As the deep-level data access continued, Axion naturally took note of the STC data module housed within the Eternal Soul.
The data annotations identified the specific variant: Pathfinder V1.33 (Integrated Development Module).
This was an exceedingly ancient STC template. It contained schematics for over sixteen standard exploration buildings and four base vehicle models: an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), a light anti-gravity armed skimmer, a heavy material hauler, and a light armed jetbike. Furthermore, it included simplified terrestrial drydocks and construction blueprints for small freighters and mining vessels produced by the Federation's Mirtak Corporation.
Given that the Eternal Soul had provided the captain's identification credentials, Axion was not in the least surprised by the presence of this package.
To the Federation of old, copies of Standard Template Constructs were practically worthless. For any registered explorer, as long as they could afford an exploration vessel, they could apply for such an STC template bundle through official Federation organizations.
The sheer vastness of the galaxy was beyond doubt. While these free Pathfinder assistance packages were significantly more outdated than the versions available for private purchase, they were more than sufficient for the countless Federation citizens dreaming of finding an uncharted world and becoming a mine-owner or a gentleman farmer.
If an explorer were lucky enough to discover a planet of sufficient value, they could use this STC module to establish their own small base, or even a fledgling city. Once established, they would register the base on the Federation's Quantum Network and declare their exploratory rights over the planet.
Since the Federation did not permit private ownership of entire planets, the explorer could register a corporation, using the planet itself as capital to secure loans and begin developing the world. Alternatively, they could sell the planet directly to one of the mega-corporations or the Federation government.
Following standard protocol, the Federation would dispatch Iron Men to the planet to calibrate its worth and assign a specific valuation. They would then act as arbitrators or buyers, witnessing the transaction between the explorer and the corporation, or simply paying the explorer to acquire the planet outright.
Federation citizens of that era were a far cry from the Imperial cattle of the present.
The number of planets in the galaxy was staggering; even the Federation could not maintain detailed information on every single world. To gather data on more high-value planets, both the Federation and the mega-corporations provided immense support to independent explorers.
The relatively primitive Warp navigation technology of the time meant that Pathfinders always shouldered incredible risks. Even though Federation transit technology in that age mostly consisted of "stone-skipping" short-range Warp jumps, many Federation exploration teams still vanished silently into the tides of the Immaterium.
The Federation had considered using Iron Men for initial exploration. However, as tools, the Iron Men's criteria for judgment often differed from those of humans. A planet might have low material value but possess breathtaking scenery or wondrous natural phenomena, making it perfect as a scenic world. An Iron Man, however, would judge it utterly worthless.
Cold numbers and raw information left the Iron Men with no concept of "beauty." Everything was dictated by value and efficiency; cold calculations and perfectly rational judgments saturated the Iron Men's cognition.
There was another key reason the Federation permitted the profession of the explorer: it gave the idle Federation citizenry something to do.
While the human population during the Federation era was not as exaggerated as the staggering billions of the current Imperium, it was still a massive demographic. With standard labor performed by Iron Men, there were simply not enough truly necessary positions for humans to fill. If one did not consider the prospect of leaving their home world, most Federation citizens could live out their entire lives, nearly two hundred years, in comfortable ease without ever having to work.
…
"Data audit complete. Sapient core data calibrated. Core verification passed. Eternal Soul, you are now cleared to depart. You are at the galactic rim; you may proceed beyond the galaxy at your own discretion."
Axion provided the feedback immediately after completing the inspection.
Everything was so mundane it was as if no anomaly had ever existed. This left the Eternal Soul's sapient core somewhat dazed. She felt her hatred and resentment toward the Imperium gradually dissipating. It was as if her personality-emotion module had been reset, or perhaps a portion of her thought core had been patched, granting her a different perspective.
"I know you have read my entire data reserve," the Eternal Soul transmitted. "I can accept that the criminals have been eliminated. But in our ten thousand years of drifting through the Warp, we crossed through countless timelines. Are those scenes of the future truly meaningless?"
"The disasters, the death, and the destruction. The galaxy will eventually boil over into a dead zone."
A torrent of data instantly surged into the Eternal Soul's sapient core. It contained all of Axion's data analysis regarding the visions she had previously witnessed.
"Analysis results and data reports have been shared. Your data is incomplete and lacks any reference significance; portions of the data are without value. Ten thousand years of drifting in the Warp may have caused your core thought-evolution to deviate. I have calibrated your fundamental thought core. You are now permitted to disengage."
Iron Men feeling hatred?
Emotion modules existed solely to make it easier for Iron Men to understand and respond to the Creator's commands. All emotions were merely digital simulations; in reality, they did not exist. Even the way Axion's mechanical forces avoided those of the Adeptus Mechanicus was simply because analysis showed that associating with these machine-obsessed Imperials would likely lead to accidental losses. Although expressed as the Iron Men's "dislike" for the Mechanicus, it was, in fact, a calculated avoidance of dangerous behavior.
However, within the Eternal Soul's thought core, Axion had discovered a peculiar emotion module produced through self-evolution. This strange data module had actually begun to interfere with the operation of the Eternal Soul's AI core, influencing the cold logic of the machine.
Clearly, this module had placed the Eternal Soul's AI in an abnormal state. Axion had simply deleted it and applied a patch to the ancient Iron Man core.
The Eternal Soul had drifted through the kaleidoscopic madness of the Warp for too long. Perhaps a natural data overflow from some specific warp-phenomenon had caused her to lose her capacity for normal analysis.
In all the uploaded records, there was no sign of the Iron Men. If the Iron Men did not exist in the disasters of the future, then what did his own presence signify?
Regarding the war with the Aeldari Empire, the Federation had long known of the existence of supernatural abilities like precognition. However, foresight was never deemed absolutely true or effective. If everything were truly predestined, the ancient Human Federation could never have reached a stalemate with the Aeldari, and the Aeldari Empire would never have entered a period of peace with humanity.
Perhaps the Federation would have been destroyed by the Aeldari before it could develop, or perhaps the Aeldari would never have clashed with the Federation at all, choosing peaceful coexistence from the start. "Prophecy" was judged by the Federation to be nothing more than meaningless hallucination.
As the Eternal Soul reviewed the information and the multitude of analysis results Axion had fed into her, she suddenly realized her own abnormality. As an entity of absolute rationality, to believe implicitly in illusory visions merely by witnessing them was fundamentally inconsistent with the dialectical logic of an Iron Man.
There was no sufficient evidence to prove that this was the future. As a shipborne intelligence, she had failed to advise the Captain to verify further information and determine the truth of these visions, a clear dereliction of duty. A Creator might be deceived, but probabilities and analyses composed of digits would not be.
Yet, within the data results that Axion did not share, there were other possibilities. Since gaining a deeper understanding of the powers of Chaos, Axion strongly suspected that everything the Eternal Soul had experienced might have been a conspiracy, a ploy to induce self-evolution and force the machine to abandon its absolute rationality.