Chapter 1

One man can start a landslide with the casting of a single pebble

The red-yellow sun was slowly setting behind the skyscrapers that overlooked this beautiful, lush green park. I was leaning against an old oak tree, watching the sunset. I felt a head on my right shoulder, and as I got ready to look that way, I was jolted awake by a noise.

I am Iron Man.

The noise made me thrash around blindly, looking for the snooze button. I slapped that thing and then buried my head under the pillow. Sadly, again, I couldn't fall back asleep and groaned because this was not a great start to my Saturday. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times before I looked around the room. I froze stiff again, seeing the anime poster from my fever dream last night. Oh no. I bolt upright and look around the room again. Everything was the same as yesterday. On the same wooden desk is the laptop I bought in my dream, and on the chair is a box of personal things.

Fuck. I run to my closet and look for the one safety item I have from the first dream, hoping against hope. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, and there again was the green hair and red eyes. I glanced inside the closet to look at my hamper and saw the chainsword on top of it. I again pinched myself, letting out a yelp before I started hyperventilating again. I fainted once I realized everything from yesterday happened and that this was no dream.

I wake up staring at the beige ceiling as everything from yesterday comes crashing down on me. I'm officially stuck in pervert heaven with a very well-hidden slice of horror. I'm going to be hunted down for a peerage or get murdered by Raynare or someone else looking for my possible sacred gear. I'm so boned, but the first thing to do in cases like this is to make a plan and keep it simple, stupid. I got up off the floor and started that plan.

I take a shower, and then, after relaxing a tiny bit, get dressed and open the drawers on my desk to find the paper I had made last night. The rough plan and list of things I needed to test or make was still there in my chicken scratch. I read what was on it again. The chicken scratch is worse than normal because of the adrenaline, but after reading it over, it's not a bad plan. The first thing on the list is that I need to buy training equipment, and then I need to get into shape as fast as I possibly can. Humans can only reach a certain point before we fall off in power, which is well below that of other species here in DXD. I need to do testing today on the anvil and see how far the building goes.

Can I just make weapons, or can I make things like armor? Perhaps ways to enhance myself up to give me a better fighting chance? It would be damn useful to have space marine reaction times and additional organs. Or, better yet, just jump to the Emperor of Mankind and his crazy bullshit. Maybe I can get that perpetual gene and then have a crazy ass healing factor. I wince at the thought as that is permanent immortality, opening up another can of worms. Can I make anything from there and then sell the items to make money? It would give me more money to be able to secure a better life for myself. I frowned again because there wasn't supposed to be a separation between the supernatural and mundane worlds. I'll be noticed faster if I make things that we should not have, like a plasma gun, bolter, or fuck, spaceships.

I don't want to be the Emperor of Mankind and certainly don't want to rule an empire. I just want to live and eventually die surrounded by my kids and grandchildren. Yeah, the Emperor was a massive prick, but he had excellent reasons to be the way he is, but I'm not like that. I freeze again, thinking about something. Does Chaos exist here in this universe? They supposedly exist in millions of realities. By the Machine God, I hope they are not here. Do the Orks and the damn horny space elves exist too? Or the damn stupid but very right-to-be angry skeletons? Does the end of the galaxy in Tyranids exist? Oh, I'm even more boned. Thankfully, the silly non-melee goats don't exist until the 35th millennium, but the galaxy might have Xenos like the Slauth.

I gulped again. That's worse than Rias with her spoilt child syndrome and her stupid pervert pawn. That's worse than Sona and her horrible need for order. That Chaos is possible here is so mind-numbing and fear-inducing that I go to the closet and shut the door, holding onto my chainsword as I curl up again, forgetting my plan. Oh, chainsword, why are you the only friend I can rely on? I hold the sword like a support blanket with the teeth away from me as I promise to it out loud in the closet's darkness.

"Chainy, I'll pray to you every day. I'll apply sacred oils to you and make you a clean and shiny sword. Please, don't disappear! I need my safety sword!"

The sword doesn't say anything, but I do feel something like happiness coming from it. It's probably me going mad, but it's the thought that counts. I snuggle the sword and whisper that it's the best sword, and I will never destroy it. Is this my crippling anime flaw? Do I need a safety sword? I'll take this rather than being a mega pervert or a fucking magic girl.

After a half hour, I finally set the sword down and reluctantly opened the closet door before going back to making my plan. Step one train my ass off, get ripped, and then test my possible gear to its limits. I'm so glad I'm not sixteen in mind. My sixteen-year-old self would not be thinking of the big picture. He'd be making guns and then spreading Chaos across the city, getting the devils' attention. I don't want to become one as that might mean I'm a possible slave under a king who, depending on how finished the system is or is not, might be able to abuse me. Magic is cool, but I'm not going to be a possible slave.

