AN: gasmaskbro's review on chapter 10. Cool, didn't know that. I know iron was used in certain things, I didn't know steel was used at all in antiquity. Though it would make a lot of sense, considering how easy it is to find the components. Though I think I'll just handwave it as the people who have seen steel so far haven't seen it before or heard of it. Limited communication and all that. Plus I mean, maybe those smiths will notice more steel then do something. That can be something to write about in future, maybe.
Also guys I can't PM you if you are anonymous or have the PMS turned off. So then I can't talk to people you might ask me stuff. Also if you were wondering why it took a while to update, finals. End of term and all that.
Edit: I edited, everything. All chapters, slightly. Grammarly.
As the sun was finally leaving the horizon and the Machine God searched for materials a voice spoke. 'Omnissiah...' there was a pause, if they could smile they would have. The Lord of All Machine Spirits sent warmth to ease her nervousness. 'I-I want to say thank you again. But this time for the gifts you gave my parents.' Her prayer wasn't confident but it was better than before. 'Mom has had a much easier time with her sickle. I've seen her polish it with care, and dad says his mortar is the same.'
They continued to search and collect materials as they moved, but the voice of Clio held much of their attention. 'S-so, thank you. You've been so kind and given a huge amount to us even though we can't give you anything. Ah-well, nothing you have accepted that is. I… Thank you.' at the end of her prayer they sent feelings of supportive warmth yet again.
The minor amount that would reach Clio from her amulet was just that, minor. But it was important to do so anyway. The deity continued to collect matter, whether it was in large quantities or the most minute amounts. Finding more than they needed after only an hour gave rise to a thought. As they collect more and more they begin to use some of the materials to begin an experiment. 'We have created a tree before, yet we have not made flesh.'
Something about the word 'flesh', brought a few memories to bear. A voice called out into the darkness, and its words felt like a strike to one's face. 'There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. There is no strength in flesh, only weakness. There is no constancy in flesh, only decay. There is no certainty in flesh but death.'
Those words gave utter pause to all actions of the Trinity. And as they thought through each line they commented, "There is truth in all that exists, though the flesh is imperfect, and thus can fail when needed most." the words were to no one but themselves, "There is some strength in flesh, but there is usually not enough." the gathering of materials started up again, "The flesh has more issues than the machine, but machines too can stumble or decay." the experiment began. The materials formed bonds and structures, "There is more certain than death alone, after all in order for death to happen. The organic machine must fail. And that means it worked at all, to begin with."
Various separate works were created, bone, organs, fibres, and new forms. Purposes in each found, yet all imperfect, "Flesh is material, even pushed to its limits, it is flawed. But organic built the inorganic from mere material, up to the superior machine." The experiments were excellent practice and ideas formed in how to improve all parts of both flesh and the being that flesh sums up to.
"Machine can stave off the decay of the flesh. While flesh maintains, repairs, and builds machines. They do not need the other," the primordial deity broke down the experiments into components to be used again, "but they are better in tandem."
It had only been three hours since nightfall and they had collected more than they needed for their purpose. However, the tri-part deity wished to test something, 'Can we bring forth a soul?' the idea had been triggered by the god of the underworld. Another memory surfaced, a priest walked through hallways of metal. The priest looked at an icon of a stylized two-headed eagle. 'Hmm, it will do'
The One of Crimson Robes began to use a small number of materials to form the avian, their knowledge of DNA allowing them to create and then alter the chemical instructions to the desired form. Once all of the necessary components were met they began to form the body from the created template.
A two-headed, golden-coloured adult male eagle. Its heads connected in such a way to each other as to allow easy communication so as to allow it to function. It was actually a unique problem, too much connection and it was a gestalt, not enough and the individual heads would not be able to function together. The body was merely a structure however, its cells had yet to initiate.
