(8)
Were Isha a normal material being that needed sleep, she imagined she would not get much rest. As her discussions with the Emperor had continued, she had come to realize that her previous work was indeed not sufficient for what he wanted now. Whatever plans he had for his new breed of enhanced warriors, it had become increasingly clear that he had accelerated them after the... incident. He was in a hurry, and desired the ability to create the most powerful and stable warriors he possibly could in as short a time as possible, with the bare minimum of resources he seemed to believe he could get away with.
It had admittedly proven difficult even for her to meet his requirements. It would be one thing if she was able to create his enhanced warriors personally, but the Emperor wanted other people to be able to do so without his own intervention, let alone hers. Her limited grasp on exactly what technology the Emperor had available made things more difficult as well. Nevertheless, work was progressing at a steady rate, and Isha was confident she'd have a design that would satisfy the Emperor soon.
Still, it was time consuming and exhaustive work, though Isha couldn't say it was a bad thing. There was very little else to do when the quiet of her room became suffocating, her thoughts shifting away from her designs to the weight of memories both fresh and old dredged up by all that had occurred since she'd made her escape from the warp. There was only so much of a distraction she could get from reading or rereading novels, and too much on her mind to hold back forever.
(Sometimes she wished she were capable of breaking down and weeping away her grief, the way her children could. Not that she could have afforded to do it here, where her vulnerability could be used against her, but the temporary relief would have been welcome.)
Isha shook herself from her own head when she heard the doors start to open, adopting a composed and serene demeanor when the Emperor entered as if she hadn't been digging her nails into her clothing while her mind spiralled into darker emotions just moments before. If the Emperor noticed anything amiss, he said nothing, his own composure barely broken by a thin streak of impatience and concern. "I have need of your services to heal some of my Thunder Warriors once more. For different reasons this time, however."
"Of course," Isha nodded, pushing down the surprise and curiosity his statement sparked. As she advanced, she wondered why the Emperor was allowing her access to his enhanced soldiers once more. By her counting, it had been three fourths of a local solar cycle since she had healed that first Thunder Warrior, and while Isha had initially hoped that he would eventually allow her to do the same for the rest of them, she had given up on that as time passed, consoling herself with the fact that at least she had done something for them. Yet, the Emperor had now changed his mind after all this time.
Well, she supposed she'd be finding out why soon enough.
As Isha held out her hands, waiting for one of the Custodians to bring out the shackles, she was surprised once more when the Custodes on the right instead produced a pair of long, snowy white bracelets. Isha could see many of the same runes that had been inscribed upon the shackles she had worn before, glowing a faint golden with the power the Emperor had imbued in them, but it felt... different. No less powerful, but less oppressive, gentler.
The Emperor smiled faintly at her surprise. "The shackles seemed somewhat… unseemly for a guest of your stature," he explained. "So I have devised an alternative."
True to his word, the bracelets were both physically and metaphysically lighter than the shackles, and though they contained Isha's power just as effectively, it no longer felt like she was being pushed down under a heavy weight, even under the combined effects of the wards and bracelets. It didn't feel comfortable, exactly, but it no longer felt uncomfortable either.
Isha nodded quietly to the Emperor. While she would not thank him for creating a new version of her restraints, she appreciated the gesture for what it was. The Emperor inclined his head in response before striding out of the room, Isha and his Custodes quickly following after him.
As they walked down the corridors, Isha wondered once more what could have to convince the Emperor that her direct aid was required in healing his Thunder Warriors. As much as she loathed their design, Isha had to grudgingly admit that they had been resilient and mighty, for all their other flaws. The problem must be truly severe, if the gene therapies she had provided were not adequate.
The sense of something off tickled at the back of her mind as they approached the lab doors, causing a desire to put adrenaline into her system to pass through her thoughts. She forced it back as the procession came to a stop, the Emperor's gaze on her before he turned to the doorway, gesturing for the custodian to open it for them. The crack was enough to let in what had previously been restrained by the warding within, the stench of warp rot making her entire body stiffen as she realized what had happened even before she stepped inside to look upon the two dozen wounded Thunder Warriors.
Isha had to force herself to wait as the shackles were removed from her wrists, staring in horror and worry at the insensate warriors. They were not restrained by either the Custodians or even chains this time, but they had all been seriously wounded, their injuries festering in the material and immaterial alike, and several were writhing in pain. To her faint surprise, she recognized the first Thunder Warrior she had healed all those months ago as one of them.