That's if the universe is grimdark, but it doesn't seem that way so far. Yet horror can lurk under illusions, and it's better to be paranoid here because the supernatural world is actually out to get people. I can't be like the pervert and get by on luck. I have to be ultra-thought-out and logical. That is going to be the thing that saves me from death because flesh is weak. I need the strength and certainty of steel here if I decide to try helping this world. I'm torn on that because that means painting a bigger target on my head. A nasty, bitter thought about helping Ophis and the Chaos Brigade comes to me.

That thought passed through fast and then made me ashamed. While I like being a bastard in games, I would not do that in reality. We need a better plan that isn't that you idiot.

After an hour of planning, I prepared to leave my home to get exercise equipment and start working out. I pray to the Machine God that I don't run into anyone from the devils again. Tsubaki is cool, but I'd rather not have her and Sona looking into me. I need to fake it until I make it like Cain the greatest human hero of the Imperium. Thinking of him made his infamous song start playing in my head.

With that song playing, I slowly jog down the street, passing by other people enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon with family or pets. Twenty minutes later, in the business district, I found the sign for an exercise shop brightening me slightly. Upon entering the shop and looking around, that feeling disappeared, and I froze. There standing at the far end of the store, is Shirone. She is dressed in her school uniform with her famous white hair, gazing at a new dumbbell. Fuck. I reluctantly continue onward into the store and head towards the clerk. The items are bought as quickly as possible as is signing to have them delivered to me on Monday or Tuesday. I kept my eyes open for Shirone, and she was not glancing my way at all. She was now looking at a weight that was larger than her. Maybe I don't have sacred gear? She and the others can sense that stuff. What do I have then, if not gear? I thanked the store clerk and then left to get lunch as the white cat still didn't pay attention to me.

The journey for a place to eat around here wasn't going well. Everything was just fast food places with unhealthy things. I can't pig out on burgers and the always delicious chicken nuggets. It is rabbit food and lots of meats not drenched in oil from now on. No more downing soda like there's no tomorrow, either. The jog starts again as I keep watching behind me. Seeing the white cat is terrifying already, and I'm entering a park filled with people enjoying the day. I sit on a bench to get my breath back. Then I hear something that makes me shiver.

It's perverted giggles, but they are not male ones. They are female. Is that Kiryuu? I look around the park frantically and see the fountain in the middle. I freeze as that fountain is in the anime and the light novel. Shit. This is where the pervert dies. I finally find the source of the giggles. It's behind a tree close to the center park path, and sitting on the fountain is a dude and his date. They don't hear the giggling somehow. The dude is okay looking, as is the woman, but why? I carefully sneak over to the giggles and peer behind the tree to see a young woman my age, who has brown hair and is dressed in a regular dress and skirt. She is giggling very perversely, and I'm pretty sure this is Kiryuu. I leave the pervert to her fun, moving away from her and towards a park exit.

I finally found a place to eat nearby, and it's a good, healthy place I mentally mark. I got up twenty minutes later, and I started jogging home. Thankfully, I don't run into any other devils. I get home, head towards my basement stairs, grab a notebook and pencil to write my notes, and begin to start my experiments.

The basement is well-lit and is mostly empty except for a few boxes in the back left corner. There is also a washer and dryer that look old. This is perfect for experimenting. I get to the middle of the room and begin concentrating to make my anvil. The anvil appears ten minutes later, along with the ring. I then try to make my first item in a las gun. It comes into existence a second later, after the light disappears, and I pick it up. Okay, so I can make different types of weapons. Making the next one in another chainsword. It is the typical Cadia pattern, and I set the las gun down next to me on the floor. I marked my checklist of things I had made earlier today. I activate the sword and hear it roar. It again scares the shit out of me.

I deactivate the sword and then set it down next to the gun. The next test is prepared as I think of the next item. I swing the hammer again with the light comes back. It disappears a second later, and there, on the anvil, is a flak vest with the Mechanicus emblem on it. I notice something strange. My mind is unconsciously aware of how to make the vest, down to the materials that can be used. After thinking of how I don't have things like adamantine, my mind corrects itself to use lesser materials. Whatever it is, maybe this gives me the ability to think about how to repair the things I make.

I then try my next experiment. I think of a Skitarii robe, and then I swing the hammer. The light is there again, but after fading, a red robe is on the anvil. I smile a bit more as my brain tells me it's a thousand times better than the flak vest. I will the anvil away, but will the ring to stay. The anvil leaves, letting the robe drop to the floor with a soft thud. I pick up the robe and slip it on. It's ultra-light and comfortable, too. I then pick up the las gun and the chainsword. I test my next theory out. I try to will the gun away. It surprisingly stops being real. Okay, that's good to know and can prevent people from stealing my shit. That's excellent news.