One of the trinity, The Motive Force, began to instil energy into the eagle. Each cell, each part, everything within its being was filled with movement, with soul. The eagle began to breathe, though it remained unconscious. However, the flow of energy from The Motive Force was blocked at a certain point. This drew the attention of the trinity, there was a flaw within the template, which had been taken from the source material.
By studying living but mortal things and beings, so to did that mortality transfer when calling on that knowledge to make something living. It was degeneration, or rather the eventuality of it. By the constant creation of new cells for a being, it replaced what died in its mortal frame, but that caused the DNA to suffer problems. This was age.
Eventually, the movement granted would fade from its form, its soul would leave, the eagle would die. That is what was halting the instillment of more energy from The Motive Force. Not its species, or small frame, but systems of organic age itself. 'Should we try to? Why should we even try to instill so much motive force into this eagle, for what purpose?' a moment of thought and an immaterial smirk. 'To know what will happen, and to bring flesh closer in likeness to the machine. To ensure the Machine is as perfect as can be, by perfecting its partner, flesh.'
The word flesh no longer brought disgust, why should it, imperfection shouldn't be disgusting, merely something to make better. Whether through an improvement to itself, removal/replacement, or both. 'But how to go about it… ah, now there is an idea.'
The primordial deity took all of the DNA schematics and began to introduce that information and form to the newly formed soul. They then set a limited connection from each cell to the soul, so as to allow each to reference how to properly reproduce its DNA. An eternal soul was the perfect place to keep the original and untouched information.
The soul was then instructed to create that same connection with each new cell that was formed. What all did was essentially remove ageing beyond peak maturation. With that, the soul could finally be enlarged further. Soon the eagle had a soul just below that of a human, from there very basic knowledge was put into the eagle's mind. Motor functions, skills, recognition of meaning behind actions, and even language comprehension. You could fit quite a lot into two heads.
The eagle woke up and tried to turn its heads to look around. Now that he was complete the deity moved the eagle upright and stood him on the ground, "Welcome, we are the Machine God, The Motive Force, and The Omnissiah. We are your creator."
The eagle with blond feathers chirped from both of its heads. "We wished to test several things, and so you were created." another chirp, this one of understanding. "What do you wish to do?" the eagle was silent, "Do you wish for a name?" an exciting series of noises and chirps followed. "Very well, we shall name you...Praxis"
The eagle flew from the ground and unto the shoulder of the robe. The pair continued along, while The Lord with No Face now had all the needed materials floating behind them. And practice, they wanted some people there to witness it. And dawn was a way off yet. As such the deity would simply have to prepare the location and then find a way to spend the intervening time.
As both Praxis and the Primordial travelled they came across a large boulder, from this the lord cut a solid rectangular table of stone. Once this was extracted The Lord of all Machine Spirits turned to their creation and placed the knowledge of where Dimitis was into his minds. The eagle flew off with great joy in his flight, most likely from flying.
The Lord of Rusted Soil picked up all of their cargo and enjoyed how easy it was to move. About four, approaching five, days ago they couldn't do much more than draw in the dirt. They flew after Praxis and both soon approached the sleeping town. The table was placed in the chapel in front of the altar, after pushing the seats to the sides, and the materials were placed both on and beside the table.
Water could not be simply placed down given its liquid form. So the water that had been used in all experiments, excluding that which made up Praxis, was simply let into the dirt outside. Things like water would be brought tomorrow morning.
Once all of that was deposited, The One of Invisible Works moved to leave and explore, 'We have little else to do. Gaining a better idea of Crete is important if it is to be our starting platform.' Praxis followed behind, and the deity moved slower to allow the double-headed eagle to do so. They were close to the ground, taking in the villages, roads, and wilderness of the island.
It had only been a bit over an hour before they came across something odd, singing. In a forest. The deity moved to the singing and Praxis flew onto the robe's shoulder once the trinity reached the ground. Approaching slowly, the voice was clear, beautiful, and almost certainly feminine. There was a small clearing and there a woman sat on a rock in light clothes.
