Chapter 3: Are You Questioning the Emperor?
"Well, shit... Sun mushroom?!"
Francis stared at the large, blue-green fungus pulsing in the growing chamber. His experiment had gone completely wrong - instead of making something human-like, he'd created a mushroom.
Not what he wanted at all.
The thing breathed slowly, sucking up light from the chamber's lamps. When he'd tested it earlier, cutting off pieces just made each piece grow back into a whole mushroom. Another failure. He'd wanted to steal the Orks' "Waaagh" field power from their genes, but that didn't work in the mix.
At least his other creation looked better. Unlike the mushroom, this one looked like a chunk of dead meat - which was exactly what it was supposed to look like.
The chamber door opened with a hiss. Francis reached in and pulled out the warm, slightly wet chunk of flesh. Pain shot through the back of his head.
He turned around to see Constantine with several Custodian Guards behind him, all looking ready to attack.
"Uh, relax. I know what I'm doing with this thing."
Without waiting, Francis slapped the flesh onto his arm. The living meat started breathing right away, sucking up energy from the lights above as it grew bigger and wrapped around his whole arm. Dark green skin with pale stripes appeared as the thing merged with his arm. Two gun barrels grew out of his forearm while bone claws pushed in and out through the moving flesh.
Francis took a test swipe with his new arm.
The tough metal table split right in half. He focused on the gun barrels next - they twisted around, then squeezed tight, shooting out green, thick liquid that started eating away what was left of the table.
"Perfect! I'm calling this the Living Armour Glove with Twin Shooters and Pop-out Claws!"
He grinned, waiting for praise; instead, dead silence. And now even Silent Sisters had shown up outside the room, all ready for a fight.
"...It's not that bad, is it?"
"Eleventh, we have no choice. You really are dangerous." Constantine's voice rang out as one of the Silent Sisters pulled out her big sword with a metal clang.
Francis blinked. "Hey, I never said I was going to kill any of you! Don't get so worked up!"
He quickly pulled off the arm thing, leaving behind clear slime on his skin. Playing nice prisoner was getting old. When they put the glove in a box away from the lights, it slowly turned back into dead meat.
"What is this thing?" Everyone crowded around the dead chunk.
Francis scratched his nose, looking embarrassed. "Heh, well... the arm thing needs light to work. Without light, it just goes back to sleep."
Awkward silence. Their grossed-out faces made Francis defend his creation. "Look, my arm thing doesn't need any outside power - it runs just on regular light! And it can fix itself when it gets hurt!"
More silence. Francis had to admit his weapon had some problems.
Remembering something, he quickly went to the growing chamber and started working on the mushroom again - smashing it up, watering it down, adding chemicals, and pulling stuff out. A bottle full of green liquid showed up in his hand.
He looked at Constantine hopefully.
"Hey, Constantine, want to try some of my new... uh, strong liquor?"
None of them wanted to risk dying from whatever Francis had made.
"Marshal, if there's nothing else, we'll go back to work," one of the Custodian Guards said.
"Yeah. We have other jobs to do."
Since Francis's experiment was done, they had good reasons to leave.
"Yes, go ahead."
With Constantine's okay, the Silent Sisters and Custodian Guards left.
"Look, don't worry, this bottle won't actually poison you," Francis called after them, shaking his long blue hair. Constantine didn't say anything, just turned and left looking angry, leaving Francis alone and embarrassed with his weird drink.
Half an hour went by before a loud clang came from the prison entrance. Constantine was about to leave when he almost ran into someone. Francis almost dropped his bottle watching.
Just as Constantine looked ready to blow up, he seemed to calm down. His breathing got slow and steady.
"Constantine, why are you in such a hurry? Father sent me to find the Eleventh Primarch. Do you know where he is?"
The voice sounded like it was used to being obeyed.
"At the end of the prison level," Constantine said calmly, then walked away, his golden armor disappearing into the dark.
Heavy footsteps came down the hallways, each step heavier than Constantine's. The sound bounced off stone walls lined with locked doors marked with crossed-out symbols - whatever was behind them was too dangerous to ever let out.
The footsteps reached the end of the prison level. The newcomer saw what could only be called a beautiful man, pure and innocent looking, even though he was picking his nose right now. Even this gross action somehow looked artistic.
Something hit the mental barrier around the cell. Francis turned his head toward the noise.
A huge figure stood outside the force field - big shoulders and muscles, thick golden hair around a strong face. Silver-white power armour with gold trim and wolf decorations: fangs, fur, and the holy symbols of the Sixth Legion. The Wolf King himself.
"Leman Russ!" Francis whispered, his voice barely audible.
"Good to see you've recovered," Leman Russ observed, his words carrying the rough edges of a man raised on a world of ice and wolves.
Francis felt his excitement spike. "Oh my Brother! What brings you here? Wait..." His eyes widened in realisation. "Holy, you're not here to finish what you started, are you?"
The memory hit him like a physical blow - Russ had participated in the purge of his Legion. Maybe the Wolf King had been the one to almost kill him and seal him in that tomb nearly.
'And now he was back.'
Leman Russ tilted his head, studying his brother with new interest. Something had definitely changed about the Eleventh. He seemed... approachable now. Less dangerous. The Wolf King had expected this meeting to go badly, given their history.
"No," Russ said simply. "Father commanded me to seek you out."
Francis felt the pieces clicking into place like a puzzle solving itself. His expression grew serious.
"This is about Magnus, isn't it?" He leaned forward. "What did you do to him?"
Leman Russ's eyes widened in surprise before his jaw clamped shut.
'So the Emperor had been right about Francis developing the gift of prophecy.'
[End of Chapter]