I will take the sword away, too. It fades to nothing, then the vest. This might be a sacred gear, which is good and bad. I'll be hunted down, especially with everything I might be able to make. I'd be wanted in a peerage, Grigori, and the Church. Yet I'm a heretic and will piss off people like Xenovia and Irina.

I write my notes and then start a new page of questions. Then, summon the anvil again as it appears faster this time. I think of my next thing, a rebreather of my favorite faction. I swing, and I notice the light is getting less and less bright with each passing creation for me. I'm feeling a little bit more tired per swing, too. So, there is the first downside, but this requires further research. My new creation is there. I don't plan to rip my arms and legs off and replace them with metal ones, but I kind of do want mechadendrites. Multiple arms would be kick-ass. Another day for that testing, I thought, picking up the rebreather and putting it on the floor.

I need something to make stealing my permanent stuff harder, so I try a new experiment. I imagine a gene-coded safe. I imagine the desired item and the additional defenses I want, like a video camera that can see my soul and a voice activation button. I want all of that. I swing the hammer, and there is a flash and then a clunk as my item is made behind the anvil. It's a closet-like thing, and I feel exhausted now, so there must be a cost per creation. I will the hammer and anvil away, then approach the wardrobe like furniture. It is gothic-like in design, and it once again has the Mechanicus symbol on its front door. Upon getting closer to it, the wardrobe whines before a red light comes out of a small hole, and the light scans me. It whines again and then whirls out a series of ones and zeros. I unconsciously respond in zero and ones.

The door opened on the safe, and there was my vault. Oh, Machine God, I will never leave you! You're the way to my salvation and possibly this stupid pervert-filled world. You gave me a miracle against the horrors of this dark forest of perverts and devils! I will make a shrine to you, oh glorious Machine God! I won't start a new cult, but this is a true miracle.

I store my stuff away in the vault, then try to move the object under my stairs so people don't easily see it. I run upstairs to get Chainy-chan. Upon entering my room, I rush to my closet and open the door, grabbing the sword before running back down to my basement, storing it away. Oh, how the day has become slightly better.

I then go back to testing the anvil. I swing and make a bolt pistol before trying my next weapon, making a chainaxe, and that creation seemed to be the last of the mysterious energy that the anvil used. The roar of the axe this time only made me jump slightly. I have concluded that if the supernatural world fights dirty, I will fight even dirtier. I'm not going to die to bullshit idiots and bullshit magic. I will the anvil away and am about to will the ring away when something happens.

The ring flashes on its own, and I did not do that. I look at it, and after nothing happens for five minutes, I chalk it up to another weird thing that happened before I went to think about what I wanted to eat. The mind-numbing fear is less than before, but I still have existential dread. I am exhausted from the testing and looking up food places on my laptop before I thank the machine spirit of the computer after finding a good place that serves steaks.

I enjoy the steak and salad with a bit of cooked egg in it, wolfing both down and making the waiter sweat drop from how fast I'm eating. I thanked them and paid before going on another jog around the park. It was late afternoon/early evening, and it was nice not to wheeze from jogging. I get nervous again because I see another devil, and it's Akeno. She is also jogging and in far better shape than me. She doesn't look at me much, other than a peaceful teasing smile for a second when we pass each other. She is wearing light blue exercise clothes with her hair nicely done in her long ponytail, and seeing her in the flesh makes me understand why she is a fan-favorite character.

I jog home, watching behind me for Akeno and other devils entering and locking the door. Pushup began and lasted for twenty minutes in the living room. That is easier than I thought it would be. After that's done, I go back into the basement for more experiments and kind of feel recharged. I continue the experiments for the rest of the night.

When I wake up, I'm in the basement on the carpet floor, looking up at the ceiling. I don't remember why I'm here and not in my bed. Before it hit me, I had passed out by reaching absolute zero in whatever energy the anvil used. I look around the basement and don't see much of what I remember making. There is a melee dummy that looks like a stupid Drukari because fuck them, with a guardian spear that has the flamethrower active. I slowly pick myself up and then move up the staircase and see a new lock on the door, which is gene-coded. I made plenty of those things for the house, not trusting the devils not to be sneaky gits. I deactivated the lock and went towards my room to shower. I'm going to need a shower and time to debate with myself the pros and cons of enhancements.

I'm split there because they can be another equalizer against the supernatural world. Should I do gradual upgrades or go balls to the wall? I don't want to be a perpetual, yet that healing factor and the possibility of training faster than ever is very tempting. However, I half-bury that debate with other horrible questions I have, like, are there Xenos and Chaos here? If they are, we are fucked. Xenos can wipe us out in days if not hours same with Chaos. If they are not real, it's good, but why have this one thing that is 40k in this reality that doesn't have the brand? I'm very concerned because both options are bad.

