Chapter 269 — The Price of Distance
The workshop remained active as always.
Holographic displays floated above workstations. Simulation results updated continuously. Material analyses scrolled across transparent screens while Jarvis quietly processed tasks in the background.
For a few moments after the morning greetings.
Catherine Halsey stepped forward.
"I spoke with Admiral Parangosky."
The statement immediately drew Tony's attention.
"We discussed what technology we should exchange for this."
Tony and Gaius paused.
Behind them, Naruto and Mindy remained silent, listening.
Tony raised an eyebrow.
"What technology?"
Halsey folded her arms lightly.
"As far as we understand, the lasgun and its power pack originate from Gaius's civilization."
Her gaze briefly shifted toward the giant warrior before returning to Tony.
"If we want to offer something of equivalent value, we first need a better understanding of what his civilization already possesses."
Tony nodded immediately.
That was reasonable.
Technology exchanges only worked when both sides understood what the other side actually needed.
Otherwise, they risked trading something valuable for something redundant.
Halsey continued.
"We need to know more about the Imperium."
Then she looked directly at Gaius.
"Otherwise, we risk offering something that has little value to your people."
Gaius understood her reasoning immediately.
After a brief moment of consideration, he nodded.
"That is reasonable."
Halsey's expression relaxed slightly.
"Then I would like to ask some questions."
Gaius gave another nod.
"You may ask."
For the briefest moment, something brightened in Halsey's eyes.
She had far more questions than she could possibly ask in a single conversation.
About the Imperium.
The Astartes.
The Warp.
Their technology.
And Gaius himself.
But she restrained herself.
One step at a time.
She began with what seemed like the most fundamental question.
"According to what you told Commander Osman before."
She looked directly at him.
"What are these enemies you mentioned?"
Gaius answered without hesitation.
"Xenos. Orks. Rebellions."
The terms were familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Aliens.
Wars.
Internal conflict.
All understandable.
Yet there was one term she remembered from earlier conversations.
One term that seemed different from the others.
One term that carried more weight whenever Gaius spoke about it.
Before she could ask, Gaius continued.
"Xenos, Orks, and rebellions."
He paused briefly.
"These are enemies the Imperium contends with constantly."
His voice remained calm.
"We fight them every day across countless worlds."
By now, Tony, Naruto, and Mindy had moved slightly aside to avoid interrupting.
Gaius continued.
"But Chaos remains the greatest threat."
The difference was immediate.
Halsey noticed it.
His tone had changed.
Only slightly, but enough.
When he spoke about Orks or other alien species, there was certainty.
Professionalism.
Military practicality.
When he spoke about Chaos, there was something else.
Something heavier.
"For it can turn humanity itself against us."
Halsey frowned.
"Turn humanity against you?"
That immediately captured her attention.
She could understand alien threats.
She could understand rebellions.
Human history was filled with both.
But this sounded different.
Was Chaos an ideology?
A political movement?
A religion?
Some kind of memetic threat?
How exactly could an enemy turn an entire civilization against itself?
Gaius answered calmly.
"Chaos comes from the Warp."
"The Warp is the Immaterium."
Halsey opened her mouth to ask another question.
But Gaius continued before she could interrupt.
"The Immaterium is a parallel dimension."
The workshop grew quieter.
"It is where many intangible things leave their imprint."
He continued.
"Thoughts."
"Emotions."
"Souls."
"And countless other things that do not exist physically."
Halsey listened carefully.
A parallel dimension.
That alone was difficult enough to verify scientifically.
Then there was the rest.
Thoughts.
Emotions.
Souls.
Her mind immediately began organizing the information.
Testing it.
Comparing it against known scientific principles.
Looking for frameworks that could explain it.
"Souls?"
She repeated the word.
For a moment she thought.
"That sounds similar to Hell."
Then she shook her head.
"No."
"Not exactly."
"In religious traditions, Hell is where souls go after death."
She studied him carefully.
"You are describing something much broader."
Gaius nodded.
"It could be compared to Hell."
"But it is not truly Hell."
"The Warp is a reflection of the material universe."
"A place shaped by the thoughts and emotions of living beings."
His voice remained steady.
"And within that reflection reside the entities Humanity calls Chaos."
"The Ruinous Powers."
The workshop became noticeably quieter.
Even Naruto stopped fidgeting.
Tony and the others, however, remained calm. Unlike Halsey, he and the others had spent considerable time around Gaius. They had learned enough about the Warp to understand why discussions about it were treated differently.
Halsey noticed it immediately.
More importantly, she noticed the way Gaius spoke about them.
Not fear.
Not quite.
But caution.
Something she had not heard when he discussed Orks or aliens.
"Ruinous Powers?" Halsey repeated.
"Powers that bring ruin?"
Gaius nodded.
"With the emotions, thoughts, and souls of living beings reflecting into the Warp, many entities have formed over countless ages."
He paused.
"But there are four that stand above all others."
"The strongest."
His voice remained calm.
"These four beings of the Warp call themselves gods."
That immediately captured Halsey's attention.
Her thoughts accelerated.
Entities born from emotions.
Thoughts.
Souls.
On the surface, it sounded impossible.
But if the Warp existed exactly as described, then such a phenomenon would at least possess internal consistency.
Its own rules.
Its own logic.
"So these beings were created by the emotions and souls of living creatures?"
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
Halsey's eyes narrowed slightly.
