Chapter 184: Biological Wetware
“She doesn’t look like she’ll ever wake up, my lord.”
“Furthermore, the chances of saving her are slim.”
Beneath a dense network of tubes, the vague outline of a humanoid form could barely be discerned. Her face, bloodied and mangled, was partially obscured by tangled strands of white hair matted with clots of blood.
Magos Korklan was efficiently performing the necessary examinations on the ravaged body while reporting to Hades. anwhile, Hades was dismantling the knight ch, its pilot already removed.
Compared to fully developed knight chs, the one they found on Planet Sigma-373 was exceedingly rudintary. The upper half could still function according to standard physical principles, but the lower half operated purely through the corrupt psychic energies of Nurgle.
However, what intrigued Hades wasn’t the fra of the ch, but its control system. The pilot wasn’t seated inside the cockpit, but rather—like so act of penance—had been impaled atop the machine, controlling it via inserted conduits.
Hades had scanned it with the Black Domain. There was no machine spirit within. The lower section showed signs of corrosion, but the upper part was clean—likely due to the abilities of the Untouchable.
Regarding the issue of machine spirits, Hades had consulted the Magos of Graia, who unanimously confird that a machine spirit was an essential component for the proper operation of a knight ch.
That made Hades wonder—had he sohow specialized in countering knights and titans?
Yet, this still didn’t explain the current anomaly, how could such a crude ch operate without a machine spirit?
Hades stared at the knight ch in front of him, lost in thought—
“My lord, I have a hypothesis,”
Magos Korklan’s voice rang out, cheerful at the chance to work once more on an Untouchable experint—his old field of expertise.
He held up one of the many tubes that had once been inserted into the girl's waist. During the disassembly process, Korklan had severed these pipes—which had grown fused to her body—in order to examine and potentially treat her.
The cross-section of the tube revealed a dense, decaying mass of flesh—once vibrant, now rotting.
“She embedded her own brain cells into the ch, using them as wiring to replace the machine spirit’s control functions.”
Hades turned his gaze back to the ch, deliberately avoiding the blurred ruin of the girl's body.
During his earlier inspection, he had noticed desiccated organic tissue scattered throughout, but had subconsciously dismissed them as typical byproducts of Nurgle's influence.
After a mont of consideration, Hades said:
“That approach could work. And this ch is relatively simple—reduced computational demands. But… a human brain still wouldn’t have the processing power for even this.”
“My lord, the activity levels of these cells far surpass normal biological standards.”
Hades suddenly turned his head toward Korklan, who was still thodically performing his examination.
Striding quickly over, he once again shrouded the area in a diluted Black Domain.
As expected, the woman’s body showed no signs of corruption—aning the cells weren’t a result of Nurgle’s taint.
Hades looked toward the increasingly excited Magos Korklan—who always beca unnaturally thrilled when near an Untouchable.
Then he turned back to the nearly corpse-like body.
By all rights, she should be dead. But the stasis field she’d been kept in had preserved her final breath.
Out of personal sentint, Hades had hoped to either save this Untouchable… or at least grant her a clean death.
With a faint sigh, Hades asked:
“...Your suggestion?”
“Convert her into biological wetware, my lord. An Untouchable—with individual cells boasting such imnse computational capacity—”
“But machines that require biological wetware usually co equipped with a machine spirit. An Untouchable would cause the machine spirit to reject the whole system.”
Hades suddenly realized sothing and spoke slowly, “But we can build a machine without a machine spirit—and let the computational part…”
Their gazes all turned to the brain matter inside the tubes.
Moreover, Untouchables were far less susceptible to corruption than machine spirits.
. . . . . . . . . .
Test #137
[Hello?]
Raibo blinked in confusion, her mind cloaked in a fog.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t see.
[…]
[Hello?]
The sa ssage was called out again, though not in the form of a voice.
Electric signals flickered, tissues pulsed slowly.
[?]
Raibo’s awareness gradually sharpened.
She felt as if she were sinking slowly into a lightless, pitch-black sea.
[W-Where am I?]
[Death Guard. Hades' personal laboratory.]
The entity on the other side replied.
Raibo blinked hard, trying to see, but quickly realized she could no longer even control her eyelids.
[I… I don’t quite understand.]
There was no direct answer. Instead, a new question was presented:
[What do you still rember?]
