**Author's notes: The first part of this chapter is somewhat expositional as part of it exists to get new readers up to speed. I was going to (and still might) break this story up with chapter 121 being the first chapter in volume 2. The second part of this chapter has some fun new Erika chaos, so it isn't all exposition. Thank you everyone for reading!**
After being assured that we'd be off to the dig site in a short while, Lian and I sat sipping our recaf as Jinnicky and Null chatted over their previous assignments. Magos Jinnicky shared that he had been in charge of maintaining the Wheeler control network in Evna before he had been sent through the Warp Gate on a shuttle to our current location. He described that Magos Amee (who he nearly always called by her first name, "Nimmie") had sent mercenaries through the Gate to first test its functionality and safety. These mercenaries returned with a bounty of Traveler artifacts discovered at the dig site. Seeing that the Gate was intact, Magos Amee quickly ordered Jinnicky to visit Ix and to set up an outpost to begin initial excavations with the promise that more help would soon be sent. The Magos, as he had said earlier, had thought that we were that help. In the past six weeks, Jinnicky had been harvesting the local tribesmen to make more servitors, and he put these pitiful machine slaves to work clearing away the rubble from the dig site.
When asked about his recent history, Null smiled proudly, and began to speak with a confident voice. The Tech-priest described his assignment on Levant under Adler Tower, and how he discovered the Divine Retribution, which he again repeated was a special voidship that only Travelers like myself could pilot. This, of course, was completely ignored by Jinnicky.
Null elaborated grandly on our other recent adventures aboard the Divine Retribution. Leaving out Alberich's previous state as a mutant, the Tech-priest spoke about the blackstone pylons of Levant and our desperate escape from the emergent Warp Rift after the confrontation with Am'Erika. Lian, who sat protectively beside me, found this story fascinating. While he now knew about where we had been before Kolch, the Fallen Paladin seemed to really enjoy hearing good stories. He leaned inward, listening to Null speak with an interested expression on his chiseled face.
The subject then turned to Kolch, and how we had needed to steal a Necron energy crystal from a sleeping Tomb (which promptly woke) to repair the ship to functionality. The part about our acquisition of the C'tan shard imprisoned in the Nome King's belt was left out of this story, which was somewhat understandable. Hearing about this crystal, Jinnicky loudly cleared his throat and attempted to correct Null's technical expertise, declaring that such crystals should not work in any craft other than Necron, and that the Tech-priest must have been mistaken in our repairs.
Null was now finally beginning to get annoyed with this Magos, I could tell, and he stiffly replied with a "We're here now, aren't we? The crystal reignited the systems aboard the Divine Retribution," and simply continued telling our story without hearing Jinnicky's complaints.
Magos Jinnicky was incredulous when the Tech-priest got to the part when we met Trazyn and Orikan on Kolch, and that we rescued Lian from a Tesseract Labyrinth, which we even managed to take with us. This was even more unbelievable to Jinnicky, who scoffed at hearing this, saying that the individual known as Trazyn would never part with such a valuable artifact.
"The Necron xenos known as Trazyn is known for his kleptomania. He's become an infamous figure to Mars, and the way you speak of this chance meeting is as if you're telling me that you repaired a servitor this morning. Trazyn would never, ever allow such a priceless artifact to fumble from his grasp! Certainly, you are telling me another joke?"
"He speaks the truth," Lian spoke up, fixing his green eyes on the irritating metal spider guy. The Fallen Paladin was now also clearly annoyed with Jinnicky. "And, you sit before an Inheritor, Magos. That you know of such things and continue to display disrespect toward her could be construed as heresy. I would watch yourself."
Jinnicky glanced at me with his eight expressionless glowing green eyes. I smiled.
"Heresy? Well! I-"
"Look, whatever test he's got for Inheritors, I'll pass it. Then, he apologizes," I interrupted with my strong voice and a brightening of my Corona before an argument could start. "Don't worry about it for now, Lian. And Null, just finish your story. I want to get to the site," I instructed the Tech-priest, who nodded.