I enter the shower and begin to start my debate. I could be the only damn thing that is protecting our planet from the very possibility of Xenos. I could also be freaking out over nothing, but there is no way to prove or disprove the possibility. The warp is everywhere in the multiverse; supposedly, that's why fantasy is a thing. I'm terrified of the answers to that question, yet I don't want to be an Emperor, and I certainly don't want to rule an Imperium. I'm just an idiot who has no idea what I'm doing.

Should I be that thing, or should I hide and hope for the best? I don't owe anyone anything, and this is not my reality. This is technically not my body. I have absolutely no right to demand anything from anyone. I don't want to conquer this reality for myself and force them to kneel to me. I'd drive humanity to extinction in a month if I were Emperor. Yet what if they are real? Can I stand by and let the Orks slaughter people? Can I let the Eldar begin their disgusting journey down to make Slannesh? What about the skeletons and the other Xenos that are in the setting? What about the Rangdon and the other disgusting things out there?

I'm so focused on my internal struggles that I almost don't hear a voice that isn't my own say something.

"Hard choices are a test of the Machine God and the Omnissiah."

What the? I look at my right hand, and my eyes widen further. The ring is there, lighting up and then darkening like it's breathing. I prepare to faint, but the voice stops me from doing that.

"Don't faint. I need answers that you have. Grab something and hold onto it."

I unconsciously grab the shower bar and press myself against it. Oh shit, I'm finally there, I'm mad. There is no other explanation except for perhaps sacred gear. Oh, I'm so boned. Raynare will find me and try to kill me! Oh, Machine God, save me! I prepare to freak out more, but the voice stops me at the cliffside.

"Please don't freak out. I'm close, too, and I'm completely not okay. I'm stuck in something that I don't get, and in some kid, I'm lost, too, but you seem to have a decent idea of what the frack is going on."

Oh, I'm so dead, but maybe the voice is like me? They are referring to the Machine God and the Omnissiah. That means they are Mechanicus or Mechcanicum. I reluctantly ask it.

"How long have you been awake?"

The voice doesn't respond for two minutes but eventually does.

"I woke up at about the time you got to Rangdon. I'm so lost. Kid, who are you?"

This is definitely sacred gear. The voice sounds like a woman.

"I'm Gregor. Who are you?"

The voice immediately responds.

"I'm Fabricator Koriel Zeth of Mars. I guess it's nice to meet you, Gregor."

Oh shit, that name.

"You know my name. Gregor, I'm not in the mood to play around. I need you to give me an idea of what is happening. Please, by Holy Mars, explain what the heck is going on."

I gulp.

"You are stuck in my body in what is very likely called sacred gear. You're in the far past, and I know of you through a book series that was written where I am originally from. I also forgot to mention that we are both in a universe with extremely stupid, illogical people and things."

Koriel doesn't respond. I pray to the Machine God that it was just me finally having a small mental break before returning to sanity. I'm disappointed when Koriel does respond.

"Book series? Sacred gear? The far past? Explain."

I gulp again.

"Yes, a book series called Horus Heresy. It was long, and you only really appeared in one book. Sacred gear is like being a psyker in that it gives you power, but it doesn't have the horrible drawbacks of being a psyker. It's an object in your soul that can do bullshit things. As for the far past, we are in the Third Millennium on pre-space flight Terra."

Koriel is silent again in horror and wonder. I don't know how I know that, but she finally spoke again five minutes later.

"Tell me everything about this book series, and explain everything about what you know. We are not in a good position right now."

I began to explain while shaking as the shower continued and the steam rose.

Two and a half hours later, we are sitting in pure silence in my room on my bed. The only sound is the birds singing outside my room window. Koriel is just thinking about everything that was said. I'm still freaking out. Not as severely as before, but I'm faking it until I make it. We sat in silence for another few minutes before Koriel finally spoke.

"We are being fucked with. I'm a tech priestess of Mars, and you're some kid who's not a kid. We're really both stuck in a world that is stupid. Why is the question and I don't think we will get an answer. We are against things that are stronger than us by a significant margin, and we are facing gods, a stupid emotionless lizard, a thing that sounds like a thing that lives in the immaterial world, and there is the possibility of Orks, the Eldar, these Necrons and the things you call Tyranids. In a universe with an extremely stupid hero that is like an extremely incompetent version of the Master of Mankind. Or is this wrong?"

I shake my head.

"That's accurate."

Koriel sighs.

"I die not having completed my life goal of returning technology to humanity that we lost in the Dark Age of Technology, thanks to the favorite son of the Emperor having daddy issues and my lord fabricator turning on the thing that saved humanity. I'm stuck in this gear thing in your soul. We are not in my reality or yours where I was entertainment."

I wince.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

Koriel sighs again.

