Warhammer: In the Name of Ashes

"Rather than this, I'm more interested in the current time. And how you know my origins."

Although Calvin has recovered some basic physical fitness, he is short in stature, but this does not prevent him from floating in the genetic modulation cabin, looking down at the mortal things in front of him from a condescending perspective.

"Imperial Calendar 005.M36, Dear... Sir. As for your origin."

Constantine took out from his robe a strange device that was irregularly squeezed together by large and small dashboards.

Then under Calvin's gaze, Constantine pointed to all the pointers on the instruments that spontaneously pointed in Calvin's direction and said:

"I am fortunate to have worked with some special groups of the Tribunal. The power of time and space in you is slowly increasing. It is unstoppable and is destined to bring you back to the era you should be in."

"Understood." Calvin said solemnly.

Now that his return has been decided, he is no longer eager to escape from this unexpected era.

"So, are you interested in hearing my thoughts now?"

"Speaking……"

Regarding the concept of "eternal life in the cloud", under Father Constantine's explanation, Calvin finally had a preliminary understanding.

This is not a new concept.

In other words, this is actually an inevitable product of human nature.

There has never been a shortage of amazing and talented people in this universe. It is said that the universe and the earth are all working together, and heroes are not free when they come.

Heroes who have accomplished many epic feats will always try to seize the last moment when they grow old and refuse to let go. This is one of the reasons why many tragedies of brave men turn into dragons.

Compared with the various clumsy ways these people use to extend their lives, the monks of the Mechanicum naturally have unparalleled technical advantages.

They always start eagerly looking for the next shelter for their souls before their weak bodies decay.

So the question naturally arises, where can they go?

Where can they place their cold, program-like souls for a long time and safely?

The answer, as expected, is the steel and machinery they are familiar with. This is in line with their beliefs and the same philosophy.

Considering the constraints imposed by the "Scarlet Protocol" on artificial intelligence manufacturing, people on Mars have long been dissatisfied with those machine souls that have been artificially weakened and have only instincts like beasts.

Just in time, they finally got what they wanted. In a sense, they finally succeeded in bypassing the constraints of the Scarlet Protocol.

But the price was that they themselves were permanently placed into those metal shrines.

Isn't this the ultimate destination they have been pursuing?

In the presence of the Almighty Om Messiah, renounce the mortal body destined for corruption.

Isn’t it a sacred and glorious thing to become one with the God of All Machines under the devout faith?

Flesh and flesh are bitter and weak, and machines soar.

The same things always happen in different universes, and there is a reason behind them.

This is the choice of human nature and the instinctive pursuit of eternity.

But is the problem solved in this way? It's not that simple, right?

If nothing else, this is not the case based on Calvin’s understanding.

At least in his information channels, no one in the life of the Mars Forging General, the Lord of Mars and the highest authority of the Mechanicum, could break through the limits of the mortal soul.

These supreme rulers of Mars are still the same, disappearing for various reasons within the limits of mortal things, and then someone will come up again.

They either die from the slow loss of core data during information transmission, and finally suffer irreversible loss of personality;

Or die from the continuous accumulation of wrong data in the logic engine, and finally lose your mind and go crazy.

If the top leader of the Mechanicum met such a tragic end, could others be spared? How can it be……

What Constantine is pursuing is also a solution to these problems - cloud storage.

This is the result of Constantine’s long thinking:

Decentralized, distributed data storage, strict data comparison encoding and independent event numbers that cannot be copied.

To put it simply, the consciousness that was originally transmitted from a single body is artificially created into a matrix and then distributed and uploaded to different devices in a planned manner.

Then I maintain my self-awareness through organized and planned data comparison and error correction.

This theory makes Constantine's unique soul transfer possible in a purely technical sense.

It also solves the problem of data errors and loss among the pioneers on this road.

It fulfills the basic needs for the survival of the soul and leaves as much backup as possible to preserve the self.

Immortality in the cloud seems so perfect, at least with Calvin's knowledge base, he can't see any technical loopholes in it.

But the details on the soul side are not necessarily certain. This is the blind spot of knowledge of the mechanical sages, but it falls precisely within Calvin's area of ​​expertise.

Whether it is his identity as a Gray Knight or the special nature of his own soul, he has enough say in the soul.