There was a short tense moment before Null continued speaking again.
The Tech-priest then described his meeting with Magos Amee at the Tower of Reason, and how she welcomed him and listened to his expertise before locking herself in the base of the blackstone pylon to keep the evil governor from messing with the minefield for as long as possible. He explained the malfunctioning and corrupted Wheelers, the brazen actions of the Family of Liberty, and the animation of the Statue of Libertine. Despite all of this, a lot of information was still left out from our visit to Tar Vigaz, but that was okay, since we'd probably be here all day explaining all the crazy events that we experienced on that world.
As I sat here listening to Null tell our story, I felt a curious twinge of emotion emanate from Magos Jinnicky's soul, especially when Nimee Amee's name had been mentioned. Was what I was sensing jealousy? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Jinnicky possessed romantic feelings for Nimee Amee. The rude Magos had bristled with emotion when he had heard Null mention how close he had been to his former partner (along with Null's promotion to Archmagos a thousand years ago). Was this... some kind of Mechanicus love triangle, I wondered?
"And now, we sit before you, Magos. The traitorous governor Langwidere engineered the fall of the government of Tar Vigaz due to her mental instability and alignment toward a Chaos cult. A massive fleet of Necron xenos arrived just as the Chaos cult began enacting their plans for domination. My crew and I, under the guidance of the Inheritor, quashed the ambitions of the cult. This deprived Chaos of a new world, but the xenos fleet was too large to defend against, and we had to flee. The fleet had three Harvest Ships, two of which belonged to the Necron Flayed Ones. We ran to Ix from Tar Vigaz just as the Necrons invaded. There wasn't much else we could do, as we said," Null finished with a sad buzz.
I noticed here that the Tech-priest had conveniently left out that we were the reason the xenos had arrived in that system in the first place, and that they had been tracking us through the Nome King's belt. I decided not to say anything, but I did shift uncomfortably in my seat.
"So, Nimmie sacrificed herself so that the minefield remained open for evacuations," Magos Jinnicky sighed again, tasting the event in a sad low voice. A pang of deep regret then echoed from the spider Magos's soul. "I-I should have been there. I was directly in charge of Evna's Wheeler servitor operations. I should have been there to help. I should have."
"If she sent you out here, she must have had a good reason to. I would not torment yourself for following Magos Amee's orders," Null offered. I almost choked a nasty audible laugh. Yeah, Nimmie Amee probably sent this guy out here to get rid of him, seeing how intensely irritating he was.
Magos Jinnicky leaned forward on the table, clutching his head with all eight of his thin metal arms as Null finished his story. For a short time, the only thing that could be heard was the noise of the busy servitors laboring below us in the tower. Jinnicky then spoke up again, "As I offered before, I-I will now give you a tour of the dig site of the mysterious Pale Lord, Inheritor of the distant past. Despite these difficult times, you are still researchers of Traveler lore. I-I will mourn Nimmie appropriately. She was a brilliant daughter of Mars."
"Yes, yes," Null curtly offered.
"She was, she was." Jinnicky then stood up from his stool with a large sigh. "Now, if you would all follow me, I will show you what I have uncovered so far here. Perhaps you can help me with new insight, and maybe your psyker can show us where we should be digging next?" Without further ado, the spider Magos then began to make his way back to the stairway without looking behind to see if we were following him.
With a tap of my force staff, I stood up along with Null and Lian. My crewmembers briefly looked to me for instruction as they observed Jinnicky walking down the stairway again. I nodded, offering a nonverbal affirmation that we'd be following the spider Magos.
As we followed Jinnicky down the stairway again, I heard a telepathic message transmitted from Lian: Null has left out large amounts of our story. Is this satisfactory to our needs? The Magos is profanely disrespectful.
It's fine, Lian, I responded as I walked down the spiraling stairs. I know Jinnicky is really rude, but let's play nice with him so we get materials to modify our shuttle and find out what's in his archaeological site. And, maybe Null can find knowledge that can help us securely imprison the C'tan shard we have. I didn't mention my other interest in this site, which was the presence of special spirit stones which could help me retain my free will.