Her senses were reaching out well before she made it over to the soldiers who had been laid out on the beds, simultaneously scanning them and soothing their pain. She could feel them instinctively flinch away, no doubt associating her initial psychic touch to what had laid them so low, but the experience of ages let her whisper comfort into their beings and take away the worst of the pain, grimaces of pain and fear smoothing by the time her hands were running over that of her first patient.
While she had not given much thought to it at the time, Isha had noticed the impressive levels of psychic resistance he had possessed, which had influenced the designs she had made for the Emperor. To get past that psychic resistance would have required an absurdly powerful psyker, or the help of the Ruinous Powers, and it was obvious which one had happened here.
Isha was relieved to note that they weren't suffering nearly as much as they might have. Normal humans would already be dead or suffering from rabid mutation on both a physical and spiritual level, but the Thunder Warriors were only seriously wounded and several of them, including the one she had healed previously, were likely to have recovered on their own.
Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry when it came to Chaos.
Her first and previous patient turned his head slightly to face her as her hands slid gently over his wounds, his glazed gaze seeming to spark with recognition before he was lost to the haze of his struggle to recover. Her mind and powers sliding into his body as easily as they had the first time she'd interacted with him. The changes she had made were still stable, and had even helped him start to push out some of the corruption on his own, though his body relaxed as she took over fighting for him.
It was a matter of moments to excise the taint from every corner of his body, Isha not even trying to hide her satisfaction as the invisible hooks of corruption dissolved into nothing. Those cells too damaged to be revived were excised and dissolved into fresh material, her powers encouraging his already rapid regeneration to work even faster to replace the missing parts of his limbs and organs. To an outsider, it probably looked outright impossible, the deep gashes and bloody scars almost sizzling with energy as they sealed before the eyes of the observers.
Only once she had triple checked for any lingering touch of Chaos did she finally let herself withdraw, her last act of kindness being to soothe her patient into a deep slumber in order to recover his energy and sleep away the psychological and spiritual ache he would no doubt be feeling for the next few days. The way his body slumped into the bed told her it was the right decision, even after feeling the brief flare of alarm from the Emperor's custodians before their master's touch calmed them.
She pushed herself away from her first patient's side, moving the mere two steps to the next bed to repeat the process over again, just remaining cognizant of the others in the room while she juggled her mental attention between her next patient's assessment and maintaining the soothing numbness the others needed. While she could have done them all simultaneously, she felt it was more prudent to give them each her full attention in order to make sure they were completely healed and free of any minute hooks Chaos could make use of.
Isha was surprised and pleased when she realized the Emperor had applied one of her gene therapies to this warrior, with a quick assessment of the others suggesting he'd made use of several of her formulas for them. Not all of what she had suggested had been implemented, but these soldiers, even with the wounds they had suffered, were far more stable than their comrade had been when she had first met him, which was no doubt part of what had kept them alive long enough to come into her hands for healing. While Isha had hoped and wanted to believe he had taken her advice, she hadn't been able to completely quell the fear at the back of her mind that the Emperor was simply using what she had given him to create a new breed of enhanced warriors, and would discard his previous soldiers as no longer useful.
The evidence that he did care for his soldiers to at least some extent was a relief in more ways than one.
On the edge of her awareness, she could feel the Emperor move to check on her first patient, and without thought she snapped at him, her worry flaring into protectiveness. "He needs rest, not experimentation."
If she hadn't been so busy saving lives, she might have felt contrite for the act, but she couldn't dredge up the energy to care at the moment, instead glancing up to meet the Emperor's gaze with her own narrowed glare. She only felt relief and a touch of annoyance as the Emperor actually stepped back once, her gaze falling back down to her patient as she kept an eye on the hand she was regrowing from its empty and previously rotting stump.
"Do I have permission to speak, or do you need quiet as well?" He asked, a note of amusement in his voice.
Isha huffed, playing with each of the newly regrown fingers of the warrior's hand to make certain that the nervous tissues were properly relaying information to the brain and back. "So long as you do not expect me to speak at length or attempt to distract me from my work."
"You sympathize with the Thunder Warriors because they remind you of the Krork, correct?"
Isha hummed, setting the arm down and reaching up to ensure the eye the man had been missing was growing the appropriate internal features in the right places. "I value all life, regardless of their origin… but they do remind me of the Krork, yes."
