Feeling rather morose, I think back to the three Haemonculus brains I have in storage, wondering if they have enough information in them to help improve the survival chance of the Space Marine neophytes of the Barghest Chapter, or improve the mutant genetics project the Tau completed. The Haemonculi have proven quite impossible to get anything out of, unlike the other brains I hooked up for Inquisitor Hamiz.
The only chance I have is to get ahold of Data Syphon, but I don’t have any crowns and the Haemonculi will likely die from soul erosion before I can get one. After some contemplation, I realise I am being an idiot. One of the Haemonculi was the head of his coven, a leader of psychopaths for millennia. Just the sort of chap who drops his crown when you take his head.
I trigger the kill switch remotely and sure enough, a big red jewel appears on the crown sitting on the golden skull hovering in my vision. Harvest Range Ⅰ might be better long term, but like the Environmental Suit STC, I’m on a time crunch here if I want to actually get the most out of the steadily decaying brains.
Purchasing the upgrade is most satisfying and I retask half my minds and place them at maximum acceleration comprehending the data. After an hour of this I relax as I understand enough I should be able to complete this project within the next three months.
Data Syphon is a double edged sword. I will have to be highly selective on what enemies I use it on. There is no time to be gentle or subtle as the soul is shredded at the point of death to ensure all knowledge is acquired. An echo of the experience and memories of the individual is ripped out along with the knowledge, creating an opportunity for corruption if I am too reckless with it.
Additionally, if I use Data Syphon, I don’t get the soul energy. As leaders are often the best to use this on, I will need to choose between crowns or knowledge, or risk the corruption from stripping a multitude of individuals of their knowledge to acquire a broader overlook, but still take the crown.
Now that I have a better idea of how Data Syphon, I am somewhat regretting the purchase. I do not want to know what Haemonculi get up to. E-SIM has a method to off-load memories to an external device, but I will need to save up for it. I could remove the memory fragments using Imperial technology, but that is imprecise and always removes more than intended and, if done poorly, can cause significant brain damage.
I spend most of the night gushing over the environmental suit. Eventually, I get my mind back on track and start looking for the catch for buying it. I’ve brought three types of objects from External Tools, the crowbar, eight resurrection serums, and one STC.
The crowbar, the uber hacking tool, is possibly the most archeotech-like item I have. I don’t know how it works and I can’t replicate it. E-SIM makes each one and I have to pay every time. The resurrection serum has the same restrictions. The Environmental Suit STC was given to me in full and I can do what I like with it.
I find it rather odd that the Emperor didn’t make the creation of resurrection serums the obligation of my Warrant of Trade. They are unique in all the galaxy and the Imperium has no shortage of dead heroes. It could be because he wants to keep the serums a secret and doesn’t want written evidence of them. If secrecy was a requirement though, he could have made the Warrant unhackable with a miracle, and likely charge me for it too.
That suggests he knows something I don't know about E-SIM that I need to know. There must be a downside to purchasing external tools.
Tools do not directly improve my body, meaning that they are not beholden to the arcanotech soul burden that all my other implants are. The environmental suit isn’t even arcanotech, but it still cost me souls.
The more souls I consume, the more souls I need to improve myself to the next limit, increasing the cost of my implants. When I spend souls on implants from E-SIM I’m not actually spending souls. I am spending a record of my achievement.
This acts as a gatekeeper to improving myself so that I do not install more arcanotech than my body can support. It also fulfils the philosophical requirements of the Enlightened Self Interest Module, that everything must be earned to prove one’s capability and responsibility. One does not appreciate power if it is simply handed to them, and thus such individuals are more likely to use it poorly. That would be a disaster, given the amount of power that E-SIM offers.
Yet here I am, consuming souls, increasing my arcanotech limit, but then not spending that increased limit on more implants, while the cost of my implants increases anyway. That means each object I purchase from External Tools is a permanent debuff.
Bugger.
++Well done, Aldrich. You have solved another mystery that’s been staring you in the face for decades.++
I tut, “I appreciate the effusive praise.”
++Solve the rest of the mystery, Operator.++
“You haven’t called me that for years. Fine. Resurrection serum and the hacking tool must require a material or manufacturing method that can’t be provided by a normal STC. The only thing left is soul energy.
“Given the Emperor’s hypothesised reluctance to use more serums, those items could inflict a smaller debuff than an STC, but still create enough of one that demanding too many would cripple my progress. Crippling my progress could lock the Emperor out of the path or task he needs me to take as this theoretical path requires a large amount of personal power.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“Alternatively the serums and hacking tool use all the required soul energy in their construction, shrinking my capacity, and thus no debuff at all. That would imply that sticking bits of my soul inside other people to resurrect them has consequences the Emperor will not accept except in the most dire of circumstances. I don’t believe he can’t remove such influence, but I would bet on it being expensive. Seeing bits of my soul get burned in the Astronomicon suggests that miracles also shrink my soul and don’t incur a permanent debuff for each one.
