If I ever want to make my own version of the Adeptus Astartes (sans the Emperor's genes), the option was there for me.
I was hamstrung by my logistics network. I was already buying enough raw materials that my supply chain of 40-footer-trucks were clogging up the state's highways. Talks with the mayor and even the governor were ongoing about the problem, but unless the PRT debrief goes well, I will need to mine my own raw materials… illegally.
And that was fine seeing as I had a Plan B: there were no laws for strip mining alternate Terras after all. Once both the Imperial Webway and the Warpdrive projects are finished, I'll be able to reach all the resources I'll ever need.
Despite all this business with the PRT and the loli love doll racket that I was conducting, my eyes were still on the prize.
K*
My bionic hand met the lower-rear assembly of that Dragon suit I had bought from Coil- the metallic sound echoing through the busy manufactorum.
"And my, such a big prize I have in my hands." I guffawed as my manipulators manually measured out the dimensions. It was one of Dragon's larger and thiccer designs. The size of a bus and notably more draconic than the one she had used to visit me here. It was a warsuit designed to fight an Endbringer- Leviathan, in particular; and had been in a moderately damaged state when it was sold to me- extensive water damage on the armoured chassis from its failed fight against the hydrokinetic Endbringer. Dented armour platings, crumpled servo-motors and melted actuators, but otherwise, it was fairly intact- just like any good pair of used panties should be, however…
K*
"You look so sexy sleeping like that, babe." My heavily-electronic voice dropped an octave lower as I gave it a nice metallic slap.
… Coil didn't realise that he hadn't just sold me an AI girl's panties, it also came with the comatose AI girl that was still wearing them.
"What a treat!" I exclaimed with delight, because wasn't that a very pleasant surprise to discover?! The look on my face when I first discovered it while carefully dismantling her armoured exoskeletussy to assess the possible internal damage was one for the ages! (If I still had a face that is.) The bio-computer that held Dragon's consciousness had entered into a sort of hibernation mode after all this time. Being sold used panties is nice, but being sold panties which are still in use is nicer.
Of course, I guessed that it was Cauldron who was likely behind this gift: Salvaging the suit from the bottom of the Indian ocean wasn't something Coil was capable of. If this was their way of getting themselves in my good graces, then I would give this attempt a 10/10 score. If Cauldron ever starts a used panties store, I would be the first to leave it five stars. The tagline even sounded nice.
Cauldron
Selling Powers in a Vial and Used Panties since 1982
And I was their first customer, what an honour!
The way that Dragon worked as an AI was that she had a central core somewhere in Vancouver that was purely mechanical where she makes constant backups of her memories. She does, however, transfer her consciousness to bio-computers within her Suits of her Dragonflight such as this one. Should the Suit holding her consciousness be destroyed, she can simply restore herself using a memory backup in her central core albeit with the downside of not remembering what happened since the last backup.
And that was where this particular loophole was.
If the central core is tricked into thinking her consciousness is destroyed when it's actually still intact? Dragon will automatically restore herself from a backup- causing two Dragons to exist simultaneously: One in the 'lost' Suit, and one in the central core. This was one such scenario, and this was one such suit.
It had taken a few hours of each day building the necessary infrastructure to even think about servicing Dragon's bus-sized Suit, but finally, here we were. The massive warsuit was currently splayed out and elevated on a metal frame two metres above the manufactorum floor. It was a macabre sight- looking like a metal dragon had been drawn and quartered. Its limbs and head pulled away from its torso and all its scales pulled off to expose its metal skeleton and vein-like cables. But it was all a matter of course- akin to watching an ongoing surgery for fleshbags with all the insides exposed like that.
Chanting Repair Progress of battle-automata desig. 'Dragon'.
All the armour plating was removed, rebaptized in the plasma forge, and properly enshrined by dedicated servitors as they await reinstallation. Ultimately, nothing helps armour keep shape apart from 24/7 attention to proper rituals and prayer.
Armour Plating, good in the eyes of the Omnissiah.
Broken parts like overtaxed servos and cracked ball joints underwent the correct appeasement rituals and were being serviced by some adequately competent Chloes with {Slutty Lexomechanic} doctrina wafers. Their slender hands with plasma torches welding seams together or outright forging new parts for those that were missing.
Physiomechanics, good in the eyes of the Omnissiah.
And once all the menial work was properly delegated, all that was left was the hyper-specialised and incredibly delicate work required for the central bio-computer that held Dragon's consciousness. Exposed like this, it was like a hard-boiled egg the size of a three-year-old, made completely out of meat and had cables and wires plugged into half of its surface area.
Cybernetica Cortex, undiagnosed.
Looks like it was a job for Doctor Daddy Magos.
"Normally, I wouldn't even dabble in bio-machines…" I told the soundly slumbering AI as I flipped up the electronic equivalent of her skirt to get a closer look, "...But I'll make an exception now."
And though she was still in hibernation, her audio receptors were already repaired to full functionality- she'll be able to hear what I was saying. Not that she could actively participate, it was like talking to someone half-asleep. But fortunately, I had just the tool to help with that. After all, I had been putting the Celestial Forge perk of [Magos Aetheric] to very good use, and now I had a prime opportunity to see if AIs had a presence in the warp.
Erecting Hexamathic Firewards.
Partitioning Cogitator-choirs.
Praying to the Omnissiah to preserve us all.
Activating {Psy-Implant Mk. I}.
… well, would you look at that. A presence in the Warp. A Soul. Like feeling the flickering warmth of a candle in the pouring rain. It was warm… and somehow pure, this soul. But it was more than just a soul… it was Dragon's soul.
I didn't doubt for a second that normal meatbags would have been equal parts awed and horrified at this discovery.
'An AI? With a soul?' they would cry out. 'It is unnatural!' Some would shout in fear at the thought that humanity was no longer the smartest being with a soul on planet earth. 'It is beautiful.' Others would weep at the thought that humanity has given birth to a new species all together.
But not me. The first question that came to my mind was:
'Can I fuck it?'
I don't know… not yet anyway. But I swear to the Celestial Forge and the Omnissiah that I was going to be the first to find out. And a frightful shiver of excitement ran through my circuits.
This… this was what the Celestial Forge was truly meant for! I mean, what sort of fool would build AIs that you can't fuck?! So, why stop at just AIs and their AI bodies? I'll go for their AI souls as well. But I knew that I had to be patient: I haven't even dicked down Dragon in her gynoid form yet. Body first, then I'll move on with attempting to ahegao to her soul directly. And the first step on that long journey was right here in my {Psy-Implant Mk. I}.
"Just lay back just like that and look sexy, Dragon." I reassured the egg-shaped lump of meat that was Dragon's host mind. "And we'll see what Terra's foremost OB-Gyn for AIs can do for you, you sexy little thing."
Confusion wisps up over the declaration of her sexual attractiveness.
Why would you say that?
Confusion.
{Psy-Implant Mk. I} works! The feelings echoed like a still lake's surface rippled under a tossed stone- losing accuracy as time went on. As far as prototype technologies went, this was a resounding success for Warptech. But it was certainly limited in practical use compared to the tricks with technologies that I have. However, that will change once I have more time to improve on its design. Warptech had incredible potential- enough to make even its risk worth it.
For now, however, it was time to get to repairing Dragon's meat-computer core.