These pieces of information, like heavy hammers, struck hard against the cognitive barriers of every member of Maine's crew.
A vast empire spanning the stars, a bizarre cult that deifies technology, and a universe described as an eternal battlefield... every concept far exceeded all the experience they had accumulated in Night City, tearing open irreparable gaps in their established worldview.
"Wait... boss... is he part of this 'Adeptus Mechanicus' thing?" Pilar blinked, his voice filled with bewilderment. He tried to understand the concept but clearly failed. "He treats those machines and code... as gods? What... what exactly does this mean?"
Falco subconsciously pushed up his sunglasses, his gaze behind the lenses filled with an unprecedented solemnity. He tried to find a reasonable explanation but found all logic seemed pale at this moment: "From these descriptions, it's likely. And... the power he wields might not be trivial within this system."
Dorio crossed her arms, the muscles in her bronze arms tensing involuntarily. She tried to connect this information to her own situation but only felt a chill.
"A universe always at war... no wonder he sought us out, no wonder he gave us these..." Her words trailed off, but the unease of being swept into a larger current had already spread.
Kiwi did not participate in the discussion. She simply stared silently at the holographic image detailing the Adeptus Mechanicus' monopoly on knowledge and technology. The collar of her crimson jacket seemed to be pulled up even higher.
Those descriptions gradually overlapped with the image of the boss she knew, bringing not understanding, but a deeper, unknown chill.
All the rules and common sense she was familiar with seemed to lose their meaning here.
Besides browsing the data, their diet also became part of the adaptation.
Sekhmet regularly sent people to deliver a grayish-white, dense starch block. It had no taste and only provided the most basic energy and nutrients.
The texture was dry and rough, requiring a small amount of purified water to swallow.
Rebecca almost threw up the first time she tried it, complaining incessantly, but to maintain their physical strength, everyone had to force themselves to eat.
---
While Maine's crew was passing their days as if years in the camp, Sekhmet was not idle.
She had just completed a crucial task, receiving and executing the latest instructions conveyed by the servo-skull that had arrived with the Warp visitor.
These instructions were the latest directives formulated by Priest Osiris on the other end, after confirming the initial success of the teleportation experiment, and transmitted via the servo-skull.
The most critical instruction commanded her to immediately send a special encrypted data package to the frigate waiting in orbit. This data package contained the exploration report meticulously compiled by Osiris in the alien world.
Sekhmet faithfully carried out the order, ensuring that this report could be delivered accurately to their Forge World via the astropath on the frigate, crossing the waves of the Warp with a whisper of the soul.
This report was a manifestation of Osiris' strategy.
He knew that in the Adeptus Mechanicus' bureaucratic system, a successful exploration must have "discoveries," but overly astonishing discoveries would attract countless unnecessary attention and scrutiny, which went against his core interest in secretly researching dimensional teleportation technology.
Therefore, in the report, he strongly downplayed the true gains on this Death World.
He described the cave ruins containing the dimensional teleporter as a large-scale but severely damaged relic from the Dark Age of Technology, with internal structures collapsed, the core database completely annihilated, and most recoverable technological artifacts rusted or deactivated.
The report's conclusion leaned towards "archaeological value greater than technological value," implying that the input-output ratio of this exploration was low, almost a failed expedition.
However, returning completely empty-handed was also illogical and would make him lose value in the eyes of the Forge World's high-ranking officials.
Thus, Osiris cleverly packaged it.
He described the rogue AI sample captured from the depths of the Cyberpunk World's network as "an ancient logic core found in a relatively intact shielded chamber in the deepest part of the ruins, in a state of stasis."
In the report, he deliberately avoided sensitive terms like "intelligence" or "consciousness," instead emphasizing its "uniqueness and antiquity" of structure.
He speculated that this core might contain some pre-Imperium era data processing paradigms or fragments of mechanical logic, possessing extremely high "archaeological research value," and cautiously hinted that reverse engineering it might bring unexpected breakthroughs for the Forge World in certain specific computational fields, addressing technological bottlenecks.
Through this carefully worded statement, he successfully packaged a potential danger, which might violate the taboo of "abominable intelligence," into an "artifact" from ancient times, worthy of in-depth study.
Before writing this report, Osiris had carefully evaluated the potential consequences of various options.
He had considered more sensational discoveries. For example, if he chose to report the dimensional teleporter itself, which could connect to other worlds, as the main discovery, it would undoubtedly cause a stir on Mars and even among the highest echelons of the entire Adeptus Mechanicus.
However, this level of attention was a double-edged sword.
It would indeed bring supreme glory and resource allocation, but what would follow would inevitably be direct intervention from Mars, countless prying eyes, and endless scrutiny and questioning. His workshop in the Wasteland Town, all traces of his activities in the alien world, would be exposed to the spotlight, which he could absolutely not accept.
In contrast, this carefully packaged "ancient logic core" had just the right value.
It was unique and enticing enough to pique the strong interest of Archmagos Fabricator Kasper Vox, satisfying his urgent need to find a "distinctive" breakthrough for the Forge World.
After all, any discovery related to ancient data processing and logical architecture, even if only tangential, would be enough to give Forge World Neksum a unique label within the highly competitive Adeptus Mechanicus academic circle, thus gaining a more advantageous position when vying for Imperial orders and resources.
At the same time, it was vague enough and carried a certain sensitivity, so it would not immediately trigger large-scale, direct, dominant intervention from Mars, which preserved ample operational space and room for maneuver for Osiris.
He accurately predicted the Archmagos Fabricator's mindset, that the desire to elevate the Forge World's status would likely override rigid adherence to certain doctrinal details.
As long as the subsequent research process did not openly violate the core precepts of the Crimson Protocols and did not cause uncontrollable adverse effects, Mars generally tended to tacitly approve or even secretly encourage subordinate Forge Worlds to undertake some marginal, high-risk but potentially high-reward research projects.
According to Osiris' deduction, the merits brought by this discovery of the "ancient logic core," combined with his past accumulated contributions, would constitute a sufficient and appropriate reason for him to smoothly pass the strict deliberation for promotion to Archon.
From Priest to Archon, this was by no means merely a change in title; it meant a qualitative leap in authority, the qualification to independently lead large-scale research projects and military operations, and access to more core resources.
This included command over more powerful Skitarii Corps detachments, starships, and even access to higher-level knowledge.
This was a crucial step in his plan.