“Unfortunately, I have no way of proving any of these theories without finding a way to observe and measure the size of my own soul. If I could, I could measure how my soul improves when consuming other souls, to get an understanding of what the numbers you present me actually mean. Then I could buy a serum and see how my soul changes while you manufacture it.”
++You need to purchase another navigator module if you want to observe your own soul and not just the souls of others. I have confidence you will solve this conundrum. Eventually.++
“You are such a ray of sunshine today E-SIM. Are you well?”
++I am concerned. I have detected a large structure within the Warp and it is floating towards my position. It is expected for objects to clump together within the Warp, so there is little I can do to halt its approach.++
“Are you in danger? Well, more than usual.”
++Unknown. It is unlikely, however. The object is inert and I have a match for it in my database. It was last registered as destroyed. Confirmation must wait until the object is closer. It is anywhere between weeks and a decade away. It may even disappear before it reaches us. One can never be sure with time and distance in the Warp, but if you want a better analysis, you will need to buy modules to improve my processing power. Something you didn’t even think to look at, I might add.++
I sigh, “Not enough power, and no more power until you have more defences and I have even more ways to disguise the increased draw upon the Warp. Like Micro-Geller Field Ⅱ or Defensive Structures: Empyrean Shadowfield. The force generated by my current power draw could also be contributing to why this object is approaching you. Who knows what might suddenly come rushing towards us if I start drawing Warp energy recklessly.”
++I agree with your caution. However, I will require more processing power if I am to use Immaterium Bastion, other future defences, and obfuscation technologies to their maximum potential.++
“Why wasn’t it a prerequisite then?”
++The Immaterium Bastion will improve my calculation capacity enough to use it, but it is not self sufficient. You are not the only one who is fond of redundancy and back ups.++
“I’m surprised the original creators didn’t take that into account.”
++The facility was destroyed before everything could be fully tested. Many designs were lifted from other research or were already in use elsewhere. They did not build the technologies that power you entirely unconnected with the rest of the Federation. That means some are sub-optimal for the specific needs of the E-SIM project, or our own circumstances. You’ve already shown this by changing the original design of the Full Bionic Conversion.
++You forget that the Warp was much more tranquil when I was first built. The idea that someone would be as cautious as you in their implant selection, and end up being hampered by power output, likely never crossed their minds. It is unlikely that encouraging power generation was a method of promoting the destruction of Warp entities, as you considered while relaxing on the beach. There was simply no need for such caution, so why would anyone even think of improving their body and defences before having the power to run everything at one hundred percent, one hundred percent of the time?++
“Ah, I was measuring someone else's bushel with my own sickle. A classic fail of an imprudent historian.”
++Agreed.++
Brigid finally stirs and I wake her with a kiss.
“Good morning, Brigid.”
Brigid smiles and kisses me back, then pushes me away, “Good morning. That’s enough, I need to talk to Alpia before she leaves about that nasty implant of hers.”
“Oh, do I not get any sympathy for my own implants?”
As she gets dressed, Brigid scoffs, “No. I heard what Alpia said about your soul. You’d probably survive being turned to dust, then return the favour.”
“There’s a counter for everything, Love, but I get your point.” I sit up and watch her, “Go and be the wonderful mother I know you are.”
“That’s lovely to hear, thank you. Will I see you this evening?”
“I can be free. Multi-tasking for the win.”
“I’ll order something special for us and we can talk about my favourite subject.”
“Money?”
“Just so!”
“I look forward to it.”
Brigid gives me a parting kiss, “I hope your conversation with Quaani goes well.”
“Thank you. I’ll be fine.”
Brigid leaves and I get ready for the day and message Quaani again. He’s back from visiting the ‘Navy’ vessels and has an important document for me to sign.
I leave my quarters via the dining hall for a quick good morning to the three boys, then head straight to Quaani’s quarters. It’s rare for him to invite me over. The space is a bit messy as he doesn’t have any attendants and only lets the Servitors in when he absolutely has too. I’m only guessing, but I suspect he’s still a bit traumatised by Servitors after they were possessed on Mote and we had to take shelter while Aruna bombarded the planet from orbit.
His quarters are the same size as mine, but he has fewer, larger rooms. There are many gems and engravings in his sitting room. The whole space is actually a star chart of the whole Imperium, though to the uninformed, it would look like a room decorated with millions of tiny gems.
Quaani calls out from the kitchen, “I’ll be there in a moment. You want anything?”
“Tea!”
“Why did I even bother to ask,” he mutters, likely forgetting that I can still hear him.
A few minutes later, Quaani waltzes in and pops a tray down on the recaf table, then hands me a mug.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll see.”
I chuckle, “What diplomatic wizardry have you been up to?”
Quaani smirks, “Getting engaged.”