**Author's note: Sorry folks, another long exposition chapter. More adventures very soon, promise!**
"I couldn't imagine that a spaceship would hold such amenities! There is even a small theater, my leader! We have discovered so many wonders on board this vessel! It even has an infirmary for those who are ill, and I think we also uncovered an exercise room, but we have not yet opened it." Alberich explained to me with anxious excitement as we left the secret parlor on our way to the engine area to see Null. The beastman walked close beside me, his features somewhat strained and his ears were pulled back. He was probably still intimidated from me yelling at him again. Fear radiated off of him like heat, despite his attempts at positivity.
"Well, we'll have to hit all that up soon," I said, keeping my eyes ahead as Lian and Virgil walked behind us. The notes of "Over the Rainbow" were just starting to fade as we walked. Punctuating the absurdity of this whole state of affairs, another "Wizard of Oz" music track began to sing through the halls. Hopefully, Orikan's disk would explain some of this crazy shit.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are! And see the young lady, who fell from a star!" Glinda began to sing saccharinely through the gold halls. This was pretty close to what the Changeling had sang to me outside of Evanora's manner. What a mind fuck.
Was it eventually Tzeentch's goal to make me crazy from all this insanity? He had told me himself that he was the one responsible for all the "Wizard of Oz shit" back when I had a vision on Levant, and that he had set all this up. This was all just entertainment to him, I internally conceded. He planned all this for fun. Lucky me, I get to be the side project of an insane Chaos God.
"She fell from the sky, she fell very far, and Kansas she says is the name of the star!"
Alberich was about to say something else, but then the munchkin chorus interrupted him. "Kansas she says is the name of the star!"
"This song is bizarre," the beastman replied, his neck feathers slightly fluffed in irritation.
"You never saw 'The Wizard of Oz' back home in your reality? Did they even have it?" I asked him as we passed through one of the heavy blast doors in the halls.
"'The Wizard of Oz' existed as an American film in the late 1930's in my universe. As a psychic researcher, I was forbidden to engage in any corruptive pop culture entertainment that the Allies put out, so no, I had not seen this film."
"You weren't allowed to see 'The Wizard of Oz'? For real?"
He shook his head. "We knew that it was being shown in theatres in other nations, but I did what I was told, and stayed away. They wanted those of us in the psychotronic program to keep our minds clear and sharp, away from degenerate media as we kept to our experiments."
"'The Wizard of Oz' is like, the most harmless thing you can watch though," I said, shaking my head. Well, it's the most harmless thing you can watch, not live, apparently. A wispy ghost fluttered past, which caused Lian's heavy gait to skip behind me. "And I'm guessing that we're going to be watching it really soon, so lucky you, you get to see it here."
"How has it somehow made the crossing into this universe? I don't understand," Alberich asked.
Virgil spoke up behind me. "Likely through the same measure of miraculous divine energy that brought the Scion here, Alberich." The hologram sounded annoyed.
"You know that I'm a Traveler as well, correct?" the beastman reminded everyone again, his words tense. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Alberich's feathers were still ruffled as if he was afraid. "I may not be this vessel's captain, but this isn't my native universe. I came from a reality similar to Erika's."
Virgil glided up close to my right side, and said to my mind, I know not to trust the words of a mutant. Do not worry, Scion. I do not like him here, but I submit to your wishes that he remains with us for the time being.
I don't want anyone fighting right now, I responded with a long sigh, listening to the munchkins sing over the com system. But actually, he really is a Traveler. He saved both Null's life and my life and swore himself to me. I don't think he came from my dimension, but he did at least come from a similar one.
Oh, Virgil mentally reacted, and I could hear disappointment in his psychic words. Well, you're the more important Traveler to us, anyway, and the one this vessel has chosen as captain. I will submit to your wishes.
Whatever, just no fighting right now. I'm on my last nerve, and I want to keep my anger in check, I replied, watching another ghost trail down a side hallway.
"To the right here is the theater," Alberich indicated with one of his clawed hands a branching passageway. "If we will be watching a film, maybe we could watch it there?"
"If it wasn't under a temporal lock, it's probably falling apart since it's been unused in here for over ten thousand years," I replied.
"It is in adequate shape for watching film reels, I believe," Lian interjected behind me as we walked. "There is a screen, and even a small stage and seating for about twenty standard-sized humans and standing room for larger persons. It has seen the ravages of time, but with the labor of the servitors here, it could be cleaned and restored."
This ship had a damn movie theater, I marveled as we stepped through the open blast door to the engine area. As I listened to high-pitched munchkins delight over the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, I realized that my whole new life here was beginning to feel like a movie. This whole thing really did feel planned. This was all insanely impressive, Tzeentch, I had to admit.
Of course, as soon as I thought that, the munchkin lyrics of "...thank you very sweetly..." briefly skipped through the ship's halls as if through a scratched vinyl record. Fuck, having the intense personal interest of a Chaos God like this was scary!