Thoughts churned—
The warm candlelight inside the Blackstone Cathedral, the low murmurs of the faithful, the priest gently patting her head…
Then, rage.
Roars.
She had shut down that “miracle.” Raibo suddenly rembered.
She had committed an unforgivable sin.
Then ca betrayal, manipulation, rot—rot, rot.
She had watched as those who supported her rotted beneath the cold earth, their souls still trapped within decaying bodies.
The final mories: war, and red-robed machines.
She felt hatred. She felt regret.
[I rember seeing the red-robed machines at the end. They succeeded in stopping .]
Raibo was silent for a mont.
[I thank them.]
Hades stared at the characters flickering on the screen.
This proved she still retained mory, self-awareness, and a personality.
[Those were the Adeptus chanicus Skitarii, not machines.]
[…]
Raibo fell silent.
So those tal-covered beings… were living humans?
This shocked her slightly—but she quickly realized she had no right to feel unsettled by them.
She was the one who had dood an entire planet.
Even with a body that once represented humanity’s perfection, she had dragged an entire civilization into the abyss.
[Regardless of what they were, I’m grateful they stopped .]
Raibo continued,
[Where exactly am I? Why am I still alive? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand the terms you’ve ntioned.]
Death Guard. Adeptus chanicus. What were these?
[We are humans from the Imperium. During an expedition, we discovered your planet. After purging it of corruption, we recovered you and your ch.]
[Then— has everyone else finally found peace?]
Raibo asked urgently.
She anxiously awaited an answer.
Only after enduring endless rot did she realize that death was the final rcy, the ultimate forgiveness.
She had prayed countless tis to serve a sentence in hell if only it ant the others could rest.
She had begged that demon called the Decayer over and over—just so the others could die.
[Rest assured. Aside from you, every human on your planet has died—a true death, free from the Warp's influence.]
It was like music from the heavens.
Everyone was dead.
Thank goodness.
Truly, thank goodness.
Everyone had finally died.
Raibo wanted to cry, but found she could no longer weep.
[Why am I still alive?]
Hades looked at the characters on the screen, then turned to the cultured brain tissue floating in the nutrient solution.
These cells—this brain—was now asking him why she was still alive.
Hades took a deep breath and continued speaking to the consciousness on the other side of the screen:
[Strictly speaking, you are already dead. Your body underwent extre, inhuman modifications and has since collapsed entirely.]
[Out of necessity, we preserved your brain tissue.]
A long silence fell on the other end of the screen. Hades waited patiently for a reply.
They could, of course, remove the regions responsible for self-awareness and retain only those used for computation.
But in certain machines, conscious thought was just as essential as processing power.
Korklan had suggested a straightforward mind-wiping procedure. The Adeptus chanicus had a complete system for that—one that could turn anyone into a fanatic servant of the Omnissiah.
When Korkland delivered the suggestion, Hades took a glance at Korklan, who was busy murmuring praises to the Omnissiah.
Did he even realize what he was suggesting?
But out of personal sentint, Hades chose to try negotiation first.
[So… what do you need to do?]
Hades breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
[I'm glad to see you’re thinking this way. Let reintroduce myself: I am Hades, of the Death Guard—one of the Imperium’s military legions.]
[I am Raibo.]
[…There’s no need to talk about the past.]
That line was saturated with grief.
The sorrow spilled from the screen like a tide.
Still, Hades continued typing:
[We awakened you because we hope to have you pilot certain machines—to fight the creatures of the Warp.]
Raibo froze.
Amid the sea of sorrow and guilt threatening to drown her, a tiny fla of rage sparked.
[Are you talking about those demons?]
[Yes.]
If Raibo still had a body, she would probably be on her knees now, screaming, tearing at her hair and flesh, sobbing uncontrollably.
[I agree. I agree!!!]
[I agree!!!]
Exclamation marks and frantic characters flooded the screen.
[Thank you for giving a chance to atone. I will kill them! Kill them!]
She had pleaded to those demons over and over again, and all she ever received in return was mocking comfort and eternal agony.
[KILL!!!]
Hades stared at the screen, now overflowing with the word “kill,” and fell silent.
Korklan leaned over with interest, glancing at the screen full of rage and resolve.
“My lord, your decision was clearly the right one.”
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