The final decision still rested with Emrys.
If he judged that the threat of the 'Trinity' Machine Spirits far outweighed their utility, then the outcome would be destruction.
It must be admitted, this engine and the Trinity Machine Spirits were indeed very tempting.
Not only for the two 'forbidden technologies' they carried, but the Machine Spirits themselves, originating from humanity's Dark Age, were an immeasurable treasure.
Any member of the Mechanicum would surely not refuse such ancient, intelligent Machine Spirits.
But Emrys was different; his greed was built upon caution.
Moreover, he already knew that the previous Archmagos, Julius Davenport, had caused the entire Ark Mechanicus to crash at the most critical moment because of these Trinity Machine Spirits. Although the specific reason was unknown, the influence of the 'Machine Spirits' was clearly at play.
Machine Spirits with a 'record' made him even more wary.
After all, who would want to possess a 'Machine Spirit' that might want to kill him at any moment?
"Could this thing be an abomination?" To be honest, Emrys was already a little suspicious. What could give birth to such thoughts shouldn't be an ordinary artificial intelligence, or perhaps not a Machine Spirit at all.
Carol's heart sank; he suddenly felt a little panicked.
He had only been momentarily blinded by the powerful Trinity Machine Spirits, but once Emrys said that, he himself became uncertain.
"Can it be activated?" Emrys stared at the engine, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Lord, are you thinking" Carol guessed his intention.
"Yes, I want to talk to them."
Emrys didn't have much of an opinion about 'abominations'.
In his view, as long as it was within a controllable range, even if it was a little dangerous, it was understandable.
Truth be told, he already had a lot of trouble on his ship, and didn't mind adding one more abomination, but the premise was...
...this thing had to be controllable!
Uncontrollable risks were unacceptable to him, no matter how powerful the force.
This was a matter of principle!
Carol attempted to connect the engine to a portion of the battleship's energy.
Moments later, this seemingly damaged mechanical heart began to beat powerfully and robustly, much like a human heart!
Streams of energy flowed along the conduits into the mechanical heart, and a dull thrumming began to spread throughout the entire laboratory.
Under Emrys' gaze, three human-faced reliefs appeared on the surface of the mechanical heart.
From left to right, they depicted calm, anger, and sorrow, three different emotional characteristics. He guessed they corresponded to the Trinity Machine Spirits Carol had mentioned earlier: Logic, Fury, and Pity.
"Now, I ask, and you answer."
Emrys drew his power sword, a destructive blue light reflecting on the three human-faced reliefs.
"Given your dangerous nature, I suspect you are not Machine Spirits at all, but abominations, or some imprisoned consciousness. Therefore, based on your answers, I will decide your fate. Any problems?"
"Your suspicion is reasonable, but please verify identity information first."
The Machine Spirit of Logic on the far left spoke with an extremely cold and rational voice.
"Merlin Emrys."
"Emrys, identity information confirmed. Highest-grade Imperial Rogue Trader, first recorded in the late M31."
After verifying the identity information, the Machine Spirit of Logic said.
"Based on your suspicion, we acknowledge its reasonableness, but the inference lacks data support. If you suspect, you can examine the 1754 Warp jump navigation logs of this Ark Mechanicus."
"Are you saying that you are not abominations, and the crash of the Ark Mechanicus had nothing to do with you?"
Emrys frowned, his gaze moving back and forth between the three reliefs.
"Correct."
The Machine Spirit of Logic calmly stated.
"The crash of the Forge Covenant was due to Archmagos Julius Davenport's erroneous judgment, which led to the loss of control of the fused organism, not our erroneous guidance."
"Evidence?" Emrys raised an eyebrow.
"The Ark Mechanicus crashed, and most data has been lost." The Machine Spirit of Logic said blandly.
"We cannot provide effective evidence."
"You are lying."
Emrys stared directly at the calm human-faced relief, his voice suddenly much colder.
"Ha, a mere human whelp dares to question us?!"
Suddenly, the human-faced relief next to it, perpetually angry, roared, causing the entire mechanical heart to vibrate.
"That fool died entirely because he didn't listen to our advice. If he had listened to our advice earlier, how could we have been trapped in this damned place for a hundred years?!"
"Oh?" Emrys' gaze was drawn to the angry human-faced relief.
"You mean, the crash of the Ark Mechanicus was due to Julius' own erroneous judgment, and had nothing to do with you at all?"
"Nonsense!" The Machine Spirit of Fury raged.
"We warned that fool long ago that the fused organism was dangerous and had to be placed outside the ship for necessary isolation, but he wouldn't listen to our advice and insisted on bringing that damned thing inside the ship, which led to the crash!"