"Null will no doubt give us a recommendation. You should all trust his judgement. He's a brilliant man, and while he simply allows himself to be seen as a humble tech-priest, he remains an extraordinarily innovative archmagos. He and Belisarius Cawl himself even had a working peer relationship. He may not portray a fearsome form, especially after his injuries, but his mind is his true weapon against any foe, for it is a labyrinth of knowledge," Virgil observed with glowing praise. "Back when he led his Explorator Fleet, he had a small army of skitarii and other tech-priests that were unquestionably loyal to him, willing to die on his orders. I was proud to serve under him!"
Yeah, and they all did die on his orders, I remembered. Did Virgil know what Null had done to his fleet? How many people had Null killed to protect the Divine Retribution? Best not to think of that awful shit right now either, I guess. My crew was all definitely Lawful Evil.
A flash of metal caught my eye in the hallway, and nearly instantly, Lian was standing protectively ahead of me, his short power sword in his hands.
"Oh, it's just the drone," I said with relief as I watched Jiminy the clockwork mantis flutter in the air. It then turned around and flew back into Null's quarters. It was good to see the mechanical insect buzzing around again.
"Welcome, all," the tech-priest spoke as we walked into his suite. Null was standing over his long work table, and behind him, a small square-shaped metal device a little bigger than my hand hummed and rattled on the desk top. Like all of our rooms, his had a large display built into the wall that depicted our current location parked on a dead world.
Null's jeweled belt was very eye-catching against his burned and torn robes as he watched us filter in. Jiminy the metal mantis perched on his right shoulder, presumably somewhat repaired from his damage. Against the wall, a handful of servitors stood mutely in here, including the lady servitor 99-Z. The giant battle servitor 77-X was now upright again and standing in a corner. Null motioned for us all to gather around him. "Thank you all for your attendance. We have to speak about the Necron disk that we were given on Kolch. I have extracted the information within, and now, it must be decided what our next course of action is concerning it."
"I did not get the opportunity to speak of this on the bridge, but it is good to see you up again, I must say," Lian rumbled from behind and above me. "I apologize for your restraint earlier. You were not yourself."
"No, no I wasn't. Literally not myself, I should add. But, thanks to the, er, Scion here," Null said in his buzzing tenor voice as he motioned toward me. "Thanks to the Scion, I am feeling much better now." His green eyes flickered. Were his eyes always permanently neon green like that? I seemed to remember that they changed according to his mood, but now they were stuck on green.
Alberich spoke up behind me. "I'm happy to see you up again. When I retrieved you from the silt, I wasn't sure if you were dead, as you had fallen quite deep, but I had an intuition to help you anyway." Null did not respond as he reached behind him with one of his mechadendrites to his work table. He removed the disk from the square metal device, and held it gently before us.
"So, this disk. As you have all heard, it contains music, some of which is quite nice, and a series of holo-vids. It also contains one message explicitly meant for the Scion, apparently by the same xenos who recorded it and the one we witnessed on Kolch. She and I will require some privacy for a short time, and I will pass the message along whenever it is desired. After communicating this message, I wish to see what this 'Wizard of Oz' holo-vid contains. I have deduced that it contains no danger, and is a simple entertainment or propaganda reel, and it may even offer us some recreation after our difficult experiences on Nubua. Am I understanding correctly that there is a theater here?"
Alberich spoke again behind me, and walked to my right side, "Yes. There is a small theater. It could be used for films, if that is what you mean by a holo-vid."
Null didn't move as he studied the mutant critically, his eyes animating a blinking motion as he side-eyed me. "I believe this is something that should be explained. I noticed it on the bridge," the tech-priest reached forward with one of his mechadendrites, pointing at the beastman's head.
"I'm assuming you mean my white coloration," Alberich replied. "My best guess is that I was cleansed by the copilot's throne. It refused to accept me until it had done some kind of cleansing on me. It ended up physically altering me. I was not harmed, in any case."
As Null eyed Alberich critically, I saw that the beastman was clenching his jaw, and his neck and head feathers remained on edge. He definitely wasn't telling the whole truth about something here. My intuition suggested that it had indeed removed Warp taint from his body. I wondered if it took away that Mark too? I didn't feel like causing a scene and bludgeoning him with the Sight right now to find out, but I realized that even thinking about Warp taint made me upset, and I found my face had pulled into a slight sneer. I took a deep breath, and calmed down.
"Well, you certainly have less of a daemonic appearance now, I should admit.," Null sniffed.
"He saved your life," Lian unexpectedly spoke up behind me. "I do not approve of the existence of mutants, but I witnessed Alberich pull you out of the silt. Without his intervention, you would have died."
Alberich's feathers ruffled up further, and he took a deep breath. Beside me, I saw that his eyes were lashing to and fro, as if deciding carefully on what to say.
The tension in here was getting to be too much, and I decided to speak up. "Hey, we've all been through a lot and we're all kinda twitchy here, so everyone just be happy that we're alive right now. We're alive and now we even get to watch a movie."
"What is a movie?" Null asked me, his attention leaving Alberich, who closed his eyes for a moment in relief.
"A film, or a holo-vid, I mean. So, yeah. If there's a big screen can you project the vid on it? Is that something you can do, Null?"
"Of course I can. I'm a genius. How big is the screen?"
"Approximately ten meters long by five tall," Lian answered. "The theatre and its seating is in poor condition, but the screen is intact, as it seems to be a sheet of solid white metal."
