Chapter 30: The World is Beginning to Spiral Out of Control
When Priest Anthony uttered the words "brain lobes," everyone at the table, with the exception of Magos Laust, thought the same thing: Laust, you old fox, you've set a trap for us!
[INQUISITORIAL NOTE: BRAINLEAF]
A carnivorous plant resembling a small tree, native to the dense jungles of the Death World of Catachan. The leaves of the Brainleaf tree can take flight, propelling themselves in a manner similar to birds. After landing on a living creature, these seemingly harmless leaves attach themselves to the victim's flesh with barbed tendrils. Removing them is nearly impossible, as their tendrils burrow deep into the body and integrate with the victim's nervous system. From that point on, the victim becomes a mindless slave to the leaf, capable of only the most basic motor functions.
"Catachan?"
"Yes, Magos," Anthony explained, quite pleased with himself. "However, this salad contains more than just Brainleaf. I've also added the secretions and powder of a Spiker plant for seasoning, to give it a richer texture."
"Hiss! Laust, you..."
[INQUISITORIAL NOTE: SPIKER]
Also from Catachan, a large, spherical plant covered in sharp spines. The vibrations caused by a passerby are enough to trigger its attack mechanism. The Spiker will shoot its thorns in all directions. If even one pierces the skin, the creature's doom is sealed. A mutagenic toxin enters the victim's bloodstream and begins to alter their tissue structure. A human victim might stumble around for an hour or two as thorns sprout from their flesh. The toxin works so quickly that they are unable to seek help, or even understand what is happening to them. By the next day, they are completely transformed into a new Spiker plant.
Magos Laust, watching the other Magi raise their weapons, remained perfectly calm. He took a fork, placed a piece of "Brainleaf salad" in his mouth, chewed slowly, and said, "You'll get used to it. After a while, you'll find they taste quite good."
"We have no intention of getting used to it! Tell us, which side have you joined? What did they offer you to do this to us?"
"No one. This is our food from now on. I had some roasted Venus Mantrap yesterday. Tasted a bit like snake."
"Roasted Venus Mantrap?!"
[INQUISITORIAL NOTE: VENUS MANTRAP]
Another plant from Catachan. It is well known that on the Death World of Catachan, the instincts and predatory nature of the flora and fauna are amplified to a shocking degree. The Venus Mantrap, a giant, actively-hunting carnivorous plant, is a prime example. This plant is not content to simply wait for prey—its tendrils and leaves will lash out at creatures several meters away from its main trunk, constricting them to death with the strength of a large serpent.
The visiting Magi left with unsteady, dazed steps.
Omega and Magos Laust were unconcerned. The Magi would get used to it. Everyone did. Hadn't they? Every priest in the temple had eaten the "fresh Brainleaf" harvested by someone in three layers of protective gear. It was a "gourmet ingredient," a luxury the common workers could not enjoy.
They had also gotten the information they wanted. The situation outside was indeed deteriorating, just as Omega had predicted. Archmagos Veyl had begun promising food to the starving workers and demanding weapons from the factory districts like theirs, which produced standard-issue wargear. The Temple faction had begun a fierce assault on the spaceport, seeing the Archmagos's intentions and hoping to capture it before the workers could be armed and trained.
Both sides knew what the other was planning. A fierce battle of attack and defense raged around the space elevator connecting to the spaceport. For now, the Temple faction was holding its own, but as their forces were depleted, the Archmagos, with his reserves of manpower, would inevitably gain the upper hand and, eventually, victory.
At the same time, riots were breaking out in many other districts due to food shortages. Workers used materials from the factories to blow open the warehouses. With the weapons from inside, they tore the high-and-mighty priests to shreds and burned and destroyed the temples of the Omnissiah they had once revered, prayed to, and praised. Even with their powerful and sophisticated weapons, the priests were no match for the sheer numbers, for the desperation of the starving masses. Even the strongest, wisest, most knowledgeable priest would be ground to dust.
But food still did not appear out of thin air. Starvation did not dissipate with the death of the priests. The armed workers began to attack the still-stable districts, and the workers there were forced to take up arms to defend themselves. There was no room for surrender, no room for compromise, no room for joining. Because people... could also be food. They were both hunter and prey.
