of scrutiny. We won’t stay connected for longer than it takes to wipe out the enemy fleet.++

I send, “Great. My boss is going to watch over my shoulder as I risk destroying the galaxy, channelling unfathomable amounts of data while try not to melt my brain out of my bio-pod, or engage in a suicide pact with my terminally curious daughter. All while getting shot at by the legions of hell.”

++You know what day it is today, don’t you Aldrich?++

“A day of revelation?”

++When worshiping the Emperor, every day is a day of Revelation. No Aldrich, today is Monday. My clock that’s been sitting in the Warp for millennia says so.++

“Oh dear. Now I know how my family feels when I go for such a cheap laugh.”