- Joined
- Jun 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6,215
- Likes received
- 8,044
.....there's something strange going on with you.
-
The site has now migrated to Xenforo 2. If you see any issues with the forum operation, please post them in the feedback thread.
-
Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
-
The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
Machine Spirit (PA/Multicross SI)
Biofan09
The Archivist at The End
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 1,135
- Likes received
- 3,925
Hey now, don't be rude to the King of Horas. She/It/He just wants to see some orkoid action.
*Remembers Squad Broken*
On second thought: Nopenopenopenopenopenopenope-
NavigatorNobilis
Follower of the Second Star
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,497
- Likes received
- 10,112
You had to remind me. WHY?!
And now I'm going to have to read through the first chapter of My Immortal, in the hopes that - like every time previous - my brain will seize up and reboot with the last 24h erased.
Chickennoodlesoup
Romantic Kaiju
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2014
- Messages
- 468
- Likes received
- 926
kinglugia
A Randy Avian
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Messages
- 27,285
- Likes received
- 60,373
I dunno, I find that a little bit kinky.
Hazardine
Evolved Human/Tyranid Ind-Col -> Asura of Darkness
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2015
- Messages
- 496
- Likes received
- 559
Where did you get the figure for the Helios and Omega, most of what I could find, like asking Drich on its/his/her Commander Thread, is that Titans are around 60 meters in size.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6,215
- Likes received
- 8,044
if you are going to use ships please put constructor arrays on a rail network ala portal 2,it just seems to simple not to do.
theImmortalGuardian
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2015
- Messages
- 1,157
- Likes received
- 2,119
That's not exactly how it works Lazurman. Without defenses, they don't need to see you. Simply being exposed to Chaos should have already started corruption.
You have some defenses against scrap code because of how insane the processor speed is, but the warp infused part of scrap code? That'll fuck you up.
Lazurman
That Others May Fap
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,230
- Likes received
- 50,992
Hmm. Evidently I need more knowledge. Please, by all means, feel free to discuss any vectors for and possible effects of Chaos corruption on a Commander. The more I know, the fewer fans I piss off with my shoddy piecemeal knowledge.
What are the known methods of purging scrap-code? Where does it come from? How quick do I need to find a techpriest?
theImmortalGuardian
Versed in the lewd.
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2015
- Messages
- 1,157
- Likes received
- 2,119
Normally, a character has enough willpower that corruption and mutation will only come along through prolonged exposure rather than instant insanity. Unless they give in willingly or are sacrificed, it takes time. This doesn't account for actual daemons appearing, blasphemous atrocities being committed, or areas where the veil between reality and the warp is thin (or being poked at by idiots). Those things start taking sanity points into the negatives.
Things like a Bloodthirster of Khorne? Just it's presence inspires fear and blood lust. Any greater daemon has the same kind of aura surrounding it.
You, however, don't have a soul. So seeing the eight-pointed star? Negative sanity. Errors and scrapcode start. Daemons? Same. For you, anything related to Chaos acts more like the mind-breaking exposure you would expect out of a Lovecraftian abomination than the corruption that Chaos usually brings.
Truthfully, I have no idea. Scrap code is the 40k equivalent of spam and viruses hopped up on chaos. I know that titan pilots and spaceship pilots "plug in" to their station, and they can lend aid to their machine spirits in that way. Outside of that, I would just suggest a bunch of religious iconography and techpriests.
PS: Please note that I'm not an expert on this stuff. Most of what I know is from two novels and some fanfiction/quests.
Wootius
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2015
- Messages
- 674
- Likes received
- 4,288
I mean, if PA tech even recognizes Imperial code. Direct infection like that seems a bit much.
Now, if it does it by trying to play with inputs(visual, audio, other EM sensors, unit communications) it can access it'll be fun. Think stuff like the recent TAS game runs where they reprogram a game from the inside. Chaos is trying to execute arbitrary code on your system, they just can't do it directly like Imperial stuff.
Strange audio/visual effect, phantom signals from units, rapid sensor pings in patterns, etc start happening when the usual Chaos tricks don't work. And then your UI starts to glitch a bit. Unit commands go out that you didn't send. Badly rendered things start showing up on your personal visual feed.
Now you have to route out the infection personally, then implement filters on your inputs to stop it from happening again.
Maybe invest in some Imperial bling to be safe too.
