As the terms of the agreement were entered into the Forge World's core database, Osiris' Archmagos promotion process was initiated.
This was not a public celebration, but a secret ceremony conducted within the Adeptus Mechanicus, strictly adhering to ancient rites.
The ceremony took place in the "Data Sanctum," deep within the main forge area.
This was a colossal circular hall, its walls composed of cooled lava and embedded data conduits, with countless tiny indicator lights twinkling like a nebula in the darkness.
The air was thick with a mixed scent of ozone, incense, and hot metal.
At the center of the hall was a recessed ritual area, its floor intricately inscribed with binary prayers and gear patterns.
Only Fabricator-General Vox, the three most senior resident Archmagos, and Osiris, as the protagonist, participated in the ceremony.
All were clad in their most formal red robes, their mechanical tentacles and optical lenses gleaming with a cold light in the dim illumination.
Archmagos Vox occupied the main position, his track platform connected to the ground's data interface, serving as the ceremony's officiant and witness.
There were no impassioned speeches, no crowds of onlookers.
The entire ceremony proceeded in almost absolute silence, broken only by the faint hum of servo-skulls hovering, the low pulsation from the distant forges, and the subtle hiss of data flowing through cables.
The core components of the promotion were "Knowledge Scrutiny" and "Authority Transfer."
The three Archmagoss connected directly to Osiris' logic core via data cables, engaging in high-speed binary code Q&A, examining his understanding of Adeptus Mechanicus dogma, his grasp of technological ethics, and especially conducting a final inquiry into the technical details and potential risks of the "Ancient Logic Core" he had discovered.
Osiris' logic core operated efficiently, responding to all questions with precise, rigorous data streams, his answers conforming to the doctrinal framework while cleverly concealing the essence of the rogue AI beneath the explanation of a "unique ancient architecture."
The scrutiny lasted a full standard hour.
When the last Archmagos disconnected and sent a single green light code to Vox, signifying approval, the crucial moment arrived.
Archmagos Vox slowly raised his primary mechanical tentacle, at the end of which he held a metal staff approximately 1.5 meters long.
This "Explorer's Staff" was crafted entirely from dark metal, its shaft etched with intricate circuit patterns and motifs of exploring unknown star systems, topped by a slowly rotating, complex gear assembly, with a crystal emitting a soft blue light embedded at its center.
"In the name of the omnissiah, and by the authority granted by the Council of Mars," Vox's synthesized voice echoed through the Sanctum with unprecedented solemnity, "given that Priest Osiris has made outstanding achievements in the path of exploration, recovered lost technological relics, and injected new vitality and possibilities into Neksum's future… his knowledge, his will, and his devotion to the Way of the Machine have passed the sacred scrutiny."
He held the staff level, extending it towards Osiris.
"Today, we bestow upon him the rank and responsibilities of 'Exploration Sage.' May you wield this staff, lead the path of inquiry, analyze the principles of all things, and open up unknown territories for the glory of the Machine God."
Osiris extended his modified right hand and firmly grasped the staff.
Upon contact, he could feel a faint energy flow through the staff into his system, a symbol of activated authority.
Simultaneously, a massive data stream—including higher-level database access keys, legal qualifications to independently lead research projects, authority to deploy a certain scale of Skitarii Corps and resources, and basic codes for requesting and commanding starships—flooded into his logic core like a burst dam.
"Duty calls, I shall not shirk. The path of knowledge is endless." Osiris responded with the standard reply formula, his synthesized voice clearly audible in the silent Sanctum.
The ceremony concluded.
There were no cheers, no congratulations; the three Archmagoss silently nodded to him and then turned to leave in sequence, their red robes sweeping over the cold floor behind them.
Archmagos Vox cast a final glance at Osiris, a complex emotion—perhaps anticipation, perhaps warning—flashing in his human eye, then he too drove his track platform and disappeared beyond the side door of the Sanctum.
Osiris stood alone in the center of the Sanctum, holding the Explorer's Staff, a symbol of his identity and power.
The cold metallic touch transmitted through his sensors, and the gear assembly at the staff's tip emitted an almost imperceptible whirring sound.
He knew that this staff was not merely a symbol; it was a key, an interface, formally initiating his career as a mid-level manager within the Adeptus Mechanicus.
But this was just the beginning.
The lunar class cruiser he was about to acquire would be his future mobile base and laboratory, the key to breaking free from fixed constraints, traversing the star sea, and connecting two worlds.
And his relationship with Neksum, and with Fabricator-General Vox, had entered a new phase based on shared interests.
—
Leaving the Data Sanctum, Osiris stood on the high-level observation deck of the main forge area, his gaze sweeping over the vast yet visibly weary circular factory below, then settling on the magnificent but incomplete star-ring suspended in orbit.
His optical lenses quickly locked onto and magnified a specific area—the construction dock where the lunar class cruiser designated NXS-07 was located.
There, suspended silently, was the skeleton of his future flagship, that lunar class cruiser.
From a distance, NXS-07 looked more like the skeletal remains of a giant beast stripped of most of its flesh than a warship.
Its five-kilometer-long hull outline was already formed, the keel forged from high-purity adamantium shimmering with a cold, expensive light under the stellar rays, showcasing the ambition and resource investment of the Empire's peak during the late Great Crusade.
However, upon this sturdy framework, construction had abruptly halted.
Most of the hull remained "open," its massive internal structures exposed to the vacuum like an anatomical diagram.
The colossal foundations reserved for macro cannon batteries and lance arrays were empty, like black holes for eye sockets; the ship's flanks, which should have been covered by layers of heavy armor plating, now only had intersecting structural frameworks, like ribs without muscle; kilometers of energy conduits and data bundles, like severed nerves, lay exposed at their ends, floating around the hull.
Outside the hull, some abandoned colossal construction equipment could still be seen, such as the motionless cantilevers of gantry cranes and the mechanical arms of welding platforms frozen in their last positions.
Some temporary airlocks for construction were open, revealing dark and unfinished spaces inside.
Micrometeorites and cosmic dust, accumulated over decades of idleness, had draped this "skeleton" in a dull veil.
There was no fluctuation from force field generators, no faint glow from engine nozzles, no identification signals formed by lights on various parts of the hull.
It lay silently, lifelessly anchored in the dock, like a forgotten dream, a sunk cost that had consumed massive investment but yielded no return.
It was both a testament to past glory and a silent declaration of current predicament, its colossal body continuously draining the Forge World's already strained maintenance resources.
Osiris' logic core operated at high speed, analyzing the ship's current status.
The Empire's future was shrouded in gloom, and the Forge World's predicament was evident.
But his own path, with the confirmation of his Archmagos status and the acquisition of this highly potential hull, had become increasingly clear.
This unfinished cruiser represented both a challenge and an unparalleled opportunity.
Its "incompleteness" offered him the greatest design freedom.
Next, he needed to closely monitor the basic renovation progress of NXS-07, transforming it from a skeleton into at least a mobile body, and at the same time, prepare for his return to the Cyberpunk World and subsequent, more in-depth, cross-dimensional research that might require this ship as a platform.
The cold touch of the Explorer's Staff came from his hand; although the road ahead was full of challenges, it was also filled with unprecedented possibilities thanks to this warship awaiting a new lease on life.