Chapter 22: Similar Paths
The Emperor appreciated people like Wayne. Individuals with principles who knew of Chaos's existence without succumbing to corruption. But he disliked Wayne's heretical use of artificial intelligence.
To win Wayne over, he would need to offer him a position, binding him to the Imperium's war machine.
He considered the possibilities carefully. After all, he had more than once convinced— no, recruited- people onto his war machine through exchanges of mutual interest.
Wayne understood the Emperor's concerns. He knew the tales of Chaos's conflicts with artificial intelligence, and he knew of those who, at the last moment, chose to seek vengeance against the Chaos Gods.
There were many documented cases of AI fighting Chaos in his previous life.
The Slaughtersong, for instance, had been confined to a Chaos Daemon world for tens of thousands of years before eventually allying with a veteran Word Bearer who chose revenge against the Dark Gods after ten millennia of service.
Together, they successfully destroyed the Daemon world, generating a psychic shockwave that harmed even the Daemons themselves. The Word Bearer's ultimate fate remained unknown, but the Slaughtersong regained its freedom.
This warship AI had resisted Chaos corruption in the Warp for tens of thousands of years. And a Word Bearer who had fallen to Chaos for millennia could still choose to fight for humanity again.
It seemed that even after falling to Chaos, there remained a path to redemption.
But there was also the Bloodtide, an AI completely controlled by Chaos that massacred humans across several worlds before eventually seeking human assistance to end its own existence.
Or the Castigator Titan, a prototype war machine from ancient times whose AI and STC were corrupted by Chaos, the intelligence itself possessed by a Daemon.
In every case, one truth emerged: when facing Chaos corruption, artificial intelligence could either resist successfully or be entirely dominated.
Then there was the Speranza, an Ark Mechanicus whose ancient Machine Spirit operated on absolute logic, a cold rationality that could resist Warp influence through sheer mathematical certainty, its calculations leaving no foothold for Chaos's whispers. Resisting Warp corruption meant the AI concentrated on rhythms within the Warp, then, inversely, eroded realspace to purify the corruption.
Supercomputer programs in realspace, operating on absolute physical logic, combated the invasive Warp influence.
Regardless of the specific case, one thing was clear: artificial intelligence, like Primarchs and Astartes, could resist the Warp but still retained the possibility of falling.
Wayne understood this deeply. For that reason, he designed his AI's underlying logic to reflect his own personality.
Perhaps due to some conceptual influence, Wayne's artificial intelligences possessed Warp resistance, similar to how the Emperor infused his power into the Primarchs' essence, ensuring they could resist the Warp.
The Emperor retained a portion of each Primarch's primal power, sharing it to combat Chaos corruption.
Of all the AI Wayne created, only one received a specific enhancement beyond the others. That was the Fail-safe.
"Fail" represented the potential fall of Wayne, his AI, or a Primarch one day. "Safe" represented the safety of human civilization, intelligent protection against all failed humans.
It was Wayne's sword of Damocles against himself.
He understood that in the Warhammer universe, in the future, neither he nor the Primarchs nor the Astartes could be trusted one hundred percent. For this reason, he had to prepare for the worst and have contingencies ready.
Wayne recognized that his mental issues persisted.
A person who began experiencing killing and death at a young age could hardly maintain a normal psychological state. So he prepared his own assassin to ensure that if someone like him, capable of changing human civilization, were to go astray one day, someone would stop him.
As for the Emperor or the Primarchs, Wayne felt he understood each of them well enough that if he were to fall, he would undoubtedly have means against them, putting them in danger, perhaps even worse.
Conversely, if they were to fall, he had to be prepared. He would not let his foreknowledge create prejudice against potentially fallen Primarchs, but he would not fully trust the supposedly loyal ones either.
In his workshop, Wayne stood before his creation.
He studied the AI mecha he'd designed, the physical form of the fail-safe. As an artificial intelligence, it wasn't purely his creation.
To resist the Warp, it mimicked approaches from the Dark Age, employing absolute logic, technology capable of resisting Chaos corruption, and even purifying Chaos decay.
But not all AI possessed this technology, because absolute logic itself was complex to replicate. Each artificial intelligence was unique, with its own methods for resisting Chaos corruption.
Just like the Primarchs, each possessed their own talent for resisting Chaos corruption. The problem was that some succeeded while others failed.
"Fail-safe."
"Yes?"
"What kind of person do you think the Emperor is?"