Now, if it does it by trying to play with inputs(visual, audio, other EM sensors, unit communications) it can access it'll be fun. Think stuff like the recent TAS game runs where they reprogram a game from the inside. Chaos is trying to execute arbitrary code on your system, they just can't do it directly like Imperial stuff.
Strange audio/visual effect, phantom signals from units, rapid sensor pings in patterns, etc start happening when the usual Chaos tricks don't work. And then your UI starts to glitch a bit. Unit commands go out that you didn't send. Badly rendered things start showing up on your personal visual feed.
Now you have to route out the infection personally, then implement filters on your inputs to stop it from happening again.
Maybe invest in some Imperial bling to be safe too.
Last edited:
FreshwaterPlimpie
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2014
- Messages
- 189
- Likes received
- 859
You used to be human, and humans have souls in WH40K.
Why can't your human soul have followed your transition?
Machine Spirits are a thing, so a soul should be able to migrate from an organic brain to a machine.
Why can't your human soul have followed your transition?
Machine Spirits are a thing, so a soul should be able to migrate from an organic brain to a machine.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6,215
- Likes received
- 8,044
hard formating (in this context,breaking down the circuits that the scrap-code is on back down into nanobots) and redundant memory storage.
Fellgar
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2013
- Messages
- 11,668
- Likes received
- 28,786
I'm going to second this. I'm sick and tired of all the "Humans don't have souls" that is so popular in fanfiction now a days. Have some resistance in your core programing this way. So you don't basically roll over as soon as the scrap code or chaos magic hits you.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6,215
- Likes received
- 8,044
i don't think it's "Humans don't have souls." more like "non WH40K humans don't have souls,yet.",and i feel like it would add some nice plot since having the units self-destuct at the same rate as the're being pumped out/wrecking there shit would slow things down and force growth of strange unit and tactic design,focus things more on R&D rather then logistics.
FreshwaterPlimpie
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2014
- Messages
- 189
- Likes received
- 859
Except that a soul is not something you have, but something you are.
So by "growing" or acquiring a soul, he'd basically be asking someone else to replace him.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2015
- Messages
- 6,215
- Likes received
- 8,044
unless he finds some soul stuff and makes nanobots out of it.
WarShipper
You really will be.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2013
- Messages
- 591
- Likes received
- 1,690
If Chaos really worked the way you guys are saying, then literally any technology would completely fall apart as soon as Chaos gets involved, Blanks wouldn't exist, Chaos Cultists wouldn't have to rely on equipment and physical bodies when their mere presence turns the very ground into mutating monstrous shit, the Tau would insta-lose against any manner of Chaos, the Iron Men would have been completely curbstomped by any and all possible psykers and warp-derived technology, not to mention any Chaos that was around back then.
So on and so forth. Chaos doesn't just instantly warp everything within their vicinity, even if those things don't have souls.
So on and so forth. Chaos doesn't just instantly warp everything within their vicinity, even if those things don't have souls.
Crepscularity
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2015
- Messages
- 543
- Likes received
- 2,918
Man, just slap down how you personally think the Warp/Chaos interacts with the Commanders. If you keep worrying about how some WH40K purists interpret it, this story might as well be 'Tzeentch popped out of the Warp and trolled the Progenitor tech and blitzed the Imperium'.
And Malal popped back out of his state of nonexistence.
So! Next plan is how to improve orbital superiority. Not too hard to hack Imperium databanks for blueprints and then make your own revisions from there.
And Malal popped back out of his state of nonexistence.
So! Next plan is how to improve orbital superiority. Not too hard to hack Imperium databanks for blueprints and then make your own revisions from there.
Chapter 5
Lazurman
That Others May Fap
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,230
- Likes received
- 50,992
Machine Spirit, Chapter 5
My mad scramble in the planet's orbit had not gone unnoticed.
The Imperial Navy had found me. A frigate was making a heading for my position, while the rest maintained vigil for the next bout with the Khornates. This was only slightly less problematic than Chaos finding me.
A lot of factors had contributed to Commander Cook's decision to not order his forces to attack me. A common enemy, lack of hostilities on my side, as much emotion as I could project through the vox, usage of the magic word 'please', those had all definitely influenced it.
But aside from that, I was fairly certain that there was also the knowledge that, having seen my Doxes in action, he knew that if his battered tank units fought my infantry, he would lose. That wasn't a mark of cowardice against him. Had I been an enemy, he and his men would most likely have died standing, fighting to the bitter end, because that was what humans did here. It made him smart, and willing to prioritize against a greater threat.
