The existence of his clones brought about a revolutionary change to Osiris' research model. His core logic quickly completed the reallocation and evaluation of resources and tasks.
Inside the Spear of Dorn fortress in Necromunda, Osiris' true form still stood silently in front of the control panel of the core biological laboratory.
The crimson optical lens steadily scanned the real-time data stream of twenty culture tanks, inside which were the selected subjects undergoing memory infusion and accelerated physiological development.
The optimization and cultivation of gene seeds, the planning of subsequent modulation schemes for the thirty test subjects, and the in-depth application research of cloning brocade and barrier technology analyzed in the STC system—these core projects, which require his enormous computing power and profound knowledge reserves, are all personally controlled by the main body here.
As always, Marshal Ignis of the Guardian Army stood solemnly beside the main body, responsible for coordinating base defense and transmitting instructions.
Meanwhile, on the fortress' landing platform, a small transport boat blessed by the Cult of Mechanics was preparing to set sail.
Beside the gangway stood a figure dressed in a standard red priest's robe.
The robe's hood was pulled low, obscuring most of the face, revealing only a slightly soft-featured jawline. Protruding from beneath the robe's sleeves were disguised hands that looked like mechanical prosthetics.
A metal respirator was fitted to his mouth and nose, emitting a slight hiss with each steady breath, while a scarlet optical lens obscured his original eyes, steadily scanning the data stream.
This deliberately crafted disguise, befitting a low-ranking member of the Cult of Mechanics, perfectly concealed his purely human nature at this moment.
This is Osiris II, currently a low-level technical neophyte who has just finished his advanced studies in the Neksum Forging World and has returned to the Death World base to assist in management on the orders of Sage Osiris.
The transport ship's engines started, spewing blue flames as it slowly rose into the air, eventually breaking free from Necromonda's gravitational pull and heading towards the vast sea of stars, its destination the world of death.
Osiris II stood by the porthole, her internal consciousness seamlessly connected with her original body in Necromonda, sharing visual, auditory, and all sensor data.
A peculiar sense of sensory fragmentation enveloped him: one part of his consciousness was clearly processing the environmental parameters inside the transport ship, while the other part remained anchored in the laboratory where his main body was, monitoring the progress of the gene seed cultivation.
This experience of running two parallel tracks simultaneously, with a unified consciousness yet being in different places, was something he had never experienced in his past purely mechanical existence.
The journey was smoothly completed through alternations between warp drive and subspace travel.
As the transport ship emerged from subspace and the gray, desolate planet of the Dead World came into view, the perception weight belonging to the original body in Osiris' consciousness quietly decreased, and he focused his main attention on the task at hand.
The transport ship was authorized to land on the base's main take-off and landing platform.
The airtight door opened, and Osiris II stepped down the gangway.
The thin air of the base, carrying the smell of metal and dust, rushed into his lungs through the respirator covering his face. This was a unique "scent" belonging to this place that only biological senses could detect.
His crimson optical lens (disguised to look like an ordinary low-ranking priest) quickly scanned the platform area. The Papacy patrol, the busy servants, and the faint rumble of the Titan hangar in the distance—everything seemed normal.
The Imperial Guard troops stationed there saluted him; their orders were to cooperate with this "apprentice's" work.
Instead of heading to the core command center, he went directly to the biological research area located deep within the base, near the canyon experimental area.
Several apprentices responsible for the daily maintenance of this place were already waiting here.
"Welcome, sir." The head apprentice bowed respectfully. "By order of the Sage before his departure, the research area is in a state of maintenance."
Osiris II nodded slightly and responded in a modulated, slightly immature synthesized voice: "Following the will of the Sage. Take me to see the core experimental area and retrieve all project logs."
Stepping into the Genesis Particle Laboratory, protected by multiple energy barriers and physical isolation doors, the scene inside was almost frozen in time compared to when Osiris left.
Most monitoring screens are in low-power standby mode, the energy field generator used to constrain and guide the primordial particles is in a silent state, and only the basic environmental maintenance system and safety monitoring are still running.
The air had a faint smell of ozone mixed with complex organic molecules, but lacked the energetic feel of a high-intensity experiment.
"As per the instructions given by the Sage before his departure, all active experiments have been suspended, with only basic environmental monitoring and sample preservation being maintained." The apprentice retrieved the project log. "Ecological evolution observation data from the canyon experimental area continues to be transmitted back, and no abnormal fluctuations have been detected."
The suspended research station is also conducting long-term observations of the lake ecosystem according to pre-set parameters, and no new guiding protocols have been initiated.
Osiris II walked to the main control panel, and a data cable popped out from the robotic arm to connect to the data interface.
A massive amount of historical data flooded into his processing unit instantly, and was synchronously compared with the relevant information in the ontology memory.
After confirming that the project was indeed completely suspended, he issued the order: "Initiate the research sequence restart procedure. Prioritize resuming the correlation analysis of the Alpha and Omega samples, and simultaneously calibrate the Genesis Particle Generator."
I need to assess the impact of prolonged static storage on equipment accuracy and sample viability.
"Command confirmed." The apprentices immediately began operating the control panel, directing the machine servants to begin preparations for activating the equipment.
The restart process lasted several standard days.
The energy conduit was refilled with energy, the sensor network was individually checked and calibrated, and the sealed biological samples were retrieved for activity assessment.
Everything seemed to be returning to normal in an orderly manner.
However, just as proactive research was about to be fully resumed, some extremely subtle and elusive anomalies began to emerge.
The first problem arose with the feedback of long-term monitoring data on the "genesis zone" on the surface of the desolate planet.
In the first comprehensive data review conducted after Osiris II restarted the research, a series of inexplicable, minor deviations with common characteristics began to emerge.
Continuous atmospheric composition monitoring records show that, in the most recent three standard-month period, the daily minimum reading of carbon dioxide concentration was unusually stable at 0.035% seven times—a value that happens to be the theoretical average of the standard baseline fluctuation range.
Individually, each reading is within the instrument's error tolerance, but the probability of accurately reaching the same value seven times in a row is so low that it does not conform to a random distribution model.
More widespread anomalies are appearing in environmental monitoring networks.
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TL: All clones will be referred to as Osiris II, I don't feel the need to make a distinction between them as the author does.