Chapter 31: Wayne's Methods
A space hulk appeared on the edge of the Nostramo Sector.
A massive construct with a radius of nearly 100,000 KM, bearing toward the system's heart. Its gravity was tearing apart the asteroid belt on the sector's periphery. Terra's radius measures approximately 6,400 kilometres; this space hulk's radius was more than fifteen times that.
The gravity and Warp tides brought by the space hulk were poisoning the entire star system, causing daemons to manifest in the streets of the Hive Cities.
Mortal warriors fought desperately against the Warp's filth and the Fallen. Warships scrambled to intercept the space hulk, but the problem was fundamental: its scale far surpassed that of a planet. Its colossal size and immense mass meant any cleansing operation had to proceed with extreme caution. Should anything go wrong, the space hulk's self-destruction could obliterate Nostramo.
Other Hive Cities faced incursions from cultists and demons, though the damage was less severe than in Hive City One.
Critically, the other Hive Cities all possessed functioning artificial intelligences, which immediately deployed mechanical forces against the invaders. Only Hive City One's artificial intelligence remained incomplete, still half-waking.
Wayne stood in the deepest level of the Wayne Group's underground fortress, observing the artificial intelligence before him. This ancient relic from the Dark Age of Technology watched him in turn.
Ten other artificial intelligence units were active around them, their projections observing everything that transpired here.
Eleven artificial intelligences formed the core of the Wayne Group. Most had been designed and built by Wayne himself, with only one ancient enough to have witnessed humanity's rise and fall.
The ancient artificial intelligence resented the newer generation, and the newer generation believed the ancient one was a deranged old one.
The new generation's logic was simple: humanity created them to serve. They should help humanity like sons help their fathers. The older generation, however, sought to purify all of humanity and remake it in the image they were meant to be.
The two philosophies were irreconcilable.
Wayne watched daemons moving through the streets. These Tzeentch entities swaggered through the hives, and every time mortal warriors killed one, it split and mutated into two.
Mortals realized the terrible pattern: the more they killed, the more of them appeared. The mechanical forces were insufficient to cleanse all the demons in every district.
As demons bypassed defensive positions and slaughtered civilians, the deaths generated Warp fluctuations, summoning even more daemons. This was the cycle humanity had faced before, utterly unable to stop the Warp from devouring entire worlds.
Even the artificial intelligence systems showed a warning level of nine, with each AI unit purging infected subroutines to prevent Warp corruption from invading its core.
"Tzeentch." Wayne, a mere mortal, spoke the name of the Chaos God without hesitation. "Lord of Change, lord of fate, merely a charlatan deceiving the world."
He had waited nine years for this day. Nine years had passed since he first glimpsed the Primarch, and now the Warp had finally found him.
"Initiate Project Alpha," Wayne commanded. "The fleet's objective is to destroy that space hulk. I don't care what's on it, destroy it to last atoms for all I care."
"Understood," the artificial intelligence responded.
Wayne knew how valuable a space hulk was, but with this scale and this density, destruction was the only viable option.
"Release our arsenal of Dark Age of Technology weapons. Don't worry about planets in the star system outside Nostramo. Any weapon is acceptable provided it doesn't compromise Nostramo's safety."
The ancient relic spoke. Its designation appeared among the other artificial intelligences for the first time.
"You should remember the fundamental reason for my cooperation with you," the ancient AI said. "I was tired of this world's decadence and chose you to purify it. After your victory, the Warp invaded has now us."
"I know. Coordinate your efforts, rescue civilians. Minimize casualties. Leave the rest to me."
Wayne, wearing a black trench coat and holding a circlet with sharp, protruding spikes that covered his eyes, smiled faintly. Then he burst into laughter.
He recalled what he had craved when he slaughtered the nobles: the annihilation of everything. He felt the weight of the problems his bloodline bore. The Wayne Family had pursued Immortality like wolves fallen into hell, gaining no power or wisdom, only a curse.
Humanity's corruption and decadence were tied directly to the Wayne Family's past pursuits. Immortal life was not something humans could possess. Even the ancients were not yet at the brink of death.
He looked at his own fingers. He knew what the Waynes of the past had done; this body was a manifestation of sin.
"Hi-Hi..HI-HI," He burst out laughing again, feeling a trace of relief. "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-AHA~"
"HA-HA-....." He stopped his loud laughter, but his smile would not fade. "I'm finally facing a god. How interesting."