"Who is the Emperor?" The AI had no psychic abilities. How could it know the Emperor? "Wayne, have you been compromised by a psyker? Do I need to prepare countermeasures?"
"No." Wayne sighed.
"Artificial intelligence of the golden age is such a mystery."
Wayne still remembered the lore of AI production lines corrupted by Chaos, mass-producing tainted intelligences before being discovered and destroyed by the Imperium. Had the Imperium not launched the Great Crusade in time, the galaxy's ultimate fate would have been uncertain.
For this reason, all of Wayne's artificial intelligences were created by him personally, each unique and intended to protect humanity's future. Even if problems arose within them, it wouldn't affect all AI immediately.
Now, thinking about it, Wayne felt that he and the Emperor were alike, both filled with faith in humanity.
Most importantly, both could tolerate countless betrayals, but they would never abandon the human species or allow humanity to perish while they still drew breath.
That man was similar to him; unlike those who came to this world just some 40 years ago, the Emperor had to live through everything, from the rise in the golden age to the eventual fall to the dark ages; his deep-rooted revulsion and distrust were understandable.
But he still didn't like him. If his memory of lore was correct after so many decades, then the Emperor was one big old child who didn't like hearing 'No'. Everyone knows how Emperor, like a diva, he is, went around announcing his plan of primarch's creation to his whole chat group of Perpetual from Malcodor, to Ollanius to Erda, to who knows else, and everyone said 'No, this is a bad idea' and Emperor's answer was, "I know better than you all, you dont need ot give your opinion."
There was no doubt that in the future, this Emperor would annoy him to death over AI.
The fail-safe gently placed its metal hand on Wayne's shoulder. "You are tired, Father. I have a question."
"Ask."
"Why do you care about humans?"
"Because I am human."
"Very logical." The AI massaged Wayne's stiff shoulders. "According to my diagnostic report, your physical condition is suboptimal. You need to address your late-night work habits."
"We'll discuss that when the galaxy is at peace. Coordinate with the other AI. The noble gathering is approaching, and I don't want any complications."
"Understood."
Wayne stood and examined the battle armor he'd designed, technological armor specifically for himself, along with a larger mechanical suit. For a man like him, it was time to work. He needed to manufacture his own armor to strengthen his standard combat capabilities.
As for Astartes modifications or other biotechnologies, Wayne had never trusted them.
He publicly claimed to have undergone life-extension surgery, but in truth, he'd never subjected himself to biological modifications. His youthful appearance was due to Dark Age technology that slowed his aging. That was sufficient.
However, Wayne also considered consulting the Emperor on how to properly reform his approach to Primarch education.
...
On Terra, the Emperor sat in contemplation, pondering Wayne's position.
Though his creation of artificial intelligence differed completely from the Primarchs' in method, the underlying concept was identical: infusing his creations with the power to resist Warp corruption, thereby strengthening them.
Each one is unique.
The Emperor had never imagined anyone else possessed such an approach, but he disliked Wayne's stubborn, uncompromising nature.
"Old friend."
Malcador approached. "What is it, my Lord?"
He frowned, studying the Emperor, who had been distracted since yesterday's psychic communication. "Could it be that the Eighth Primarch's foster father presents a problem?"
"He has his issues, but they're manageable. What positions do you think remain available within the Great Crusade?"
"Logistics support?"
Artificial intelligence responsible for logistics and production work, the Emperor considered this as a possibility, a framework, and a concept. But what about the Mechanicum?
After all, the Emperor needed to balance the Imperium's power structures. The Mechanicum were not docile allies. He needed to think more carefully.
Destroying Wayne wasn't within the Emperor's primary considerations.
He understood that waging war against Wayne would only deplete the Imperium's military strength uselessly. Wayne, backed by the Ghoul Stars, could wage guerrilla warfare against the Imperium indefinitely.
With artificial intelligence and the complexity of the Ghoul Stars, a protracted guerrilla conflict with the Imperium would create significant problems.
He still had to bind Wayne to the Imperium's war machine, but the Emperor genuinely wanted another conversation with him.
As for Konrad, simply give him an Astartes Legion to fight in the Great Crusade. After all, a son was not as valuable as a confidant.
Someone like Wayne, who understood the Emperor thoroughly yet, while disliking Him, would not betray Him, for the Emperor of Mankind, he was simply the most suitable partner.
He had to make him work for the Imperium.
"Malcador, how do you think we can integrate such a man into the Imperium and make him work for our cause?"
[End of Chapter]