I didn't have such an assurance here. I only had a handful of Omegas and Artemis, and a single Helios so far. I'd upsized them a bit, stripped the décor and focused more on thicker armor and bigger weaponry, but I would still be squished like so many flies on a windshield if hostilities opened.
Ergo, the need for negotiations. I didn't hold much hope for being lucky twice in a row, but I had to try. I opened a channel with the frigate, intending to convince its captain that I was not an enemy.
That had been the plan.
But then I contacted something else, instead.
Vast. Old. As much circuitry and metal as it was…something else, something…immaterial. There was not just crisp and clean computer code composing its existence. It was alive, not quite like me, not quite as…clear, or as advanced as me, almost animalistic in nature. But it was alive. I knew what this was. And as it became aware of my transmission, the machine spirit of The Emperor's Judgement turned its attention to me.
Belief and emotion were physical entities in this universe. The Warp was the home of souls, and in its eddies and currents, existence itself was shaped by the faith of those souls. The Adeptus Mechanicus worshipped machines, from the lowliest lasgun toted about by a Guardsman to a mighty Gloriana-class battleship, they sang their praises and gave their glories to the Omnissiah, the Machine God, venerating the power of technology and the pursuit of knowledge. That fervent belief was not without effect in the Materium.
Imperial ships were cities unto their own, not a single one perfectly resembling another, not in terms of architecture, or crew, or experiences. The multitudinous thousands of souls who scurried aboard them spent their every waking moment in service to their ships, performing holy maintenance rituals on malfunctioning machinery, and seeing to the smooth running of the voidcraft that kept them safe from the ravages of space and the enemies of man. This diligence, something transcending normal efforts, gave life to these great machines, these machine spirits.
In this universe, machines had souls. And I could feel this one.
Did that mean I had a soul as well?
I felt humbled. And sad. Such a mighty engine of war, something constructed by human hands for the defense of mankind from all who would see them harm…and she was in so much pain. Atmosphere was venting from several decks, the results of shots having penetrated deep into and through the vessel. Her ramming prow was fractured and dented; another such impact would break her spine in two. The Judgement had faithfully defended this relatively calm Developing World against the occasional raid by Orks or Chaos since she began her tour of duty, but never in all of her one and a half thousand years of service had she ever been so close to falling than in this battle.
And she still turned to face me, still defiant, still poised to defend her crew from what her captain perceived as a possible threat. I could feel her preparing for battle, targeting solutions lining up on my much smaller craft. What power remained in those guns would shred my fledgling fleet like so much paper.
I could stop her. It would be almost trivial. My systems were far more advanced than hers, soul-stuff aside. Her electronic warfare capabilities were almost laughably weak, primitive defenses battered by clusters of foreign code buzzing fitfully, appearing red like inflamed wounds to my senses, tendrils working their way deeper and deeper into her systems ooohgeeze that's scrap code.
Not touching that. That right there was something that could do horrible, horrible things to me if I couldn't fight the infection. I steered well clear of the affected sections.
Brief moment of panic at a vector for Chaos corruption aside, I could shatter her barely-sentient mind and comb the pieces for knowledge; schematics, star charts, things I would need if I wanted to escape and survive. I could subvert her and force a total system shutdown, or even turn her against her crew.
I did none of these things.
I guess I really was too much of a softy.
<Be at peace, o great machine spirit.> We communicated on a level incomprehensible by normal human minds, tendrils of streaming code connecting, intertwining to a degree I'd never experienced before in my life. A scarred and battle-worn image it was, but it was beautiful all the same.
<I am not your enemy. I fight the Ruinous Powers. I fight for humanity.>
Only perhaps members of the Adeptus Mechanicus could understand an inkling of what I was experiencing. I could see, now, why they were so moved to venerate machinery. Heh. They would probably throw an apoplectic fit at the thought of one of their holy machine spirits being interfaced with by such a blasphemous creation as I.
Her response, stunted and primitive as it was, was transmitted to me in harsh, brutal tone, laced with hints of static. She needed repairs something fierce, and that scrap code wasn't helping matters any. <Unknown vessels. Xenos. Enemy. Cleanse! Purge! Kill!>
No, no, none of that, you silly thing. <I beseech you, great spirit, turn your weapons to the true foe. I am not a xeno. I am not an enemy. I am human. But I am also machine. A machine man. I protect humans. I protect machines. I would protect you, and your fleet, if you will let me. Please.>
Where another, more warlike commander would have already destroyed the potential threat and been on their merry way, I did my best to soothe. I always had been good at calming down upset animals. This wasn't too dissimilar, but there was a great deal more cautious respect involved here. After all, not every animal was a centuries-old warship that could squash you like a bug.