The four of us now stood before the tall armored metal door, which, after a series of complex gestures and intonations from Magos Jinnicky, was now grinding open from its midpoint inward. The groan sounded like a tortured elephant, and it echoed loudly through the tower. "I have a secure somatic code that only I can use to open this door. The value of this place is incalculable, you see, and it must be secure. Did you have such security at your base of operations in Levant, my fellow?"
"Of course," Null answered. "I had a holographic stealth field that masked the existence of my stronghold at Adler tower as well."
"Ah, interesting! Stealth technology is ever so intriguing to me! I wish that I had some spare adepts to send up into orbit to investigate the remains of the planetary stealth field, but alas, I am short handed," Jinnicky chirped.
I briefly glanced at Null in curiosity. He wore a contemplative expression. The Tech-priest had told me that he had very old (and incomplete) memories of Ix when we had first arrived, and that the code that had unlocked some of his memories had been discovered here. From the Tech-priest's knowledge on general stealth technology from Levant (and the use of the black Nubuan time crystals), I was now wondering if Null was actually responsible for Ix's stealth field. I'd have to bring this up with the Tech-priest later.
The door was now open, and our group now stood before a long hallway a little over three meters in height, and broad enough for three men to walk abreast. A track of bright halogen light bulbs illuminated the flat ceiling. Clattering rhythmic tapping could be heard echoing down the passageway from a fair distance away, and it resembled the sound of many people mining rock or striking metal. "Follow please," Jinnicky said, walking ahead of us. We followed with Null ahead of me, and Lian behind.
"Months ago, the mercenaries that first came through to this world through the Warp gate were drawn to this mountain because of the high concentration of adamantium and other precious metals that seemed to show on their orbital survey. This site must have lit up their sensors like fire, I daresay!" Jinnicky offered as he walked briskly ahead. "They landed here on this mountain and found the chamber that we will be entering. I like to call it the amphitheater, but I do not know what it is actually supposed to be called."
The tapping was growing louder as we continued walking, and soon, the end of the tunnel was finally in sight. "What is being mined?" Null asked. From the echoing sound of the rhythmic tapping noises, I could discern that the space ahead was very wide.
"Many things, but the servitors mainly just clear the rock. Some sort of molten flow decimated this outpost near the end of the Horus Heresy. While this stronghold was built atop a dead volcano, I have a suspicion that someone wanted to keep this area from being found, and that it was sabotaged. But, the flow never got hot enough to thoroughly destroy this site. The adamantium of this hideout is very much intact. Speaking of that, we have discovered an unusual fixture that seems to be actively warded against any manipulation by a party that does not possess powerful Inheritor or Plane Walker-related energy. This proves to me that an Inheritor called this place a stronghold." Jinnicky halted, and turned around. His many green eyes flashed in my direction. "This is the 'test' I was speaking about earlier if you're following along, psyker girl."
"Fine," I said to the spider Magos, rolling my eyes.
We continued walking, and now, were now at the end of the tunnel. Jinnicky quickly stepped ahead into the wide open space, his many arms and mechadendrites open in an grand expression. He beckoned us to walk forward. "Pity Nimmie could not see this personally!" he vociferated.
The three of us stepped into the new area, and I became awestruck at just how large this room was!
At first glance, the area known as the amphitheater was a vast open space that resembled a massive cave over fifty meters in length and half that in width. Floor lanterns attached to whirring generators kept the area illuminated with warm lights. The vast ceiling rose ten meters above us in a slight four-sided pyramidal shape of dark silvery metal that was marred in many places by dirt and black dust. The floor and walls were either a messy rough igneous rock, or a perfectly flat surface of metal depending on how much of the rock had been cleared away in a particular area. Right now, we were standing on an area of smooth metal ground.