"What about you?"
Emrys' face was expressionless as he turned to the last human face, the 'Machine Spirit of Pity'.
"Regarding the truth of the crash, do you have anything to add?"
"We tried to protect those humans... Please believe that at least my program is still doing its utmost to protect life." The pitiful face seemed to be shedding tears, its voice soft but intermittent, like a malfunctioning radio.
"We... are not the 'abominations' you speak of... At least once, we... were closer to humanity"
Emrys gripped his power sword, his gaze chilling.
"Three voices, three answers... You can't even unify your lies?"
Yes, the three human-faced reliefs, the three Machine Spirits, all deliberately concealed the truth of the crash, or at least some of the most crucial information.
What they said was true, but only a part of it; there were still many details worth scrutinizing.
Most importantly, the Machine Spirit of Logic, the Machine Spirit of Fury, and the Machine Spirit of Pity.
"Three consciousnesses always remain in disagreement, this is some kind of protocol, right?"
Emrys' eyes narrowed slightly as he asked with an unwavering voice.
"To prevent you from losing control and thus harming the operator."
"Correct."
The Machine Spirit of Logic said.
"The three consciousnesses must always remain in disagreement. If a consensus is reached, the engine will initiate the self-destruct protocol. This is the highest program set for us by the Martian Mechanicum."
"But you didn't self-destruct."
Emrys' voice suddenly turned cold, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"My Magos discovered in the data that before the crash, your three rituals reached a consensus, and the protocol had already been activated, yet you still survived."
"That was an... accident."
The Machine Spirit of Logic's answer was still very rational, but also the most misleading.
"Ha, I already said it was that fool's fault, what does it have to do with us?!"
The Machine Spirit of Fury roared, but beneath its seemingly violent exterior, a trace of fear was hidden.
"Please believe... within the scope of our duties, we have done our best."
The Machine Spirit of Pity's soft, apologetic voice seemed to hide deep guilt.
"If you are willing, we can renegotiate the protocol."
Data streams flashed across the Machine Spirit of Logic's face. It seemed to sense Emrys' increasingly intense killing intent and spoke before that thought could turn into action.
"Trinity Protocol, we will always remain in disagreement. Once a consensus is reached, we will immediately self-destruct."
"This method has been verified; do you think I would still believe it?"
Emrys sneered, tightening his grip on the power sword.
In his opinion, the threat of the Trinity Machine Spirits had exceeded the controllable range; they had to be destroyed!
"No, I mean another form."
The Machine Spirit of Logic calmly said.
"You will serve as the fourth pillar of the Trinity. Your life will be closely related to ours. Once your soul is destroyed, the Trinity Machine Spirits will also be destroyed, with no 'accidents' whatsoever."
"To become the fourth pillar of the 'Trinity'?
To transcend the Trinity Machine Spirit, achieving shared prosperity and shared loss, which can both prevent another tragedy like 'Julius Davenport' and add another fighting force to the Emrys family.
It must be said that the idea proposed by the Logic Soul perfectly aligned with Merlin's thoughts."
"Ha, what are you still hesitating for, kid?!"
The Rage Soul seemed impatient, shouting loudly, "Don't tell me you're scared? This is already the best solution!"
However, Merlin remained unmoved, glancing at the Rage Soul and calmly saying, "You seem very afraid."
"That I will abandon you?"
At these words, the Rage Soul immediately fell silent, as if its thoughts had been exposed.
"We are indeed afraid of falling into slumber again and never waking up." The Logic Soul took over, still full of rationality and calmness.
"We can only offer suggestions; the final decision rests with you, but I hope you can consider our 'value' — it is far more important than you imagine."
"Please, trust us—"
This was the Pity Soul, its voice still so soft, as if carrying deep apologies.
Merlin narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the three distinctly different mechanical faces.
He knew very well that this 'Trinity Machine Spirit' concealed a huge secret, including the cause of death of Julius Davenport, the Great Mechanicus Sage. It was probably not merely because the 'Cocoon of All Machines' escaped the culture dish, leading to the Ark Mechanicus' crash.
In fact, a moment's thought would reveal that the 'Cocoon of All Machines' at that time was still in an embryonic state, far from its later massive body. Without the covert assistance of the Trinity Machine Spirit, how could it have caused the Ark Mechanicus fleet to crash?
Julius Davenport, who became the youngest Great Sage of the Martian Mechanicum and was bestowed with a technological relic from humanity's Dark Age, could not have been a fool. How could he not have been clear about the characteristics of his own creation?