The Judgement thought I was an enemy. So I sent it proof to the contrary. Images and video recordings flashed between us; a tank interposing its body as a shield between a cowering, soot-covered family and the forces of Chaos; clouds of ravenous blue nanomachine swarms delving into contested trenches to devour the enemy whilst leaving the Imperial Guard fighting them untouched; legions upon legions of Doxes clashing with daemonic war machines so that the fleeing human refugees behind them did not need to die. I sent all of this, and more. A thousand glimpses at the battle that raged below, showing myself as a friend, someone who just wanted to help so fucking let me already!
So I helped. The most immediate threat to the Judgement other than all of the holes in her armor was the scrap code infesting her systems. I might be able to do something about that, but that would involve the equivalent of dipping my hands into a hostile morass of corrosive, toxic waste in order to fish out a child struggling to stay afloat.
So what did I do?
I dipped my hands into that mess and pulled that child out. Some would question the wisdom of exposing myself to the possibility of Chaos corrupting me into a machine powered by madness and death. They would be right to. It was kind of stupid, what I did. But hey, I had certainly never claimed to be a particularly intelligent man.
I didn't think that the Judgement deserved its fate; I respected its history too much. And if I spent my existence constantly afraid of the slightest chance I would fall to Chaos, I would never accomplish anything in this universe that was so steeped in it. If I couldn't help save this one frigate, how could I possibly save this galaxy?
Carefully, I wove the best defenses I could around the mind of the Judgement, the action as instinctual to my new form as breathing had been in my old one, isolating the infected sectors and keeping the viral code from digging any further. Then I started ripping into it.
Even as it ripped into me in turn.
It hurt. It burned in a way nothing else had since I had awoken, like sinking my hands into a box full of poison-tipped darts and used needles, only magnified a thousand-fold. It really shouldn't have surprised me that the first real sensation I would feel in my new life as a machine was agonizing pain. Fitting, and likely only a taste of what was to come.
Chaos had a deleterious effect on anything that remained in contact with it for long. For machine intelligences such as I, that effect manifested as scrap code, likely the aftereffect of the shots that had lodged themselves within the Judgement. Non-sensible numbers that had no logic nor reason assaulted my very being, madness in digital form. The rate of damage was growing greater than my ability to repair it. Was I really going to die from this, at the very start of my new lease on life?
Deep in the heart of my base, a stream of nanobots rapidly coalesced into a human-sized android, just so I could have teeth to grit. The metal quickly warped and deformed from the force.
I refused to die today; or any other day, for that matter! I would not be turned into a monster by some insignificant faulty broken stupid OP hax computer language!
As greedy, ravenous tendrils of code continuously battered my firewalls, new barriers were thrown up behind them and pushed forward, my cyber-warfare suites launching attacks of their own into the infected zones. My hyper-advanced mental processes and Progenitor-grade software held the rogue code back from anything vital and allowed me to fight back at the same time. A sea of insanity sought to consume me, and so I held the sea back and set it on fire.
Chaos is nasty. But here, I was nastier.
Bit by bit, progress was made, and the traces of malignant code were gradually erased from both of our systems. I felt what could only be described as inflamed scars left behind in their wake. No physical traces remained. But I felt wrong, all the same, unclean. I'd need to consult an expert on this matter once this was over.
I could feel the presence of the ship's techpriest contingent busily working from their end to protect the Judgement and purge what I hadn't reached. I brushed against their minds occasionally as I worked; with the cyborgs plugged into the ship's consciousness as they were, I could feel their emotions. There usually tended to be a great deal of fear involved whenever that happened. But! The presence of determination and awe were promising signs!
And on that note, it was done. The Emperor's Judgement had been cleansed of the worst of the foul code. What remained was held in check by programs of my own and the Judgement's own newly-repaired counter-measures. It wouldn't be eliminated in its entirety until they could dig out the slugs the Khornate's had filled her with.
A tentative ping reached me after my scrape with scrap code. My efforts had not gone without reward. I had healed the machine spirit. She was okay. Give her time, and repairs, and she would emerge stronger from this conflict. I was glad. This would be the part where I let out a relieved breath of air had I still the lungs to do it with. Her vast, simple mind had become calm.