Many dusky-skinned servitors labored in this room chipping at various rock walls with primitive pickaxes, grinders, or mallets. Some organized armfuls of gravel into different piles. The area to my distant right ended in a wall of of black igneous rock about three meters in height many paces away. The rock was being swarmed over by busy slave workers as they removed piles of rubble. Some servitors were on ladders, and others were suspended above as they labored. The area to my left was significantly more excavated (or just naturally free of rock), and a long, oversized table a full ten meters long with similarly oversized chairs stood in the center of the space. The size of the chairs gave me the impression that they were for someone of Lian's size, or even larger. Further to the left and at the end of this massive room, I saw a peculiar four meter tall archway that was lit by one of the floor lanterns. As I observed, the open space between the archway almost seemed to shimmer like an opaque heat mirage on a hot day. I felt a peculiar sensation of disconcertment.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Jinnicky asked as we all filed into the artificial cavern, his grinding voice echoing over the clattering noise of the laboring servitors. "We've cleared away much of the interior of this particular room, but there are still many rooms to uncover. It is fortuitous that the the main structure is a strengthened adamantium alloy. It has resisted the heat damage from this ancient lava flow!"
"Yes," Null murmured, observing this broad space with serious animated green eyes. I watched as the Tech-priest placed his gold hand up to cover the lower part of his face, almost looking like a gesture of either awe or deep thought. "This... this is incredible."
"Quite incredible indeed! I couldn't even believe my senses when I first beheld it! An intact Dark Age of Technology site! Just sitting here waiting to be discovered! In a strange way, I am glad for the planetary stealth field. It hid this world from the hereteks of Cyclothrathe, who would no doubt plunder this incredible place for their own uses."
"But now, you say this world is fully visible?" Lian asked.
"Unfortunately," Jinnicky responded with a slight stammer. "This is why I have been working around the clock with my gravel men here. I had hoped to excavate this land more thoroughly for Nimmie before sending research findings back to the Tower of Reason. Cyclothrathe will, no doubt, now see that this world has now returned from the Horus Heresy, and they will likely send an investigation this way. That is, if they haven't already done so."
"What's through this arch?" I interjected, pointing toward the shimmering portal with my staff. I realized that I couldn't quite see beyond the opening, and that the watery mirage effect was obscuring whatever was beyond it.
"A potent enchantment, psyker girl," Jinnicky explained with a dismissive wave of his mechadendrites. "This arch is fitted with the Inheritor-specific ward I mentioned. Any attempts by a non-Plane Walker to pass through fail, which means it is impassible. Try to pass, and you would strike your head against the metal wall. My surveys display that there is nothing beyond the wall behind the arch, so I'm actually unsure as to what its purpose is."
"So, this is that Inheritor test you keep mentioning?" I asked, watching the shimmering space between the arch. I felt drawn to it.
Jinnicky nodded. "If you want to try it, go right ahead if you want to cure yourself of delusions," the spider Magos said with a chortle as he walked alongside Null, who was still studying this vast open space. "My fellow, may I order the fleshling girl to walk through the arch? Is she stable enough to weather a bit of humiliation?"
I turned to directly face Magos Jinnicky, my halo emerging in a hot glow. This fucking guy, I swear!
"What sort of psyker manifestation is that unusual halo? I've never seen one colored such before," Jinnicky asked Null as he pointed in my direction. Null did not respond, and he was now watching Magos Jinnicky uncomfortably.
"It's a Corona, you fucking idiot," I said with a growl. Fed up, I began to briskly walk toward the arch without another word. Lian followed me quickly, his soul beginning to tremble with intimidation again. "I am who I tell you I am, heretic," I spoke angrily as I walked. Me saying the word "heretic" was a little strange, but I quickly explained my choice of words away to myself because I hated this guy.
"Order me as you wish, Inheritor..." Lian whispered as he followed me close behind.
I paused directly before the arch, and with a tap of my force staff against the floor, I turned around again. I could now see that Jinnicky was trying to laugh about something with Null, who was not engaging him with frightened animated eyes. Lian stood beside me clenching his jaw as he watched me for instruction. The spider Magos, after not getting a reaction from Null, finally turned back to me. "Look, foolish girl. I repeat, the arch, from the information I've recovered thus far, is only attuned to the wavelength of Plane Walkers. In simple terms, this means that no one native to this universe may pass through. Only someone of the Omnissiah's particular energy signature could breach the ward. To others, it is just the metal wall you see." The Magos made a swatting dismissive motion with four of his arms.