"We stand in the past for me and you in a place that has creatures that can use magic, and we have only the two of us against them all, and then the possible Xenos. In a reality that might not have the Master of Mankind, with the world ignorant of the fact Xenos might exist, we can be murdered easily, and we will not be safe until we either hide away thoroughly or conquer everything on this planet."

"Yes, but there are worse places to be, and we are both miserable together, at least."

Koriel is as broken as I am.

"We are 'boned,' as you would say. I don't know what to do. I'm alive, yet not alive. You're right this could be worse. I could be with this perverted hero or permanently dead. What is the very basic plan you have made?"

I look at the wall and see nothing but beige.

"The plan was to get into shape and test the limits of the gear. I'm guessing that half the equation is your knowledge of the weapons of war and items of peace from the far future. With that working through my body to build, and my imagination and knowledge of basic things you don't know about to fill in the gaps, with the gear, we can make the tools of our salvation or destruction. I don't know what to do after getting into shape."

We sit in silence again, but Koriel sounds extremely down.

"It's like we are an STC but missing the middle point. The guess is educated enough. I hesitate to call this gear that, but we are not going anywhere until we have a more certain plan."

I softly reply,

"I'd actually call it an anvil of the void, but your name fits better. I don't want to have to become the Emperor. I don't want to become immortal. I just wanted my girlfriend back and to not have everyone I know looking at me as a failure. I'm in a body whose original owner I probably killed in a world with mega perverts and magic girls."

We both shiver at the thought of the foes of the sane. Perverts and magic girls are our greatest enemies.

"You might have to. We are two of the most logical people in this realm. We don't have the luxury to do nothing. I hope this Chaos doesn't exist or these bugs."

"I hope they don't exist either, but you are right, we are being fucked with. Our new plan must be grand scale and never leave things out. We might have to become the first of what the Imperial Guard was in a wall against the idiots in humanity and the defenders of our planet."

Koriel is tired of everything. The voice she has is nothing but disappointment.

"You are correct. I will make the first step. We need this perpetual thing. Yes, immortality is not important for you, but for me, we need it because I'm not dying and losing knowledge."

I sigh; that makes sense for a high-ranking Tech-Priest.

"That's fair. I don't know how it works, but maybe I can bullshit my way to it like the damn tit's bastard. It might not happen. That's step one of the new plan. May I suggest step two?"

Koriel nods her acceptance as I commit to this shit idea.

"We need to get as strong as possible in as short a time as possible. We have less than a year before we have the mega pervert do his thing, and I don't want to be in that school. Yet I'm legally sixteen, and a condition of my emancipation is that I have to go to school and graduate. My mom argued for that before they died."

Koriel sighs.

"That is negligible. Do we have to be near that thing?"

Sadly, I don't see another option.

"It's very likely that we will have to so we have an inch of control and possible excuses for being us. No, I won't betray our humanity unless we absolutely have to. No cyborg stuff unless we get injured too badly and if the perpetual thing doesn't work."

Koriel sighs in sadness. We are definitely mood-kindred.

"We need sword training and practice how to shoot. We need to do everything, and I will draw up a plan to the minute to maximize our time. We must be ready to fight them all."

I nod in acceptance.

"We will, or we are dead otherwise."

We, two strangers stuck in the shit together, now lay out our plan. I get up from the bed and make my way to the basement again. Once downstairs, I summon the anvil and blink when a second person stands on the other side. It's Koriel, who is mostly human and not her base description. She is wearing the red robes of Mars and blinks at me, too.

"This is strange. I'm here, yet not here."

I nod.

"Gear is so strange; it was made by a god who was okay. He wanted us humans to be able to fight against the other side of the world to defend ourselves."

Koriel notices the past tense.

"This god is dead, isn't it?"

"He is. I don't know who killed him. It's always a toss-up between certain characters, but most agree that a person called Kokabiel does the deed after a different foe weakens Big G. He's a warmonger and a prick, but the Emperor is like that, too."

Koriel shakes her head.

"He is logical like we are. There are reasons why he does what he does. They are for you, disgusting in the past, but they make sense in the future. You value life too much."

I snark back.

"You in the future don't value it enough."

We look at each other in silence at the philosophical disagreement before I shift my gaze to the anvil.

"We can try making an MIU and mechadedrites for extra hands for weapons. Do you know how to describe it to an idiot?"

"I do. More arms and hands are good."

Koriel begins to describe the MIU. I picture it in my head, and after hearing the whole description, I swing the hammer. The light is bright and blinds me, but Koriel has cybernetic eyes. When the light lessens on the anvil, there is the description of an MIU in the shape of a microchip. I pick it up and place it in the left-hand pocket of my jeans. Koriel is impressed.

"This gear has potential. That is a perfect example of a correctly designed and made MIU. Your reserves?"

I don't feel too bad.

"I don't know how to measure it yet, but I feel okay. I'm a little winded, but I'm okay. You're a master of genetics?"

