In a sense, the Imperial population is similar to the ideal bionic humans in 3k era science fiction, characterized by their immense numbers, standardized labor, and the quality of being diligent and uncomplaining…
In fact, perhaps contrary to what some might imagine, the Imperium is not incapable of automated production.
The Adeptus Mechanicus is indeed restricted from developing and applying Abominable Intelligence for various reasons, but the existence of Cogitators can still replace AI in managing equipment.
Without mentioning anything else, achieving the level of intelligent automated production seen in the 3k era is entirely possible; the Adeptus Mechanicus possesses this technology.
However, compared to the convenience brought by adopting automation technology, for the Imperium, using human labor is a more cost-effective, and simultaneously safer and more stable approach.
After all, for the Imperium, if its massive population, numbering in the trillions, is not consumed in this manner, it would purely be a burden.
Although it sounds cruel, for the Imperium, the vast majority of ordinary people have little value; only a very small portion of them are truly significant to the Imperium.
This, of course, deviates somewhat from the universal values of most people in the 3k era. Although the vast majority of people in the 3k era contributed little to the world, the notion that humanity surpasses all else was still deeply ingrained.
At least, this was true for a certain Eastern Great Power in the 3k era.
However, for Alex, although he received his education in the 3k-special era and his values and outlook on life were established then, given his current work, it is impossible for him to implement the 3k era's values in the 40k era.
It's not that this era should cruelly exploit its populace, but rather that many things are simply incompatible with this era.
For example, at present, Wise One Kristen from Griya has cornered Alex in his office, demanding that he provide her with at least one hundred thousand people so she can transform them into Servitors for the construction of the Orbital Ring.
"I apologize, Wise One Kristen, but I must refuse this request." Alex naturally could not agree to this demand; his conscience and moral principles would not allow him to consent to such a practice: "I can provide you with workers, and you can ask them to install implants to work better, but to transform them into Servitors, that goes beyond what I can tolerate.
They are the Emperor's subjects; every life is the Emperor's currency. While transforming them into Servitors might allow them to achieve greater value, the Emperor's currency is not meant to be wasted in such a way."
If it were a normal Hive World or other Imperial World, the Governor might actually agree to Kristen's request.
After all, it's quite common in the Imperium for a Governor to owe the Adeptus Mechanicus money and then use the planet's population as collateral.
And for the Adeptus Mechanicus, regular humans are actually not of much use.
They do indeed respect life, but it's with the thought of 'it's too much of a waste of resources to just kill them.'
Rather than respecting life itself, they respect the value of humans as a means of production.
It is precisely for this reason that, for the Adeptus Mechanicus, transforming people into Servitors is a way to upgrade and preserve the value of production resources.
Furthermore, in Forge Worlds controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus, transforming a person into a Servitor is even considered a 'reward'; only those loyal, long-serving employees who have performed exceptionally well in Adeptus Mechanicus factories for many years are granted this honor.
When they become too old to work, they are transformed into Servitors and then welded to their former workstations to continue serving until they are too worn out to function.
And for the Imperium itself, transforming people into Servitors, from a certain perspective, is indeed not a punishment but a reward.
For instance, for Astra Militarum personnel who have witnessed the Grey Knights' actions in eliminating daemons, if direct extermination is not desired, transforming them into Servitors is a merciful and appropriate solution.
After all, these individuals can continue to serve the Imperium instead of dying without value or meaning.
So, in Kristen's perception, transforming the people of Rostov into Servitors is a gift, even an honor.
Of course, it is also a manifestation of her concession to Rostov.
But Alex clearly did not see it that way, and a divergence in their perceptions arose here.
Kristen, however, did not find this to be a major problem. She changed her approach and tried to persuade Alex: "While preserving their human aspects might satisfy your morals, from an efficiency standpoint, transforming them into Servitors is the most suitable choice.
Through Servitor modification, their bodies will be implanted with a large number of implants, allowing them to adapt better to their workstations, and they can also better receive commands from a Tech-Priest, saving the waste caused by communication Link.
Once transformed into Servitors, they will be able to contribute more effectively to the Imperium.
This is the best choice, whether for themselves, for the Imperium, or for this planet."
Servitors, in simple terms, are human bodies used as basic substrates, surgically modified according to different needs, implanted with a series of implants including but not limited to hydraulic clamps, servo-arms, power fists, and Bolters, and then the subject's brain is partially excised and modified to turn them into mindless semi-robots.
Because of the past Iron Men rebellion, the Imperium has completely banned artificial intelligences and robots with self-aware capabilities. Servitors are one of the few humanoid robots the Imperium can tolerate.
However, due to the mindlessness of these units, they require frequent human maintenance and correction in practical use; otherwise, Servitors will fall into a strange self-loop.
The Adeptus Mechanicus, however, can install signal interfaces in Servitors during modification, allowing a Tech-Priest to easily control a large number of Servitors via signals.
This is precisely Kristen's goal: to obtain a large number of high-quality laborers through this method and then use them to accelerate the construction of the Orbital Ring.
And the established Servitor construction team can also be used for the construction of other Orbital Rings in this Sub-Sector later.
After all, one of the biggest reasons Alex was able to reach this deal with Griya was his promise to build more Orbital Rings.
It is also for this reason that Kristen was discussing with him so politely, rather than solving the problem in a more Adeptus Mechanicus way.
But Alex, after some consideration, finally spoke: "My people cannot be given to you, but I can provide you with a group of criminals."
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