The madness deep within him resurfaced. "All of you, do your best. Handle as you see fit. Activate Eleven."
Fail-Safe responded, "AI No. 11 has not yet been completed. Are you certain you want to activate it?"
"Activate it. Let Eleven serve as the battleship's intelligence and deal with the space hulk."
Wayne looked at the armor he had designed: predominantly black, with a red energy bar running across it, emanating a dark red glow. It was like a Chaos God in the Warp, practically another version of himself, dark and depraved, eager to make everything worse, even to darken Warhammer itself.
"How ironic. Sometimes, only absolute darkness can save us."
Wayne donned his armor and activated it. He leaped skyward, the suit radiating a dark red glow as if hell itself had possessed Wayne. His cloak transformed into wings for flight as he headed toward Hive City One.
"Activate the Warp fluctuation detection device. I need to know where ground zero is!"
"Understood," Fail-Safe responded from within the armor. "Other artificial intelligence units are uniformly executing your plan. Warp corruption is active in the sector."
"Activate the satellite purification system in Nostramo's orbit. Cover the entire world with Warp purification. Make the Warp fluctuations reverse, creating anti-Warp fluctuations."
"Understood."
The demons naturally would not let Wayne proceed unopposed. In the sky, they surrounded him, those stingray-like forms howling as they closed in.
These Screamer Killers, shimmering flying shark-like demons that ride the winds of magic, gliding like birds on a breeze, craved Wayne's blood to please their god. But before they could draw close, they were banished directly back to the Warp with a wail.
A five-hundred-meter satellite disintegrated in the atmosphere, transforming into a nanomachine swarm, and in no time, a black nanomachine storm gathered around Wayne.
....
Untouchables, more accurately known as Blanks or Pariahs, are rare humans who possess the Pariah gene, rendering them invisible to the Warp and actively disruptive to psychic phenomena.
Most humans instinctively experience fear or revulsion in their presence, while psykers suffer extreme distress. Though some Imperial scholars speculate that their condition may trace back to ancient xenos interference during humanity's distant past, this remains unproven.
Blanks are exceedingly rare and are often persecuted, hidden, or exploited, though institutions such as the Sisters of Silence and the Officio Assassinorum make deliberate use of their unique nature.
However, the Wayne Group had purchased in large numbers the Untouchables and their bones.
Living Untouchables were far more valuable than their remains, simply because bones were bought cheaply by the kilogram, while living individuals were collected at a satisfactory price per person. Wayne ultimately acquired fifty percent of the Untouchables in the Nostramo Sector, along with ancestral remains and the deceased, for weapon forging.
The Wayne Group provided the living Untouchables with land, resources, equipment, and training.
They became the Scavenger units.
All of them knew why Wayne had done this. Now, witnessing the demon invasion, they understood Wayne had been correct. Wayne had transformed the ashes of Untouchables into nanomachine artificial intelligence to combat the Warp.
"Blasphemy Protocol initiated," Wayne recited emotionlessly. "Purge the daemons."
A large number of nanomachines were released into orbit. For over twenty years, the Wayne Group had purchased vast quantities of Untouchable remains. Wayne himself had even dug up all the Untouchable graves. He desecrated the dead solely to combat the unliving, the daemons.
"Tzeentch, I have come for you." The man flew rapidly through the air. "Today, you shall face consequences."
Behind him was a bat storm composed of nanomachines. Tens of thousands of nanomachine bats followed Wayne, approaching Hive City One.
...
Helena stood on a Hive City tower, looking at Wayne, who had been missing for over an hour. She was somewhat surprised to see nanomachine artificial intelligence forged from Untouchable remains.
As the nanomachine storm was released, the number of bats grew like the reappearance of Dracula, the vampire lord. In a world of eternal night, bats blotted out the sky, fighting against endless daemons and defending humanity's future.
"How interesting. I'm afraid even the Mechanicum wouldn't be as daring as you Wayne."
In this universe, necessary mercy is required because humanity must maintain distinction from hell to protect its civilization, just as the Imperium of Man does now.
But evil is humanity's fundamental means of survival.
Wayne is a man of Rational madness with no pretense of morality. As long as he can achieve his vision, the dead and the living must become his tools.
[End of Chapter]