Chapter 4: Prologue 04 – Protogenic Ascension

“What was your last Core Reactor?” Shakuras inquired while using most of her computational power to digest the information left behind by her father.

In this infinitely white virtual world, Regulus can only see her slender figure donning a lab coat gazing at a holographic screen. The permanent ‘Do not approach me’ expression on her face barely changes as she speaks, so he’s not offended by her sharp and rude tone. “Cold Fusion. With one unit of fusion fuel, it can last several hundred years or a few days of intense rank 3 combat.”

“Interesting.” Shakuras squinted her eyes. “Let’s see… My father has left an Antimatter Core Reactor for your Protogenic Ascension.” She faked an excited expression while interacting with a holographic image.

“That’s a spacecraft-class reactor, not for personnel use isn't it?” Regulus questioned her. “Didn’t you inherit your father’s knowledge, why is he leaving me something over-the-top?”

“Correct, it is a core reactor used in spaceships. My database regarding the Human Imperium is limited to events before the 4th millennia of the Standard Terran Calendar. According to my knowledge, rank 3 Legendary Converts were limited to nuclear fission core reactors, cold fusion is for rank 4 Paragon Convert while a scaled-down antimatter is for rank 5. Since the power levels of my time are completely different compared to the modern one, my knowledge shouldn’t be used as the metric of common sense. Besides, this is my father’s personal chamber, nobody is allowed to enter because no one can survive his presence.” Shakuras swipes her hand, the holographic screen in front of her scattered into multiple humanoid figures, each having different features and mods installed within.

“True.” Regulus nodded. “My old ship, Strike Cruiser Machine Saint, is powered by an antimatter reactor. We need to scale down this core reactor, limiting the throughput and downgrading the antimatter storage capacity. If the data you provide is true, then there should be two kilograms of antimatter left in this facility, if we can’t carry them all, we can detonate this Zerg-infested planet.”

Shakuras shrugged her shoulders, “In any case, my father left several designs that you can choose. Some of the parts are indispensable, such as the antimatter core reactor and the adamantium superalloy skeletomuscular system, but we can scale them down, recycling the materials for refining other mods. You have a tremendous amount of choices, so choose your pick.”

Hearing there are possibilities of modifications, Regulus’ eyes shone in excitement. “Adamantium is a rank 5 material. Since the hull of Sacrosanct Imperator primarily consists of rank 6 diamantine superalloy, can’t I use it as my base skeletal core? We can get some diamantine scraps outside.”

"Unrealistic," Shakuras declared with a mechanical tone. "Adamantium, with its unparalleled density, cannot sustain a full skeletal structure for a Paragon. The recommended design incorporates a hybrid of adamantium as reinforcement while Orichalcium serves as the musculoskeletal framework. To construct an adamantium skeleton would result in a mass comparable to that of an Imperium Cruiser, rank 4 anti-gravity mods would prove insufficient in alleviating this weight. The facilities here can assist in limited adamantium or diamantine refinement, but if you desire to incorporate diamantine, the resulting weight would be of battleship proportions. You will produce a gravitational pull that only rank 6 anti-gravity mods could offset. Unless of course, you wanted to conserve 879% of your reactor’s throughput to sustain anti-gravity mods? That means you’ll have to find more core reactors or scale up your current just to walk."

“Don’t be so negative, it just happened that I have research papers published by Deus Machinarius herself.” Regulus transmitted a large file pertaining to diamantine superalloy refinement methods.

“This is… Information-metal refinement, turning metal into information and information back into quasi-permanent hardlight metal… There’s 29 refining steps with twelve alternatives, intriguing…” The research result by the leader of the Machine Cult proved to be far more advanced than Shakuras’ knowledge base. “Seventeen thousand years of advancement is truly remarkable. If we were to follow this specification, then I’ll have to reconfigure the nanoms, but even then-”

“Yeah there’s no point in making a diamantine skeleton since the weight would still be there. The new skeleton would primarily consist of Oricalcium, added with a hint of adamantium and diamantine for augmenting structural integrity. Perhaps, we can add a bit of Technetium during the refinement. The result would be a new type of rank 4 superalloy barely inferior to pure adamantium. If we were to incorporate anti-gravity mods within the marrow, it is feasible.”

“Unknown entry: Technetium.” 

“It’s a metamaterial popularized twelve thousand years ago, we can recycle a limited amount from my rank 3 body.” He began narrating its specifications. “The Machine Cult has an alternative name for Technetium: living metal. When mixed in some type of metal, it’ll turn them into a type of SMA (shape memory alloy), thus allowing my skeleton to gain ‘healing properties’.”