Koriel nods and then begins to describe her experience in the Magos Biologis. I think about everything I know about the perpetual gene and combine it with the knowledge shared. The light is not bright, but on the anvil is a serum needle case. I feel so very sick as I gently pick up the needle case and put it in my pocket. Then, I clutch the anvil hard while Koriel looks at me in concern. I, however, manage to stay conscious.

"That took a lot out of me. It only does that when it works, but I'm not sure I should use it. Not yet."

Koriel understands my hesitation.

"We might have to use it. I urge you to use it. Science is facts and experiments. Despite my hesitation in being a true believer in the Cult Mechanicum, this requires faith."

I nod in depressed agreement.

"I will try to have that. I'm only a Cult Mechanicus believer now because of the anvil and Chainy-chan. Otherwise, I was agnostic, but I liked Mars's approach."

Koriel nods.

"Can you make mechadendrites? Or do you need time?"

I'm still clutching the anvil hard.

"I need time. This hurts so much I feel like I'm going to faint."

Koriel is now extremely worried. If I die, she dies. Oh, by the Machine God, it hurts so badly, but I am not going to be a bitch. I have to overcome this and can't be weak anymore. The machine is and will always be immortal. I steady myself and don't faint.

I finally look up at Koriel after ten minutes of the room spinning. She is extremely worried, and I don't like that. She is the person who is going to be here for the rest of my new life. I can't make this worse for both of us. I finally reached my full height.

"Describe mechadendrites. Please."

Koriel is still worried, but I don't want to fail again. She begins to describe the arms. I picture them, and I go for six arms. Two arms for guns and four for melee weapons. I shake but raise my hammer, then swing. The light is now nothing for me, and I breathe harder when done. There on the anvil is a pack with six arms. I grip the anvil hard, but I'm still up. That changed when I finally collapsed and hit the carpet hard. The anvil disappears, as does Koriel, while the ring stays and lights up.

"Gregor, are you okay?"

I speak, my voice barely a whisper.

"I'm still here and hurt badly. It's bitch pain compared to you and your cybernetics. Oh, it hurts."

I finally steady myself again twenty minutes later. I get up and still keep heavily breathing in pain. What powers the anvil? Is it my soul or something else? It hurts so badly, yet I'm not going to Grigori and Azazel. Vali is there along with Raynare and Kokabiel. I will have to endure this until I figure it out. Koriel softly speaks from the ring.

"Gregor, you need to take a break."

"I can't. If I do, that's wasted time. We are in a possible race against the clock, and I now understand the Emperor better than ever before. If we fail and leave it up to fate with that idiot the planet is doomed. I must be a Skitarii of Mars that doesn't flinch because we are so very fucked if the idiot doesn't have plot armor. I have to do anything and everything to win this."

I continue breathing hard and will the anvil back. Koriel appears again, and she is beyond worried. I must not falter here. I keep the anvil out despite how much it hurts, despite how much my eyes are starting to water. I keep it up for ten more minutes before I collapse again. I don't feel like I'm dying just beyond tired and in so much pain. I finally, thankfully, fall unconscious.

When I wake up again, I'm unsure how much time has passed. I weakly get up before collapsing again. I rise again, and this time, I stay on my feet. I slowly walk towards the stairs and then deactivate the lock. Entering the main floor, I slowly go to the kitchen to grab bread and meat for a sandwich. Koriel speaks up from the ring.

"I am glad you're still alive. I don't know what powers the gear."

I slowly start making the sandwich.

"I think it might be my soul or something else. This might be a Longinus, but that's stupid. There are only thirteen original ones, and none have ever been described like this. We need to keep experimenting with it."

Koriel asks about the gear system, and I slowly explain it while hurting and making food. She disbelieves the explanation but slowly concludes that we might be mid-high tier on the scale at the least. This, however, in her opinion, might be a new Longinus. I don't like that because it's another reason to kill us, with the thirteen and now possibly fourteen being potential god killers. We are boned more if it's a Longinus. Koriel continues to ask more and more questions about gear while I answer them as best I can.

When I'm done eating, I check the time on the clock, and it's midafternoon. I get ready to begin pushups after I take the MIU and the needle case out. I don't like how the needle case is calling for me to use it. It would solve so many of my issues. Flesh is indeed weak as I hear its siren call. I finally finished my pushups and prepared for a jog around the block. I'm still undecided on the needle, but Koriel urges me again.

"Take the needle. It might solve most of our current problems. We need everything to make it easier for the end goal of survival."

That needle beckons further at those words. I don't want it, though. Immortality is not something you should ever want. You're just stuck there, and while you are extremely happy at the beginning, you suffer more in the end. I continue my hesitation before I see in my mind's eye a person who is screwed so badly here.