"I don't see a metal wall," I answered, turning back to face the arch. "I see a mirage that looks like water."
"No, you don't," Jinnicky laughed again. "You are not the Omnissiah, fool girl. I doubt you even could appreciate who the Omnissiah is. All Inheritors are male, anyway. Fleshling women do not hold the mantle of Inheritor."
"I would... er... belay this behavior, Magos," Null began to warn Jinnicky as my light grew brighter. I turned back around to face Jinnicky, who was still chuckling. A familiar rush of warmth then began to suffuse my being, causing a tingling sensation to pass through my limbs. A crawling fantasy of myself as a gold giant throwing Jinnicky across the amphitheater like a child's toy pleasantly tempted me in my mind's eye, and my teeth briefly chattered in anticipation.
This guy was really pissing me off, I thought. But, however fun it would be to punish a rude jerk who went against my word, I had made a vow to myself that I wouldn't keep losing my temper, and that I had to control myself.
I took a deep breath to rein in the angry gold fire within me, and turned away from the spider Magos so I was standing before the rippling surface of the portal again.
"Fine. Watch this," I simply said as I walked through the shimmery portal.
My ears registered a pressure change as the skin of the portal enveloped me, and I felt the sensation that I was being pulled somewhere. Momentarily dizzy, I staggered, and then, discovered that I now stood before a perfectly smooth surface of plated silvery metal the size of a squared football field! Even more disconcertment was that around this metal floor that I stood upon, there were no walls, and no ceilings. Only a vast metal floor and a featureless black void surrounded me!
"What?" I cried out in surprise, glancing around and gripping my force staff. My "what" echoed in this vast space as if it was enclosed in metal, and not surrounded by an expanse of nothing. I spun around, and behind me, it appeared that I had come from a metal arch similar to the one that I had walked through in the amphitheater, but slightly larger. This arch seemed to be attached to a wide pyramidal metal structure that easily extended ten meters upward. The pyramid wall was shared by two other arched entryways, each five meters in height. I discovered that I had emerged from the leftmost arch.
"What the-?" I mumbled, stepping forward. As I walked ahead, a line of white writing appeared before me in midair. Strangely, it appeared to be Japanese before flickering into English.
Welcome, Inheritor.
Time since last visit: 17,769.004 standard years.
Initializing profile...
I reached forward to touch the floating text, and my hand went right through the word "profile". This felt like I was in a virtual reality simulation.
Notice: Differing energy profile detected. Commencing scan.
I felt a strange shiver pass over me.
New energy profile accepted.
Load previous state? 99 previous archive logs archived. Warning, partial data corruption detected!
"Uh, sure?" I spoke, still confused. "Load previous state, whatever that is."
After I said this, the metal floor (and the entire room) shifted before me, and now, I was somewhere completely new. I stood in the center of a gargantuan gladiatorial arena about fifty meters in diameter, and the metal floor was now made up of sand. The sun was shining, and the air even smelled clean! Above me and sitting on the stone benches of a massive colosseum, hundreds of people were present. They were dressed in the attire of ancient Rome as they cheered and threw roses in my direction. The people were applauding me, but my eyes caught one or two glitching out of existence before reforming as if we were in a Bethesda game.
"Pale Lord! Pale Lord!" I could hear their cheers echoing in the space. "Hail to Caesar! Glory!"
Before I could even get my bearings, something even more surprising happened. Beside me, reality glitched again, and a familiar giant of a man snapped into existence, causing me to reflexively step back. Beside him, a bleeding corpse of what appeared to be some kind of giant black serpentine dragon also flickered into reality.