“I’d imagine it can only have a limited ‘healing capabilities’ such as microfractures and whatnot unless we have a significant amount of Technetium. Nevertheless, it is better to have it than not. If we follow your design, early calculations indicate that the skeletal system conserves up around roughly 12% of your scaled-down core reactor output, twice that of the original proposed model. Would that be acceptable?” Shakuras voiced her concern since helping him is helping herself.

“That’s alright, my bottom line is 20%.” Thinking about the new technological advancement that occurred during Shakuras’s solitary confinement, he slapped his forehead. “Since we started modifying the skeleton, why stop there? There’s also the space-compression method invented seven thousand years ago that allowed a Paragon Convert’s internals to be far larger than what it seems on the outside. Coupled with the multidimensional architecture used in the constructions of MEKA units, then we might be able to keep the spacecraft-class reactor without the need to sacrifice performance…”

“How are you so knowledgeable about refinement methods?” Shakuras couldn’t help but ask, surprised at Regulus’ wealth of knowledge.

“I was a Lord Magos-Fabricator before I became an Inquisitor.” He transmitted a design draft while answering her question.

Looking through the draft he made, she was surprised. “The biomatter required to achieve this is astronomical. At the very least, you’d need the muscle tendons of a rank 4 desolate star beast… I’ll have to see if my father left some. Even then, we need some space-path metal… Oh, father stockpiled some during our time in hyperspace…” Shakuras frowned at his father’s prudent arrangement. 

The discussion soon turned into a constructive debate, darting back and forth into the drawing board.

This continued for a few months before they started the Protogenic Ascension.

…

"Initiating system synchronization. Commencing software update protocols...." Shakuras' voice resounds with an electronic tone as a barrage of multicolored pixels overwhelm Regulus' sensory input.

As his consciousness returned, his gaze swept the white infinite world where multiple Regulus is being simulated. One, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty two, sixty four, more and more of his figures materialized through multicolored pixels until they finally reached one hundred twenty eight. 

“Gravity, atmospheric pressure, stellar radiation and other related factors are set to 100% of Holy Terra, stimulating the environment of standard deep-space vessels. Techno-sorcery simulation would take too much computational resources, it is currently omitted.” Shakuras’ voice could be heard once more. “Simulation will begin in three… two… one… start!”

Swoosh! One of the closest clones lunged at him with a giant axe at rapid velocity. Of course, during scientific operations, one does not define speed with fast or slow. Using numerical metric, the clone’s speed would be at mach 8, its movement went beyond the sound barrier.

However, with a retaliation kick that reaches mach 40, not only the clone’s body, its giant axe is also shredded into scrap metal, followed by several clones that stood too close behind it. “The physique of rank 4 Paragon… is exhilarating!” Regulus shook his feet which had started to burn due to air friction. Not desiring to waste time waiting for them to attack, he took the initiative by having a quick step ahead, using his rank 4 physique to slaughter his clones by ramming them like a steel train. 

Each of these clones is the representation of his former peak without the ability to activate technospells, yet, they break without having the ability to retaliate. As a Magos, techno-sorcery would be his primary method, so it isn’t strange that without them, these rank 3 clones couldn’t actually represent his former peak. However, the computation power required to simulate a single rank 4 techno-sorcery would be equivalent to hundreds of rank 3s. If one wanted to simulate the interactions thereof, then the computational powers required would be astronomical.

“The Astrales Militar restricts extragalactic expeditions if you're not a Paragon, most of humanity has always been confined within the Milky Way Galaxy. Now I can see why!” Boom! His palm pressed a clone’s head into the ground, splattering scrap metal with some silvery liquids. The silver liquids are nanoms, slithering towards the gaps within Regulus’ body to infiltrate his internal system, but a flash of electricity turned the slime-like nanoms into silver dust, their remains scattered with the wind.

The stimulated clones started banding together, using strategy to best him, but even without techno-sorcery, Regulus’ physical body outclassed his one hundred twenty eight clones. This battle is a case of wanting to break a diamond with an egg: impossible. 

Nevertheless, this boring slaughter is a necessity for Regulus to understand and adapt to his newfound strength. Otherwise, his daily activity would be greatly affected.

After all, a Convert’s cultivation realm is different compared to other types of cultivator. Compared to body cultivators who trained their body little by little, Converts elevated their cultivation realm by achieving technological breakthroughs. When new bottleneck or cornerstone technology has been acquired, they could switch body parts, ‘mods’, increasing one aspect of their ability. This allowed their ‘neural capacity’, perhaps the only cultivation metric a Convert possessed, to expand, thus allowing their body to bear the burden of more advanced mods.

The upgraded mods will make the older one obsolete, so the Convert will eventually have to upgrade the older ones. This cycle will continue until a Convert reaches a certain accumulation: for example, when their ‘‘neural capacity” has been expanded so that they could bear the burden of installing rank 3 mods, then it is eligible for the said convert to be regarded as a rank 3 Legend. 

