Nihilister in the Dark Millenium.
Ep 2: Obedience and Knowledge.
Nihilister is recopying a book about Titans used by the Adeptus Mechanicus. She was learning about the intricacies and functioning of the Titans. These machines are the apex of what humanity in this era could make in a massive scale.
The former Nikke was baffled to see those machines, who are one hundred times more powerful than the biggest Rapture ever created. Also, this world now named with this weird name Ignis Terra Prime is known for the quality of their Titans and the Skitarii armies.
Which makes her wonder, how much they have learned from this world by studying the technology of the Ark, of the Raptures or even Eden?
Also, by observing well after all the time passing, she has discovered in which year she is…
504.M41.
The year was 504.M41, who shocked her even more. She is finding herself so far in the future that she is feeling vertigo. More than 10.000 years after the two devastating events who has ravaged Earth, followed by the transformation to Ignis Terra Prime, into a huge factory for an Imperium too big for her mental health.
And also, this year was some kind of a lie that she has heard from her master Artius Connitus in one of his monologues in his rare visits. Because the rest of the time, she was closed off from the rest of the world, forced to recopy old books, cleaning the library, verifying that the STCs are still functioning.
She despised this enslavement of her own persona, but she didn't have any other choice. Since she doesn't know about this world around her, Nihilister has to rely on this Technoarcheologist Artisan for her own survival.
The only good side of it, it's the fact she can accumulate knowledge from these books and STCs. Since this library was isolated from the exterior and since Artius excepted her to be completely obedient. She can absorb information in his back all time, no matter it's in her free time or recopy time.
Nihilister is on the table, recopying a book of psalms of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the most annoying of information gathering. But like Artius says: "Knowledge is power" so she has to absorb everything she has to learn. These books of psalms could make her understand more about the intricacies of this world.
But as she is writing the plasms, the double door opened, bringing her attention but she is still recopying. Then, a large figure arrived in front of her, it was Artius Connitus.
"Nihilister. I order you to stop." Artius ordered.
The Nikke's body stopped to write and turned her head to him.
"What is happening, father Artius? I am rewriting these holy plasms on a fresh book." Nihilister asked in a neutral tone, knowing what words to choose.
"You will accompany me somewhere. We have to go visit the Cybersmith Tullius Arius by convocation. You deserve reconnaissance from your devotion to the Machine God." Artius Connitus said.
"Oh… It's a blessing…" Nihilister replied, quite astonished.
"A Servitor will take care of your work." Artius Connitus said.
A Servitor arrived beside the table while Nihilister hesitantly rose from her table.
Artius Connitus lightened his three eyes toward Nihilister, she knew he was doing a scan. But she has developed a little trick on her software: just displaying the directives to him, to insure everything is fine. But it was a long time that she has made short-circuits to outsmart the directives and basically act independently.
Artius Connitus after analysing Nihilister stops the glow of his eyes and turned his back.
"Now come…" Artius said.
He goes out from the room, followed behind by Nihilister while the Servitor sits down on the desk, the double doors closed behind and the duo goes inside of the halls, walking past the Servitors and Servo-Skulls.
And after a long walk, they arrived inside of a room. It was filled with clothes. He took more elaborated but still humble long tunic. He turned back to her.
"Now, undress yourself and put this on. After all, you are my greatest relic and beauty must marry the soul of the Machine." Artius Connitus said.
Nihilister grumbled internally before taking out her long cape and put on the tunic. Under the eyes of the Technoarcheologist, making her uncomfortable even if he wasn't drawn by her flesh.
Now, dressed in her tunic. Nihilister sees Artius going out of the room, and she followed him.
After a long walk, Artius brought her in the exterior in the barge port. She can see more clearly what the city in front of her.
Huge foundries and manufactures could be saw all around, with many dots corresponding to the Servitors on the paths below the huge tower where the Tech-Priest is residing. The sky itself was under very thick clouds of black smoke, it would have normally plunged the whole region in darkness but the lights of endless rivers of melted metal, the fires coming out from the endless chimneys forests and other lights made for the paths make lights the city like it was a permanent dawn. Also, she could see flying barges who were clearly bigger than she has saw in the past but also, huge vessels floating in the sky, huge space ships decorated in a gothic style, linked to towers, certainly charging materials coming from the planet. But also, she could see on many, many towers, gigantic canons pointed to the sky, ready to fire at any moments.
She was completely baffled to this planet, she was clearly in another world, in another time, now she realised it.
