It was midnight and the crowd of pilgrims at the monastery gate had definitely grown larger. Standing by my room’s window, I absently observed the crowd below while recalling my day.

What a day.

I commanded an actual army for the first time ever. The experience of so many ranks of Sororitas obeying my will like the back of my hand was both mesmerising and intoxicating.

The sights and sounds of more than ten heavy bolters firing at the same time brought back the nostalgic feeling of a massive game of Dawn of War, my initial gateway game into the grim dark universe. I got a taste of what it meant to be wielding power and caught a glimpse on why some people lost themselves to its allure.

I managed to totally overcome the cultists with many stratagems and pull off a win with no casualties on our side. While many celebrated the result as a remarkable feat bordering a miracle, in hindsight I knew we had many advantages stacked against the cultists.

Strategically speaking there was no sugar coating it, while on the surface it looked like a crushing victory for us, the enemies had long achieved their primary objective before we arrived. We were merely stomping on their disposable units and avoided further disasters.

As for Thaberus’ pursuit, as predicted the inquisitor soon ran into literal dead ends and the collapsed tunnels would take time to be cleared. Eventually the place was swarming with hordes of imperial reinforcements. A sea of Magistratum officers supported by more Arbites arrived, then two companies of stormtroopers from the Planetary Defense Force belatedly showed up.

My presence had become more of a hindrance for the people around me to work so I had to leave. Thaberus held a small debriefing session with the sisters of the initial strike team, in which he dropped a strict gag order forbidding anyone from leaking information about my powers, before I returned to the monastery with Maylin, Welminah, Alicya and her retinue via Flameraven.

While on the way back, I observed Maylin switching on her personal communicator after receiving permission from Tahsya. The preacher was soon flooded with enquiries from important people of the Church. Welminah likewise was reporting to Canoness Diadinah. With my superhuman hearing I was picking up their hushed conversations even when it was not my intention to snoop on them.

‘Yes, she took command… it was flawless…’

‘It was miraculous, I will file a report as soon as…’

I forced myself to tune out their conversations and started watching the news channels with a random data-slate that was connected to the information network. There was already much news of the incident with “unconfirmed” reports about my involvement.

Everything I do publicly is headline worthy.

That notion was still quite hard for my mind to grasp even when it happened right before my eyes. After we returned to the monastery I spent some time working on the portrait of the cult leader, faithfully replicating the arch heretic’s visage before passing it to Herlindya. The throne agent was still being swamped with work coordinating various imperial agencies when I passed her the life-like digital portrait. I guessed a lot of people would be working overtime today.

In the evening Canoness Diadinah finally came back with a huge Sororitas force from her heretic purging campaign. After receiving Welminah’s consultation on matters of protocols, I joined the sisters to welcome the returning expeditionary force.

We waited at the bottom of the massive flight of marble stairs that led to the great doors of the fortress monastery. Before long an armada of Sororitas vehicles came into view, a familiar Rhino command tank leading at the forefront. The massive convoy scattered the pilgrims as they passed through the main gate into the monastery compound.

The canoness’ transport stopped right before me, and out stepped Diadinah, Markeylla and a squad of Celestian Sacresants with their signature large shields. It had been a while since I last saw the canoness and the celestian superior, both of them looking good despite having been through what must have been an exhausting campaign.

Our eyes met and Diadinah smiled. She stood still and waited for the hundreds of battle sisters to disembark. When most of the returned sisters had gotten off their ride, Diadinah moved until she was right in front of me.

Without a word the canoness knelt down, prompting the whole expeditionary force to do the same. I could do nothing but graciously accept their homage. The crowd of pilgrims at the monastery perimeter fence erupted into thunderous cheers as Diadinah’s action had indirectly confirmed my identity. Despite the distance many of them had been camping for days in hope of catching a glimpse of me. It wasn’t all happy reunion and glory though as I noted the many caskets of martyred sisters that returned with the expeditionary force.

Of course later that night I ended up joining the Sororitas’ wake for their fallen. While the sisters were busy praying for their deceased, right beneath us many cultists captured from the scholastica were being interrogated in the dungeon. I felt the surge of psychic powers being used to extract information, a palpable emotion of despair and pain ebbing from below.

