A day later, Archer arrived at Reddito's room on time and respectfully handed him the parchment covered with dense calculations. He had expected Reddito to ask some questions, testing whether he had truly done the problems, but to his surprise, the other party merely glanced at it casually, not even uttering a single syllable, before setting it aside, as if it were just an unimportant piece of scrap paper.
"Follow me," Reddito said, and his mechanized body rose and left without a moment's hesitation, with Archer immediately following him.
Reddito led Archer into a spacious, dimly lit warehouse, where only a few work lights cast a faint glow. In the center of the warehouse, stood the Helldivers Company's Wyvern Suppressor, its massive body appearing particularly heavy in the shadows.
"Do you recognize it?" Reddito's synthesized voice echoed through the hall.
Archer nodded, "I've even driven it."
"Very good," Reddito said, "What you are to do next is to communicate with this Suppressor's machine spirit."
"This… this vehicle has a machine spirit?!" Archer said in astonishment.
"Why do you think she doesn't have a machine spirit?" Reddito countered.
"Because she seemed very normal in previous battles," Archer explained, "There were no instances of 'firing despite insufficient ammunition' or 'advancing despite insufficient fuel'…"
Everything he said was learned during an emergency cram session on official warhammer lore.
"No, she has a machine spirit," Reddito stated unequivocally, his tone resolute, "Sense her carefully. I give you six terra hour. Report to me after six terra hour."
With that, Reddito said no more and turned to leave the warehouse, leaving Archer alone with the massive war machine.
Archer hesitated. Although the metaphysical existence of a machine spirit challenged his worldview, this was, after all, a completely different world, and the existence of entirely different rules and things was reasonable.
So Archer decided to first act according to the tenets of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The fact that these tenets had been followed for ten thousand years, besides the notion of ossification, also suggested there might be a reason for their existence.
He took a deep breath, found the maintenance tools and sacred oils commonly used by the Adeptus Mechanicus from a nearby toolbox, and began to venerate the Suppressor with an attitude so solemn it bordered on piety, following the procedures he had learned on Earth.
He lit incense, ignited several rune-engraved candles, and carefully applied sacred oil to the Suppressor's joints and armor seams, each motion imbued with a solemn sense of ritual. Then, he took out a scarlet silk cloth, embroidered with the gear symbol of the Omnissiah in gold thread, and carefully draped it over the Suppressor's turret, the golden threads shimmering in the dim light.
If Archer were asked to treat a god or a person with such an attitude, he certainly couldn't do it. Even if he truly became a Tech-Priest in the future, his faith in the Omnissiah would likely extend no further than cursing, "By the Omnissiah's backside!" when encountering difficulties.
But to treat an armored vehicle, with which he spent day and night and on which his life depended, with a solemn attitude of maintenance, presented no major psychological barrier, as it was difficult not to develop some affection.
As it was his first time doing this, Archer proceeded slowly to avoid mistakes, striving for precision in every step, taking almost two full hours to complete.
Upon successful completion, looking at the gleaming, magnificent Suppressor before him, Archer felt a sense of accomplishment, but also a touch of oddity… It looked less like a war machine and more like a model bought by a wealthy collector to play with—too beautiful, to the point of losing the violent and deterrent aesthetic a war machine should possess.
Archer shook his head, casting the thought aside, and took off the gloves he had worn while oiling, carefully placing them on the Suppressor's hull.
After a while, Archer and the Suppressor stared at each other for more than ten minutes, and nothing happened.
Perhaps he should say something? The thought flashed through his mind, and Archer, as if by some strange impulse, with a hint of uncertainty, said, "Are you there?"
As soon as he spoke, Archer regretted it. He felt like an idiot.
"I am."
A tender and clear voice resonated directly in his mind.
Archer was startled, then, realizing what had happened, he suddenly widened his eyes: "There really is a machine spirit?! And I can actually communicate with it?!"
"We are of the same origin, the same kind, why shouldn't we be able to communicate?" the Suppressor asked, its voice tinged with a hint of confusion, "I was just wondering why you kept staring blankly and not speaking."
Archer's tense heart relaxed. He could communicate with the machine spirit; this test was passed. It seemed he was one step closer to becoming Reddito's apprentice. But then he grew worried again. According to the original guesses of the Academy of Sciences, as an Earth human, he should not have a soul, at least not a soul in the warhammer universe sense. But now, it seemed this conjecture had been overturned.
"What do you mean by 'same origin, same kind'?" Archer asked internally.
"I don't know," the Suppressor said, like a newborn, its voice carrying pure naivety, "I just feel a strong affinity with you. Isn't that enough?"
Is it the system? Archer thought of this. If there was any connection between them, it could only be that they were both within the player system, but this was precisely something they could not delve into at the moment.
"How about we chat for a while?" the Suppressor asked, "I'm bored."
Archer quickly agreed, "Of course, no problem!"
Six terra hour later, Reddito pushed open the door and saw a scene that was both amusing and bewildering—Archer was sprawled on the Suppressor's roof, holding a rag, vigorously wiping the inner wall of the mortar barrel.
"What are you doing?" Reddito asked.
Archer straightened up, his face smudged with oil, but looking exceptionally excited: "Uh, Esteemed Reddito? The Suppressor said her mortar barrel's inner wall felt a bit uncomfortable, so I'm helping her wipe it…"
As he spoke, as if in response to Archer, the Suppressor's massive engine rumbled twice, emitting a deep roar.
"It seems you succeeded," Reddito nodded slightly, "I must say, your Helldivers' enthusiasm and talent for machinery are even higher than I imagined."
"You pass this time. Follow me, the final test awaits."
Archer quickly packed everything up, briefly said goodbye to the Suppressor, and followed Reddito to another room. Upon entering, Archer saw dense blueprints hung on the walls and laid out on tables; some were hand-drawn, others were unique runic diagrams of the Adeptus Mechanicus, complex and intertwined, forming a dazzling ocean of knowledge.
"Your company commander just spoke with me. He hopes to design a brand-new carapace armor for the Helldivers," Reddito said slowly, his mechanical arm pointing to an unfinished design on the wall, "The key focus is that it must be able to connect to a brain-computer interface after mechanical modification, allowing 750 milliliters of medicinal liquid to be injected into the body with just a thought, greatly boosting combat power."
Reddito turned, his red optical lenses looking directly at Archer, a hint of subtle cunning in his tone: "I have completed all the most difficult parts for you; the rest are trivial steps that can be solved by mathematical exhaustion alone. If you truly understood that set of problems, I think this won't be difficult for you; three days will be enough to catch up on the remaining progress."
He paused, then added, "Design it well; this concerns the lives of your comrades."
With that, Reddito once again left the room, leaving Archer alone to face the mountain of blueprints.
Archer looked at the dense blueprints before him, and he finally understood. No wonder this Tech-Priest so easily agreed to his request to become an apprentice… He was just looking for a laborer to do his work!