~Conquest Begins~
~798. M30~
~Segmentum Ultima~
~Charnac~
~Petra, The Fourth Primarch, Auxiliary-Apprentice of the Machine-God's Mysteries~
She preferred this tutor over her previous. The previous one, Rastilyn, was far more competent than the tutors of her earliest childhood on Olympia, but it only took a scant few months to exhaust what he knew about the sciences of the materium. She contented herself with learning other things in the meantime, waiting for brother to deliver her the tutor he promised.
Eventually, after some years and a meeting with the machine-priests (one that took entirely too long to stand through) he had fulfilled his promise. She knew he would, there was no doubt.
Magos Calculatus was a short man (average, a voice in the back of her mind whispered, we're just very tall) who was mostly metal by weight. His armor was weakest in the groin and joints, but would still require more force than she could muster by herself to break at the moment. She did not know how he managed that, she intended to learn. His visor was another weakpoint, but stronger than his joints.
He knew much more about the workings of the material world than Rastilyn, even if he had his own annoying habits as well. She said she would do her best to learn, which meant dealing with annoying habits. She was not Morrigan, who would spitefully complain about something while she did it. She was the eldest sister, which means she needed to be the best sister, so she would be polite and learn.
She stared at the servo skull in her hands. The Magos had brought a selection of human skulls with him to teach her how to produce one. She had gotten the process correct with the first skull, perfected with the second skull, and now her mind whirled with visions of how to improve it.
"Excellently done. Your second Gryphonne-pattern familiar is complete, although you shall need implants to commune with it properly. That can wait for you to finish your growth period." Magos Calculatus spoke, looking over her shoulder at her work. "Your previous tutors did well to instill knowledge of the most basic truths. I should speak to them at some point."
"Why a skull?" She found herself asking, staring at the thing in her hands. Human bone wasn't a particularly durable substance, surely plasteel or wraithbone would be better. The manipulators also weren't particularly reinforced or powerful, and she knew she could improve both with improved servos…
It was practically all one weak point. Nothing here would resist a man with a hammer.
"I could elaborate upon the spiritual significance, but such is not needed here. The most practical truth is that skulls serve as a convenient housing for the machinery, harvestable from our own fallen, of roughly correct proportions, and requiring no manufacturing lines to produce. A cost-saving measure."
"It's weak." She said, turning it over in her hands and gripping the bone. She could crush it without much effort. Too fragile, too easy to shatter.
"Indeed. Just as man is weak. That does not make it useless."
She turned her attention to the Magos, sensing a lesson oncoming. He scratched at his short beard with one hand, gesturing at the skull with the other. "Tell me, student, what is the function of this machine?"
"This model is secretarial. Transportation of documents and messages, recording of information, projection of recordings." She listed, turning her gaze back to it for a moment. Looking at it's manipulator-claws, it's pict-recorder, it's image-projector. "It contains a basic machine spirit anti-grav engine, and battery. It is housed in osseous tissue."
"Is it a combat unit?"
"No." She frowned, although she could easily see how to modify it to be such…
"Are any of the components in short supply or difficult to assemble?"
"...No." She finished, looking at the fragile thing in her hands. A bold "II" carved into its side. She didn't imagine skulls to be very difficult to gather upon a world of humans. Nor were any of the components difficult to put together if you had the refineries already established and metals being actively extracted from earth.
"Therein lies its value. Many hundreds of thousands of such devices are in service. Each and every one could be made with the most durable and effective materials. But how much more would those materials cost on that scale? Would the exchange of rare materials and increased labor be worth the potential increase in individual durability and effectiveness?"
"...I can improve it without either of those things." She confidently stated, looking at the skull and reviewing its schematics in her mind. Eliminating all her ideas for how to improve it in ways that cost more time, skill, or materials, she still had some left.
"Oh?" The Magos sounded intrigued, reaching up to scratch his chin again. "The design is assembled from merely basic truths… Very well. If you can improve the design without increasing the cost of manufacture, I'm eager to see it. I'll send a copy of the finished schematics back to Gryphonne if you are successful."
"I will be." She said, looking at the skull in her hand. Frowning, she raised her head and looked at him. "You said to remember the sixteenth law at the start. Why aren't you mad?" She figured he would be angry at her declaration, that she could improve an established design.
The Magos hummed in understanding, moving over to retrieve a dataslate, and sitting down on the opposite side of the table from her. "Please recite Universal Law thirteen, fifteen, and sixteen."
"The knowledge of the ancients is beyond question. Flesh is fallible, but ritual honors the machine spirit. To break with ritual is to break with faith." She dutifully spoke the laws she didn't particularly believe in. She had no reason to put faith in some god. Her brother was going to fight two gods to rescue a third, worshiping a god seemed quaint compared to him.