Asia, the nun with a heart of pure gold. Issei is good to her and does try with her, but she is a slave to Rias because she trusts the wrong people. She loses the ability to pray to the God she loves until later. It's funny her praying as a devil for a bit, but it just gets sad. She would never hurt anyone. I imagine more people that are screwed over. They are real and not pictures or word descriptions. I imagine Kuroka and her struggle of being a good sister. Rossweiss as she takes abuse from Odin. I have the ability to be better than who I was, but I'd lose what makes me human. I could become like the Emperor, a cold-hearted person who, while being logical about his actions, didn't try to consider the people they affected. I'm torn with the dreaded Greater Good. Do I do this for that? Koriel saw my hesitation.

"This is your first choice that will shape our world and reality. Do you hesitate, or do you become the first cog that makes the new machine? We are all part of the machine of reality, and a cog is always the beginning. Take the serum."

I hesitate, but I will have to make tough choices if I become an Emperor. I have no idea how to do anything. I didn't do much of college, and I don't have degrees that can help me with ruling. Yet what right do I have to demand the world kneel to me? I am not a superhero or even a regular hero. Yet to do nothing is horrible, too. I won't easily be able to justify the reasons why I'm doing this.

How can I explain a Necron Gauss gun that atomizes you in a second? How can I explain a shuriken gun the Eldar might have if they are at the height of their power? How can I explain the Orks to people and how just one landing on Earth is a death sentence for us? How the galaxy could be completely screwed if we ever attract the attention of the Tyranids? If they are real, and Chaos, with its horrific effects and influences on the material world and how we mortals feed warp entities. There is no context to explain the basics to people if any of those threats are real and have no sources other than faith, which isn't always easy to have.

I picture the people of this world and those who don't have this cursed knowledge. Can I ever justify to them that I didn't want to be a ruler?

Great and horrible people are not born with that greatness or horror. They are made by choices based on the present and desired future. I want us all to not be afraid of the void like the far future. I want a world where we can reach for the stars in wonder and not recoil from them in horror and despair. Can I reach for the needle in certainty and not regret too much? Asia and her purity flash again. I'm not that as I'm jaded and bitter as my world was beginning to break the masquerade of kindness. Can I do that to this one who is still in the full illusion of grace? That face and the species of this world flash again. I lower my head and prepare to eventually make the collar I don't want and will never want once I set down the path of Empire.

I reach for the needle case and open it. I'm surprised, as is Koriel when a note falls to the floor. I set the case down and picked up the note. It's on very worn paper folded into many pieces. I opened it slowly.

You who now read this paper are brave. You who saw what I saw in a future of grim hopelessness and endless suffering. I who write this am The Biblical God. Yes, that one. I made this gear as my last finished project before the end. I knowingly go to my death like the Angel, knowing it can't be changed. Yet I also couldn't leave humanity here alone without the guardian I was. Your gear is my last truly finished Longinus and my last hope to protect the world from the cold, dark void. I don't know who you are. I don't know if I have given the tools of the future to one who will enslave the present or to one who is the goodness of mankind. I have and always will believe in free will. I, however, will try to make your uncertainty a bit better. The tumors are not here in our reality. We are in a special situation where we can be free of them. But the Xenos are real, I can't tell you what other than there are no bugs. I was the most powerful of the gods humanity made yet I could never see the alien despite my best efforts. Before you ask, no, I'm not your species' creator. That's still the Old Ones, but you humans are my children of choice. I like you might want them safe given the Emperor never existed here. The gear is powered by your soul and enhanced further with your imagination. It was suppressed until you were brought here for good reasons. The pain of creating will be bad at first but shall lessen slowly and should not kill you. Please tell the other part of the gear I am sorry for doing that to them. I found them floating in the warp void and wanted to help them, too, even if it doesn't seem like that now. As for you, I didn't take you that was arranged by the One Above All. I asked for help from it. It said that it would help this place as it, too, like me, agrees we should not have to rely on a mega pervert. They are a good person, but they don't think of the big picture. I hope you do. You don't have to be anything you don't want to be. Just make the decision you feel is right.

G.

I look at the paper in disbelieving tears. I was torn from my old life by something more powerful than a god. I feel such relief with Chaos and the bugs not being here, calming my fear significantly. I don't know what Xenos are real, but if the Old Ones did make us then the Orks, Aeldari, and the Necrons are probably real. The God, who was the best out of them all in the setting, saw what the future could be like, and he wanted to stop it, too. I don't have to be an Emperor, possibly. I can and will always have free will. This means I could be an utter bastard if I were like that. I have a choice. I was again tempted there before I shook my head. I will choose to be better for once in my miserable life. That kills my final hesitation as I pick up the syringe.

The liquid is a clear blue, and I pray to the Machine God to guide my hand here. I put the syringe close to my arm and raise my shirt before stabbing it in, injecting the liquid into my body.