Null closed his eyes for a moment, apparently working through a calculation. "That can work. Not quite the aspect ratio the holo-vid was meant to be displayed in, but I can work something out. I have a projector here with my things I will need to adapt, but that should not take too long. It is, of course, up to the Scion as to what our next course of action is."
Oh, yeah. That's me. "Let's do it, guys. Null, is the message meant for me long?"
The tech-priest closed his eyes again, and after a few heartbeats, he had an answer. "I have not previewed it, but I know that it seems to be some sort of presentation with images. It seems to be about thirty minutes in length."
A Necron PowerPoint presentation, eh? Not the weirdest thing I've seen so far, really. "Okay guys, how about we do this? I'll see what message Orikan wanted to deliver, and then, we can all meet in the theatre in like ninety minutes. If anyone has any booze, I'd love for you to bring it too. I don't know if liquor will even work on me now, but at least I can try, right?" I offered, sincerely hoping that I wasn't so far into my transformation as to not be able to use alcohol as a crutch here.
Null sighed, obviously not approving of my desire to drink my problems away again. "Well, fine. I'm in possession of some liquor, and I actually have a few bottles of purified ethanol that I also use as a disinfectant. I do suggest you not imbibe those, though."
"Just bring the liquor then. I just want to chill out. We've had a couple rough days here."
The tech-priest sighed in resignation. "It is your call. I will do as you request. For now, the rest of you need to leave us to our privacy. This message was explicitly marked for the Scion, so shoo!" He made a dismissive swatting gesture with one of his right hands.
"Wouldn't that also mean you?" Alberich dared.
"I'm needed to display the message. I also have the loyalty and integrity to not speak of what was said to anyone else."
The beastman's expression darkened again. I walked ahead, and stood between Null and everyone else. "Okay, okay, all of you go. Remember, I said no fighting. Wait a little bit and then go to the theatre. We'll catch up."
"I saved his life," Alberich grumbled as he departed with Lian and Virgil. "And he doesn't even know how."
The door slid closed behind me, and I walked to one of the chairs in Null's suite next to his work table, and sat down. "What a day," I said, shaking my head. "You sure you're feeling okay? You lost a lot of your metal. Is there a way to repair it?"
Null sat down on the other chair. Jiminy then clambered down off of the tech-priest's shoulder, and settled on the hard surface of the table, his sharp metal legs making a "tick" sound as he scuttled about. Without his many mechadendrites, Null could now actually somewhat sit on a normal chair with a chair back. "I wish to speak to you about that and other issues, actually," he said.
"Oh?" I asked, lightly petting Jiminy on his metal wings. "What is it?"
From one of his intact pockets, I saw Null unexpectedly produce his bottle of special amasec and two short metal cups. It was about a quarter full now. He proceeded to pour both of us a generous drink. "I... I vowed to myself that I would also have a celebration if I had discovered that I had been wrong. I'm rarely wrong. I- I had been under the assumption that beings such as you and a being such as the Omnissiah were two separate entities, both forces of nature, but with separate portfolios. But, what I saw, what I experienced..." Null put his cup to his chin, and all the metal tubes withdrew from the lower part of his face, revealing his mouth again. He actually had a large split upper lip that had been stitched together with metal staples. It looked terribly painful. He downed his drink as he began to tremble again. "I do not wish to speak of it yet. It is too much. But, I acknowledge it now. I do. I do."
I nodded quietly, and took a generous sip of my amasec. I took a deep breath before speaking. "Null, this is all new to me. I never asked for all of this. I never wanted to jump into this reality, and I certainly didn't want the mantle of... well... whatever I apparently am. You don't need to treat me any differently. Just try to get along with everyone."
Null tensely nodded as he tapped one of his mechadendrites against the table. "It seems to almost be a possessing force within you, isn't it? Not daemonic in the least, no, but a separate part of your being. When you are close to me, and your halo is bright, I can actually literally feel it in my circuits. Omnissiah, I even followed your light when I was-" Null interrupted himself, and immediately poured himself another drink, which he quickly downed. "Forgive me. I am quite emotional still."
"I can't really articulate it. It isn't like I'm possessed, but I don't know. It feels like I'm uncomfortable in my own skin. The feeling is really strange, and I've been really short-tempered lately, but that could just be stress, so I have no idea. I definitely feel as if I'm being influenced, but not that I've lost my free will or anything. For now, don't treat me any differently. I'm still me, at least for the time being. I don't want to run around killing people or conquering the galaxy." I shook my head. "So, what about your repair? How do we get you fixed back up? I know that the belt is helping, but is there anything else we can do?"
Null seemed grateful for the change of subject. "Yes, on that: Firstly, I have discovered that this vessel regenerates quite readily given time and energy." With a tap of his mechadendrite, the display in his room changed to a model of the Divine Retribution, and then, an area of its left wing was highlighted in red on its leading edge. "This was where our vessel was damaged." The area then zoomed in on the red areas on the wing, and I was able to see jagged fissures along the hull.
