Chapter Text
What would you do with power? If you had a unique power? Well, you’d probably try to make the world a better place, right? That’s what I wish I could do. My power is, I will admit, pretty damn neat.
I got a warehouse, a Cosmic Warehouse, that I can access with this little magic key. Any door of any kind, open with the key, opens to a twelve thousand one hundred ninety-two square meter warehouse, about sixty meters across each side. The Warehouse even has lights . I only heard about those in the city! The Key is also in the design that is only really used in big cities, a bunch of small jagged points, it kind of looks like a mountain range or a row of a hound’s teeth.
The walls looked like they were made of steel, but I knew the same I knew how the key worked before I used it, that it wasn’t steel it was... something else. The floor also looked to be made of cement, but just like the walls, they were at the wrong temperature. Exactly at room temperature. The entire warehouse was, room temperature, I mean. It was also very dry within the warehouse, like a-
“Focus on making sure that scarf is sharp.“ said Larry the Smith, coincidentally his last name was also Smith. Must have been fate that he got that job.
“Sorry, Sir,” I said, beginning to hammer away on the two prongs of the metal U to make them have a nice sharp angle in the metal, and after doing it moving the U into the fire heating up the prongs again, and after moving it out began hammering it down to make the U an O. Adding a bit of Flux and putting the imperfect part of the O into the forge’s fire, waiting for the metal to become white hot, and quickly bringing the metal piece to the pointed end of the anvil to hammer it down to weld the pieces of metal together. After I completed with that I took a steel rod, put it in the fire and after getting it white hot I took it out and hammered it into a U. Putting the two prongs back into the fire to get them near melted, I hammer the edge into the prongs and repeat the process over. Starting over I, after completing the U, I put the two of the completed Os into the shape and continue the process.
“You're doing a good job making that chain, Leif,” said Larry.
“Thank you, Sir,” I said, continuing the process to make a chain. Eventually, time passed as I hammered away and the day turned to dusk and Larry told me it was time to close down the forge. I helped him put out the fire, put away the tools, and sweep up the blacksmithy. He put away the chain in a closet where a lot of other chains were stored.
I sprinted home in hopes of exploring the Warehouse more, eventually making it home. That’s when I felt it.
The Celestial Forge... this power that I knew had gifted me the Warehouse, extended itself into a constellation of power, each shining like the sun, called ‘Assistants’ and ripped out ‘Magos Miscellaneous’. It gifted me a Tech-Priest, from the Imperium of Man, A galaxy-spanning Civilization from a thankfully alternate universe. An Empire that has fallen into disarray from a combination of betrayal from those in power, literal demons, the... immobilization of its emperor, and simply time has made it forgotten. The Adeptus Mechanicus is a branch of this government that followed the only other acceptable religion, Cult Mechanicus, other than the faith of the worshipping of the emperor, that this Tech-Priest was a member of. The Cult Mechanicus worshipped machines... which was going to be a problem since we didn’t have any in town.
How was I going to explain him to anyone? That at least was my biggest worry before I came across the man as he exited the warehouse. He wore a thick red robe, going down to his ankles, with golden highlights. I don’t think anyone in the capital had an article of clothing that was dyed such a vibrant color of that size before. Then his appearance he... didn’t look like a human. Like the rumors of a battlemech but in the size of a man. In place of his eyes, he had three glowing circles like lanterns with stained glass. His face was completely covered in metal except where his mouth and nose lay encased in the tubing. The hands were wholly mechanical, only a thing of metals and wires and pipes, It was terrifying to behold.
“I expected you to react better than someone from the Imperium, not worse.” said the Tech Priest after a moment with a huff. The voice was deep, like a drum but simultaneously higher than a bird’s call.
“I’m -- uh, sorry sir?”
“Well...” he said.
“Well... what?”
“What is your name?”
“Uh, it’s Leif.”
“You may call me Magos Marcus.” said the priest. He... hadn’t actually moved the entire interaction. He was simply standing there, the only movement caused by the wind on the robe rather than something caused by him. He had stood completely still like a statue, not even taking a breath the entire time. Did he even need to breathe? Did the unfathomable mechanizations under his... he didn’t have skin it was metal all the way down to... his bones?
“This might be a rude question but well-- Magos Marcus, how much of you... is left?” I say shifting my legs.