For a few minutes both the blond-feathered eagle and The One of Crimson Robes simply listened to the song. Soon however the singing stopped, "What is a mortal like you, doing here?" her tone was not friendly.
'Mortal, she is some form of goddess. We shall have to approach this carefully or risk exposure.' Not moving any further into the light of the clearing they spoke, "You say mortal as though you are not." they sent Praxis to hide, given the eagle's uniqueness.
The woman frowned, "I am a nymph, a Meliae to be precise. But you haven't answered my question, what are you doing so far out in the wilderness, especially in the middle of the night?"
"Exploring. As for here specifically, your singing carries far." the nymph tilted her head and had an almost offended look on her face.
"Exploring? I understand attempting to find me if you heard my song but exploring? What possessed you to do so?" her tone was one of curiosity and her face now held a thoughtful expression.
"Spending time until morning." an almost curt answer.
"So your home is close then?" her question was answered in another short fashion.
"Relatively." after all, for them it was not far, due to how long it would take to get to Dimitis from that clearing.
She frowned again, "You do not speak much, mortal. Most of my sisters and friends would have been greatly offended if they were in my position."
"But you are not?" the question was not needed, but it helped progress the dialogue.
"No, not really." she looked at the treeline where the robes were somewhat visible, "Even if you haven't come out to let me see you." Silence, "Tell me, mortal, what will you do?"
"That depends." she raised a brow.
"Oh? What does it depend on?" her voice was now almost playful.
"You" she paused before she let out a small laugh.
"Me? In what way? Do you perhaps believe I shall keep you here?" the reply came in the form of a question.
"Will you?" she took on an almost dramatic look of thoughtfulness before speaking.
"Perhaps not, so, if you are free to leave will you do so? And what will you do after that, go and brag about speaking with a nymph?" her eyes smiled much more than her mouth.
"No, simply explore more." she frowned at that.
"Most mortals rarely see us nymphs, and we are much more common than anything else divine. Do you speak to nymphs often?"
"No, you are the first." she chuckled at the wording before speaking more.
"Hmm, well I suppose you are simply unique. Do feel free to visit mortal, I found this conversation interesting, despite your lack of words."
"Unlikely, given we both know nothing about the other. Including names." she frowned before responding.
"Well, you can call me...Ash" the Meliae said, "What should I call you should you return, mortal?"
The Machine God moved away and spoke loud enough to be heard, "Omnissiah" Both Praxis and the deity left and continued to survey the island, but a little higher up this time. As they were flying at one point the Lord of Mars looked at the night sky, the stars and moon shining light. As they looked at the stars and the black void between them a thought struck. 'The materials are of Terra, why not of Mars as well.'
They spoke to Praxis, "You are free to roam. We will be back soon." they sped off to Dimitis. The One of Invisible Works deposited their robes into the hidden compartment of the altar and then left. Moving up higher, and faster. Through everything and out of the pull of Terra, the Lord of Mars then searched for the red planet with their even further improved senses. Finding it they then moved towards it at such a monstrous speed it only took them half an hour to reach Mars.
Once there they began to collect as many relevant materials as they could find up to a set amount of each. Certain materials would be much harder to find on Mars and thus Terran material would due, especially since they were going to only use Terran material until the thought struck them. But iron, water, several other materials, and base atoms were present. The materials were in a way, connected to the planet. It wasn't as pronounced as Terra, and yet there was also less meta-physical noise to drown out this connection from their senses.
Lord of Rusted Soil kept their grip on their materials strong and flew off of their true home. In order to keep the materials in proper condition, the primordial deity had to move much slower, though the speed was still incredibly fast. After about an hour and a half of travel, they arrived back on Terra and made their way to Crete.
'From humble beginnings, shall come great things.' they came to the chapel and began to break down and build up materials from Mars. This took their focus for a good hour as they wanted to use as little material from Terra as possible now. From there construction of compounds and proteins began. The DNA template was crafted, to a much more meticulous degree than Praxis had been.