"This is what it looks like now," the tech-priest said with another tap of his appendage on the table. The image changed, and the damage was much lessened. It reminded me of a mending wound. "As you can see, it is nearly healed, the additional living gold materializing from nowhere to knit the metal together as if it were flesh. I find it absolutely fascinating. It is exceedingly rare to find technology of both self-healing, regenerating, and self-replicating metal."
My intuition nudged me into what Null would propose. "So, you're thinking about taking metal off the ship and repairing yourself with it?" I asked quickly as I finished the rest of my drink. It tasted awful.
Null briefly startled as I successfully discerned his proposition. "Er, yes, to put it plainly. There are areas of the Divine Retribution's interior that are open to the same living gold that makes up the hull. I wish to see if I can harvest some raw materials from this vessel in order to do some more emergency repair work on myself until we can gather more supplies."
"Couldn't you just wait until we get to Vigaz?" I asked.
"Well, I could, but, I want to look strong and capable when I meet with my contact in Tar Vigaz. It has been many years, and I do not want to arrive looking like a broken pile of scrap metal." Null held up the stump of his missing left arm. "An archmagos, even a former one, should always look his best in public."
"Just to confirm, I'm assuming you found a way to take metal off the hull without causing any serious damage to the ship?"
The tech-priest nodded eagerly. "The area I am looking at is actually down in this area of the vessel. I discovered a disused laboratory adjacent to this room that has an area of exposed living gold. I was able to successfully pull a small amount of the material off the vessel." With one of his mechadendrites, Null reached around on to the table, and removed a mesh cloth to reveal a splinter a few centimeters long of bright reflective gold in a glass dish. "I have been experimenting with this metal, and I believe that it would make an excellent substitute for more conventional materials in making my new arm. Its malleability and ease of workmanship makes it quite a delight to work with, actually!"
Maybe he just wanted a gold hand because it was cool? Honestly, I couldn't argue with that logic, so I didn't fight him on this. "As long as it doesn't weaken the hull, that's fine, Null. I trust your judgement."
Null's eyes smiled. "Thank you very much. I will set to work on crafting a new prosthetic immediately." The excitement in his voice could not be denied.
"What about this Necron message now, then?" I asked, sipping my amasec. I really hoped that I could still feel alcohol. How else was I supposed to remain sane in this universe?
"Yes, well, I have it here," the tech-priest spoke, holding the disk in one of his right hands. "Whenever you are ready, I can display it." Null slid the disk in the square device that sat on the work table. With a whir, it began to spin. The little machine looked suspiciously like a dvd player. The view screen in this suite began to flicker once again.
"Let's play it then. Hoping this clears up some of the weirdness." Knowing my life, it probably would just make it worse.
Null nodded, and pressed a button on the device. The screen above then shifted to display the familiar figure of a one-eyed bent Necron holding a staff. This was Orikan the Diviner, the Necron I had met on Kolch.
The Chronomancer was speaking in a guttural foreign language to another single-eyed Cryptek who was half off screen, studying something on what appeared to be a tablet. This one wore rich red robes that swam with strange animate runes. I was reminded of the Cryptek I had seen escort Trazyn and my crew to the Divine Retribution on Kolch. Presumably, this Necron was allied with Orikan. As the Chronomancer spoke, a translated line of text helpfully appeared at the base of the screen. It said: "Thank you, I can handle it from here, Kaliko. We're bound for Nome after this, fear not. The King will wake soon." The red-robed Necron (presumably Kaliko) then bowed, and walked out of view. Orikan's single eye then blinked, focusing on what was presumably some sort of camera ahead of him. He then bowed dramatically, and behind him, what appeared to be some kind of display buzzed to life. Hah, this did look like a PowerPoint presentation!
"Greetings to thee, my finely fortuitously enfleshed friends! Hopefully, you are watching this aboard your newly energized vessel, the valiant Divine Retribution!" Behind Orikan, the display switched to a still image of a drawing of the Divine Retribution in flight against a majestic backdrop of stars. The angle made it look very heroic. "This educational message is for the Plane Walker, and will outline some of what I have discovered concerning Marii-Suze and their relationship to Gir'Auda, the sublime entity you know as the Divine Retribution. You are likely very disoriented in this new universe you have discovered yourself in, so hopefully, this informative presentation will clear up some confusion."
"Be on guard for xenos deception," Null quietly informed me as he poured the remainder of the amasec in our metal cups. "Fear and hate the alien."
"To begin, a short history lesson is in order here so that you might better understand the Divine Retribution's role in the galaxy, and your own future. Perhaps you know of the history of my race by now, or perhaps not. I am a Necron, and our race is an artificial one, as we are memories incased in machinery from the ancient Necrontyr race that existed millions of your years ago. Pictured behind me here is an example of an especially handsome specimen of the Necron race!"
The Chronomancer tapped his staff on the ground, and the the slide changed to a drawing of Orikan standing upright and smiling. The illustrated figure held his staff in his left hand, and his right hand was held up in a friendly greeting. The word "NECRON" was written beside the Chronomancer's form. He even wore a modest smile on his metal cheeks. This was actually kind of precious, in a way. Watching Necrons smile was both disturbing and funny.
"We of Necron-kind are well familiar with your legendary craft, as long ago, she fought against us during our time enslaved by the C'tan in the War in Heaven."