Psykers and their psychic powers were a necessity for the existence of the Imperium. Without them faster than light travel and messaging that kept the empire in one piece would not be possible with their current level of technology. Yet the Imperium’s treatment towards the average psyker was appalling. Then again, except for the ultra-privileged few, the Imperium of Man usually treated everyone with equal disdain.

I remembered a popular joke in the wargaming circle about a mother walking into a hobby shop with her young son who wished to get into the wargaming hobby of the grim dark universe. After listening to the sales clerk who tried his best to explain the many factions involved, the mother asked the key question, ‘so who are the good guys?’

There were no real good guys here, just various levels of evil and corruption. In most cases the Imperium was as oppressive if not worse than many of the horrors lurking in this unforgiving world. Due to my special condition I was being treated well enough to develop a blind spot for that fact, but witnessing how the psykers were faring at the scholastica knocked some sense back into me.

Back to the wake, being the focus of attention and not knowing what to do, I had been sitting still throughout the whole session, only nodding and gesturing when necessary like a dignified VIP.

Staying totally motionless with this body was easy, transhuman like space marines were famously known for their unmoving honour guards who could stay as still as statues for many hours. I imagined this was quite a feat for a normal human, for if I had a mortal body the eventual creeping muscle cramps would have crippled me.

Throughout the session I also maintained a neutral face and kept my sight forwards despite noticing each and every peek from the crowd that came my way.

Though none had dared to directly make the request, it was on most of the sisters’ minds on their fervent wish to see the Emperor’s light again. Truth be told, by this point I was beginning to feel the exploitative nature of my halo and loathed the notion of spamming it. I was however not about to cheap out on paying a token of respect for the people who had paid the ultimate price for their belief.

The psychic light show cost me nothing after all.

Near the end of the wake session, I silently unleashed my halo at the height of the sisters’ prayer as a final tribute. As the divine golden light filled the praying hall, to everyone’s amazement, a host of astral doves manifested just like last time at the monastery gate.

The flock of angelic birds, pure white in colour and shimmering with a divine glow, gracefully flew a few laps around the edge of my halo before ascending towards the domed ceiling. Just as the birds were about to reach the many portraits of saints painted on the roof, they faded from reality and disappeared without a trace.

The whole short event was both enchantingly beautiful and haunting, almost directly implicating the sisters’ souls departing to a higher realm. Maylin and many of the sisters who were present were moved to tears, while many more were convinced it was a sign of approval from Big-E himself. Whatever the case, the phenomena baffled me, I certainly wasn’t controlling these avian apparitions.

Just what are these astral birds?

After the wake was over I had a meeting with Diadinah and her palatines. The Canoness reported her campaign to me like I was her direct superior. I did little, just acted like a good listener. Then I recalled that today’s operation was nearly compromised due to my zero proficiency in handling firearms. Seizing the moment, I requested an introductory course on weapon usage to be arranged for me following tomorrow morning’s pending meeting with Thaberus. My request caught everyone off guard, but it was promptly approved. By the time we were done it was late in the night.

I retreated back to my room but could not sleep, and ended up just looking out from my windows while contemplating today’s events. My mind wandered from one thing to another but somehow eventually settled on looking into those birds.

Thinking back, these mysterious avians seemed to appear when the crowd around me was in a high emotional state. The question now was could I reproduce the phenomenon on my own?

Unleashing my halo, I started experimenting. First I tried various intensities but no birds appeared. Something was missing, something emotional or intense in nature. Then an idea came to me. I tried again, but this time slowly released my powers, and then distorting it like pinching a running water hose to increase its pressure.

I let the energy grind on its own while mentally picturing a bird to appear. Then it happened, at the very edge where the energy was concentrated at its highest, a faint mist materialised and coalesced into a defined spectral dove that started flying around.

The dove shimmered with a subtle luminescence, like moonlight dancing on water with gentle hues of gold and silver. Its feathers were translucent yet radiant, and seemed to capture the light around it, creating an otherworldly aura. The bird’s wings, though delicate in appearance, moved with a grace that belied their spectral nature, causing ripples in the air with each beat.

I stretched out a hand while mentally beckoning it. To my surprise, it seemed to understand my wordless request and flew over. As it settled on my hand, I could feel its ethereal weight, light yet substantial enough to be palpable.

I examined the unreal bird on my palm. Despite its intangible nature, the creature which seemingly was made entirely of light exuded a physical presence that was undeniable. Its beady eyes that seemed to hold a depth of understanding beyond mortal comprehension looked around with genuine curiosity.