From removal of possibly harmful junk code to the improvement of existing features. All of the neutral sections of DNA were kept in the event they were for any reason needed or useful. Once the final form of the template was completed and the compounds were completed the unneeded materials collected before were moved out to act as fertilizer for the Rust Root. With all the needed materials turned into needed compounds, and these being held.
The Lord of All Machines began to combine the compounds into structures based on the template. It took over an hour to ensure everything was made properly. And when all was said and done there was a human form laying on the stone slab. It was male, so as to not cause issues with the culture. After all, it was clear that women were not treated as equal partners. While this was to be remedied, especially within their own cult, they did not need their work to be more difficult.
The body was around 183 centimetres tall, much taller than most humans in Hellas. Yet not to a degree of being a goliath in comparison. The muscles were fit, but not overly so, there was no waste but it wasn't developed to peak strength. The body's hair was a common light brown, and the hair on the body's head was smoothly splayed out on the stone.
And while all imperfection within the body's efficiency and form was removed, the body did not have the aesthetic "perfection" that was seen in the gods. Instead, the face was better looking than most by mortal standards, yet it was not idealized in looks. There were no flaws such as a skin condition, injury, or abnormality. The features were simply more average than ideal, but more ideal than average. This was to give a good impression, and yet still maintain a connection with humanity.
If one were to look under the closed eyelids they would find eyes of grey with streaks of gold in them. Which was the most unnatural outer feature, though not truly noticeable unless one were close. The Lord with No Face thought the eyes of their new body should match metals. Among the improvements made to the DNA as well as the ones made through the body's creation process, was its Resilience.
It would be much harder to damage the body's flesh, and if one did the body would heal from it much faster than a standard human would. While it was possible to create a much faster speed it didn't seem needed, not yet at least. The body was perfect for their current purposes. The robes were retrieved from the altar before it was closed again.
It was still very early morning, there would still be a while yet before the earliest dawn would come. 'Just before dawn, we should seek out those we wish to be present.' Their thoughts were interrupted by a sound at the doorway of the chapel. There a two-headed eagle stood, it seemed Praxis had returned from the wandering he had been on. "Ah, Praxis, welcome back. As you can see I have nearly finished my project."
A chirp of questioning, "Ah, this will soon be our body. The Omnissiah is our incarnate form in humanity, and we have a need for a body to properly establish ourselves and our cult." another chirp of confusion. "You shall see why soon." The Lord of Machine Spirits then began to prep the body cell by cell to interact with a soul. More specifically with their being, this took quite a while. And once that was done there were trillions of connections to them. However, they were not meta-physically in the body yet.
It was now nearing dawn, Praxis had perched on the branches of the Rust Root and was sitting both peacefully and comfortably. The deity moved to town deciding to inform Korban first, then fetch Jace, Alexandria, and Clio. A knock on the door of Korban's home was met with silence, another knock and there was stirring within. "Hello, who is it?" the voice was partially annoying and curious.
"Korban, it is nearly dawn, and we wish to show you something. Prepare yourself for the day and wait for us to return outside when you are done." a pause, "Unless you do not wish to, though this is important." there was a sound of acceptance from the old priest and at that sound, they left the house to go further into the village. There was not much activity as of yet, though some people were making sounds and beginning their day.
Once at the house primordial checked to see if any in the house were awake, it seems that Jace and Alexandria were stirring, so they knocked lightly on the door. Jace seemed to hear it and slowly came to the door. When he opened it he became very awake, "H- Oh!" his voice slightly raised before returning to somewhat quiet, "Omnissiah, morning. I see you have a new robe, no wait. Someone said you just dyed it. Umm, what are you doing here so early?"
"We wish to show your family something very important. If you do not mind, please wake your wife and child, and follow me to my shrine when you are ready." Jace nodded.