"Have I explained the difference between basic truths and higher truths yet?" He mused aloud, scanning through memory-banks before coming to a conclusion. "No, I don't believe I have. A failure on my part. We shall correct that now."
"The sum of any two numbers, is the sum of those two numbers. This is a self-referential law. It is based on nothing but itself, but it is something that can clearly be observed in the universe. Two and two will always equal four. It is foundational, it is self-evident, it is something that the most basic sapients can observe. It is not built on any prior law, but it is demonstrably truth. This is one of the most basic truths."
"There are many basic truths, many of the most essential are observable by any basic sapient. Fire is hot compared to us. Ice is cold compared to us. Gravitic force pulls us to large objects. These things have more complex mathematical truths, but their practical effects remain to all who see. The wiring of a dataslate is complex to a layman, but to one who comprehends enough basic truths of motive force, it is also a basic truth."
"Now. Do you know what a Hermes Array is?"
She shook her head in denial. The Magos nodded, expecting such an answer, and continued.
"A Hermes Array is a large machine that can connect two points in material space, allowing for information to be sent across while the points are connected. This allows Faster-Than-Light communications without the use of psychic technologies. Do you know how it connects two points in material space?"
She shook her head no again, and he nodded. "None alive do."
"What?" She furrowed her brow. "You just told me how it works."
"I told you what the priesthood of Gryphonne knows of the device and its function. We know of it from scattered recordings found in destroyed facilities, and the half-destroyed complex on one of our vassal worlds. It is non-functional. We do not know how to repair it, for we have none to teach us the truths required to reach it any longer. It is a Mystery, and we have no path to it."
"A higher truth is in-between a Mystery and a basic truth. We know how to keep the machine functional. We know how to repair it, and in optimal scenarios we can even build more of the machine. But the basic truths required to comprehend it are lost to us. We can only perform the rituals handed down to us, preserved by our forebears, established truths that have long been mapped."
"But a higher truth cannot become a basic truth until enough requisite basic truths are known to us. Truth is a ladder we seek to ascend, for comprehension is divinity, but too much was lost in the Age of Strife. We may never truly comprehend again, so we must perform the rituals, we must have faith in the machine."
"The Omnissiah knows all, comprehends all. We perform rituals, and await his arrival. For he will lead us to understanding again. That is all we can do anymore."
"Why not try to understand again? It was done before." She questioned, staring at the skull in her hands.
"We cannot afford to." Calculatus shook his head sadly. "The Age of Technology was long ago, and too much of the galaxy has been ravaged already. We can pray for a golden age to come, in which understanding can be reached again, in which we can afford to learn once more. But we cannot plan for it to arrive, for we do not know. To seek understanding in the destructive manner required may waste resources needed to survive, something we cannot afford in such a dangerous age. All we can do is perform the preserved rituals, and keep faith that the machines will endure for another day."
"My brother will make an empire big enough to protect everyone. Father is working on the same." She spoke with absolute conviction.
"The priesthood is certainly hopeful of such." The Magos replied with a small smile on his face. "If the galaxy can be made safe enough for comprehension to be reached once more, it will be a most holy place indeed."
He nodded at the servo skull in her hands. "A servo-skull is composed of basic truths. Attempting to innovate its construction is something most apprentices attempt at some point. There is nothing lost by this, the experience can only be helpful to your own development."
His visor glowed a happy yellow. "And should you succeed, and make something truly exceptional, that will be a most wonderful blessing to receive. You are intelligent and dutiful, I am confident in your ability, and eagerly await your finished work."
Yes, Petra liked her current tutor. Even if he made her recite prayers that she didn't believe in. She could tolerate doing so just fine.
—
"The understanding within is absolutely remarkable. This is a most blessed tome." The Magos said, looking at the book that her brother handed to him, flipping through pages with a delicate hand. "The terminology is foreign in some places, but the attached lexicon is more than sufficient for comprehension. You said this came from your father, Malum Caedo?"
"Penned by the hand of his close friend, but yes. He sent it as a gift recently. Can you ensure its contents are copied at least nine times, sending a few copies to Gryphonne, I would like to ensure its knowledge is not lost." Her brother replied, raising a hand with a palm facing upwards.
"I'll copy it a dozen times more than that. Then I'll have my retinue copy it a dozen times more than that." The Magos promised, visor whirling as he looked through the pages of the tome. "It will most likely take a day per copy, a week if done by hand, I shall get my entire retinue working on it.
She bent down slightly, sneakily as she could, to read the title of the book in his hands.
Frontier-Class War-Walker Technical Breakdown and Service Manual, for use in class 2500 models. Recorded by Certified Walker-Mechanic and Operator Brahm K.
…She wanted to read it. The weakest point was along its spine.