The giant was grinning, and he towered over me at between three and four meters in height, clad in elaborately detailed lean black and gold armor. He wore a red cloak, and his hair was long, fluid and silvery white. Two thin silvery swords hung at his sides, and both were stained with blood. The bright Corona that surrounded his head and the jeweled crown he wore immediately identified him as a familiar figure. All I could do was watch as the giant bowed indulgently before the glitchy crowd in a deep flourish.
"Thank you, thank you," Spoiled Prince called out, his strong voice amplified in this space. Standing next to the Inheritor, I realized that his resonant voice was absolutely incredible! This guy literally sounded like a war god! His voice reminded me of Smaug from the recent live-action Hobbit movies. There was an incredible reverberance of power that felt supernatural behind his words. Would I eventually sound like that to people, but as a lady? "You're all too kind. Too kind and not really here, but too kind, nonetheless!"
I watched in amazement as the figure continued to dramatically bow before the cheering audience. Seeing the dead monster beside him, I quickly made the assumption that Spoiled Prince had killed the creature for the entertainment of the people in the stands. I noticed now that this Inheritor had a very slight accent and a formal lilt to his speech, which almost made listening to him even more appealing. As I watched, I realized that neither Spoiled Prince or any of these cheering crowds in the stands actually seemed to see me here. On top of seeing the glitching people, this definitely confirmed to me that this was some kind of simulation. Was the chamber I had entered a virtual reality holo-deck type place?
"Thank you, oh, thank you! Arigato!" Spoiled Prince said, picking up a rose that had been thrown his way. "I'm about to venture onward, but rest assured, I will be victorious and I will return to all your simulated eyes soon. Roman battle simulation, dragon variant: version 6, end."
The Roman gladiatorial arena vanished, and now, Spoiled Prince's towering form stood before me on the bare metal floor that I had seen previously. He didn't seem to notice me from his extreme height, and the Inheritor wore a thoughtful, but conflicted expression on his gold-eyed chiseled face. The rose he had picked up flickered out of existence in his gauntleted hand.
An unusual pause, and the Inheritor began to glance around as if searching for someone. At one point, his glowing gaze cut right through me, but he still didn't see me.
"Enable simulation, logbook. Subcategory, Nightmares of the Silver Plague." A quick glitch, and now, Spoiled Prince was only a few inches taller than I was. Instead of armor, the Inheritor now wore a black tunic and trousers with gold embroidered details with black gloves and tall dark boots. His gleaming round Key was visible, hanging from a chain around his neck. The Inheritors twin swords remained perched on each hip, but were now clean of any gore. Spoiled Prince's crown had also effortlessly changed with him. A chair and a computer console snapped into existence, and he proceeded to sit. It appeared that I was still unseen, and I noted that the desktop computer that he used was from around my time, and that even the chair he sat on was similar to a fancy gaming chair you could get in my home reality.
Spoiled Prince and his computer then abruptly flashed out of existence. A notice appeared before me in floating white text: Play logbook entry 99?
"Yeah, play it," I instructed. I should probably get back to the amphitheater soon, but I was now intensely curious about what I was seeing. I knew very little about Spoiled Prince, so this was a good "lore" lesson for me.
Notation: Data corruption detected. Data may display errors, the writing briefly flashed just before a broad screen twenty meters in width snapped into existence in this bare space. Now, I was looking upward at a two dimensional video of the enigmatic white-haired Inheritor. This was all somewhat prosaic, and it somewhat reminded me almost like a humble video blog post from my home reality. Spoiled Prince's expression, I noticed now, seemed to have shifted to weariness. While he still appeared outrageously powerful, there was a certain fatigue in his bright gold eyes, and even his Corona appeared "tired". He was, as I had seen him before: inhumanly handsome with sharp cheekbones, perfect hair, and unnaturally smooth skin that bore no imperfection. This Inheritor looked like an anime character come to life, an incredible living recreation of a golden-eyed Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7. The majestic man sighed, and it appeared that he was deeply considering what to say.
"Three more worlds lost. The plague of the hungry dragon begins to crawl inexorably across the galaxy," Spoiled Prince began in a softer, more "normal" voice. He reached up to push a length of white hair behind an ear, and the image before me momentarily glitched before reforming. "Probably a few more gone by the time I depart from here as well. But, I've decided to do this. I must do this."