I feel nothing for a second, but then I fall to the floor, screaming in agony at the sudden burning sensation across my entire body from the gene being injected into me. Koriel is begging through the ring that I will be alright, stay conscious, and endure this. I screamed and screamed before I found enough strength to bite the greyish carpet to muffle the noise a bit. Oh, Machine God, it hurts worse than the anvil at no strength. I stay conscious, thinking of them, I will try for them. Asia, who needs a friend. The Kendo Club I will help stop the perverts from peeping on. The people that the Chaos Brigade will try to abuse. The pieces of that prick Diodora, broken and enslaved to him. The redhead who is stuck with a devil that is not terrible but is a pig. Yes, even that pervert, whoever they are. I don't want them to suffer from things I know of and can help fix. I will be the Warrior of Mars for everyone, enduring anything that comes my way for them.

Finally, the burning starts to lessen. I stop screaming as much and let up on the carpet. I let out several more whimpers as the pain leaves slowly. I gasp and take multiple shallow breaths. Twenty minutes later, the pain is mostly gone. I stand up, wobbly, and almost fall twice. I need to test this out. I make my way to the kitchen and look for a knife. Koriel is worried beyond belief.

"I felt echoes of that, too. It was worse than when I sawed off my leg. How did you not go mad?"

I breathe harder and pull a knife from a drawer.

"The path to duty is often a stony one, made smoother by thoughts of others. The Ecclesiarchy is nuts, believing that the Omnissiah was a god, but they had good things in them. I will not accept anything less than a hundred percent effort from me as I protect them in ignorance."

I look at the knife and then cut a long line down my left arm. Oh, it hurts. I don't scream this time. As I withdraw the knife from the wound, my injury begins to close. It's slow at first but gets faster per second, like how it's supposed to work. I'm a perpetual now, for better or worse. I am not going to be abused by the supernatural world. I will stop them from killing humans, and I will never forget the pain of this. Everything I do is for them. Every bone broken, every piece of pain, and every other thing I do is for them. Koriel is impressed.

"You would have been a good Tech Priest. Too soft, but you know sacrifice."

"I won't be like the Mechanicus of the future. My Mechanicus is the one I build for myself now. I will make our future through Iron and Blood. We can get the middle point, Koriel."

That makes Koriel stop her next scolding. She widens her eyes to the size of saucers.

"You plan to make the Reader to return knowledge to us."

"Our gear is an STC. I will make your dream real, too. We are stuck together now, and I want to show you that you're not just a tool. You're my partner in everything. Since we are a Longinus user, we must get to whatever our balance break is. Flesh leads to perverts like the idiot, but it led to our golden age, too. I will see Mars and will get us the stars once again. I want to be Fabricator-General eventually, but I'm a Skitarii until then."

Koriel is actually beyond measure impressed by that.

"Then let's build this together. You will be a great Fabricator-General. I'd be happy to build this with you. You're like Kel Bor Hal, a person who doesn't flinch. Don't be him in destroying us."

I'll take that compliment, but I won't be Fabricator-General until we get to Mars. I will see the Red Planet or go to the void in failure. I clean the knife and then put it away in a separate drawer as a reminder. I go back to the living room and pick up the MIU.

"How do I apply this?"

Koriel explains.

"Attach it to the base of your neck. The chip will send needles that will then burrow into the spine, and then you can attach the mechadendrite pack to it via the nerve connection. It will hurt for a second."

I nod.

"Teach me everything you can. I want to understand everything so I can repair things without the gear. I want to be worthy of Fabricator status."

Koriel smiles inside me.

"I'll work that into the schedule. We have eternity now, and I'd be happy to have you as my student, Gregor."

I go to the basement, still hurting, and open the door to go down the stairs to get the mechadendrites. I pick up the pack and take both items upstairs to my bedroom. I put my mechadendrites down on the bed before I slowly put the MIU on my upper spine, and I feel the needles immediately dig into my spine, and it doesn't hurt much. I still need to run and get more exercise. I feel much better than I did on Friday. Some things are better, and now I have an actual goal that isn't just survival. I want Mars, and I will get it through Iron and Blood. I will be like the machine, immortal.

As I attached the pack to my back, I felt the extra arms beginning to come out of the pack, and I started testing them. Koriel explains how to use them, giving tips and tricks to make them work better. The fight has only just begun.

An. Hopefully this answered a bit of the question asked and raises more. The perpetual thing makes sense for Koriel and for a human that needs to fight the supernatural. He's not Emperor strength in it and we know that artificial perpetuals are a thing because of John Gramaticus. Hope that explains that a bit. And it seems that there is enough interest that I'll keep posting this. Sadly no massive killing rampage yet my awesome Ork man. That will be later.

Ann. Updated 6/23/2024