“Well... all of me is left, I consider my synthetic parts to be part of me, I do want to stress this. I am whole. Now if you meant to ask ‘How much of me is still organic?’” he said before leaning back a little, nodding “About a third of my brain remains”
“You’re... you’re practically a robot ”
“I am still a human being, Leif,” he said with noticeable offense.
That’s when the Celestial Forge failed to grasp anything from the ‘Quality Appearance Constellation.
“Sorry, sorry it's just... not even your whole brain? Only a third?”
“Yes, I -- You --- You do realize that --- of course, you do not.” his hand slowly rose to his face, and using his middle finger and thumb to pinch the part of his face where his nose bridge would have resided. “To replace one’s inferior organic components with superior parts is a religious rite, the only reason I was not in the running to possibly one day becoming an Arch Magos was because my skills are far too generalized to allow me to become the master of any field.” slowly he lowered his arm keeping his hands in the position they were before, rotating it like a clockwork automaton, before quickly putting his pinched fingers back to his nose ”You do not even know what an Arch Magos is do you?”
“I... only got the basics of what a Tech priest was,” I said nervously. Marcus’s hand moved, going from pinching with one hand to cupping his face with both.
“An Arch Magos is someone who has mastered their field”
“...like someone who has gone to a college?”
“...and obtained a doctoral degree, is an apt comparison,” said Marcus as he lowered his hands, moving them to his sides. “Though I do want to stress it takes centuries to reach the rank of Arch Magos instead of the decade of a doctorate.”
“How old are you?” I ask in utter bewilderment at that statement. Marcus crossed his arms,
“I do not like the tone of your voice when you asked that question, and I -- lost track exactly, there was an incident that caused me to lose some memories.” he waved his arm as if to ward off something “My age is not important, but know that I have quite a few centuries under my belt.” I stare in bewilderment at this ancient being in front of me. I don’t know if the village is even a century old. Marcus then looked around. “I was informed by the Forge that we are... in a technologically barren place, I had hoped it was wrong but I see that is not the case.”
“Well, the world isn’t, we have lights in the capital,” I said defensively. Marcus froze,
“You... you don’t even have lights?” he asked, his six eyes seeming to stare at me with utter terror despite lacking any facial expression to show the emotion, his shoulders noticeably tense.
“Uh... technically no?” Marcus’s shoulders relaxed “The Warehouse has them.” There was a clank as Marcus cupped his face with his hands.
“Is there anything that can be classified as a technology in this town?”
“Village.” I corrected, slowly Marcus’s head rose from his hands and stared at me, then nodded to himself and straightened himself out. His arms fell to his side and his head was held high.
“How can I get to the capital?”
“Well the train station heads there,” I said.
That’s when the Celestial Forge reached into Constellation ‘Vehicles’ pulling out a mote twice as bright as what ‘Magos Miscellaneous’ was, this one called ‘Anaheim Degree’. ‘Anaheim Degree’ was actually information rather than a vehicle, I knew how to make something called a ‘Mobile Suit’ some kind of Mech that worked in the atmosphere and Zero Gravity, which was impressive.
The most important thing was the engine powering the thing, well, a generator, a thermonuclear reactor electric generator. I could raise the planet's tech level, I knew that the capital didn’t have anything like this except the few battlemechs, but I knew we didn’t really understand it, I knew how to make something similar. The only reason I knew it wasn’t exactly the same, was that I knew this was from an alternate universe. One where humanity fought around... the earth? I don’t actually know what planet that is, I don’t think it's in the Chain Cluster. Alternate Universe aside, as long as we have Helium-3 we can make this place as advanced as it was in the legends. When humanity danced across the stars, we knew how to make mechs. I knew how to make both. “I need to find some paper”
“Why?”
“Because If we're going to the capital I need to make a blueprint for the thing the Celestial Forge just taught me how to build.”
“Why?”
“I’ll need investors because I know how to make a small clean nuclear reactor.”
“...I guess that will be a suitable starting point, I don’t know where you keep your writing tools so I can’t help you.”
“I... uh, don’t have any.”
“Well, head... to... the store, you don’t have large quantities of cheap paper do you?”
“Not... cheap, no,” I said as Marcus once again slammed his face into his hands with the sound of metal clashing together.