The slide shifted, and this time, we saw an illustration of some kind of white cloud against the black backdrop of space. It looked as if the illustrator had simply dumped flour all over a piece of dark paper, and smeared it around. The written word "C'TAN" indicated what this cloud was. Well, the artist wasn't wrong.
"The C'tan were incorporeal godlike creatures who consumed stars, and bent the laws of physics like soft clay. They were initially formless clouds, but then, were coaxed into physical metal bodies by some of our leaders. It turned out to be quite a mistake, to put it mildly."
Another slide, and the fuzzy white cloud was illustrated transforming into a gold humanoid creature with defined muscles and an evil smile. I was really enjoying these illustrations, and wondered if the Chronomancer had drawn these himself. Probably not, I concluded immediately. Knowing what Necrons were like, he probably kidnapped an artist somewhere and was forcing whoever this was to draw for this presentation.
"In a terrible event, the C'tan deceived us and devoured our living souls. My people were enslaved as metal automatons against the rest of the galaxy. We were, unfortunately for all other life in the galaxy, very effective at exterminating life. In desperation, the Old Ones themselves crafted a mighty weapon for other races to use against us and our C'tan masters. This weapon is the very craft you ride upon now, Plane Walker!"
The slide switched to display an action shot of the Divine Retribution with its massive claws savagely tearing into a spaceship's black and green hull as if it were a slab of meat. Its wing cannons blasted hellfire into the breached body of its unfortunate foe. Wow, I thought. This ship really could go into melee combat with another ship!
"First thought to be piloted by the Aeldari, her power has been harnessed by many psychic Warp-based races over millions of years, and now, she is active once again, and at a time when the galaxy needs her most!"
The slide now displayed an image of an incredibly tall and very severe bright-eyed and fair-haired Aeldari warrior covered in gold armor shimmered behind Orikan. This individual had familiar gold eyes, and he held a flaming spear of power. Other warriors stood beside him, and they only reached up to about his waist. "Er..." Orikan turned around to look at the image of the giant Aeldari hero behind him. "Of course, this is just a representation of what we think an Aeldari pilot would look like, not an actual portrait, mind you. Visual aids for this presentation help to communicate my message, you see."
Another dramatic slide of an illustration of the Divine Retribution in combat, with this one displaying the ship taking a literal chomp out of a long thin space vessel with its beak as its three blue-green eyes glowed balefully.
"We knew her as Gir'Auda in our tongue, which translates to your language as "The Anathema." To all, she was known as the Equerry of the Old Ones, and all knew the danger that came from being in her sight. Her history, sadly, is mostly clouded even to us, as information concerning her seems to have an uncanny ability to be forgotten, as if reality itself has a difficult time accepting that she is real."
Orikan paused as if exasperated and disappointed with this information. He shook his head and tapped his staff against the floor.
"This includes any records and memories of her in the minds of sentient races. The information slips though the fingers of time, stubbornly unwilling to be defined or cataloged. With my peers, I have worked tirelessly to understand this vessel, and I tell you everything that I now understand of Gir'Auda. We know that she is a craft of living gold created by the Old Ones as a render of fate, an upsetter of balances, the breaker of bonds to those imprisoned. As the races of the Materium were beaten and bloodied by the terrible actions of the C'tan before they were shattered by my people, Gir'Auda was fashioned by the Old Ones as a weapon that could not only fight, but could create great god-kings to lead scattered and broken races to unlikely victories."
An image of the Divine Retribution soaring triumphantly over an army of cheering Aeldari.
"From what we understand, this stalwart entity is not only a magnificent vessel that can refashion victory from certain destruction, but it also acts as a transformative kingmaker, refashioning its captain into a living hero of their race, enabling them to bring hope to the hopeless, and unifying them against incredible odds to victory!"
The next slide caused feeling of disconcertment, because it showed a sequence of illustrations of an unremarkable Aeldari in plain dark robes getting taller, angrier, and more golden over the course of multiple stages. The last stage displayed the individual as over twice the size that he used to be, and covered in a bright gold halo all over his body.
Orikan gestured at the slide behind him with his staff. "As you probably already know, the captain of this vessel is gifted with slowly increasing nigh-godlike strength and psychic potency as living souls are consumed and integrated. With enough time, this captain will undergo physical and mental changes as they are forged into a suitable hero to lead their race to glory against those who would threaten it. Now, I know that may sound upsetting to you, Plane Walker, Marii-Suze, whatever you are currently called, but I assure you, the last pilot did not reject the mantle of power given to him, and in time, grew to accept and even relish in his extreme psychic potency, and by now, I'm sure you're familiar with him."
A slide of an average looking human man with long dark hair and gold eyes that communicated great sadness. In his left hand, he held a wreath of gold laurels, and in his right, he held a bright sword wreathed in flames. I was guessing that this was supposed to be Sebastian.
"You may ask, 'But Orikan, the galaxy is in such a terrible state right now! Why has this eagle not flown and united many over the last many years?' The answer to this is simple. Such a powerful machine was gifted with a safeguard against corruption, and will not accept a captain beyond a certain level of darkness."
The slide switched to one of a mass of random angry scribbles of tentacles, eyes, teeth, and claws. The text next to the swirling mess of angry marks said "CHAOS."