But he chose to remain silent

The discussion about "eternal life in the cloud" ends here for now.

From the perspective of future generations, the Constantine in front of him should have successfully continued his life.

But it's still the same old problem. It's still unknown how many elements of the person in front of Constantine are in him.

Within three days, Calvin's physical parameters stabilized.

During this period, Calvin also learned about the current situation of the Order of Bad Omens behind the many secrets through Constantine's narration.

This is an organization that is so powerful that it makes him tremble, because Calvin himself has personally experienced the power of a warrior titan on the battlefield.

Just a heavily injured and dying psionic Titan can use its remaining armaments to destroy demons at the level of the Chaos Legion in a matter of seconds.

There are 25 such Titans in the Order of Omen.

But this is an organization that almost exists in name only, and the reasons are surprisingly similar to the Gray Knights, the organization Calvin belongs to:

Behind the destructive power they control, there are personnel selection standards that are even more outrageous than those of the Gray Knights.

A mere 25 sets of personnel: three sub-supervisors including a senior supervisor, 9 buffer operators, and 150 attached psykers.

Even if reserve personnel are included, the core combat establishment of less than 650 people at its peak has reached its limit and cannot continue to expand.

You must know that this is the end of the peak of the empire's national power when the emperor himself is still alive.

The subsequent script was much more familiar to Calvin. The fire brigade-like Order of Omens was active in various battlefields in the Sun Star Territory after the Great Rebellion and until the Age of Apostasy.

until their personnel can no longer maintain basic operations.

When the last Titan pilot also aged with time, the main body of the Order of Omens completely fell silent.

All their core members have disappeared, and the remaining mechanical priests and electric monks who were originally attached to the troops and Titan guards are wandering in the corridors of Terra's underground base like ghosts...

"So, you are the only ones in the base now?"

After quietly listening to Constantine's narration, Calvin asked after thinking for a long time.

"Yes..." Constantine also broke away from his memories.

"What kind of personnel standards can meet your requirements?"

"Untouchable, male, until adulthood."

"It's difficult, but it shouldn't be completely absent, right?" Calvin asked in surprise.

"The requirements for high-level executives, that is, main pilots, are too high. Only Delta-level untouchables meet the requirements. Moreover, he must have great perseverance to withstand the endless torture of psykers; he must also be rich. Only with wisdom can one understand the sacred binary language of the ancient machine soul..."

"Deep sea?" Calvin understood.

On a psionic plus/minus scale, a Delta-level untouchable corresponds exactly to an Alpha-level psyker.

Known as the Abyssal, they are just as rare as Alpha-level psykers, if not rarer.

After all, the former can still occasionally find wild Alpha-level psykers from the empire's territory, while the latter can only appear if the families of the untouchables reproduce.

While the emperor is still here, he can still find ways to select and transfer;

But after the High Lords Council came to power and drove the Sisters of Silence and the Untouchable Family out of Terra, there was really no chance.

Calvin suddenly realized that the predicament between the Black Ship Lady and Cassin was no accident.

Come to think of it, the targets of those in power in the High Lords Council were not just Sisters of Silence from the beginning.

Simply based on the results, as long as the power is not under their control, it should be on their internal processing list...

"It's true that there is not enough success and more than enough failure..."

Calvin, who was speechless, looked at Constantine, thought for a while and then asked:

"So, is there no other way to activate these Titans other than the Untouchables?"

"No. Except for the untouchable, no one can maintain their soul in the storm of psykers' perception. This is common sense." Constantine said affirmatively.

"Well... what if I say that I once activated one of them?"

"Huh? Wait a minute, my language module may need to self-test..."

Now it was Constantine's turn to be shocked.

He didn't even think about the feasibility of Calvin's theory, but immediately thought that there was something wrong with his language receiving device.

"Okay, what did you just say? Please say it again."

"I said that I once activated and drove a Warlord-level psychic Titan named the Declaration of Truth to fight Chaos in the Storm Star Territory."

"God of all opportunities! How did you... do it?"

Constantine's brain crashed:

The psionic Titan's operating regulations and basic operating conditions pulsed wildly in his brainstem and auxiliary thinking devices.

