The answer Dushi gave seemed, at first glance, completely unrelated to Gaia's question, yet it struck her like a warhammer to the chest.
What he meant was not only that he had the ability to seize control of an Imperial Knight of the current age, but also, more subtly, that he had identified the likely method the enemy was using.
That method was a highly precise system comparable to Dushi himself.
That realization was alarming.
After all, even though most of the Mechanicus were constantly skirting the edge of forbidden knowledge, artificial intelligence was, officially, an absolutely prohibited and deeply dangerous technology.
Humanity's age of overwhelming strength, the so-called Golden Age that was in truth the Dark Age of Technology, had ended at the hands of the Men of Iron, those immensely intelligent creations born from the work of the Men of Gold.
The Mechanicus of the current age publicly claimed that their machines were driven by the mysterious immaterial constructs they called machine spirits, while an intelligent machine without a machine spirit would be denounced as Abominable Intelligence.
Even the shameless grease-monkeys of the Mechanicus would turn pale and deny everything if accused of researching Abominable Intelligence.
Those four words were a subject no outsider could casually bring up in front of the Cult Mechanicus.
But a ban like that clearly meant nothing to the Dark Mechanicum, who had long since made their home in the moral abyss.
As far back as the Horus Heresy, they had already carried out a series of unspeakably cruel experiments on fallen worlds in order to forcibly recover the long-erased science of Abominable Intelligence.
And standing atop the bones of countless innocent Imperial citizens, they had succeeded.
According to Dushi's hint, the enemy had plainly brought out one of their hidden trump cards this time.
So that settled it.
The Mechanicus on Swuvi had indeed fallen into darkness.
Gaia could not help feeling annoyed.
Why had Tylvius paid so little attention to Swuvi, the world where his mentor was hiding?
The enemy had already set up shop practically in his own backyard, and he had not even bothered to lift the fog of war.
That also explained why those Mechanicus traitors had dared to act so decisively and treat House Magris's veteran Knights with such outright humiliation.
They had not only prepared this for a long time, they had also brought out Abominable Intelligence, a technological weapon far beyond what the loyal Imperium could easily answer.
From their perspective, this was the kind of battle where the dragon was already sitting on the opponent's face.
There was no way they thought they could lose.
Yet after learning this crucial piece of information, Gaia felt less panicked than before.
If the Dark Mechanicum truly placed their hopes on Abominable Intelligence, then that might also be their greatest weakness.
And, as luck would have it, she seemed to have exactly the right counter in her hands.
A true artificial intelligence from the Dark Age of Technology, a genuine Man of Iron from humanity's lost golden age:
Dushi.
If the Dark Mechanicum wanted to compare their Abominable Intelligence to a living relic like him in terms of performance and precision, then from Gaia's point of view, that was about as funny as a Tau trying to fistfight an Astartes.
But Dushi had also made the conditions clear.
He could only play that role if he had either a complete body or close-range access to the enemy's control system.
Wanting to be safe, Gaia asked one more question.
"Dushi, in your judgment, if an artificial intelligence developed by the technological level of our age were to compete against you, what would the result be?"
At that, Dushi let out a very human snort of disdain and replied,
"I'd win."
For some reason, hearing that answer made the situation, which should have seemed almost certain, feel suddenly much more uncertain.
Just as Gaia was about to continue questioning him, the ruined castle ahead was already coming back into view, and Solomon's voice drifted over on the grassland wind.
"Oh, thank the Emperor, you're finally back."
"Honestly, when I saw that thing stand up just now, I was already getting ready to run."
Now that she was back within Solomon's hearing range, Gaia swallowed the questions she had wanted to ask Dushi.
She walked over to where Solomon was peeking out from behind the cargo crate, only half his face visible, and in a somewhat subdued tone briefly explained what the Imperial Knight De Orik had told her.
Then she let out a long sigh and said,
"You know I can't ignore something like this."
Solomon's face twisted into an expression like a man suffering from terrible constipation.
He genuinely could not understand why, every single time he went anywhere with Gaia, they ended up stumbling straight into some major disaster.
Though the moment he agreed to follow her in carrying out that almost insane plan of hers, he had already guessed that the road ahead would be rough.
He had just not expected it to be this rough.
And from what Gaia had relayed, it seemed that even if they deliberately avoided getting involved in House Magris's affairs, the chaos on Swuvi would still inevitably affect them.
"Well... now that we're here, as loyal subjects of the God-Emperor, we obviously can't just stand by and do nothing."
Solomon sighed and spread his hands helplessly.
Then he slapped his thigh and straightened up.
Looking toward the distant Imperial Knight, still standing beneath the dying light of the setting sun and waiting in silence for his final battle, Solomon's eyes briefly turned distant.
But that distant look vanished so quickly that Gaia, who was busy lifting the cargo crate onto her back again, did not notice it at all.
"Hey, why are you still carrying my wrecked body around? Weren't you supposed to be finding me a new one?"
Dushi's dissatisfied voice sounded in Gaia's mind.
Gaia very much wanted to snap back:
"Look around. Where exactly am I supposed to find an intact Men of Iron body out here? All we've got nearby is Mechanicus junk. You want it or not?"
But Dushi always chose to speak at times when she could not respond out loud, so she could only pretend she had heard nothing and head back toward the royal city of Hecius with Solomon.
They had come from there carrying hope and expectation.
Now they were returning to it bearing news of despair and betrayal.
Fate really was an unpredictable thing.
Gaia raised her head and looked at the sky, now stained as red as blood under the last rays of the star whose light was partially blocked by the gas giant called the Shield of Dos, and felt a quiet heaviness in her heart.
...
Inside the inner city of Hecius, beyond layers upon layers of impregnable defensive fortifications, there stood a grand complex of palaces.
At that moment, in a smaller hall attached to the side of the most splendid of the main palaces, an elegant and richly dressed noblewoman sat with her brow tightly furrowed, using both hands at once to process the mountain of documents piled before her without pause.
She worked with terrifying efficiency and astonishing speed, yet the papers in front of her seemed endless. No matter how long she labored, they never appeared to diminish.
Beside her, many silent scribal servitors used mechanical arms to assist her with simpler matters, but even with that help, she still felt that there was never enough time.
And just as she found herself wishing for yet another pair of hands, the doors of the inner hall opened from outside.
A middle-aged man dressed in the attire of a court attendant strode proudly into the chamber, glanced at the documents scattered all over the floor, and frowned.
Clearing his throat, he addressed the noblewoman, who still did not even have time to look up at him, in a slow, arrogant tone.
"Your Highness, the Eldest Princess, the honored heir apparent and the High King invite you to attend the performance that is about to begin."
"You are requested to depart as soon as possible, and not keep Their Excellencies waiting too long."
(End of Chapter)
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