The Inheritor paused again, and I saw that his neck and jaw muscles were tense. His halo momentarily brightened. "My predecessor left me a ruin to inherit, and now, it is my responsibility to clean it up," Spoiled Prince laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. "Truly amusing. In another life, I remember father telling me that machines would take over all the jobs eventually. And now, in this dark mockery of the future, they have, but through a silver stellar cancer of consumption."
The Inheritor reached up, and removed his jeweled crown. The image before me flickered and glitched again, and a line of fuzzy pixels now seemed permanently lit on the right side of the projection. Spoiled Prince held his crown in his hands for a moment, and seemed to study it critically. "I thought I did well. I did what I could to divert the oncoming shadow. I did what I could to stop the Divine Majesty's maddening corruption of me so that I could think, and still retain myself." He traced a black gloved hand across the central diamond of his crown, and the screen flickered again. This recording seemed to be slowly degrading in quality. "After all this t-time, though, I suppose I have to admit that listening to the Divine Majesty's Imperative was probably a wiser action than I had assumed." The playback of this recording was beginning to skip and jump. "I don't know. It wasn't my fault the f-fool Nazi lost his mind and d-decided... betray me."
Spoiled Prince blinked repeatedly as if unable to find the correct words for what he wanted to say.
"And now, the p-plague advances with traitorous Heinrich as its foul herald, killing whole star s-systems, d-devouring humanity like a dragon in the void. The -raitorous Heinrich sees all his -ishes fulfilled! What he d-did not accomplish in the early twentieth -tury he saw to fruition in -ty ...thousand years! F-fate turned to ...mile upon him! I should have k-k-killed him when I had the chance. I-I..."
The Inheritor's expression shifted to obvious grief, his Corona shining brightly in his heavy emotion. Spoiled Prince then began to actually weep. He bowed his head.
"Ah, I haven't c-cried in a thousand years. How would father have felt t- see me like this? Would he recognize me in this body, this construction, this simulacrum of humanity that my lost soul dwells within?" The Inheritor reached up to touch his cheek, his jaw, and his neck, and then shook his head. "It has been so v-very long, and now, the g-gold feels as if it has dulled t- lead. The diamond once so resilient h-has embrittled to glass. After my discorporation, true home is likely f-forever lost to me, but I still yearn to see the sun rise over S-sendai. My previous life feels l- a dream; it was so l-long ago. Maybe... maybe when I die a true death I'll wake up and I'll be home. Maybe I will see d-dear father reprimand me for m- l-laziness, and scolding me that I'll never amount to anything. Even after all this time, I y-yearn so to hear my f-father shout at me again like before. I never thought I would say that!"
There was pain in Spoiled Prince's words, and despite his godlike continence, I could sense an underlying current of desperation in his majestic voice. The recording continued to glitch and skip as it advanced.
"M-maybe this is all really a near death experience like what the l... s-sister said. Perhaps I'm dying back home, time dilated to an impossible s-stretch as I hal-l-lucinate all this, both my heaven and my hell. All of this maybe a ...ream within a d-dream." Spoiled Prince then paused, and placed his crown back on his head. Its central diamond almost seemed to glow with an inner light. The Inheritor then straightened himself up, and dabbed the sparkling tears from his glowing eyes with a red handkerchief. "L-lady Omega was correct on many facts. Maybe through another wrinkle of t-time, she's watching me here in the future after my fall. Maybe all f-fate really is p-predestined, and the ink is truly dry upon the p-pages of the book of d-destiny. No free will, for everything in existence falls ...der the will of the Architect of F-fate, and what is what always must be."
Spoiled Prince wore a pensive expression, and then, he appeared to look right into the camera. Despite his deep sadness, I could also sense a heavy darkness in this man.