Therefore, Convert’s cultivation journey is not linear progression. It is filled with stops, sudden rise, or sudden drop if their mods are broken in one way or another. 

In his case, he had been a rank 3 Convert for a long period of time, his ‘neural capacity’ has been greatly expanded, thus allowing him to bear more advanced mods. In fact, he had replaced most of his original biologicals with half-machine half-bio mods to stimulate the growth of his neural capacity. In terms of neural capacity, he had fulfilled the requirement to become a Paragon long ago, he just didn’t have the wealth to acquire rank 4 mods since they are exponentially more expensive than rank 3s.

“Father once told me that Converts are ‘mass produced’ cultivators, just like most of Machine Cult’s products.” Shakuras suddenly spoke while watching Regulus getting used to his newfound power. “After seventeen thousand years, are your kin still being ostracized?”

You are reading story The Lost Paragon at novel35.com

“Hahah, not anymore.” Regulus answered as he drilled a clone’s chest with his bare fingers. “The Imperial Administratum had established a law declaring human variants in the Imperium have equal opportunity compared to pure humans. Well, with genetic modification and bio-mods being a popular trend, and the sudden rise of psyker genes during the last millenia increased the number of potential psykers in the mortal populace, defining what’s pure has become a challenge.”

Shakuras frowned, her eyes squinted in suspicion as she listened to his explanation. ‘A sudden spike of psykers in the population in the last milenia, and the awakening of the first Armored Soul Tribe after seventeen thousand years of slumber… So far, two of the conditions of the End War have manifested. The Imperium had reached sufficient accumulation of technological advancement and is now beginning to mass war assets. Will it happen during this generation?’ She shook her head, denying the possibilities. ‘On the scale of rank 6s, a thousand years will pass by quickly, but I will certainly participate in Father's End War…’

While Shakuras is distracted by her own thoughts, the progress of Regulus’ ascension proceeds smoothly. As the synchronization rate increases, he could control his strength: the speed of his fists and kicks reduces to barely sufficient to instantly kill his clones. However, this does not mean his power lessened. Instead, he had his unreasonable power under control, lessening the redundant power leakage.

…

A while later.

As Regulus’ lenses and myriad other sensors are being powered on after a throughout system update, senses such as sight, touch, and hearing are returning, his consciousness being pulled back from the virtual reality world. After a first-time calibration since his Protogenic Ascension, he had adapted to the new body, his control is sufficient enough not to break a fragile glass flask that was prepared by Shakuras to measure his performance in the real world.

When he stood up from the operating table, a mirror-like film was being deployed by one of the assistant drones. What he sees is a reflection of a black humanoid skeleton, with silver, red, and purple stripes decorating his bone segments. His black sclera covered a deep blue lens, whereas his hair is metallic blue. There is some sort of muscle fiber covering his skeleton, it was non-reflective black as if it was made out of metal. With a thought, multiple parts of his body excretes nanoms, covering himself in slime-like liquid metal before the nanoms turned into something that resembles human flesh and skin in terms of texture and color.

“So, what do you want to do now?” Shakuras’ holographic image appeared in his vision. Though, she couldn’t interact with physical matter since she’s an object that appeared on an augmented reality device. “Without the power sources, these bots will run out of power sooner or later, they are also worthless since we’ve recycled the precious metals in their body to refine yours.” She glanced at Regulus' naked body who’s slowly producing nanoms to synthesize military clothing.

“You’re right. I want to return to my home in Crimson Mars to see my wife before reporting to the Machine Cult about your presence.” Regulus answered. “Do you have an idea how?”

Shakuras paused for a brief moment. “With this physique, you can move beyond the escape velocity of this planet. In the vacuum of space, it wouldn’t be a problem if we try to dive into hyperspace for a brief moment looking for another Imperium-controlled planet to ask for a ferry ride. However, since Converts are not good with hyperspace, we can extract this planet of its valuable resources to construct a spacecraft for your endeavor. It’ll take some time, but  with your knowledge and cultivation base, we should be able to achieve spaceflight in less than ten years.”

Regulus touched his chin in ponderation. “It’s true that hyperspace is deeply incompatible with logical beings like Magos or artificial intelligence, we cannot effectively navigate through the hyperspace without an astropsionics guiding the way… Traversing the hyperspace also requires the protections of Lyrial Field Generator, otherwise we would be grinded by the entropy of the warp. However, the necessary elements to construct one do not exist on this planet or system, even if I wanted to forcefully refine them through [Stellar Nucleosynthesis], I don’t actually know the chemical components since I do not specialize in spacecraft construction… it is actually a heavily guarded secret.” The frown on his face got deeper as he thought about the situation. “Do you have any other ideas on how to escape this planet?”