"Of course lord." the man returned indoors and in a few minutes the family were all exiting the house with their amulets on their necks, "Alright."
"Good morning, Clio, Alexandria. We attempted to postpone this to at least dawn, we are glad you are willing to come." Alexandria had a small bit of worry on her face, as did Jace, but they smiled nonetheless. Clio on the other hand was excited.
"Morning Omnissiah!" her voice wasn't loud despite her excitement, "before we go I just wanted to say thank you for what you gave mom and dad." a small chuckle reached the family's ears.
"I know that child, you told me so last night. How much of a help my spirits have been." Clio seemed to stop for a moment before smiling even wider.
"You heard!" still not loud but even more excited, "I'm glad you listened. Did you hear me before that?" her parents smiled at their daughter, even as it processed that the deity in front of them had heard her prayer.
"Yes, but we still wish to show you something. So all of us should begin to go to my shrine." the small group began to do so. With Clio walking beside her mother, and The One of Crimson Robes led the way. They came to Korban's house and saw the priest waiting, the group greeted him and they moved on.
They came to the chapel and Praxis chirped, drawing the group's attention. "Ah, yes. Everyone, this is Praxis, we made him during the night." The group looked in shock and awe at an eagle with golden blond feathers and two heads. The bird flew off of the Rust Root and onto the shoulder of their robes.
"Well, I suppose that is a sight worth seeing." the hood of the robes turned to Korban for having spoken.
"Ah, no he is not what we wished to show you. In fact, we only created him for practice." this brought both the family's and priest's attention to the robes, "Would you mind waiting here for a minute, Praxis would you mind waiting here with them?" the bird chirped and the group seemed to nod in confusion. As if thinking, 'practice for what?'
The robes moved into the chapel and the group couldn't see into it as it was still too dark. The light of the just risen sun is not at a good angle yet. The robe was deposited on the living yet soulless body's front, 'We are given to understand nudity is only acceptable under certain circumstances.'
They then began to enter the body, solidifying those connections completely. A pulse of power and domain greatly rippled. The body stopped breathing for a moment, before starting again manually. The Omnissiah opened his eyes.
The ceiling of the chapel, wood, his own work. Just as this body was. His breathing once again slipped into the subconscious and instinctual. They began to move their body, slowly at first. Then faster, it was... a new experience. Flesh. It wasn't horrible he decided. Their thoughts were still adjusting to their new processes, he was no longer they. The trinity was incarnate in one being. It would be confusing to anyone else, 'Even the Olympians, I am sure… 'I'...yes, I'
He began to get up from the stone slab before looking down and his robe covering his legs and stomach. They slowly stood and then wrapped the now-familiar robes around their body instead of holding them in the shape of one. They held the front closed, 'I'll need more clothes to wear underneath. A loincloth at least.' they moved now, walking was very different from floating. And still different than carrying things with their power.
They exited the chapel and the group looked at him, at first in the light they could not see anything different since the Omnissiah had his hood up, casting a shadow over his face. But they noticed the small bit of his leg when he walked forward and they definitely noticed hands coming from the arms of the robe and pulling the hood down.
Praxis chirped before flying to him and landing on his true shoulder. Alexandria gasped quietly, and they were silent. Korban seemed to have bug eyes, Jace was quite similar, and Clio was practically bouncing, "I have incarnated, I am the Omnissiah. And I am glad to meet you all face to face."
AN: I can finally use regular pronouns, the mental gymnastics were annoying. Writing we, us, they, them, all that. I can also start to refer to him as Omnissiah outside of a conversation, notice how I never called them that until now. It was always titles or descriptions like the trinity, the Lord of Mars, and the deity.
As has been said by me before, twelve is sacred to the Cult Mechanicus. On the second multiple of twelve chapters, the Machine God was incarnate in the Omnissiah.
++Glory to the Omnissiah++
