Chapter 3

Vitaetus managed to adapt fast to his new life though that was to be expected with him being essentially a blank slate. After a further week of nutrients, he was strong enough to go out and about as well as back up to a healthy weight. Soon after this though Harvul had called in dozens of favors and made just as many promises but had managed to get passage for himself and Vitaetus to Terra for the child to be soul bound with The Emperor and become a sanctioned Psyker. While normally such people would be forced to stay on Terra, Vitaetus was already claimed by the Mechanicus and if he was secret about it, Harvul could experiment with specialized psychic implants on Vitaetus. He considered not sending him to the binding but the old night had shown just how dangerous a psyker can be if they are not sanctioned and their power is not controlled in any way.

Harvul had no idea what had happened and Vitaetus refused to elaborate, only saying that it was only between him and The Emperor. Accepting this answer, they made their way back to Mars, the whole trip to Terra and back taking a solid month.

Unknown to everyone, even Vitaetus, the soul merger with The Emperor had changed something else of Vitaetus' own being. The minuscule fragment had found something latched to and thriving off of the small child. And so the single shard of the Emperor's own soul began to remove it, slowly chipping away at it. While the leach was by far less powerful, it was substantially larger than the Emperor's soul shard and would take hundreds of years to get rid of. Ever since the first chip was taken out of it, the soul leach began to, for a lack of a better word, leak. It began to leak the memories of its former owner, Tom Riddle, into the mind of Vitaetus.

Lucky for the boy though, in the future, those memories would have no effect as they were getting buried under and separated by years of indoctrination and conditioning. The scar shaped by the killing curse would slowly start to fade as well, getting lighter and lighter as the leach was destroyed but never disappearing entirely.

Within a year he had taken to helping Harvul with basic maintenance on his external implants like his mechadendrites or his arms. He had started with basic questions, most of which started with the word why. Why did this mechanism move this way, why does this fix it, why do we pray this cant as opposed to this canticle, why?

Many of Harvul's colleagues would punish someone for asking some of those questions, and several of those colleagues for asking questions at all instead of just listening. But those Tech-Priests were idiots, oh sure they were smart, but if one does not know the reason why or how something happens when they learn they are being stifled. The understanding of knowledge requires questions and lectures. Not just one or the other. Between this and many other small things, Vitaetus picked up that Harvul was not like other priests of the Mechanicus. The most notable thing off the bat was that he was more caring and wanted to experiment and truly understand what the machine spirit did to cause the equipment around them to work. While he was not shunned, a lot of what he did was kept secret to keep from being accused of heresy.

Eventually, after some time had passed and some thinking over the matter, Harvul decided on two things. The first was that due to him being in a new life he was going to restart Vitaetus's life, having the day he appeared being his new day of birth. The other was that when he turned 3 from that date, so biologically 6 years old, Vitaetus was going to be placed in training with other adepts his age. The reason for the wait was so that he may get caught up on the knowledge they would all have at that age.

Vitaetus had taken to not only the mechanic of maintenance and building but to the prayers as well. Machines spirits always seemed to show their gratitude to the young adept when they were repaired. The hum of motors singing praises for his work, the shine of metal polished to a gleaming smile if the spirits could be said to be capable of such.

His first true step towards the perfection demanded by The Omnissiah came on his twelfth birthday. After a long day of study, maintaining and building servitors, robots and servo skulls he had just arrived to their assigned quarters, only to see Magos Harvul standing in the middle of the main living chamber, waiting for him with his hands folded inside of his robes. "Greetings Vitaetus, I hope the Omnissiah graced you with a productive day."

Vitaetus, surprised at seeing his adoptive father and mentor standing there, for he is not normally home at this time, quickly stood up straight and made the sign of the cog before responding. "Yes, father. Today we studied the Treaty of Olympus Mons once more as well as reciting the Rite of Ignition as a test. After that, we performed repair and appeasement of the machine spirits of las weapons that failed their test off of the assembly lines. After that, I was assigned to assembly line 1978-63 to construct Skitarii ranger implants for future use in the armies of the Omnissiah."

