845 M06
"You seem excited, albeit tinged with frustration. Did you discover a new wraithbone interaction or something?" The Emperor asked, having noticed the direction of my thoughts though the connection that we never actually bothered to close, these days.
"No, although I did finally stabilize my transmutation warp construct after so long studying the wraithbone and the impermeable warp-shield. What I'm excited about is that I finally found a Necron Tombworld."
Interest flowed through the bond. "Did you discover why you have been unable to locate them thus far? You've scouted an appreciable fraction of the Galaxy at this point, after all."
"I did, and the discovery was due to a random earthquake opening a fissure on one of the more unique garden worlds I was studying that allowed me to find one of their sealed Necropoli. The reason I hadn't found one until now was that I was searching incorrectly. I had assumed that the Necrons were active warp-suppressors, like the human 'blanks' described in the alternate timeline, and in a way they are, but what may be a naturally occurring phenomenon in some humans has been refined to an impossible degree with the Necrons. Rather than being a void that actively combats the immaterium around them, the energy is instead purely funneled into being unaffected by the warp entirely, to the point that they have no warp signature at all."
Genuine surprise. "Even comets and airless moons have a warp signature. I had assumed that everything in realspace had at least some presence."
"Exactly, hence why it took so long to find. One of the strangest effects I've seen. Psychic effects slide off even the base Necrodermis building material they use like it isn't even there. It also answers the question of how a race with no souls can remain safe from warp-corruption. Chaos simply cannot see or interact with them at all. It's as if they severed the realspace/empearean mirror entirely, and I don't have the faintest idea how it was accomplished." I was actually rather frustrated at that. I had hoped that Necrodermis would be a cornerstone to advancing warp-resistance, but it was too good at its job. I didn't have any effective means by which to analyze it properly.
"Hmm. So some indivisible property of the material they build everything with. I would appreciate a sample to work with, when you get the chance. I know you have some technological capability to analyze materials like this, but I also know that your capability doesn't scale well in that regard, as a primarily psychic entity. It will need to be handled correctly, but perhaps a few grams shipped to a few thousand research institutes each will yield something, although I will temper expectations to a degree."
I sent a wave of acknowledgement. "I would appreciate it. It feels like working blind, since all of my primary senses don't seem to function on it. It also means that we'll need to be more careful with planetary surveys moving forward, since you need to physically locate a Necropolis to know that it's there in the first place."
We sat in relative silence, half formed ideas bouncing back and forth as we both considered the idea.
The Emperor broke the silence first. "May I ask what's unique about life on that garden world?"
I nodded along. "I can see where you're going with this. Yes, it's a rare example of a phosphorus-starved ecosystem. Which doesn't mean anything in and of itself, since planets formed after the fall of the Old Ones often share that characteristic, but it could be a key indicator to look out for. It would also explain why Tombworlds are frequently described as lifeless deserts. Even if they were otherwise suitable for colonization, the Old Ones wouldn't bother seeding phosphorus onto Necron controlled worlds, and thus, life is far less likely to evolve there."
"Certainly something to watch, now that we're aware of the possibility. Now, how goes the project to totally enclose the pair bond network in the impermeable membrane."
"Well, as you know I finished excavating and laying the foundations about four hundred years after the Eldar attack on Damascus. It took a further five hundred to build the framework for the barrier itself, and then for the past three hundred the barrier has been growing in strength as it repairs itself. I estimate it's at about ninety percent strength, which means I can only catch glimpses of the network myself, despite surrounding it. Within a hundred years it will be totally enclosed, and I will be cut off from the network entirely. Beyond that point, new bonds that fit the conditions and precisely match the bond type can be added and the network itself can change the empyrean conditions within the barrier, but no external force will ever be able to influence the network through the warp."
A wave of satisfaction. "Good. It will be nice to finally have actual immunity for anyone who's formed a bond, rather than 'just' a strong resistance."
I waited a beat, before hesitantly adding my next point. "Actually, I have a hypothesis, now that the network is entirely enclosed."
"Yes?"
"Throughout all of human history, departed souls that lacked the strength to tear themselves free of the immaterium were simply dissolved back into the medium from which they emerged. Currently a peaceful, albeit very final, end. But when the warp storms come and daemons start actively hunting rather than acting as opportunistic feeders, souls will instead be devoured. But… If my hypothesis is correct, finishing the enclosure will give bonded pairs the ability the Eldar either naturally exhibit, or that they probably stole from some other Old One project of some sort. Namely, the ability for departed souls to retain their coherence for as long as they wish in the immaterium. Specific to this case, within the pairbond barrier."
The Emperor was thinking hard. "Now that will be interesting. I'll have to ponder the implications. If it is indeed a similar mechanism that the Eldar use, then I can foresee the ability for pairs to step back into realspace, provided they have a sufficiently isolated vessel to enter and their souls wish to make the leap."