<Machine man. Ally? Protect? Purge together?>
<Yes. Ally. Protect. Let's purge some heretics.>
My android body grinned in satisfaction. As someone whose list of noteworthy accomplishments as an organic totaled up to around zero, this had been something worth doing. I had done something that mattered. And that felt…great didn't even begin to cover it.
Thus assured that, no matter what happened next, the machine spirit would not work with its captain to destroy me, I opened communications with the man, audio-only. The exchange had only taken three minutes, in all.
My electronic voice sounded somewhat more exhausted than I was used to. <Greetings, Captain. As your techpriests are no doubt already aware, something has just interfaced with your vessel's machine spirit and purged the scrap code plaguing her systems. That something was me. I apologize for any alarm I may have invoked, and I assure you that was not my intention.>
The Emperor's Judgement had ceased lining up targeting solutions, but it was continuing its approach at the same pace, likely to get a better look at me. I'd managed to double my fleet strength during the exchange. Soon, I'd be ready to enter the fray with something that mattered.
My other projects were still well under way. Time to get cracking.
Oh, yeah. I'd finally decided on a name. Kind of bland, but eh, I could always change it later.
<This is Commander Blue, of the Legio Machinae. I'm here to help.>
XXXXX
AN: FUCKING FINALLY!
My mad scramble in the planet's orbit had not gone unnoticed.
The Imperial Navy had found me. A frigate was making a heading for my position, while the rest maintained vigil for the next bout with the Khornates. This was only slightly less problematic than Chaos finding me.
A lot of factors had contributed to Commander Cook's decision to not order his forces to attack me. A common enemy, lack of hostilities on my side, as much emotion as I could project through the vox, usage of the magic word 'please', those had all definitely influenced it.
But aside from that, I was fairly certain that there was also the knowledge that, having seen my Doxes in action, he knew that if his battered tank units fought my infantry, he would lose. That wasn't a mark of cowardice against him. Had I been an enemy, he and his men would most likely have died standing, fighting to the bitter end, because that was what humans did here. It made him smart, and willing to prioritize against a greater threat.
I didn't have such an assurance here. I only had a handful of Omegas and Artemis, and a single Helios so far. I'd upsized them a bit, stripped the décor and focused more on thicker armor and bigger weaponry, but I would still be squished like so many flies on a windshield if hostilities opened.
Ergo, the need for negotiations. I didn't hold much hope for being lucky twice in a row, but I had to try. I opened a channel with the frigate, intending to convince its captain that I was not an enemy.
That had been the plan.
But then I contacted something else, instead.
Vast. Old. As much circuitry and metal as it was…something else, something…immaterial. There was not just crisp and clean computer code composing its existence. It was alive, not quite like me, not quite as…clear, or as advanced as me, almost animalistic in nature. But it was alive. I knew what this was. And as it became aware of my transmission, the machine spirit of The Emperor's Judgement turned its attention to me.
Belief and emotion were physical entities in this universe. The Warp was the home of souls, and in its eddies and currents, existence itself was shaped by the faith of those souls. The Adeptus Mechanicus worshipped machines, from the lowliest lasgun toted about by a Guardsman to a mighty Gloriana-class battleship, they sang their praises and gave their glories to the Omnissiah, the Machine God, venerating the power of technology and the pursuit of knowledge. That fervent belief was not without effect in the Materium.
Imperial ships were cities unto their own, not a single one perfectly resembling another, not in terms of architecture, or crew, or experiences. The multitudinous thousands of souls who scurried aboard them spent their every waking moment in service to their ships, performing holy maintenance rituals on malfunctioning machinery, and seeing to the smooth running of the voidcraft that kept them safe from the ravages of space and the enemies of man. This diligence, something transcending normal efforts, gave life to these great machines, these machine spirits.
In this universe, machines had souls. And I could feel this one.
Did that mean I had a soul as well?
I felt humbled. And sad. Such a mighty engine of war, something constructed by human hands for the defense of mankind from all who would see them harm…and she was in so much pain. Atmosphere was venting from several decks, the results of shots having penetrated deep into and through the vessel. Her ramming prow was fractured and dented; another such impact would break her spine in two. The Judgement had faithfully defended this relatively calm Developing World against the occasional raid by Orks or Chaos since she began her tour of duty, but never in all of her one and a half thousand years of service had she ever been so close to falling than in this battle.