“Before the Sacrosanct Imperator synchronized with realspace and split into countless pieces, we were able to synthesize a life-eating virus by harvesting the radiation from the two grams of my father’s truesoul. It’ll take some time, but If I were to be granted your computational resources, I might be able to deduce a method to temporarily shield you from the entropy of the warp by utilizing father’s truesoul.”

“I thought souls were supposed to be immaterial and weightless.” Regulus retorted. “How is it behaving like a particle?”

“Rank 6 beings exist beyond the scope of mortal understanding.” Shakuras simply answered back. 

“Alright, fine.” He didn’t want to start a debate on things that he didn’t really understand. “I will grant you 50% of my computational resources to deduce. In the meantime, I will scour the wreckage to refine a small spacecraft.”

“...”

“What’s wrong?” Regulus felt strange for not receiving an answer after some time.

“You did not doubt my proposal at all? While you were undergoing Protogenic Ascension, I was skimming the memory that you’ve authorized. I believe you are not a goldfish that will forget your foster daughter’s betrayal so quickly. For all you know, I might be able to use my father's truesoul to elevate my own cultivation base. If I were to achieve a Protogenic Ascension, then you could not retaliate if I forcefully took your body since I am an electromagnetic lifeform specialized in this endeavor.”

It was Regulus’ turn to become quiet. “The Human Imperium of your time must be full of strife and unhealthy competition, yes?”

“I wouldn’t say it was unhealthy, but the competition for resources even amongst the Imperium’s pillar organization is indeed intense.” Shakuras elaborated. “Though, I only know from the memories my father had left me.”

“I see. Well, the current Imperium is far more united than you think, thanks to the effort of the seven Imperium’s pillar organizations. In this hostile universe, the Human Imperium will not abandon its citizens because all we have is each other. Ah!” Regulus slapped his forehead, realizing the difference of common sense. “I know why you think so!”

He began explaining. “Human Imperium’s FTL is achieved by entering hyperspace, but you already know most logical beings like Magos or artificial intelligences could not easily traverse the hyperspace due to the entropy of the warp. If you’d imagine the hyperspace is like the ocean, then even if a ship is protected by a Lyrial Field Generator, it only protects the ship from seawater. It does not allow the ship to navigate the hyperspace: like a blind and deaf submarine. To effectively traverse the hyperspace, we would require an astropsionics: a human variant-psyker genetically engineered to receive the light of humanity.”

Shakuras tilted her head slightly, showing interest in the new information.

“The ‘light of humanity’ can only be perceived by a human (or human variant) who has gained the favor of the Human Imperium’s supreme leader…” He continued.

“The Human Emperor…” Shakuras completed his sentence, realizing why he could easily trust others who are categorized as ‘human’ so easily. ‘So that’s why humanity is extremely united. Father’s human-path method must be deduced from the Emperor of Mankind’s.’ 

“That’s correct. If citizens of the Imperium were to possess malicious intent towards another beyond a certain level, they’d lose the favor of the Emperor. In human society, you’d be automatically rejected as an outcast before the Imperial Administratum comes for you for a correction program. This unity, born from trust, social engineering or perhaps can be considered as despotic mental tyranny, is one of the core values that is keeping us away from being enslaved by other races or complete extinction. Without our unity, the Imperium would already be history.”

“Then, you knew about your foster daughter’s betrayal before she did it?” 

“Of course not, I do not dabble in divination. I’ve barely connected the dots after hearing your father’s story, how Grimsong Specter slaughtered Zergs in hyperspace.” Regulus denied. “The Zerg are a race with gestalt consciousness whose existence is not limited to the third dimension. Perhaps, a Zerg Overmind committed an indoctrination, slowly enslaving Gladys and the other crew members of the Machine Saint. Now that I think about it, the archeological team celebrated their findings a month prior to the betrayal, though their celebrations were short lived because it turns out the crystal they found was a normal rock. That crystal must be the medium the Overmind used to indoctrinate Gladys and the rest.” 

“Since Machine Saint could not achieve FTL, your crew shouldn’t be able to leave the system. If you were to meet them once more, what would you do?” Shakuras asked.

“Coup de grâce.” Regulus sighed. “Their souls must’ve been claimed by the Zerg Overmind, their bodies are corpse-puppets moving under their whims. The least I could do is put them to rest.” 

“Then, how are you resistant to Zerg’s indoctrination? I’m not seeing any spiritual mods installed, you should be as vulnerable as your foster daughter.”

“My wife, Xuanyuan Dia Wu, is Machine Saint’s astropsionic, she is also a dream-path psyker hailing from the Illusory Butterfly Sect. It was her methods that allowed me to be resistant, perhaps immune to indoctrination.”

“I see.” Shakuras now understands Regulus’ situation better, and why he wanted to return as soon as possible. “I will deduce an FTL method using our limited resources, early estimation indicates it’ll be a few months. Please do not stray too far from my father’s personal chamber.”

“Understood!”