The offer

A psyker's lot was a life of being constantly questioned.
"Are you certain this is the right way, Idira?"

Sister Argenta was not too bad. She still thought of her as a heretic, of course; at times she rambled that Idira would burn in the fires of damnation, yadda yadda yadda. Yet, somehow, they had come to…something. It was not an understanding. Not really. But it could be considered a truce of sorts. At the very least, she stopped calling her a witch.

Still. Argenta had asked a question about their current direction, and Idira would reply.
"I am. The whispers told me so."

"Do I need to remind you about the dangers of malevolent voices within one's head, Miss Tlass?"
And then there was the other one. An agent of the most blessed Inquisition. Pfff. The thought alone was ridiculous. There was nothing blessed about these fanatics. How do you reason with a man to which your very existence is a sin?

"Look, I trust the whispers, and I need you to trust me as well." Idira snapped.
But before Henrix van Calox could articulate on his reservations, the Rogue Trader interjected to diffuse a fight.

"We trust in your ability to discern the truth from the falsehood. We trust that the personal stake on your life will not cloud your judgment. We trust on your skill to lead us safely through the darkness of this wretched bunker. Your life, your future, your decision. Lead on, Idira."

Lead on, he had said. How strange, how…empowering. Idira was not used at leading people. In fact, she couldn't remember a single time when she had lead anyone at all. She was a witch. She gave suggestions. And she had always been the one being ordered around. This Rogue Trader was truly one of a kind.

"Thank you, Lord Captain."
And that was it. The discussion had ended well before it could escalate into an argument. On her...orders?, they all moved forward into the bowels of Quetza Temer.

A smuggler's life is all about meeting people. When there is coin to be earned, one quickly learns that morality and piety have to make way for more material concerns. Yet even the greediest Cold Trader understands that there are customers of a sort that are simply not worth the risk. Especially the ones that should have stayed dead.

"By all fires burning upon Efreet. That creep again!"
The creep in question took his former slave's remark surprisingly well. But then again, Jae Heydari doubted that the masters of the flesh were anything but strangers to profanities. And this one...well, this one knew her all too intimately.

Tervantias.

Hard to forget the name of the bastard who ripped out half of your throat. His passing had been sudden, but not unwelcome. Yet, somehow, the haemonculus was now standing at the other end of a large chamber, no worse for the wear.

Could the being in front of her be the same person? Was it even a Xeno? Perhaps it was not even alive. A hallucination, then? Or something even more sinister?

"What are you?"
"Have you already forgotten the face of your master?"

"The last time I saw Tervantias, I'm pretty sure he was being devoured by daemons while we were running for our lives." Jae replied sardonically "So... no. I don't believe a single word of what you said, impostor."

"You assume much." Tervantias replied in turn, with the tone of a teacher who was scolding a slow pupil "Know that our covens wield the tools through which entropy is unmade. Know that patience is among the many teachings of our craft, and that our vengeance is slow and insidious. Death has long been behind us, and still you DARE to insult me?"

She might have held a gun at Tervantias' head, but a witty retort was definitively out of place. The haemonculus, in his vanity, had just revealed that he could come back from the grave practically at will. That made him a dangerous enemy, one she could not afford to bear a grudge against her.

Unfortunately not everyone shared the smuggler's caution, and Argenta was all too willing to go beyond a few insults. "I have to say, Xeno….maybe you are right."
"Oh?"
"Maybe time has no meaning to a creature that holds nothing sacred. Maybe your dark arts are too twisted for the minds of decent folk. Maybe death has truly no hold upon you. Nothing of this matters." Argenta said, as she took aim "I'll still kill you as many times as I need!"

Bolter. Threat. Act. Now.
"Wait! WAIT! He has something that I need!"

Argenta's finger froze on the trigger. She had not expected this outburst from Idira. Idira herself was caught by surprise at her own boldness. But the whispers had spoken clearly. She needed the haemonculus alive.

"I have nothing to offer to the likes of you." Tervantias spat disdainfully "Unless…" he produced a barbed device from a pocket in his flesh "Is this bauble of interest to you, child?"

Idira did not knew the name of that device. But she knew what it would do. A psy inhibitor. Useful when you need to bring a witch to the stake… or to suppress your own powers if their unconscious use is burning your body out. A tool that might just save her life.

"It is. Give it to me."
"Then come. You may have it."

Idira hesitated. There was a price to pay somewhere, that much was obvious. But even then, why would Tervantias give away the only advantage he had?

Jae came to her aid. "Idira. Hold it. I refuse to believe he is willing to hand over that xenodevice freely. What's your game, Tervantias?"
"There is no game. This bauble is of no value to me. Come, child. Don't be shy."

Tervantias opened his hand, the device in his palm for everyone to see. Since Idira had yet to move, he even made a couple of steps forward, seemingly unconcerned by all the weapons pointed at him.

Idira was not buying it. She opened her mind to the Warp looking for deception.
The whispers spoke of a Xeno caught on the back foot.
The whispers spoke of no attempt at deception.
The whispers spoke of Tervantias as no immediate threat to her. Somehow, that fact only made him more terrifying.

Tervantias moved another step forward.

He stretched his long arm. His hand was almost above Idira's. But before he could deposit the device directly into her hands, she jerked her arm to grab it and he...let it go.

"There. Now you have it. Was is so difficult, child?"
"It...was not. But I don't understand. Why would you do this?"
"As I said, this implant is of no value to me. Of course, possession of this implant alone is useless to you as well."

"..."

"You would need a master chirurgeon to install it safely."