"It is time to go." Artius said.
Nihilister recomposed herself and quickly followed the Technoarcheologist inside of the barge, embarked with him.
The Tech-Priest sits down on a dedicated siege while some Servitors installed themselves on the pilots' sieges. By a move, he orders Nihilister to sit on the bench behind. The barge door closed behind and like if the Servitors already knew the way, without a word, they prepared the departure and then, Nihilister sees on the window beside her the ground becoming smaller and felt the movements of the barge flying above the city.
By the window and by a zoom in her cybernetic eyes, she could see Servitors going inside of manufactures, while the ones who exits come out with vehicles transporting iron crates or war vehicles like Tanks, Jeeps or any other war vehicles who has been used in the time on the first battles against Raptures like Nihilister could see.
She could also see in front of the foundries that the Servitors were transporting on vehicles dirt containing ores when it was not inside of the tubes coming from the horizon, where the entry of the Ark is. Others are dragging the melted iron with huge propeller machines inside of the river, who is going toward to the manufactures.
She continues to obverse for several moments, until a notification hits on her system. She turns back and sees that the barge was moving beside a huge dome with a tower.
As they posed on the small port, Nihilister stands up and follows Artius who has already move to the opening door of the barge.
They go out and sees that the construction where the Cybersmith Tullius Arius is residing apparently is still a bit far.
"Hmph… the airport is in repair since the fall of the roof of his tower. We have to traverse the rest of this place…" Artius said with a ghost tone of annoyance.
The group then began to engage on the paths besides the roads taken by the vehicles, inside of a crowd of Servitors going in their activities. While swarms of Servo-Skulls are seen repairing the cracks on the buildings around, often accompanied with Servitors with repairing objects fixed on their limbs.
She looks closely on the materials that the Servitors are wearing, analysing their components for knowledge before stocking them in her enhanced brain.
Then, the group arrived to the dome and entered inside.
The inside was something that Nihilister half-expected but still astonished her.
It was a huge manufacture, where Titans are being built and repaired. Some were near completed while others were halfway through. A vast majority of them were Warhounds and Reavers like she has saw in the books but there is still Warbringers, Warlords and one Warmaster.
But she could recognize on these Titans by looking more carefully some features resembling to the Raptures, like Thermites missiles, Dual Rings, Scarf wings, Rebuild Armstrong armour, etc. It seems that the Adeptus Mechanicus has taken the benefits of the Raptures architectures and added them to these Titans.
As the group goes beside the workers, Nihilister widened in total shock.
The workers were not usual Servitors, these were Nikkes!
But… not the kinds of Nikkes she expected to find.
These were much more mechanical in construction, some have bigger arms to carry heavy objects of assembly, some have their limbs replaced with tools, some have their faces covered in cybernetics. Others, were more have a more normal body and were monitoring the activities of the rest. Also, they have barely had any hair, the luckiest reaching their shoulders.
But the uncanniest thing about them, it's the fact they are sporting all a close resemblance to Rapi, the Nikke she has fought in the past with the others accompanying this infuriating commander who she has tried her best to forget since her awakening in this new world. But seeing them makes her irritated in one side, like if Rapi has come back in many to simply mock her, behind the appearance of a serious soldier. But in the other side, she has a mixture of contempt and pity, seeing such pathetic Nikkes, these new generations of them being nothing more than tools used to create bigger machines, not soldier tools, simply manufacturing machine tools who can be disposed of by their owner at any whims.
But she has no time to consecrate to them, because she was climbing with the rest of the group and Artius to the elevator of the tower. The group entered inside of the elevator who closed its doors.
After a moment of waiting, the doors opened.
It revealed a small hall, it was filled with relics exposed inside of Plexiglas. But it was guarded with… more Rapi's Nikke clones.
These were equipped with huge Bolters and Plasma Guns and heavy armour on themselves. The only disguisable feature on them were their surprising spared face and the short hair on them, who were exactly like Rapi but unlike her former enemy, displays no will, no honour, no spirit of duty. No, only submission and blind loyalty to their master. Making the uncanniness even more prominent.
Nihilister was internally furious but the patience she has gained in the library, she managed to quell it down. Her own face was impassible.
Then, the group stopped. In front of them, there is a being like Artius facing on the wall in front of the group some kind of a statue, contemplating it. He was quite bigger than her own master, with some arms with tools coming from his back.
But it wasn't any kind of statue that the being was facing.