"All life besides the Rangdan, you mean."
Isha couldn't keep the scowl from her face. "Besides them, and perhaps a few other exceptions."
The Emperor hummed in thought. "But why? You are an Eldar goddess. I can somewhat understand your sympathy for the Orks, in light of what you told me, but beyond that, you gain nothing from even glancing in the direction of other species."
Isha remained quiet as she finished with her patient and moved on to the next, her mind bouncing around a thousand thousand reasons. She wanted to snap at him, asking why she couldn't be kind for the sake of being kind, but withdrew it only at the last second, because how could he know better? He hardly knew anything of her people or pantheon's history, and most of his experience with the warp was in opposition to the four, who were nothing but selfish to their very cores.
"Someone had to find value in the lives lost to the war," she eventually replied, because it was the closest answer she could give without having to explain even more, and she didn't have the time or inclination to dredge into that mess while she was focusing on healing.
Thankfully, he let the topic drop, no doubt sensing her reluctance when she didn't have the energy to hold back her emotional state. Isha looked back down to her patient. Despite her need to focus, she found herself voicing a question of her own, "What happened to these men?"
The Emperor frowned as he spoke, clearly displeased by whatever he was recalling. "My forces have been engaged in a war with the empire of one of Chaos's champions for sometime now. He is a mighty warlord, and has many psykers in his ranks, empowered by the Ruinous Powers much like their master. The Thunder Warriors are usually sufficient to deal with them, but they have been growing stronger and more desperate as their empire crumbles around them."
Isha nodded, having suspected as much. Still, it was good to have confirmation, even if it was troubling that Chaos seemed to be intensifying their efforts on this planet. But, then, why wouldn't they? In the current state of the galaxy, no one posed more of a threat to them than the Anathema.
She returned her focus to her work, but it seemed the Emperor was not done asking questions. "Why did you come to Terra? You could have fled to any number of places less hostile to you, and yet you put yourself before my mercy for no gain. You could have already had an army of loyal followers by this point."
Isha frowned, wondering why he was asking a question he already knew the answer to. "I could not be assured of my safety there, as you very well know. Chaos would have hunted me relentlessly."
"Not even in the Webway?" The Emperor questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I am aware it was damaged by the Fall and is still occupied by your fallen children, but surely you possess the knowledge to navigate it while being able to avoid them?"
"There were no Webway gates that I could access without endangering more of my children. And even then, there was no guarantee Chaos would not have captured me before I could get through," Isha countered. "I could not have been sure of my safety if I had attempted to flee into the Webway."
"Your safety was not assured here, either," he observed. "You had no guarantee that I would grant you sanctum."
"True," Isha acknowledged, "But if it had not worked, only I would have paid the price for my actions. I will not sacrifice the lives of my people on a gamble that might not even work just to ensure my own safety when I have other options available. If it comes down to a choice between a risk to me, and a risk to my people... well, that is no choice at all."
The Emperor's visage twisted, and in that moment, Isha saw a man who understood the sentiment completely.
There was a silence for several moments, but now that they had started this conversation, Isha found herself unable to contain her curiosity, even if she might not get an answer. "What forced you to change your plans so abruptly? I admit I had never seen you so angry before or since you had to fix the wards of my rooms, and I don't know enough about you to guess what could have left you in that state for so long. And you seem to have accelerated your plans even more than before due to whatever happened."
The Emperor's eyes narrowed at her admittedly brazen question, as he was quiet for several moments, clearing weighing what he wished or did not wish to tell her before he spoke. "That... incident you speak of was a major Chaos incursion. They opened a warp rift in my labs, the shock waves of which killed thousands."
"They did what!?" Isha's brows shot up as she looked back up to the Emperor, halting her work on the Thunder Warriors in shock. "But... why?"
They had not come for her, but Isha couldn't think of any other reason they would have dared to strike directly at the Emperor's territory, without even waiting for him to be away. Yet, there must have been something that would have caused Chaos to take such drastic measures.
The Emperor's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched as he seemed to consider his words, and Isha could see the rage simmering just beneath the surface, ignited by the mere memory. What had the Ruinous Powers done, to make him so angry just by recalling what had happened?
When the Emperor spoke again, his words were clipped and cold. "They stole my sons."
Isha stared at him, astonished as she tried to process his words. The Emperor had children? Well, no, of course he did, Isha silently reprimanded herself. Nothing she knew about him suggested he would be unable to procreate with mortal humans if he so desired, and he was many, many human generations old.