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After a while it extended its wings and with a soft coo flew away before disappearing into the thin air. It was like magic, I couldn’t help but marvel at the life-like wonder and the nature of its existence.

By then it was well past midnight. Despite being up and busy the whole day, I was not sleepy at all. I didn’t need much sleep to begin with and today’s many events had kept my mind restless. Needing some distractions and to kill time, I eventually decided to go to the library to catch up with my studies.

After a brief scouting with astral projection to confirm that the path was clear, I proceeded to the library. With my superhuman level senses plus the shroud ability, avoiding people was easy-peasy. As for the few security pict-recorders at key locations, I simply set them looping on the empty hallways while passing through their fields of view. This ghosting business felt strangely familiar and natural, like I had done it all my life.

Soon I reached the closed library with its huge ornate doors barring my entry. A slight push on the unmoving door confirmed the place was locked up, and it was not a digital lock which I could easily bypass. Using short range [Auspex] I managed to get a clear three dimensional view on the intricate lock mechanism, then the transcended intelligence residing in me simply took over.

So, I just need to move these parts… Suddenly a well practised motion came out of nowhere as I discharged a miniscule amount of my power that moved the locking mechanism into the open position and unlocked the massive door.

What the… telekinesis?

Now that I think about it, written in one of the many rule books it was mentioned psyker in this universe were mostly using a few main branches of power disciplines.

What were they again?

Biomancy for warp lightning discharge and body strengthening. Divination to look into the future. Pyromancy for creating warp fire. Telekinesis for moving things, and Telepathy for distant communication.

Note to self, I gotta take further lessons from the psykers.

Right before opening the door I felt Solace’s presence due to close proximity. My servo-skull was left in the library in my haste to depart for the mission today. Just to make sure, I remotely accessed Solace’s sensors to confirm the coast was clear within the library. Through its eyes I saw not a single soul in sight and all the cherubs were at their resting stations.

Silently I opened the door and stepped inside, not bothering to switch on the light as my eyes could see just fine. Walking in the darkness like this somehow reminded me of the Night Lords, one of the original bad guy space marine legions infamous for their war crimes. Those notorious bastards liked to stick to the shadows because their homeworld was perpetually dark without a shining sun. I sat down at a spot before awakening my favourite cherub.

<++Complying.++> The cyborg baby stirred and moved to work, flipping its non-functional wings to fetch my books on the list.

As the homunculus delivered my first book, it occurred to me to cover my tracks.

<++Acknowledged.++> It replied while flying away to get the next book. I started reading in the quiet darkness, the world appeared to me in a tranquil greyness, my transhuman eyesight easily picking up the words from the pages in the dim light.

You might think with superhuman reading one could easily chew through a whole library’s contents, but the truth was depressing. A casual calculation informed me that even if I could read an average of two thousand books a day, it would take three standard years to go through this collection.

Too slow, this was just too slow. I sighed internally while putting down my book. I remembered something about Syrine being designed to be an administrator for a region of the Imperium. Shouldn’t she have a built in ability for mass information assimilation? As I mused, a line of words appeared in my vision.

[Activate Dominus Informationis? YES / NO]

“Lord of Information?” I was flabbergasted.

Just how many abilities does this girl have?

Strangely, I noticed the words were not as clear cut as other previously shown abilities, its opacity had a never seen before translucent quality to it. Still, these auto aids had never failed me before. Besides it was either this or be stuck reading for years, seeing no reason to hesitate I confidently selected YES from the option.

As the ability was activated, I became psychically active and my power was released to the surroundings. Before long strange things started happening, I felt my senses being stretched and spread out, then like a thin veil my consciousness slowly seeped into all the nearby printed materials. Like a miracle, pages after pages of information started appearing directly into my mind.

Oh, this is what I was talking about!

The process started slowly at first before picking up speed. First the pages flashed by the dozens, then it sped up and pushed into the hundreds. Before I knew it, thousands of pages worth of information were smashing into my mind, the influx of data hit me like a tidal wave. Countless pages of text, pictures and graphs flashed before my eyes as the onslaught of ultra dense knowledge continuously poured in, straining even my superhuman mind.