It was a Nikke, a random, mass-produced one, placed in pedestal, with her ruined hands posed on chest, with no sign of function detected from her. Nihilister could recognize the faint symbol of Tetra Line on her combat helmet, one of the three big former corporations of the former Ark. The Nikke on question was quite damaged, especially on her legs with small holes and cracks, same on her arms and abdomen. But she was quite well-conserved despite that.
Nihilister was baffled that even the most average Nikke that she has encountered many times before would be worshipped an icon of the Machine God.
"I have arrived, your holiness." Artius said with respect.
The being stopped in his tracks of contemplation; he lowered his arms before facing the group. Nihilister was hidden behind the other Servitors but she could see the being. He has his face covered in wires, with four green cybernetic eyes.
The Cybersmith Tullius Arius stared at Artius before talking in a deep, mechanical voice.
"Technoarcheologist Artisan, Artius Connitus. It was eons that I didn't see you." Tullius said.
"Yes, your holiness." Artius responded.
"So, you brought the 'Child of the Machine God' to me? Like you pretended it exist?" Tullius asked.
"Of course, Nihilister come." Artius ordered.
Before she could say 'oops', her body moves against her will while the Servitors step aside. She walked and stop a few meters away from Tullius.
She stared at the being, who was even more disturbing than Artius with all of its wires and cybernetic enhancements. The four eyes of the being stared at Nihilister deeply, like he was… shocked.
Then, he recomposes himself and approached the ex-Pilgrim and stopped at a few inches away from her. Then he extended his hands to her. Which disturbed the Nikke deeply but she couldn't move.
The Cybersmith touched the cheeks of the former Pilgrim, then her hair and the sides. Before stepping back.
Then he turned to Artius.
"What a marvel… even if this child has a travesty of flesh. This is truly a miracle to see such an intact, functional and advanced piece blessed by the Machine God." Tullius said.
"Yes, I want your blessing." Artius asked.
"What blessing?" Tullius asked.
"Please, make me a Cybersmith… to find more marvelous objects underground, in the Subterranean Ark." Artius asked with reverence and tinge of hope.
"Hmph… I have something better for you. Artius." Tullius said.
"What?" Artius asked.
He makes a move to Nihilister, whose body is forced to take a few steps back.
"Please approach. I have a gift for you." Tullius said.
The Tech-Priest approached the Cybersmith, with only a meter away.
"What is the gift?" Artius said.
A few seconds passed with a silence.
VLACK!
In a split second, the mechanical arms with tools, crushed the Tech-Priest in one blow. Shocking the Nikke who was on the side.
"This is my gift." Tullius said.
His arms let go the pile of junk that Artius was falling on the ground, only to the Rapi's clones to take it and take it away.
"After all, I was waiting to replace you a long time ago. I hate to see Technoarcheologist who are too curious for their own good like you. May the Machine-God forgive your trespassing." Tullius simply said.
"You… You killed him…" Nihilister said in a trembling voice.
Tullius only turned his head to her in response.
"You… miserable monster…" Nihilister said.
But then, a flush of directives strikes her head.
"AAAAARGH!" Nihilister holds her head in pain and dropping on her knees.
"You are now my Servitor. And I see that in your mind, you accomplished a formidable work to preserve knowledge. Good…" Tullius said.
"I will never worship… your false idol that you call… Machine God… I bypassed your brainwashing." Nihilister said with defiance.
"I do not worry. Sometimes, a machine blessed with the spirit of the Machine God is often unaware of their own importance. Someday, you will understand your place in the universe. Unlike this idiot of Artius who control machines for nothing more than power and control. I will give you redemption and your body if you make penitence, like a True devote of the Machine God should be." Tullius replied.
He crouched down and grabbed the chin of Nihilister on his hand, forcing her to see his face.
"You are a creature of perfection. Like the Woman of Iron on this pedestal. And superior to my own Servitors that you see around you." Tullius said.
Nihilister only glared back but it only pleased Tullius more.
"Such will. The Machine God truly made you… complete. But now, it is time to sleep…" Tullius said.
[Warning: Emergency Shutdown initiated].
"No… Not ag… again…" Nihilister pleaded before she falls asleep and her body falls on the ground.
Everything goes dark.
To be continued… Servitor of the Machine God.
Nihilister, now serving the Cybersmith, has now taken a place to supervise the creation of the Titans of the Legio Dea. But her presence will brought unwanted attention to her own safety.