"If you're s-seeing this, lady Omega, I express ...ratitude for your g-gifts of knowledge. Thank you. You've helped me ever so m-much. As I have told you before, you t-taught me the name of Tzeentch, and I b-became curious of this name. One day in need, I called upon him, and h- answered me. The Warp god Tzeentch has aided m- immensely in fostering a powerful human empire of p-prosperity and technology. Tzeentch has helped to usher in a grand age of galactic progress and wealth even after the evils of Iron Will. Thank you for all of this, my l-l-lady successor."
The Inheritor smiled widely. Watching this not-quite-human individual smile was an extremely unsettling experience. It made his uncanny valley presence even worse, and it felt like I was watching a nearly perfect model of a human being try to act as if it was human, but not quite pulling it off. His wide smile felt completely fake, and "painted on". Would that be me one day? I reached up to touch my face, and I was reminded of my own shifting features.
"I now go to confront my rogue copilot, my once loyal second in command who fights for the s-silver plague. I have trouble divining t- path b-before me, and yes, I understand that m-means that I may h-h-head to my doom, but it... s-something that I must do f- humanity, lest I allow this infection to consume the g-galaxy. If you are watching this, lady Omega, I have left behind instructions to my f-followers that you are to be named my heir in t-thanks for your guidance. You... w-w-will r-receive m-my-"
The recording then abruptly ended in a flash, leaving me alone once again in this vast space. My heart began to ache and my Corona emerged again in my heightened emotional state. Was what he said true? This was a lot to digest! I remembered asking Spoiled Prince if he was Tzeentch when I was losing my mind on space drugs in Langwidere's hedge maze. Was... was I the reason that Inheritor eventually fell under Tzeentch's thrall? Did me simply mentioning Tzeentch's name spoil the Spoiled Prince? And, what was this silver plague? Spoiled Prince's time felt way too early for the Men of Iron, but maybe my lore knowledge was incorrect here?
Even more uncanny was that Spoiled Prince and spoken about someone named "Heinrich" who was leading this plague, and that this guy was a Nazi who had all his dreams fulfilled. "My" Heinrich was also a Nazi! What sort of time-traveling bullshit was all this about? Did Alberich manage to go back in time somehow and completely mess up the galaxy during the Dark Age of Technology? I then remembered that Alberich still had a double out there, the two-headed mutant that yet another Heinrich had taken from me to go with his cult, the Blue Architects!
This was both very overwhelming and very confusing, as most Tzeentchian bullshit seemed to be. "What the fuck..." I whispered as I became faint from processing this new mind blowing ontological shock. As I began to stumble backwards, a chair appeared below me, and I fell into it with a gentle "oof". A soft neutral voice then intoned around me: "Heavy existential anxiety detected, randomized relaxation simulation protocol initiated. Sendai garden, father variant."
The simulation room around me changed again, and I now found myself seated on a stone bench within a lush garden filled with perfectly arranged greenery. The sky was saturated with the blazing colors of sunset, and the fresh air smelled of sweet flowers. Gentle wind brushed against my cheeks, and fluttering petals from heavy cherry blossoms fell like soft snow around me. This simulation appeared heavenly; it felt like a perfect springtime sunset. Wonder filled my heart at witnessing such a beautiful place.
Beside me on my stone bench, a middle-aged Japanese man in a business suit appeared. He was smiling as his hand touched my shoulder, and although I could not speak Japanese, I understood the words that he offered me.
"I'm proud of you, Izumi," the man said to me in Japanese. His features were stern, but deep down, I could tell that he was a caring man. "You came through with your responsibilities, and you have made me a proud father. I'm sorry about what I said to you in the past. You have grown into an admirable young man." As he smiled at me, the man's image began to rapidly pixelate and destabilize. "You will do good things. I know I don't tell you this enough, but I love y-"
The man froze, and a line of text appeared before me in midair.
Data corruption detected. Cannot sustain simulation, father variant, Sendai. Defaulting to Sendai garden sunset simulation, general.
The man in the business suit distorted before me into an amorphous cloud of light and pixels before burning away completely. I was now left alone in the garden as the holographic simulated ghost of Spoiled Prince's father winked away forever.