And she still turned to face me, still defiant, still poised to defend her crew from what her captain perceived as a possible threat. I could feel her preparing for battle, targeting solutions lining up on my much smaller craft. What power remained in those guns would shred my fledgling fleet like so much paper.
I could stop her. It would be almost trivial. My systems were far more advanced than hers, soul-stuff aside. Her electronic warfare capabilities were almost laughably weak, primitive defenses battered by clusters of foreign code buzzing fitfully, appearing red like inflamed wounds to my senses, tendrils working their way deeper and deeper into her systems ooohgeeze that's scrap code.
Not touching that. That right there was something that could do horrible, horrible things to me if I couldn't fight the infection. I steered well clear of the affected sections.
Brief moment of panic at a vector for Chaos corruption aside, I could shatter her barely-sentient mind and comb the pieces for knowledge; schematics, star charts, things I would need if I wanted to escape and survive. I could subvert her and force a total system shutdown, or even turn her against her crew.
I did none of these things.
I guess I really was too much of a softy.
<Be at peace, o great machine spirit.> We communicated on a level incomprehensible by normal human minds, tendrils of streaming code connecting, intertwining to a degree I'd never experienced before in my life. A scarred and battle-worn image it was, but it was beautiful all the same.
<I am not your enemy. I fight the Ruinous Powers. I fight for humanity.>
Only perhaps members of the Adeptus Mechanicus could understand an inkling of what I was experiencing. I could see, now, why they were so moved to venerate machinery. Heh. They would probably throw an apoplectic fit at the thought of one of their holy machine spirits being interfaced with by such a blasphemous creation as I.
Her response, stunted and primitive as it was, was transmitted to me in harsh, brutal tone, laced with hints of static. She needed repairs something fierce, and that scrap code wasn't helping matters any. <Unknown vessels. Xenos. Enemy. Cleanse! Purge! Kill!>
No, no, none of that, you silly thing. <I beseech you, great spirit, turn your weapons to the true foe. I am not a xeno. I am not an enemy. I am human. But I am also machine. A machine man. I protect humans. I protect machines. I would protect you, and your fleet, if you will let me. Please.>
Where another, more warlike commander would have already destroyed the potential threat and been on their merry way, I did my best to soothe. I always had been good at calming down upset animals. This wasn't too dissimilar, but there was a great deal more cautious respect involved here. After all, not every animal was a centuries-old warship that could squash you like a bug.
The Judgement thought I was an enemy. So I sent it proof to the contrary. Images and video recordings flashed between us; a tank interposing its body as a shield between a cowering, soot-covered family and the forces of Chaos; clouds of ravenous blue nanomachine swarms delving into contested trenches to devour the enemy whilst leaving the Imperial Guard fighting them untouched; legions upon legions of Doxes clashing with daemonic war machines so that the fleeing human refugees behind them did not need to die. I sent all of this, and more. A thousand glimpses at the battle that raged below, showing myself as a friend, someone who just wanted to help so fucking let me already!
So I helped. The most immediate threat to the Judgement other than all of the holes in her armor was the scrap code infesting her systems. I might be able to do something about that, but that would involve the equivalent of dipping my hands into a hostile morass of corrosive, toxic waste in order to fish out a child struggling to stay afloat.
So what did I do?
I dipped my hands into that mess and pulled that child out. Some would question the wisdom of exposing myself to the possibility of Chaos corrupting me into a machine powered by madness and death. They would be right to. It was kind of stupid, what I did. But hey, I had certainly never claimed to be a particularly intelligent man.
I didn't think that the Judgement deserved its fate; I respected its history too much. And if I spent my existence constantly afraid of the slightest chance I would fall to Chaos, I would never accomplish anything in this universe that was so steeped in it. If I couldn't help save this one frigate, how could I possibly save this galaxy?
Carefully, I wove the best defenses I could around the mind of the Judgement, the action as instinctual to my new form as breathing had been in my old one, isolating the infected sectors and keeping the viral code from digging any further. Then I started ripping into it.
Even as it ripped into me in turn.
It hurt. It burned in a way nothing else had since I had awoken, like sinking my hands into a box full of poison-tipped darts and used needles, only magnified a thousand-fold. It really shouldn't have surprised me that the first real sensation I would feel in my new life as a machine was agonizing pain. Fitting, and likely only a taste of what was to come.