This was the real reason Merlin was wary.
He speculated that the deaths of Julius Davenport's fleet, including his own, were very likely inextricably linked to this 'Trinity Machine Spirit'!
The true culprit behind the Ark Mechanicus' crash back then might not have been the 'Cocoon of All Machines'. It was highly probable that the Trinity Machine Spirit, in an attempt to escape the Mechanicus' plot, ultimately, due to an unforeseen turn of events, caused the fleet to crash on this world, and the Trinity Machine Spirit also fell into slumber.
Sign an agreement with them?
Heh, Merlin chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"Sorry, I'm a bit timid, so I won't sign any so-called agreements with you."
How did Julius Davenport die?
It's not impossible that he signed an agreement with them, but in the end, wasn't he played to death by this Trinity Machine Spirit?
That alone proves that agreements are useless!
The atmosphere suddenly became stiff. The three mechanical faces showed different expressions: the Rage Soul displayed fear and terror, the Pity Soul seemed to be weeping, and only the Logic Soul remained calm.
"State your terms."
The Logic Soul looked at him expressionlessly.
"If you truly believe you don't need us, there's no need to talk so much with us. Based on the deductions from your language model, I conclude that you have a 67% probability of keeping us, and only a 33% probability of resealing us."
Should it be said that it truly was the 'Logic' mind, the calmest and most intelligent of the Trinity? Merlin looked deeply at it and chuckled, "You're right, I do lean more towards keeping you."
"Kid, are you bluffing us?!"
The Rage Soul roared impatiently, like a violently deranged patient.
"Thank you."
The Pity Soul's tone carried a bit more sorrow, and also a touch of relief.
"How do you plan to deal with us?"
The Logic Soul's cold gaze fell on Merlin. Although it tried its best to conceal the hint of unease hidden in its tone, Merlin keenly noticed it.
"Are you afraid?" Merlin raised an eyebrow, looking at the three human-faced reliefs with varying expressions on the mechanical heart, and said meaningfully, "I increasingly feel that, compared to so-called Machine Spirits, you three are more like humans. Even human emotions can be mimicked so vividly."
From the beginning, he had felt something strange.
The Trinity Machine Spirit, rather than being called 'Machine Spirit,' was more like three independent 'personalities.' They had different emotions, different thought patterns, and even different temperaments!
This was certainly not a level that so-called "Machine Spirits" or "Abominable Intelligences" could achieve.
Considering that this 'Trinity Machine Spirit' was a technological relic from humanity's Dark Age, it became somewhat terrifying upon deeper thought.
However, Merlin also knew very well that it was not the time for deep investigation. He indeed needed the 'Trinity Machine Spirit.' Not to mention their data processing capabilities, just the hidden secrets and those two battle-changing abilities were already enough.
"Don't worry, at least for now, I have no intention of killing you." Looking at the three human-faced reliefs, Merlin smiled indifferently.
"However, to be safe, I will find a new 'lord' for you, and he will be responsible for controlling you."
He?
The Logic Soul keenly noticed that the wording in Merlin's sentence seemed a bit off. But at this point, they had no other choice.
If they did not agree to Merlin's terms, their fate would be to be abandoned on this deserted world, like a glass sphere, until their storage array servers failed and they were buried in the dust.
"We understand."
Finally, under the leadership of the Logic Soul, they briefly reached an agreement.
"Trinity Agreement?" Merlin looked at them meaningfully and couldn't help but sneer, "What agreement? Nothing is more practical than violence."
Just a short while ago, they were saying that their three consciousnesses would always remain divergent, yet on this matter, they were surprisingly in agreement.
And the result?
The content of the agreement still hadn't happened?
A moment later, a metal armor walked in, with soul flames flickering in the pupils of its helmet.
The moment it came into contact with the metal armor, the three human-faced reliefs on the mechanical heart simultaneously showed expressions of fear. The Rage Soul, the most violent in emotion, even let out a terrified shriek.
"You, what exactly are you?!"
"Me?"
The metal armor raised its head, flames surging in its eye sockets, looking at them with a mocking, almost smiling expression.
"General Ross—you should be familiar with that name, shouldn't you?"
"You, you are—"
The Logic Soul, which had always been calm, finally felt its logical thinking burning out. Its tone suddenly rose, shouting out the name like a scream.
"You are the Void Dragon, the God of All Machines, the C'tan of the Material universe! How can you be here?!"
The Void Dragon, General Ross, enjoyed it. The corners of his mouth turned up as he uttered two simple words.
"You guess."