"Aeons ago, the corruption of the Empyrean caused a stain on all living souls born to this dimension. To put it simply, if you have a soul, and you are native to this reality, Gir'Auda will not accept you as captain. To only a privileged few, Gir'Auda and its miracles has been known, and because of the woeful state of the galaxy, these few have been desperately occupying themselves with the effort of pulling extra-dimensional heroes into our reality, hoping beyond hope for a glimmer of promise."
An image of dancing indistinct figures surrounding a magic circle marked with strange runes. Above it, lines that seemed to represent energy (I wasn't sure exactly) rose into the sky, and a faint outline of an ellipse was drawn.
"Wise eyes of many alignments have become fixated upon an orbiting cloud of sister universes that were rumored to mirror events in this reality, and, brief portals broached into these dimensions, searching for untainted souls of power. To put it simply, not only was an incorruptible soul sought, but one who originated from a realm of extra-dimensional entities who transcribe the fates of those here. Some scholars even go so far as to call them gods, as what they create, we experience. It is from one of these sister universes that the last remarkable pilot of Gir'Auda originated from, and so, many ambitious parties set about attempting to repeat history."
A slide depicting multiple images of figures dancing in a circle. In two of these circles, bright angelic figures seemed to emerge out of the ellipses that hung in the sky, and both had glowing halos. In one instance, it appeared that the dancing figures were dragging the poor individual out of the sky portal in chains. A notation next to one of these bright figures said "MARII-SUZE."
Orikan turned behind to look at this image. He pointed at the chained figure being pulled out of the sky, and then, pointed at the camera. "That's you!" he said with a smile.
The Chronomancer grinned widely. "And it appears this last effort by multiple disparate parties was successful, as you are here. My prognostications actually predicted a sizeable amount of Travelers coming into this universe in recent times, and many of them now use their unique qualities as Marii-Suze to shift and change destiny around them. The laws of reality and probability are more suggestions to a Marii-Suze, and many of them are capable of spectacular things. When combined with the fury of Gir'Auda and its king-making qualities, the entity produced could be of staggering power!"
A slide of a bright soul standing next to the Divine Retribution. This soul had a somewhat feminine outline.
"Out of your kin, you are the most important one, dear lady captain, as your soul is the one being magnified and reconstructed to serve as a figurehead of hope on board Gir'Auda. You have the potential for great strength!"
An illustration of a bright soul sitting on a representation of something that looked like a golden throne. It made my stomach drop.
"And now, for the difficult part. The probability of the success of your summoning this time around was exceedingly low. There were too many variables and specifics that needed to be accounted for, and all had to be 'just so' for history to repeat itself. Events had to align with such delicacy and synchronicity that I very much doubted at first that your summoning would go as your predecessor's did. The chance of success was simply too low. However, something unexpected happened!"
Orikan paused and bowed his head sadly for a few moments before displaying the next slide, which was a large Chaos star beside the flaming eye symbol typically used as a mark by adherents of Tzeentch. This is where the fun begins, huh, I thought darkly.
"It is my belief that your summoning succeeded this time due to the unexpected involvement of the God of Fate for his inscrutable reasons. It is actually very unusual, as the last pilot of Gir'Auda was viciously opposed to Chaos, so repeating history for that particular god wouldn't seem to be in his best interest. His fingers, hands, tentacles, whatever you would call them, are evident to me as I cast my horoscopes across the stars. His will is clear to see."
A slide of a mass of tentacles, mouths and eyes floating over the gold form of the Divine Retribution. In a few appendages, two long marionette strings extended outward, and were wrapped tightly around the wings of the eagle. The message here was very obvious.
"Sometimes, this particular God places a signature on his work, letting all who see events fall know that he was the one responsible, and that everything was, as he says 'just as planned.' Usually, he indicates his involvement with the visibility and repetition of the number nine, and multiples thereof. His arrogance makes it so he must showcase his mastery of manipulation to all, and that even Gir'Auda, the render of fate, is not free from his meddling hands."
Another illustration of the Divine Retribution wrapped in multiple strings, but now, a long tentacle was wrapped about a talon, and a humanlike hand gripped the vessel's head.
"The signature sign of his meddling in your situation is complex, and seemingly insane. This will be somewhat confusing to attempt to explain, so bear with me, please."
The next slide almost made me laugh. It was an old movie poster for 'The Wizard of Oz!' Listening to a Necron trying to explain Tzeentch-y reality engineering was bound to be entertaining, I thought.
"Instead of simply using the number nine to mark his work in this instance, the God of Fate seems to have taken a shine to 'The Wizard of Oz', a very old film from ancient human history in this particular reality. With a few of my associates, I study and catalogue stories from ancient alien civilizations, and it is incredibly strange that the god has taken an interest in this story specifically, but trying to understand the motives of Chaos Gods will result in madness, so I do not attempt on that much. All I know is that the link is there, and that some of what you have and will experience will mirror 'The Wizard of Oz.' This is a story you may or may not be familiar with, depending on what reality you came from, and I have also included it in this disk so that you may see what interests the God of Fate, and how he is manipulating events around you. The tale tells the story of a young human girl on her quest for home."