Chaos had a deleterious effect on anything that remained in contact with it for long. For machine intelligences such as I, that effect manifested as scrap code, likely the aftereffect of the shots that had lodged themselves within the Judgement. Non-sensible numbers that had no logic nor reason assaulted my very being, madness in digital form. The rate of damage was growing greater than my ability to repair it. Was I really going to die from this, at the very start of my new lease on life?
Deep in the heart of my base, a stream of nanobots rapidly coalesced into a human-sized android, just so I could have teeth to grit. The metal quickly warped and deformed from the force.
I refused to die today; or any other day, for that matter! I would not be turned into a monster by some insignificant faulty broken stupid OP hax computer language!
As greedy, ravenous tendrils of code continuously battered my firewalls, new barriers were thrown up behind them and pushed forward, my cyber-warfare suites launching attacks of their own into the infected zones. My hyper-advanced mental processes and Progenitor-grade software held the rogue code back from anything vital and allowed me to fight back at the same time. A sea of insanity sought to consume me, and so I held the sea back and set it on fire.
Chaos is nasty. But here, I was nastier.
Bit by bit, progress was made, and the traces of malignant code were gradually erased from both of our systems. I felt what could only be described as inflamed scars left behind in their wake. No physical traces remained. But I felt wrong, all the same, unclean. I'd need to consult an expert on this matter once this was over.
I could feel the presence of the ship's techpriest contingent busily working from their end to protect the Judgement and purge what I hadn't reached. I brushed against their minds occasionally as I worked; with the cyborgs plugged into the ship's consciousness as they were, I could feel their emotions. There usually tended to be a great deal of fear involved whenever that happened. But! The presence of determination and awe were promising signs!
And on that note, it was done. The Emperor's Judgement had been cleansed of the worst of the foul code. What remained was held in check by programs of my own and the Judgement's own newly-repaired counter-measures. It wouldn't be eliminated in its entirety until they could dig out the slugs the Khornate's had filled her with.
A tentative ping reached me after my scrape with scrap code. My efforts had not gone without reward. I had healed the machine spirit. She was okay. Give her time, and repairs, and she would emerge stronger from this conflict. I was glad. This would be the part where I let out a relieved breath of air had I still the lungs to do it with. Her vast, simple mind had become calm.
<Machine man. Ally? Protect? Purge together?>
<Yes. Ally. Protect. Let's purge some heretics.>
My android body grinned in satisfaction. As someone whose list of noteworthy accomplishments as an organic totaled up to around zero, this had been something worth doing. I had done something that mattered. And that felt…great didn't even begin to cover it.
Thus assured that, no matter what happened next, the machine spirit would not work with its captain to destroy me, I opened communications with the man, audio-only. The exchange had only taken three minutes, in all.
My electronic voice sounded somewhat more exhausted than I was used to. <Greetings, Captain. As your techpriests are no doubt already aware, something has just interfaced with your vessel's machine spirit and purged the scrap code plaguing her systems. That something was me. I apologize for any alarm I may have invoked, and I assure you that was not my intention.>
The Emperor's Judgement had ceased lining up targeting solutions, but it was continuing its approach at the same pace, likely to get a better look at me. I'd managed to double my fleet strength during the exchange. Soon, I'd be ready to enter the fray with something that mattered.
My other projects were still well under way. Time to get cracking.
Oh, yeah. I'd finally decided on a name. Kind of bland, but eh, I could always change it later.
<This is Commander Blue, of the Legio Machinae. I'm here to help.>
XXXXX
AN: FUCKING FINALLY!
Blargh
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 686
- Likes received
- 1,058
This chapter was amazing, I like how you treated both the machine spirits and the scrap code, and am intrigued as to what will happen when you begin interfacing with other machine spirits, both those greater and lesser than this one was,
kinglugia
A Randy Avian
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Messages
- 27,285
- Likes received
- 60,373
...But he's on life support.
NavigatorNobilis
Follower of the Second Star
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,497
- Likes received
- 10,112
Heh. I reaffirm my like; you hit a nice balance of not simply curbstomping the second biggest threat to your character (outside of Exterminatus), while making the way your resolved it interesting. Keep at it, good sir.
Wootius
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2015
- Messages
- 674
- Likes received
- 4,288
kinglugia
A Randy Avian
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2013
- Messages
- 27,285
- Likes received
- 60,373
Oooh, Code Blue!Get wreked.
