Jacob was lying on the operating altar. He raised his head and saw the pharmacist's pale face because he had not seen the sun for a long time. He could hear the vague working sounds of nearby machines, the weird chants of the servitors, and the occasional sharp screams.
Screaming or howling, or the sound of a scalpel cutting into the body.
The table under him was stained with his clotted blood, and its smell rushed into his nasal cavity along with many chemicals. His fingers fidgeted uneasily on the metal handle on the edge of the operating table.
Then he took a deep breath to keep himself calm.
After the Chapter returned from the battlefield on the Death Star, they, as the fourth batch of recruits of the Chapter, finally began the transformation surgery.
First, the pharmacists performed many strange medical rituals on him, and then everyone was scanned by many technological engines. The pharmacists poked him with sensing devices, put on a sensing helmet on him, and attached surveillance to his limbs.
patch.
Before that, their diet had been changed to some kind of synthetic product, which contained many strange chemical smells caused by drugs, but he guessed that these things were for his own good, so he didn't worry.
And there is no point in worrying, because he knows that everyone lives completely under the mercy of fate.
At least he's alive, but not all candidates are.
Many, many of his friends, the boys from Armageddon, would never come back.
Some people call the orphans of the fallen soldiers that they, the Astral Knights, took away from Armageddon the "Orphans of Armageddon," but he prefers the name "The Sons of Armageddon."
Soon, Jacob pushed these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about it anymore.
After his early transformation, his body had become a perfect fusion of genetic technology, ready for the next step in making him one of the Astartes.
He's ready to implant what they call a gene-seed.
Death or sanctification, that's the only step left.
Jacob took another deep breath and tried to stay calm.
He doesn't like this instinctively, he hates being restrained, imprisoned, and being influenced by the will of others.
But he can't do anything about it now.
When he turned his head slightly, he saw a pharmacist walking over. He held a glass with both hands respectfully, which contained a meat ball with many warts and tissue tubes protruding from it.
At this time, the chanting of the surrounding servitors became louder and more rhythmic as the pharmacist approached.
That's the gene seed.
Jacob thought of what he had learned in the past few weeks, the most important component that any Astartes possessed, allowing him to continue his transformation into a fully superhuman being.
Although it looks a bit ferocious and terrifying on the outside, it is really a sacred thing. This bloody mass of flesh was born from another glorious Astartes, and is also related to the god who was called the Primarch in ancient times.
contact directly.
Jacob was excited to think that soon he would have a part of God in his body.
The pharmacist came closer, and Jacob felt a needle prick into his arm, which to his heightened senses felt like the stab of a sword.
After a brief period of pain, coldness flowed into his blood vessels and spread from the place where the needle was inserted.
This thing may be an anesthetic, but it doesn't seem to be an anesthetic, because the pastor once said that they would not pay attention to anesthetic drugs during transformation, which may cause adverse reactions.
Gu Er
After a while, he became relaxed and numb, feeling as if his body was a distant thing, and his soul seemed to be floating on a frosty cloud, watching what happened to his body.
Soon, he felt his skin begin to tremble and a slight pressure appeared on his chest. The pharmacist reached out and cut him open with a saw.
In an instant, the muscles separated and blood flowed out.
Jacob doubted that even being hit by an ax would be more serious than this, but he only felt slight discomfort now.
Finally, he saw the pharmacist make a complicated gesture above the container containing the gene seeds, and then used an armored hand to pull out the lump of flesh.
The gene seed made a strange sucking sound when it was placed into his chest, and began to connect to his nerves, blood vessels and muscles.
This strange feeling was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, as if a living thing was crawling inside his chest.
He imagined tentacles extending from the thing, blood vessels growing like roots from a seed, and nerves connecting to his own.
The next second, some images filled his mind as another needle was inserted. Pain began to flow through his body, surpassing the cold, and his consciousness fell into the dark abyss.
The last remnant of his consciousness was only an echo.
Sure enough, it’s not an anesthetic——
A few days later.
Jacob knelt in the meditation room. He felt better now, and his chest no longer felt uncomfortable due to the gene seed.
Although it had only been a few days, the scars caused by the ritual had begun to fade, and he only felt a slight sensitivity when touching those soft places.
He found himself probing with his fingers every day, just like a man licking the cavity of a fallen tooth with his tongue. It was still hard for him to believe that these scars and soft places were signs of the Emperor's favor, but he knew it must be
That's true.
Then he pushed those thoughts away and focused on the podium.
The priest stood in front of the candidates again and guided them to start the ceremony. Jacob cleared his mind as he had learned and began to recite the strange prayer silently.
Feeling himself relax, he reached for the Crown of Knowledge, a strange, ancient thing made of brass and steel, connected to the Knowledge Engine by brass and glass cables.
The priest told them that this crown of knowledge was the first time the Chapter had used it for recruits. It was a very advanced and efficient device. The huge machine it was connected to recorded all the history of the Chapter, as well as many more ancient ones.
s story.
In fact, these were ancient devices that had just been brought out of the legion's flagship. They had been used for rapid recruit training in the past. They were very different from the existing brainwashing equipment. Soshyan decided to put them into trial after careful consideration.
By wearing the crown, knowledge can flow into the recruits' heads at an extremely fast rate, faster than anyone can memorize using ordinary methods - this can save them a lot of time spent in the library.
Jacob found this process both terrifying and miraculous. After putting on the crown and the priest reciting the correct prayers, knowledge emerged.
Not only in the form of words and memories, but also in sounds, images and emotions.
He felt that he was being drastically changed by the machine, but he didn't care: gaining this knowledge was worth the price.
Jacob learned so much in just a few days, which in itself is of great significance.
And the more he learns, the more he understands the Space Marines and the Chapter, and the more he wants to truly become a member of them - but this obviously still needs time to settle.