When Thien led Axion into the maintenance bay, which was filled with workbenches, another towering Black Templar Astartes was busy at a massive, integrated fabrication station, repairing the Power Sword that Axion had cleaved earlier.
"Farien, Axion here needs to construct some items. Perhaps you can assist him."
The tall figure, hearing the call, dismissed the nearby Servitors who were performing auxiliary work, and turned to look at Thien and Axion.
The insignia on his shoulder pad clearly identified his role.
"Yes, Sergeant. I shall finish repairing your sword immediately, and then come to assist."
Although he turned his head to speak, Farien's hands did not stop moving.
The Power Sword seemed simple, but contained intricate technical structures. Energy had to flow through the blade and erupt in a specific pattern to form a stable disruption field.
A Power Sword without the disruption field was merely a relatively sharp metal weapon. Against heavy armour or xenos chitin, without the disruption field, the weapon was virtually useless.
Axion did not speak, but meticulously observed the surrounding Servitors.
All the Servitors were flesh-and-blood entities, their heads subjected to mechanical augmentation. Their appearance was frail and gruesome.
"An unimaginable age. What in the cosmos has transpired in this world? Why do these so-called Servitors appear to be flesh-and-blood, entities that seem to possess some human genome, yet lack independent consciousness? The modifications upon these craniums appear crude and brutal."
In Axion's data records, these Servitors were the work of a demon. He even suspected that ordinary humans were being modified into them.
Even the tens of thousands of years of history recorded in his data-vaults contained no record of such cruel practices.
"Unacceptable. Tell me the manufacturing process of these Servitors."
Thien had never concerned himself with such matters, nor did he know their history as it was not his concern.
But Farien, being a Techmarine, naturally knew the process of Servitor creation.
After receiving an affirmative nod from Thien, Farien spoke.
"Imperial Servitors are constructed using biological engineering to build the corporeal frame. After cranial modification, control and response units are implanted for operation. Some criminals are also converted this way, to continue serving the Imperium and atone for their sins."
Axion silently watched the Servitors, who possessed only simple intelligent responses and required continuous instruction to coordinate and act, and posed a question.
"Since these are simple tasks, and only require a degree of physical strength, why not utilize automata? The use of biological technology appears to offer no advantage. I even detect signs of senescence on the bodies of these bio-Servitors. Their operational lifespan appears to be short."
Farien was momentarily taken aback by this question.
He then raised a hand and shrugged.
"I do not know. According to Imperial mandate, the use of any intelligent machine is strictly forbidden, and the development of such technology is prohibited. This is the catechism taught even at the Mechanicus chapter I attended. A portion of the Imperium's vital machinery utilizes wetware computing."
"Wetware?"
Axion heard this term for the first time.
Farien used his tool-gripping hand to gesture toward a distant corner.
Following the direction of his finger, Axion stepped closer.
A strange device embedded in the wall entered his field of vision.
Its centre was a half-human structure. Its head was connected to numerous tubes, its body was rigidly strapped down, and its mouth was wide open, fitted with a peculiar mechanical structure.
Axion's bio-scanner swept over the strange, profoundly anti-cogitator machine. The resulting data confirmed the presence of a living brain within the central structure. Its essence seemed no different from the simply modified Servitors, merely subjected to deeper augmentation.
Farien's voice carried over from nearby.
"That is a Psyker Terminal. The biological component should be derived from a criminal. Of course, some use mechanical calculation modules or electronic technology modules. Wetware computers are generally only installed on critical machinery or devices. Their Machine Spirit is said to be more active, and their controllability superior."
Axion shook his head, finding the concept difficult to accept.
"Wetware, bio-computer. I can understand the concepts, but to construct them using the material of your own kind… that is sheer madness."
The clamour from the workbench ceased. Farien picked up the newly repaired Power Sword, swung his arm, and reactivated the disruption field.
Watching the crackling arc of the field activate normally, he then deactivated the switch and, gripping the sword, left the workbench to hand the weapon to Thien.
"Thank you, my brother."
Thien accepted his greatsword and thanked Farien.
"Pay it no mind." Farien waved his hand, then looked at Axion, who was staring at the Psyker Terminal lost in thought.
"Ancient legacy, Axion, what do you need to construct? If I am able, I would be pleased to assist."
Axion began to walk, the massive weight of his metallic feet striking the metal deck of the compartment with a sound louder than the Astartes' ceramite armour.
The dull thudding approach conveyed a strange sense of pressure, and Farien felt inexplicably nervous.
Thien, sensing the strange atmosphere, frowned. Although he knew the Power Sword might be useless against Axion, he instinctively raised the greatsword before him, stepping between Axion and Farien. The disruption field activated, continuously tearing at the surrounding air, the blade emitting a sharp crackling sound.
"Perhaps my brethren abandoned this world because they could no longer tolerate certain practices."
Axion, who had stopped just short of them, uttered a sentence that neither Thien nor Farien could comprehend.
He then deliberately walked around them and headed toward the workbench.
Scanning the entire workbench and its machinery, Axion pulled himself out of his chaotic thoughts.
"This workbench possesses no data access control interface? And the precision of all the equipment is so low?"
Looking around with suspicion, Axion scanned the entire hall. The general structure of all the equipment was instantly parsed by his processing core.
However, the low efficiency and archaic nature of the operation were far beyond his imagination.
"Tens of thousands of years have elapsed, and technology has actually deteriorated from what it was ten millennia ago."
After uttering this observation, Axion turned to Farien.
"Can you construct an energy conversion core?"
Seeing the poor quality of the equipment, Axion had almost lost the desire to personally fabricate his charging device.
But Farien's ensuing head shake left him feeling somewhat helpless.
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