Harvul nodded, he was proud to see his apprentice, his son, was coming along fast in his studies and duties, but there was a more important event for this day. "That is good to hear and I am proud to see they already have you on Skitarii production. However, that is not why I am home early. You know what day it is correct?"

Vitaetus would nod and respond with "The current date is 187.873M41 father. Why, is that important?"

Harvul nodded his head. "Very much so. In your busy day, you seem to have forgotten that today you are 12 Martian years old. Your instructions have taught you about the importance of the number, yes?" Vitaetus nodded that he knew of the importance before Harvul continued. "That is good. You are well on your way to becoming a full Priest in the Cult Mechanicus. Just as my mentor did for me and his for him, I am gifting you with your first true augmentation on your road towards perfection. The first is meant to be what is needed most at the time, be it a mechadendrite, cybernetic limbs or in your case eyes."

Harvul removed his hands from his robes after saying that, showing a brand new pair of cybernetic eyes, the metal polished to a blinding gleam and making Vitaetus's own go wide in surprise. "After all this time and speaking with your instructor, It is time for your first step on the road towards your place in the Omnissiah's design. For years you have spoken of the poor eyesight you have, you have learned the weakness of the flesh. Are you prepared to cast it away, to fully embrace the strength and certainly in steel? Are you prepared for your first true step in the Cult Mechanicus?"

Vitaetus could only stare in shock for a moment before bowing his head, making the sign of the Cog and praying his thanks to the Omnissiah for allowing him this. Once that was done, he looked back up at his mentor and responded. "Yes Magos, I am prepared. I wish to cast away the weakness of the flesh, to take the first step towards my place in The Omnissiah's great design."

Magos Harvul nodded and gestured Vitaetus towards the sterilized room he had woken up in all those years ago. "Then it shall be. From this moment forth, all you shall do shall be for the Cult and for The Omnissiah. You shall have a connection to The Omnissiah and all his creations from now until your death."

Vitaetus had taken to the new eyes better than one could hope. They were a lot like human eyes but the structures were so efficiently packed in that they could accommodate several more features. Having normal sight was a given, but the ability to see in low light conditions, infra-red light, as well as a minor HUD system were available. This HUD would be upgraded over time as he lived his life, allowing him to view Noosphere alerts, system alerts, and various other things that would be needed in his life.

For that heads-up display to function another augment needed to be given to his visual cortex. The back of the adept's head showed those augments, as well as an integration of his language. Combining these augments was for efficiency and space, in addition, it allowed the two to communicate.

Aside from being clearly mechanical the eyes also glowed, though this model was slightly different from others it was modified by Harvul to glow green instead of blue. Not complicated by any reach, and it kept Vitaetus's eyes green, as his organic ones had been. It seemed fitting to both of them.

After 2 days of being allowed to heal from the procedure and making sure the eyes were not rejected, Vitaetus was sent back to his tutors. However, things were slightly different than before. He occasionally received a glare or nod from others. However, the largest difference came when his pupils were sent to assembly lines.

Vitaetus was pulled off and led to a separate chamber lined with four sigils, each one donating a different path a tech priest could take. At the far end of the chamber, he saw his mentor speaking with another Magos. Looking up towards his tutor he asked in confusion "Priest, what is this?"

The priest that had escorted him to the room would gesture with his arm around the room while giving instructions. "This is where you decide the path you shall take, be it Artesian, Genator, Explorator or whichever it is. You shall be guided towards your future by The Omnissiah. Turn off your eyes and start walking, you will feel when you get to the right one. Let the Omnissiah guide your path for the future towards your place in His great plan."

Vitaetus would look up and down both walls. There were 2 large symbols on each wall, each a solid 5 meters in diameter, for the 4 Holy Orders of the Cult Mechanicus. Under each one were various murals and descriptions of the numerous sects within each Order. He was hoping to become a Genator as his mentor. Though if the Omnissiah designated a separate path for him, Vitaetus would accept it with gratitude and vigor. He would breathe deep before deactivating his eyes and praying to the Omnissiah for guidance while he started walking. He was moving slowly, wanting to take as much time as needed for the Motive Force to guide his motion.