The corresponding one is the final conclusion formed by Calvin's words in his eyes.

The impossible conclusions one after another were like a red tide of data, surging in his eyes, and then crashed onto Calvin's green conclusion.

"This is impossible!"

Constantine looked up into Calvin's eyes, and the latter confirmed with an affirmative look.

"Praise be to the Almighty Om Messiah! Please be sure to tell me what happened at that time!"

Visible water vapor rose from Constantine's back. It was obvious that in order to calm down his peak emotions, the heat dissipation device had been stretched to the limit of performance.

Looking at the emotional Constantine in front of him, Calvin thought about where to start, and then said:

"This starts with a person who came to our door, um, an envoy of the Forbidden Army..."

Three days passed by, and Calvin's body was completely stable.

After talking with Constantine all night long, both men had new plans for their future.

The former knew enough about the Order of Omen that he had a feasible plan for how to maintain the "Declaration of Truth" Titan after his return;

The latter rushed towards Terra's base under Calvin's order.

At this time, Constantine rediscovered his mission. He couldn't wait to go to his base, hoping to find information about the pilot named Alfonso in the database.

The emptiness of the past once again returned to the tower.

After watching Constantine's spaceship leave, Calvin, who packed his bags, pushed open the door of the tower alone and walked towards the way he came.

The character of Lady Winter is arrogant and cold.

Her reserve and stubbornness were most vividly displayed in the biting cold wind and the goose-feather heavy snow.

There was nothing else in the open space in front of the tower in the white snow. Only the thin figure remained the same, kneeling stiffly in the cold wind of the plateau.

This was the first scene Calvin saw after opening the door of the tower, and it was also a precious memory that he would never forget.

Yes, it's still the woman named Mu.

She used her stubbornness and flexibility to silently fight against the Goddess of Winter during the long, unknown time limit of waiting.

And all she asked for was just a little affection.

Calvin was stunned. For the first time since he regained consciousness and left the small world called Seul, he felt human emotions again.

This is not the first time he has seen human beings driven by "persistence" in this world, but it is indeed the first time he has received something called "love" in this world.

He walked toward the silver-covered sculpture with trembling hands, and gently put his hand to her nostrils to confirm whether this stubborn woman's life was still in the world.

Fortunately, she is still there.

Feeling Calvin's footsteps, her consciousness woke up from the gap between coma and sleep.

Looking at the strange yet familiar boy in front of him, Mu smiled with difficulty.

No surprises, no surprises.

With the tolerance unique to nomadic women, she accepted all the differences in Calvin.

With Calvin's help, she stood up with difficulty. Regardless of the ice and snow on her body, she reached out and gently stroked the snow flakes off Calvin's head and said to him:

"" (Come on, kid. Come home with me.)

In this way, Calvin had his own family in this world, and in this tribe located on the Pangulis Mountains, the woman named Mu finally had her own child.

This was a rare and relaxing time in Calvin's eyes. Under Mu's care, or in other words, Calvin's company, this small family of only two lived a simple and warm life.

Manpower in tribal times was a resource in itself.

The survival culture of nomads is based on their living environment. In the harsh natural environment, every young man who can participate in hunting is extremely valuable, and even directly determines the survival of the tribe.

In a cultural background where it is common for wives and daughters to entertain guests, the addition of one more person to Mu's family does not seem so unusual.

Having an additional male who is about to become an adult has only advantages and no disadvantages for the tribe, so the people of the tribe only welcome Calvin.

There is no unexpected vigilance and scrutiny, and there is no bullying or slap in the face in the plot of the novel.

Calvin just blended into their lives, just like the moon in the sky every night, clear and bright but unobtrusive.

This is the background of the agricultural and animal husbandry era, a compromise with low productivity, and an era of male privilege.

The tribe is open to every man and welcomes them to join.

If they were willing to leave blood for the tribe and give birth to a boy and a half girl, that would be a good thing worth celebrating.

This can be seen from the girls who began to appear frequently next to Calvin's tent.

And this is also Calvin's new trouble.

2-in-1, updated.

These are probably the two most difficult chapters I have ever written. I revised and revised nearly 10,000 words before finally settling on it.

Maybe the effect is still not ideal, but my ability is limited, so be it.

Also: Asking for votes.