A still image of Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale standing on the Yellow Brick Road as she held Toto in her arms. I was reminded that I hadn't seen Wolfie in awhile, and I missed him.
"Dorothy the human is whisked away from her peaceful life on a farming planet, and to another reality, possibly to what you humans call a daemon world. There are too many parallels with your situation and this film for it to be coincidence, as you have, by now, gathered your companions. I predict that you even have a Scared Crow..."
A slide of the Scarecrow grinning next to Dorothy after he was cut down from his post in the cornfield.
"A Tin Man..."
A slide of the Tin Man as he spoke to Dorothy and the Scarecrow, wistfully yearning for his heart. I looked over at Null, who turned to me curiously, almost wearing an expression of insult. He pointed at himself with a metal finger. I nodded, and his eyes animated surprise.
"...And a Cowardly Lion."
A slide of the Cowardly Lion as he stood crying after Dorothy had slapped him for trying to hurt Toto. Oh wow, I thought, remembering that Lian had actually attacked Wolfie back on Kolch, and that I had to smack him down to get him to back off. Holy shit Tzeentch, this really was all planned! Did I even have free will?
"You may even have a Wicked Witch that chases you as you seek your Oz! All of this was set up by the God of Fate for his entertainment, and to show all who look upon his work that he has mastery over all magic and all realities!"
A disturbing image of grinning dark tentacles wrapping around Dorothy's waist.
"The God of Fate has taken an extreme interest in you, as I feel that his eye is on you nearly constantly. This is a very dangerous place for anyone of any race to be, as the attentions of that mercurial god are seldom righteous. He may be attempting to rise in the Great Game, seeking to overtake his brother, the God of War, and he sees you as an instrument of his will, even if you are not directly under his thrall. He will seek to manipulate you, and to direct you into performing his infernal bidding, even without the acquisition of Chaotic taint. I wish that I could aid you more directly, but for right now, I will simply tell you to be greatly aware of his presence."
Orikan cleared his throat and shifted his weight. It almost appeared that he was saddened or embarrassed at what he had just informed me. I found it very peculiar that an undead skeleton robot alien would do such things, but it made him quite endearing.
"So, with that bad news out of the way, I will now tell you the rest of what I know concerning your nature as an Inheritor. This is all very new to you, as I'm sure you've noticed. Over aeons of human years, there have been many Inheritors who have claimed Gir'Auda as their chariot, each coming from other universes. As much as I have been able to observe, those responsible for summoning Plane Walkers to us usually do not make themselves public, so I know regretfully little of the people responsible for bringing you here aside from the meddling hands of the God of Fate."
An image of a portrait of the human man with long dark hair appeared again, but this time, he had a gold halo and bright glowing eyes.
"It is my belief that Inheritors draw their power from both the Empyrean, and an unknown and incorruptible source from Gir'Auda. The aura of an Inheritor is unique, and it is as gold as the vessel they pilot. All host bodies here seem to originate from a singular source in humanity's distant past, suggesting a bloodline. As such, most will have certain features, such as dark hair and bronze skin, but this is not the rule. I have heard rumors of unusual Inheritors that seem to possess stark white hair, but aside from a cosmetic feature, I'm not certain if this means anything meaningful."
The previously seen slide of the plain Aeldari man in dark robes appeared again, demonstrating some of the stages of the acquisition of his power.
"You will change, Inheritor, that much is definite. Your body, mind, and spirit will shift to accommodate the power your have inherited. Do not fear such changes, as I have foreseen that your changed self will greatly help both my race and yours. While you are already immune to death via aging from your perpetual nature, you will become resistant to damage, toxins, and your body will regenerate damage. Even the flow-" Null then paused the playback, and looked at me with wide eyes. I was similarly stunned!
"So it seems you're a perpetual as well? Astonishing!" Null spoke, folding his fingers together nervously. "That would certainly explain a few things about Evanora!"
"Wait, I'm a perpetual? What?" I asked. This was news to me! I searched back on what Sebastian had told me, and while he had not explicitly told me that I was immortal, he also stated that the bloodline that originated from Neoth was the physical line that was commonly used to house Traveler souls. It was a bloodline of perpetuals! I had been so emotionally charged lately that I hadn't actually sat down to really think about what I had been told! "So, when I was hooked up to the throne, Sebastian told me that the bodies that were used to hold Inheritors actually came from a holy bloodline, and that's where all perpetuals came from. Did you know Evanora was this way, Null? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know precisely! I am surprised at this as well. Evanora was a witch of potency, but I did not know that she was a perpetual. I was assuming that she had used arcane means to extend her life expectancy. It could be that once the Key was bonded to you that it made you a perpetual as well."
"It makes sense, I guess," I said, taking a deep breath as my Corona briefly brightened around my head in excitement. "Wow."
"Shall we continue the presentation?" Null asked. I nodded, and he started the message up again. Wow, holy shit!
"-of time is somewhat malleable to you, as I am certain you have discovered by now. Your predecessor, from what I know, was especially adept at divination and celerity of movement. Reality's slippery grasp of a Marii-Suze will make it so fate will often bend in your direction, and coupled with the divine strength of Gir'Auda, there's no telling how strong you will become!"