He slowly walked along letting himself be guided. After a moment Vitaetus felt a pull towards his far-left as if he was drawn there. As he got close it felt right, like what he was meant to do with his life, but something was still slightly off. Taking a step forward towards where he believed the wall was, with his head still bowed, Vitaetus extended his hand. Once it was fully extended, Vitaetus felt the cool metal underneath and started to move along the wall. As he did, he came to a spot on it that felt warm to him, that simply felt right.

After a moment he lowered his hand. This is what was destined for him, the path towards his location in The Omnissiah's Great Plan. Saying a prayer of thanks to The Machine God for guiding his path, Vitaetus looked up before activating his eyes once more. There above him was a fist holding a wrench inside of a cog. It was the sign of the Holy Orders of Artisans. Looking down to where he had placed his hand, Vitaetus saw a single word, Technoarcheologist. His path had been laid out before him.

Vitaetus would turn towards his mentor and bow his head, saddened that they would not be working together but overjoyed at knowing what he was meant to do. Walking over, he stood by his mentor as the other Magos with him spoke.

"Greeting Adept Vitaetus, I am Magos Gurthel, head of the Artisan for this segment of the hive. I am also an old friend of Harvul. Your mentor has told me of your ability to construct and attend to the holy machine, how you could all but make them sing for you. I had a feeling you would be joining our Order and am glad to see I was not mistaken. However, your future tutelage shall not be under me, no you shall continue under Magos Harvul. Once we had seen what was destined for you, I transferred him what he would need to teach you, to start you on your path. This does not mean you may not study under other orders but this is the path The Omnissiah has deemed you best suited for. I foresee great things in your future Adept, great things indeed." With his part spoken, Magos Gurthel said his goodbyes to Vitaetus and Harvul before exiting. After some time Vitaetus and Harvul left as well, both prepared for the future.

The years after that day seemed to pass fast for Vitaetus. When he was 18, after fifteen long years of study and memorization Vitaetus was fully inducted into the Cult Mechanicus, he was no longer an adept. With this, he was given the traditional red robe all tech priests wear as well as a noospheric connection augmentation. This granted him access to the vast and ever-expanding communication and information network present on the Holy Forge World and its orbiting moon.

In the years that followed, he moved all over Mars working under various Magi. Working, learning and in his free time studying to get yet more knowledge as dictated by The Quest for Knowledge. He had even spent a decade in the great Ring of Iron helping with the repair, construction, and appeasement of many kinds of void ships ranging from mighty warships to smaller trade and cargo vessels.

Along with the aforementioned noosphere implant, he had also decided to completely replace his digestive tract with a much more efficient system as well as his vocal cords with a vox hailer, allowing him to not only speak high and low gothic but also multiple versions on the Cant Mechanicus. These included the Bineric Cant, Lingua-Technis and Hexamathic code.

As the decades passed, he gained more augmentations to go with his knowledge. These included the complete replacement of both legs and his left arm allowing ambidexterity. Vitaetus also had his rib cage and spine replaced to allow better durability and strength to support the immense, multi-tonne weight of his cybernetics. Inside the now expanded chest cavity, both lungs were replaced but Vitaetus also had his heart replaced with a more compact pump but also had the blood replaced with a much more advanced synthetic version, capable of moving nutrients and oxygen in much greater quantities. As well as the replacement of the main heart, two backup hearts were also installed should the main one fail. At the bottom of his new spine, an advanced gyroscope was installed to help him stay upright and balanced due to the various weights all around him.

With the much greater room from the replacement, he also had his brain placed in an adamantium shell and moved into the much stronger and more well-defended chest area. The space in his head now serving as backup storage space for compact and advanced processors. Once that was done his brain was outfitted with custom psi-boosters made by Harvul to increase his power and control over the warp. It still felt, off to use any of his powers. As such Vitaetus rarely does use the warp.

