{oOo}
Fulgrim stared at Bile's laboratory, his expression blank of any emotions. In itself, it held nothing that would infuriate him—Bile's quest to perfect the geneseed of the Legion was… understandable. Not acceptable, of course, as it implied the Emperor's creation was not perfect, but he could see why Bile would want to work on it, nonetheless.
It was the notes he found.
Bile went as far as adding strains of Xeno DNA to the geneseed. None of his Children had been corrupted yet, but… His own Chief Apothecary. He had trusted Bile.
He placed the data-slate on an operating table. After all, he needed the evidence—he couldn't just demote and kill his Chief Apothecary like that. (It was pity. Bile was brilliant. Just like a broken mirror.)
He would make all the proper files, so that it was perfectly clear that Bile needed to be punished. (They'd still think him inferior, a poor judge of character. He was never going to be as good a general as his brothers.)
He smashed his fist against the wall.
Beryl winced inwardly from behind her visor. She'd never liked nor trusted Bile and was glad to see him go. More glad, really, because she knew he was on the risk list, the list of people who would inevitably fall to the Ruinous Powers here, one way or another. He would have hurt Fulgrim more, in the long run, had he been retained.
But Fulgrim was hurting, right now, and the look in his eyes, the way his shoulders tensed, hurt her as well, for his sake. Still she maintained her silence and deliberately paid his discomfort no heed. He would not thank her for noticing it? She was as yet unsure.
All she knew was that she wished to make his hurting stop.
But what could she do for him?
...Her capabilities were mostly for War, this time around. She felt so horribly unsure. All she could do was bring in the next batch of notes gleaned from the interrogators, and hope this didn't make it worse.
...Where the hells was she going to find a replacement apothecary for him? And worse, he wasn't the only one who would be needing assistance. If what she remembered was true, then Corax, too, would be having a problem with the geneseed soon.
"Leave," Fulgrim said. He didn't want company now. "Take the data slates and bring them to my study."
He would have to read them. His stomach protested at the thought. How did he miss something like this? His own Chief Apothecary. He didn't like thinking about it, because it lead to other unpleasant thoughts. If he misjudged so badly with Bile, how many other officers in his Legion were poor choices? No. No, no, no. He couldn't have chosen so badly.
But he did, didn't he?
Why wasn't she leaving yet?
...A part of her wanted to hug him. Another wanted to glass some planets in his name. Instead,she bowed quietly and left, as directed, still somewhat frustrated. Beyond words. Once she had left the room, she considered her options.
1. Stress bake. Offer him the results.
2. Send her constructed forces to take over a planet for him. Offer him results.
3. Do both. Goddamn you Bile. Maybe cut off your head, too, offer him results.
...She would need advice. A lot of advice.
{oOo}