"Omega, you saved all of us. We should all thank you." This was what Magos Laust said to Omega after the other Magi had left. He was so sincere that Omega blushed. He shuffled his feet and said, "Well, Magos, in that case, can I make a request?"
"The robots are not for discussion!"
Omega turned and stomped away. Hmph, no sincerity at all.
Over the next period of time, priests leading groups of workers began to arrive at their district. They came in waves, as the existing resources could not support everyone from the other Magi's districts at once. Abandoning those workers now was no different than releasing starving beasts from a cage.
The good news was that Omega now needed more manpower. The cavern passage leading to the subterranean space had been cleared by his "firepower." Along the way, any flora and fauna deemed "ingredients" were preserved; everything else was destroyed. The "plant ingredients" were fenced in with metal mesh, supervised and harvested by trained personnel. The "animal ingredients" were lobotomized by Louis and moved to "ranches" to live a blissful life of eating and sleeping.
Many had been injured or killed in this endeavor, but many more had survived because of it. The smiles on the faces of the adults were more frequent than before. The smiles of the children, however, had become rarer, because now they had to go to school every day.
That's right, Omega had established the first school in the history of Forge World Teyedan. A school with apprentices as teachers and a warehouse as a classroom. All children under the age of fourteen were ordered by Omega to attend, and the apprentices were given the right to administer corporal punishment and to summon parents for a "flogging."
The workers thought the school was a sign of Priest Omega's kindness. The priests thought it was Omega's way of managing the unsupervised children. Only Omega himself knew his true motivation, which had come to him one day as he was walking down a path, Thinking about the problem anxiously, and a "big kid" two heads taller than him had zoomed past on a toy car made of scrap metal: Let the world know pain!
The clearing of the cavern passage had further expanded their "hunting grounds." The limiting factor in acquiring "ingredients" was now the number of people and weapons, but with the reinforcements from the other districts, these were no longer problems.
Magos Laust finally moved from his "lair"—the Mechanicus temple. He and the other Magi had now gone underground to "seek dragons and divide the gold," shamelessly ignoring Omega's previous contributions and stripping him of his "Warmaster" title to take it for themselves. Omega was sent back to the surface to handle logistics and liaise with the other districts.
The temple's main hall was now Omega's office. His desk was situated directly beneath the cog-skull of the Omnissiah.
"Jacob, have you brought back all their weapons?" Omega asked the metal-headed priest who had just entered.
Jacob found a chair and sat down. "Just one last trip. After this load is in the warehouse, I'll make one more run and try to finish today."
"Thank you for your hard work. We've already received notices from both sides today, demanding we hand over our weapons. With no supply of materials, we can't produce any more. We need to stockpile as much as we can now."
Hearing this, Jacob's face contorted with anger. "They don't care if we live or die, and they still want us to send them weapons?! Why don't they just kill each other? Let the Archmagos and the Temple Magi have a duel. Whoever wins can be the Fabricator-General!"
Omega looked at Jacob, surprised by this outburst from the usually good-natured priest. "Jacob, did something happen on the road?"
"Omega..." Jacob began, but then trailed off.
"Go on, say it. You'll feel better. Like Louis said, this is everyone's responsibility."
Jacob looked at the "little priest" buried in paperwork, then thought of the "miracles" he had created. He knew Omega was no ordinary person, that he was destined for great things. But to tell the young Omega what he had seen on the road... he didn't know how to say it.
Seeing Jacob's silence, Omega guessed that something truly horrific must have happened to make this kind and rational priest look so distraught. He said, "Have they started eating each other?"
"You knew!"
"I guessed," Omega said flatly. "I guessed it the moment I decided to let most of the workers die. So you don't have to worry about me."
"..."
"Alright, tell me what happened."
Seeing that Omega was prepared, Jacob no longer hesitated. "I saw priests and Skitarii escorting the old, the weak, women, and children. I don't know where they were taking them."
Omega keenly picked up on the key point. "Only the old, the weak, women, and children? No able-bodied men?"
"None."
With Jacob's confirmation, Omega's face darkened. He gritted his teeth. "I thought they would recycle the corpses on the battlefield. I thought they would use the servitors in the factories. But I..."