On top of all of this, there was also a number of mechadendrite, the most notable ones being an optical one with a tiny, super flexible and high-resolution camera on a three-meter cable allowing for view in small areas, a servo arm rated with a lifting strength of 5 tonnes, a universal data cable able to both split into twenty miniature cables as well as configure its shape for virtually any port imaginable as long as its opening had a perimeter of five centimeters or less, and both utility and manipulator mechadendrite to assist him with his various task over the years and decades.

In that time, a small but powerful amount of weapons would enter his possession, either gifted to or built by him. With his was a Phosphor Serpenta, an Omnissian Power Axe which was secretly modified to also act as a force weapon if required, as well as his main heavy armament of a Volkite Blaster held in a heavy-duty brace extending from his side with large cables running to a highly armored and shielded fusion reactor on his back, giving him a permanent hunch. While possibly correctable there was little reason to, since it had no impact on his efficiency or purposes.

By the time he was 75, Vitaetus had been promoted to the rank of Magos due to his hard work and dedication to the cult. His mentor-father had rewarded him with a servo skull that carries and disperses holy oils and incense for this great honour.

When he was 108 years and praying to the Machine God and Omnissiah he had received inspiration to go on a pilgrimage to the holiest place on Mars, the Temple of All Knowledge so that he could pray before the Altar of Technology. It was to the Cult Mechanicus what the Eternity Gate in the Imperial Palace of Terra was to the Imperial Cult. And so once he was relieved of his current task and position, Vitaetus placed an appointment for prayer at that holiest site before he set off marching across the red sands towards Olympus Mons from the Nilosyrtis Hive, as the priest had crossed Mars. The trek would take him years, moving from manufactorium to hive to small outposts. After nearly a year and a half of marching through harsh sand storms and taking cover from fearsome radiation storms, he made it.

After his arrival, he only had a couple of weeks to wait before he was brought before the Altar and Fabricator General of Mars who was holding a prayer session. Of course, he would join, not only because he was obligated to but because taking part in a prayer that was led by the person closest to The Trinity was a once in a ten lifetimes experience. Once the twelve-hour-long sermon was over, each adept, priest and Magos in attendance were guided individually toward the High Altar of Technology for a single individual prayer to The Omnissiah.

When it was Vitaetus' turn, he asked The Omnissiah to show him the way down his path. Once he was done, he thanked the Fabricator General for allowing him there for his prayer. He then left the Temple and went to make his way towards the closest elevator heading to the Ring of Iron to take a tram to the elevator closest to the Hive.

However, this would have to wait as when he exited the Temple a general alert for his skills was sent out over the Noosphere. An Archmagos was planning a three-year expedition into the Librarius Omnis, set to start in two years' time and requested fifty Technoarcheologist. Vitaetus would immediately send confirmation that he would join without a second's hesitation.

With the request being sent out just after his prayer, he felt it could only be a sign from The Machine God for him to follow, to lead him towards his destined place. Vitaetus was glad to have accepted as soon as he did, for, within a second of his acceptance being sent out, there was a flood of priests wanting to join. Tens of thousands of priests wanted to join.

A few hours later as he was waiting at Dodecai Elevatus Prime to go up to orbit, a communication was sent out over the noosphere. It was a list of all adepts and priests accepted on the expedition and there, near the bottom of the list was his name. Along with the list was the date, time and coordinates to meet as well as a list of required or recommended equipment. He now knew what he had to prepare for, what was meant for him. Stepping onto the great elevator, he began to plan and prepare for the expedition.

Those 2 years before the expedition was launched were useful for Vitaetus. He spent as much time as he could when not attending to other duties studying past expeditions, going over what few maps there were and the enemies that had been encountered in the past. He also spent time practicing with his weapons. He had downloaded Skitarii combat protocols to assist but the practice was still helpful. In his time preparing he had also managed to acquire some Skitarii Warplate and modify it to fit his much more bulky frame. This preparation was his main focus until finally, after nearly 2 long years the time to meet was upon him. Vitaetus left his hive and made his way towards the muster zone to descend into the depths of Mars.

A/N
Hey there everyone. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the last. I would like to thank you all for your support and reviews. I am really enjoying writing this and have up to 8 written, though as still going through them making edits here and there before posting. But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and reviews will always be weocome.