"Thank you. In the meantime, I understand that you know how to repair Imperial Knights?"
"Yes. We have a vassal world with such wondrous machines. They are useful aids in learning how to repair Titans without as grievous a risk." Karl Calculatus replied, not looking up from the book, visor focused intently upon it.
"I will have need of your services soon then, we are approaching the first Knight-World within the hour." Brother spoke nodding at him. Karl nodded back, still engrossed in the tome.
Brother smiled in an amused fashion, before shaking his head. "Why don't you go start the first copy now, Magos? I'll call for you when the time comes."
"Of course, by your leave, Malum Caedo." Karl spoke quickly, almost running off to his chambers with the manual in hand. Holding it like it was a delicate… something, maybe a baby. They watched him run off, metal boots making a distinct sound as they hit the bone floors of the ship. The weakest point of the ship was off in the distance.
Her brother turned his gaze to her. She stood up straight and properly as she could at the attention. She was the eldest, so she had to be the most proper sister. His weakest point was the neck and a heart. The weakest point on his armor was the groin and joints.
"I'll be off for a little while. I don't expect they'll attempt to attack us, but there will likely be a few hours of diplomatic talks before formal swears of allegiance. Then maybe a week to get everything set up on this world before we move on. Make sure everyone goes to sleep at the proper times if I'm not back in time, okay?"
She nodded most seriously. He could rely on her to do this. She was the eldest sister.
He smiled at her, before pulling her into a hug. She took her own arms, now just barely big enough to wrap all the way around him, and squeezed. The wraithbone flexed under her strength, and he hugged back.
She liked hugs. This was a low quality hug, because there was armor in the way. She still liked it.
He pulled back, much to her disappointment. "Are your lessons still going well?"
She nodded. "I have learned all fundamentals of the quadrivium, and have begun the practical lessons. I made servo skulls yesterday."
Her brother paused for a moment, before nodding. "Servo-skulls… did he say where he got the skulls?"
"Magos Karl said he brought them from Gryphonne."
"Ah. Well that's good then."
"I have named them." She elaborated. He blinked, and raised a brow.
"Named the Servo-Skulls?"
"Yes. They are named Miden, Ena, and Dio. Miden is a monotask model. Ena is a pict-recorder and display. Dio is a sensor. I have to order them verbally because I don't have the implants to directly communicate yet."
Brother evaluated that for a moment, before nodding his head in consideration. "Have you considered taking psyker lessons with your sisters? If you learn how to communicate telepathically, you should be able to order them without the need for implants."
…D-did he not like her getting implants? Was there something wrong with them? She felt a spike of embarrassment, that she spoke of something so stupid. She made a mistake in assuming something without permission. She was an idiot. She looked down.
"Okay."
"Hey now." Brother said, leaning down slightly to put a hand on her shoulder and look her in the eyes. "If you want to get the implants, you can. I was simply making sure you were aware of another route that I saw."
"No. I'll go to the lessons." She said firmly. If it was a route he suggested, then it was the right route. His power made him good at planning, so she would listen to him. Even if that meant having to take the lessons with Aurelia and Kassandra.
Aurelia was…fine. She was inoffensive. Petra needed to make sure she grew up well, because she was definitely younger. She was just big when she arrived, which wasn't fair, but Petra was already almost taller anyways. Kassandra was also learning psyker lessons, but those were about seeing the future or something along those lines.
Kassandra and Aurelia were fine. They could be trusted to not cause brother problems. Morrigan had learned her lesson, but Petra was watching her. If her sister was about to mess up again, she'd step in. Petra was the eldest sister, after all, she had to help her brother with these things.
"...Alright, if you wish. I'll be back when I get the affairs of the planet in order."
"...What's its name?" She asked, suddenly curious.
"Jedathra, Home to high knight-house Herpetrax, and a few vassal houses."
"..I want to see the Knights." She forced out. "Before we leave."
Brother smiled, and messed up her hair. "I think our schedule allows that. I'll see you again soon." Rising to his full height, he turned to leave, grabbing his cloak as he left the chamber and moving through the doorway, leaving her alone for the moment.
She looked down at the table for a moment, lost in observing it and its flaws. Its most vulnerable point was its legs.
She frowned, noticing something. Walking over, she moved the table to be correctly aligned with the wall once more, it having deviated at some point. She stepped back, only to then notice another deviation with the chair.
Correcting this, she noticed another deviation, and her frown deepened. Stepping back, she took in the room as a whole. Its most vulnerable points were in the edges and seams.
…This room was low quality. She hated it.
Turning, she left the room. She wanted to distract herself from thinking about it anymore.
…She decided to show her Servo Skulls to Miriel. Miriel was nice, and taught her many things. She would be proud to see Petra's progress in materium sciences.