Still emotionally charged, my breath caught as an illustration of a fiery Dorothy Gale with gold eyes appeared before us. While wearing her modest pinafore dress and ruby slippers, the iconic Kansas farm girl was depicted soaring through the clouds as she hurled bolts of lightning at what appeared to be a legion of flying daemonic monkeys, which screamed in agony as they were burnt alive right out of the sky. This isn't canon-accurate, I thought with awkward amusement. Since when is Dorothy a vengeful psychic demigod capable of using force lightning?
"My advice to you is to continue where fate guides you, where your ambition takes you, and listen to your internal compass as it pulls you in the direction you need to be pulled. Beware, however, of the manipulations of the God of Fate, who will also attempt to bend you to his will instead. As you aid your humans, remember the Necron race in your travels, and look kindly upon us as you travel the stars in search of your glory."
A slide of Dorothy Gale shaking hands with Orikan the Diviner in friendship. A notation of "FRIEND" appeared beside the illustration of the Chronomancer. This was way too much and I started to laugh. Null gave me a dirty look.
"Unfortunately, many of us still do not understand that Gir'Auda is not our enemy, so forgive those who don't know any better. I will speak to my people concerning you, and to see if there are any future diplomatic inroads that can be made between you and our race. Hopefully, I will be able to see you on your sacred gold road as you travel to your Oz, but for now I will simply say that I hope the best for you. Safe travels to you, lady Plane Walker. May your road be golden."
The screen flickered, and once again, we were looking at the map of the local solar system. Null turned to me, and from his eyes, I could see that his expression was that of subdued excitement.
"That sure was something else, wasn't it?" I asked, my Corona slightly licking around my shoulders, reflecting my energized emotional state.
"Indeed it was. Yes indeed. Most of what the xenos spoke of sounded half-mad, perhaps in an attempt to unbalance us? I had been researching Travelers but I never came across any Oz Wizard or whatever the alien was talking about. And, what of that pictorial representation of me as a 'tin man'? I am most certainly not made of tin! I would fall apart immediately!" The tech-priest appeared very irritated, and let out an insulted huff.
Once again, Null's mercurial nature let me know that this Tin Man definitely didn't require a metaphorical heart, as he already had too much of one, and was very emotional at times. Despite trying to be serious, I couldn't help but have a giggle at what Null had said. I closed my eyes and gently shook my head, trying not to laugh even more. This was insane, but at least it was funny. Fucking Tzeentch.
"What is it?" Null asked me, concerned. "Inappropriate laughter is a symptom of madness. This is not funny."
"No, no," I replied, opening my eyes. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's just... sometimes when I hear big information that isn't easy to immediately digest, I laugh nervously. Like all of this? This situation? This is insane," I said as I gestured all around me, still giggling. "I'm on a spaceship that the Old Ones made that turns people into Emperors. I'm here because a Chaos God probably thought it was funny, and he also set everything up to be like 'The Wizard of Oz' just because he wanted entertainment. I mean, for me, a couple weeks ago, I was just buying sale ramen noodles at the grocery store, and this is my life now. I can't help but laugh about it now. It's absurd."
Null froze, and took a deep breath. He spoke very cautiously, "Are you familiar with this 'Wizard of Oz' subject? The psychic girl named Dorothy? Did your reality have such a thing?"
I nodded vigorously. "Yeah. But not like, for real. 'The Wizard of Oz' is just a film made for entertainment. And if Orikan bundled it up for us to watch, we should watch it!"
"And it is suspected that a Chaos God is deeply interested in you? Is that true?" Null asked again, his voice low and serious.
"Like what Lian said on the bridge earlier. People like me are definitely going to be watched and bothered by Chaos Gods. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. I'm sure it was this way for the last pilot too. I don't go looking for trouble; it goes looking for me."
Both of us were silent for a short time. I was starting to calm down, and my Corona began to softly fade away again. "This message has given me much to consider," Null said, pressing a button on the square dvd player device, causing the disk to eject itself. The tech-priest took the disk in hand, and spoke with resignation, "But, if you are not too worried, then I shouldn't be either. I do deeply wonder why the xenos has invested so much time and energy in helping you, and by sending this message? This is something I will have to meditate on later."
I really didn't feel like being serious right now. "I don't know, man. Maybe he just really wanted to help us?" I replied as I stood up. While I had enjoyed three cups of amasec, to my dismay, I realized that it only felt like I had imbibed one. At least booze still somewhat worked. "Come on, Null. Let's go watch 'The Wizard of Oz'. Maybe you'll like it? Its really blowing my mind that it apparently exists in this universe."
The tech-priest slowly stood up, the disk in his hand. He sighed in both resignation and exasperation. "Very well. Seeing a film from your reality may perhaps give me some more insight on the universe you originate from."
"Alright, awesome, and don't forget the liquor. How else am I supposed to tolerate the eldritch horrors beyond my comprehension, anyway?"
Null huffed at me like a judgy neighbor as I watched him gather up a few metal bottles from a box under the desk. Having a nice drunk evening in Oz sounded much better than the real like horror show that my life had become. Maybe I could hire on a space therapist in Tar Vigaz when I got there?