Several pieces immediately connected.
The Warp.
The Ruinous Powers.
Chaos turning humanity against itself.
The conclusion came quickly.
"Then these entities can influence people."
Gaius remained silent.
Halsey took that silence as confirmation.
She continued.
"They corrupt humans."
"If they were born from emotions and thoughts, then they would naturally possess some means of interacting with them."
Her mind continued racing through possibilities.
"It would explain what you meant earlier."
"It can make humanity fight itself."
Gaius gave a small nod.
"Correct."
Silence followed.
Halsey folded her arms.
That was far more dangerous than a conventional enemy.
Aliens could be fought.
Rebellions could be crushed.
But an enemy capable of corrupting people from within?
An enemy that weaponized the weaknesses already present inside humanity?
That was different.
Far different.
For the first time since the conversation began, she fully understood why Gaius treated Chaos differently.
The Warp.
The Ruinous Powers.
Corruption.
Subversion.
An enemy that attacked from within.
There was clearly much more to the subject.
Much more than Gaius had revealed.
And she wanted answers.
Many answers.
Questions about Chaos.
Questions about the Warp.
Questions about the Imperium.
Questions about these so-called gods.
But she stopped herself.
The answers had not reduced the number of questions.
If anything, they had only added more.
Those questions could wait.
The purpose of this discussion was technological exchange.
Not theology.
Not metaphysics.
Not a complete history lesson.
So she redirected the conversation.
"For what you've seen so far, Gaius, what technology would be most valuable to your Imperium?"
Gaius considered the question for a moment.
Then answered.
"The most important would be Slipspace technology."
The response surprised her immediately.
He continued.
"Your long-range communications as well."
His gaze briefly shifted toward various workshop displays.
"From what I have observed, your communications appear capable of functioning across interstellar distances with very little delay."
For the first time during the discussion, Halsey visibly blinked.
That answer genuinely surprised her.
Not because Slipspace lacked value.
It absolutely possessed value.
But because he was asking for it.
An empire spanning millions of worlds should already possess faster-than-light travel.
Otherwise such a civilization could not exist.
"If your Imperium spans millions of worlds," Halsey said slowly, "then you already possess faster-than-light travel."
Her eyes narrowed.
"So why would you need ours?"
Gaius nodded.
"We do."
The answer did not satisfy her.
"Then explain."
Gaius remained silent briefly.
Then answered.
"We travel through the Warp."
The moment he spoke, everything connected.
The Warp.
The Immaterium.
Chaos.
The Ruinous Powers.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Then Humanity is in a far worse situation than I thought."
Tony glanced toward her.
Halsey continued.
"If your ships have to travel through the same dimension where these entities exist..."
She paused.
"...then every voyage is exposed to them."
Now she understood.
Completely.
Gaius wasn't asking for Slipspace because the Imperium lacked faster-than-light travel.
He was asking because their existing method was dangerous.
Dangerous on a scale she was only beginning to comprehend.
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
His voice remained calm.
"If not for the Astronomican, Humanity would be lost."
Halsey's attention immediately locked onto the unfamiliar term.
"The Astronomican?"
"A beacon."
Gaius answered simply.
"It guides Humanity through the Warp."
He paused.
"But even with it, ships are still lost."
His expression became noticeably more solemn.
"Some disappear."
"Some arrive decades late."
"Some never arrive at all."
"And some encounter things within the Warp."
Nobody spoke.
The workshop had become completely silent.
Gaius continued.
"Many worlds have been isolated."
"Many fleets have been destroyed."
"Many lives have been lost."
His voice remained steady.
"Especially when the Ruinous Powers interfere."
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Halsey finally understood.
From Gaius's perspective, Slipspace was not simply another method of travel.
It was potentially freedom from dependence on the Warp.
Freedom from exposure to Chaos.
Freedom from a threat that seemed woven into every aspect of Imperial civilization.
And if even half of what he described was true...
Then the value of Slipspace technology to the Imperium might exceed her original estimates entirely.
Her attention briefly lingered on the Astronomican.
The term remained intriguing.
What exactly was it?
A machine?
A network?
A phenomenon?
Something else entirely?
But she did not ask.
Not yet.
Instead, she focused on the matter at hand.
Slipspace technology.
She understood the significance of what Gaius was requesting.
And she also understood the significance of granting it.
If the Imperium truly valued it this highly, then it represented more than a trade.
It represented an opportunity.
Trust.
Cooperation.
A foundation for future exchanges.
The lasgun already demonstrated that Gaius's civilization was willing to share meaningful military technology.
That mattered.
The exchange was not one-sided.
And despite possessing the ability to leave whenever they wished, the otherworlders had repeatedly chosen cooperation instead.
That mattered too.
Halsey lowered her gaze slightly as she considered everything.
Then she looked back up.
"I will tell Parangosky about this."
Her tone was calm and confident.
"And I'll make her agree with me."
A brief pause.
"Don't worry."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Gaius looked at her and inclined his head.
"You have my thanks."
Halsey nodded.
Then a small smile appeared.
Not because of the thanks.
Because now she had what she wanted.
A reason to continue.
A reason to ask more questions.
A reason to keep digging deeper.
"Then with your thanks..."
She looked directly at him.
"I want to know more about your universe, Gaius."
Because the deeper she looked into Gaius's world, the more she realized how little she truly knew.
Tony immediately smiled.
~~~
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