I blinked rapidly, trying to focus as the data load became overwhelming. It felt like trying to drink a lake with one gulp. My twin hearts raced, and my breathing quickened. I tried to make sense of it all but couldn’t keep up. My mind had hit a saturation point and everything seemed to swirl into a chaotic mess, my thoughts became disjointed.

My mind is breaking apart.

Panic set in as I struggled to regain control. My head throbbed with a numbing sensation and my vision blurred. I felt like my consciousness was being torn apart by the sheer volume of information bombardment. I tried to slow down, to take deep breaths, but it was futile. I was drowning, drowning in a sea of information.

It was an overload that I hadn’t anticipated. Disoriented and overwhelmed, in a desperate attempt to regain control I bit my lower lips. The semi-resemblance of physical pain brought the sense of having a body back, and from there I tried to switch off my powers, but then something popped.

Everything went black.

* * *

It was the dead of the night, I found myself walking without shoes on a sandy beach. I had no recollection of how I got here and this disorientating sensation was eerily familiar.

I looked into the darkness in front of me, somehow half expecting to see a bewitching girl with platinum hair appearing out of nowhere. But there was no one around, I was alone.

Looking up, the cloudless night sky was covered with endless unblinking stars of unrecognisable constellations. I had never seen this many stars before, it reminded me of a scientific fact about the universe having more stars than all the sand on all beaches around the world combined. Enthralled, I lost myself in the scenery when an unknown light flashed me from behind.

I looked back, found the source of illumination to be a lighthouse and that I was standing on the beach of an island so tiny it felt surreal. The lighthouse had an unknown source of white light that was turning lazily, bringing illumination to the muted darkness. As the beam of light cut into the unnatural darkness, it revealed the sea to be nearby.

I walked towards the water and found it to be unnaturally calm, so calm it was unnerving. The huge body of dark water produced no waves, its surface was utterly still, like a titanic piece of mirror that stretched to the horizon.

I looked down and saw my own reflection. Strangely I could not pick up any details of my face. It was simply a patch of blurriness flanked by shoulder-length platinum straight hair.

Why can’t I see myself?

Puzzled by what I was seeing, I approached the water. Bizarrely no matter how close I got, my reflection remained inscrutable, it simply morphed from one blurry form to another and never settled into focus.

Intrigued, I continued my approach until a sudden gurgling croak from above broke the serenity and my stupor. I turned to the source of sound, just in time to catch a glimpse of what must have been a large bird in the night sky that melted into the darkness. Looking down, I was shocked to find myself chest deep in the water.

Never go deep into the water.

An important lesson I learned from somewhere was jumping at me, but its origin escaped my disoriented mind. I moved, wanting to get back to the beach quickly. The silent sea abruptly exploded with activity. Countless small and strange creatures that were vaguely fish-like jumped out from the water in a frenzy of movement. It was like they were swimming for their lives, escaping from something.

The air itself changed, the eerie sense of stillness from before vanished without a trace as wild wind started howling, sending my hair fluttering. Ominously thick clouds appeared from nowhere over the night sky, obscuring the stars. Then to my horror I sensed something truly massive stirring in the deeper water, and at the same time a faintly familiar inhuman voice called to me.

You won’t escape me forever.

The pure maliciousness in its tone sent shivers down my spine. Just then a huge bulge of water started forming a distance away. Something was rising from the deep, pushing all the water before it. My jaw fell slack at the sight of rising water that was surging towards me. Whatever it was, it was huge. Its size was hinted at by the sheer volume of displaced water amounting to a small hill.

Anathema’s daughter! FACE ME!

It called to me again, its words however woke something in me and I realised none of this was real. I just need to get out of the water.

My eyes snapped open and I found myself back in the library, gasping for air. For the first time I felt groggy in this apex transhuman body, the impact from psychic feedback still lingered and - wait, is someone there?

Instincts screaming, my head turned towards a direction where I sensed something. Alarmingly, even with my superhuman senses I could not determine if the faintly perceived presence was real or imaginary. Straining my sight at the gloom, I saw a hint of movement at the very edge of a huge bookshelf. Bolting towards the spot, my mind registered my own action only after I arrived at the place a heartbeat later.

No one was there, only the faintest trace of what could have been a psychic resonance and the peculiar hint of a falling feather. In the solitary darkness of the library, it took a while for me to realise that I was shivering, still shaken by the experience.

Was I attacked? Or am I losing my mind?