The Priests, Magos, and other personnel of the Adeptus Mechanicus possess specialized communication channels, with senior staff exchanging rapid binary code on shortwave frequencies. Their auxiliary electronic brains allow for instantaneous data exchange, enabling them to process vast amounts of information in a brief period.
While the two Magos currently stood facing each other without verbally speaking, Axion's sensors detected the manic torrent of data flowing between them. Clearly, the two were engaged in a fierce, silent argument.
Axion, however, had no interest in decoding their dialogue. It turned its attention back to Farien, who was holding the prosthetics.
"Farien, provide me with the schematic of your standard prosthetic interface. I will modify the augmetics accordingly."
Hearing Axion's command, Farien nodded hastily and vanished from the doorway, only to reappear in the medical bay within two minutes.
This time, he carried several metal-plate-like mechanical structures, featuring multiple external protrusions and self-actuating bolts. As Farien handed the components to Axion, he meticulously explained their function.
"These are the embedded securing structures. They interface directly with the skeletal structure of the body. The actual augmetic port is just this circular disc here. The protrusions within utilize a neural-synaptic integration technology; the new limb simply needs to achieve a match with that interface."
Axion was not proficient with biological systems, but a mechanical body, once scanned, would be immediately dissected into individual technical modules. The scanned data of the target could then be analyzed, broken down, and virtually reconstructed within its calculation core.
After barely two glances, Axion already understood the required modifications. When it returned to the maintenance center with the augmetics, the scene gave it pause.
"Where are the metallic materials I retrieved? Is the work station cleaned so frequently? Even the metallic powder has been removed?"
Staring at the work bench, which had been scoured clean of even the slightest metallic filings, Axion was momentarily speechless.
Fortunately, Axion remembered the canister of metal powder it had discarded into the refuse chute. Re-condensing that material would be sufficient.
With a spatial displacement, Axion instantly appeared in a refuse processing center several decks below the ship's main hull, where waste from the surrounding decks was routed.
The moment Axion's form materialized, it lashed out with a sudden punch.
"Boom! Tchhhla!"
A Servo-skull was shattered in mid-air, its fragments scattering to the deck. Axion effortlessly caught the canister of metallic powder it had discarded earlier. Before jumping back to the maintenance center, Axion scanned the fragments on the ground.
The sigil of the Adeptus Mechanicus was clearly visible on the wreckage. Furthermore, the elaborate ornamentation indicated that this Servo-skull was distinct from the standard, utilitarian Servitors aboard this Imperial Battlecruiser.
Axion's database performed a casual cross-reference and immediately located the result: this Servo-skull was one of the two brought by the Mechanicus Magos.
While Axion did not comprehend why a Servo-skull belonging to the Magos would be scavenging a discarded container in the refuse center of an Imperial warship, its actions were clearly distinct from the routine labor of the Servitors nearby. It looked highly consistent with an act of targeted theft.
However, Axion held no interest in why the Adeptus Mechanicus would attempt to steal trash aboard an Imperial vessel.
Retrieving the powder, Axion used a vortex heater to simply re-melt the material and fabricated a transfer structure from common metal stock. After re-casting the material, it affixed the new structure to the prosthetic. Seeing the augmetic slightly elongated, Axion performed a necessary internal recalibration.
When Axion reappeared in the medical bay, the two Dark Angels Astartes were gone, but everyone else remained, awaiting its return.
"Here. Modified."
Thien had abandoned the idea of surgical re-implantation and decided on the prosthetic. Apothecary Ousen had placed the severed limbs into a stasis casket, just in case Thien ever changed his mind.
Techmarine Farien was already busy working by the side of the medical bed. Even with current Imperial technology, fitting an Astartes with an augmetic limb was an extremely complex procedure. The augmetics were high-powered, requiring an incredibly stable base to be constructed on the body.
The Astartes' modified cerebral receptors allowed them to self-induce pain-blocking. Thien was doing this now. To implant the augmetic base, Farien was forced to further expand Thien's wound, inserting connecting devices in advance. This would be followed by many more steps: bone reinforcement, neural signal routing, metallic base embedding, and several specialized reinforcement procedures. The preparation phase alone would take at least four standard days.
Furthermore, post-installation, Thien would require rigorous adaptation training. It would take at least a standard week before he could rejoin the team. During this time, Farien would have to continuously monitor the implants and body reinforcement to ensure seamless integration, precise neural signaling, and to preempt any unexpected issues once the final augmetic was connected.
Axion handed the prosthetics to Farien and then stood silently to the side, ignoring all other matters.
The two Magos immediately crowded Farien.
"These two augmetics must undergo our inspection and testing before they can be installed! Furthermore, the preparation for the prosthetic is not yet complete. You may proceed with the preliminary work, then return here to retrieve the augmetics from us."
Farien, as a Techmarine, was aware of the Mechanicus's absolute curiosity regarding the technology embodied in the limbs. But he was also deeply concerned. If the augmetics were surrendered for testing, he doubted the Magos would willingly return them. The technology embedded in the limbs was clearly complex and, critically, the work of an ancient creation. In certain less technologically endowed Chapters, such a limb might easily be considered an Archaeotech Relic.
"Magos, the prosthetics cannot be—"
Before Farien could finish, the long-silent Inquisitor interjected.
"I authorize the two Magos to conduct a Scrutiny of these two augmetics to determine if the ancient construct that created them poses a threat to the Imperium. If the prosthetics pass this scrutiny, then I shall consider the broader investigation of the construct to be completed."
He was an Inquisitor, not a fool seeking death. Regardless of whether Axion's technology was even comprehensible to him, an attempt at a forceful capture was beyond the capabilities of the current personnel. Moreover, how could one seriously expect a self-aware Iron Man to willingly submit to a thorough physical examination?
It was absurd. It would lead to certain death.
The limb was a creation of the construct, therefore it was an extension of the construct. To scrutinize the limb was to scrutinize the construct. Afterward, the best outcome would be for the Magos to take the Iron Man away; it would then become an internal matter for the Adeptus Terra. If the Adeptus Mechanicus then misused the technology and produced any dangerous results, that would fall under the purview of a High Inquisitor. It would have no direct connection to himself.
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