« You asked him to help you at the friers ! »
See immediately buried his face in his hands. Dey was completely lost about the reason of the captain's despair, but he didn't feel like asking. It was the first time he was in See's office, and he would have preferred it to be in different circumstances.
« - Right... Said See as he stopped looking despaired. We cannot really blame you. We should have told you about brother Wopper's... Unique predicament.
- Hum... Excuse me for asking, brother captain, but... What predicament ? »
See looked at the Burger Marine in front of him, before standing up and starting to walk aimlessly in his office, his hands in his back. He had a story to tell, so he needed to get in the mood.
« What I'm about to tell you is passed on to every new generation of Burger Marines working here, for warning them of being careful about the way they handle brother Wopper. As you may imagine, Wopper hasn't always been a dreadnought. 2000 years ago, when this restaurant got opened, he got transferred here for forming the youngest recruits. He was – and still is – the best burger flipper in the history of our chapter. He had an extraordinary sixth sense that allowed him to know at the precise second when a burger was perfectly done : not too raw, not too grilled. And he had developped a wonderful technique for optimizing the flipping of burgers : not a single loss of fat and savour during this critical phase. He has formed thousands of Marines in this holy duty, but none could ever compare to him. He was greatly respected in this restaurant and all throughout the chapter. He was destined to become the new captain of this restaurant. Some even saw him as a potential Chapter Master. »
See stopped in his tale, just long enough for letting a sigh slip out of his lips.
« And one day... One day like today, when the brothers serving at the friers were overwhelmed by the demand, he immediately proposed to give a hand to his cooking brothers. »
By the tone his captain used, Dey immediately understood the real problems started on this day.
« - What happened exactly ?
- The details are... Sketchy. It's as if... Every witnesses decided to forget those events as fast as they could. The last person who could describe what happened this day is Wopper himself, and as you can guess after today's tantrum, it would not be wise to ask him. The best we could learn was that somehow, he angered the machine spirit of one of the friers. Which... Acted violently. »
Dey stood silent. This... Was becoming really strange.
« When the frier got finally subdued by the Marines of this time, Wopper was left broken and horribly mutilated. He was deemed far too valuable for the chapter for being lost, so he got incarcerated in a life support coffin and got turned into a dreadnought. He quickly got used to his new condition, and actually never felt any contempt for it, as it still allowed him to continue serving our chapter. But since that day... Any mention of the friers is forbidden around him. The burger grills and the friers got displaced, each one sitting on each side of the kitchens, for allowing as few contacts as possible between those two sectors. For whenever the friers get mentionned near Wopper, he enters a state of frenzy and tries to run away from them as far as possible, causing much destruction. »
Now, Dey was feeling bad. He could see where he goofed up now, and he was starting to feel pity towards his elder. But this also caused him to think about a way to redeem himself. As he caused Wopper to get in such a state... He'd do anything in his power for making the dreadnought recover. That's the least he could do.
There was still one last question he wanted to ask.
« And what about the frier that attacked him ? »
See looked at the Burger Marine with concerned eyes.
« It got... Disposed of. »
Meanwhile on Mars...
Two magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus were walking down a hallway, way beneath the surface.
« - Hey, man, what's behind this door ?
- Hmm ? A frier, according to the records. Got brought here by the Burger Marines a few centuries ago. »
The first techpriest took a good look at the door. It was made of a particularly solid alloy of adamantine and ceramite, certainly a few feet wide. Dozens upon dozens of sacred seals were glued onto it, and the lock seemed to have been welded, for making sure that nobody would ever try to open it.
« Really ? All this for a frier ? What's so special about it ? »
It's at this moment that... Something crashed unto the door, from the other side. The noise caused by the shock echoed through the hallway, quickly followed by the sounds of chains clanking, still coming from the room behind the door.
An inhuman cackling followed. No living creatures from this universe could have done such a chilling sound.
The two techpriests looked at the door for a few seconds.
« On a second thought, I don't want to know. Let's get out of here. »