But…
"They weren't normal children, were they?" Isha realized quietly. "I have known demigods before, and Chaos would not have gone to so much effort for normal demigods."
Demigods were powerful, but the power and the abilities inherited from their parents tend to vary wildly. While Isha had no doubt that the Chaos Gods would have delighted in taking any of the Anathema's children from him, they would not have gone so far as to open a Warp rift in the heart of the Emperor's power just for that.
But there was more than one way to create a demigod. Demigods born from a mere affair between a god and a mortal would not have been so tempting or threatening for the Ruinous Powers to do this much, but demigods who had been mortal before they earned the favor of a deity and became imbued with divine power? Demigods created by divine parents through magic and technology with a specific goal in mind for what kind of children they wanted? Those could be far greater and more dangerous. Such children created by the Emperor were certainly something that Chaos would have done anything for in order to wrench them from their father's grasp.
Surprise flashed over the Emperor's face at her insight for a moment before disappearing as he responded, "No, they were not. I created them, the Primarchs, through science and warpcraft over the course of several decades. They were meant to not only be my sons, but my generals, advisors and champions, to help me unite humanity and lead it into a new golden age."
Isha nodded quietly. She could easily guess at the devotion and effort that must have gone into making these Primarchs, and the Emperor's rage made far more sense now. Isha had lost far too many children over the ages to time and treachery alike. She knew all too well the seething fury, the desire for vengeance, the instinct to lash out in a futile attempt to fill the void in one's heart.
She felt it even now. Isha had kept a tight leash on grief and rage, for this was not a place where she felt safe or comfortable enough to vent them, but words could not describe her burning hatred for Slaanesh. Lileath had been flawed, yes, but she had still been her daughter, the result of her and Kurnous's love who Isha had loved and cherished, who Isha still remembered as both an innocent child, an arrogant young seer and a woman bowed down by her guilt and sorrow as she watched her siblings spiral into insanity.
And Lileath was not the only child she had lost. Isha's heart ached even for those who had died millions of years ago, just as much it had when they had first died. It was a pain that never truly faded. There were ways to learn to live with it, to not let it destroy you, but the horror and agony of losing a child was not something that diminished over time.
But for the Primarchs, there might still be hope. "Are they dead?" Isha asked cautiously, wondering if it might provoke the Emperor or if he even knew the answer.
The Emperor exhaled slowly before he responded to her question. "I do not believe so. My sight is clouded, but I can see enough to ascertain they are alive. But I do not know where they are and what has become of them."
Isha nodded. For the Emperor's sake, she hoped his sons were still alive and well, and that they had not been corrupted and twisted to fight against their father… or each other. The agony of seeing one's children reject you and turn upon each other was another pain that Isha was unfortunately far too familiar with.
Isha suppressed a grimace and pushed away those memories. There was no point in dwelling right now, nor in continuing a discussion on what was clearly a painful subject for the Emperor.
Still, it was interesting to know Chaos had apparently not even made a token attempt to her despite the efforts they had made to steal the Primarchs. Did that mean they didn't consider her a threat? Were the Primarchs simply that valuable? Or did they believe her agreement with the Emperor wouldn't last, and that he would kill her in the end?
Well. If those parasites were going to underestimate her, Isha wasn't inclined to object. But she had every intention of taking advantage of their arrogance and making them regret dismissing her.
The rest of her time spent healing was silent, Isha focusing even more on her work to push back the memories their discussion had dredged up in her. She hadn't dared to imagine too many commonalities between herself and the Emperor, mostly because he had been up until then so reluctant to part with information about himself or his people before she had already guessed it herself and pushed him into admitting to it. The fact that he had opened up to something so private and important… she wasn't sure what to make of it yet, besides perhaps proof that her efforts were finally paying off.
Eventually, her last patient was sent into slumber, and Isha could finally step back and let her shoulders fall in relief. The Emperor took the change in her demeanor as permission to step forward, his own energy reaching into his warriors to check them over. To her surprise, he barely did more than a cursory once-over of all of them before withdrawing, making his way over to her in the process.
"You've done well."
Isha huffed a laugh. "I could do nothing less for them, now could I?"
The Emperor nodded minutely. "In all your time here, you have worked with few complaints, all of which have in retrospect been justified. While there are still some reservations as to your goals and nature, there is something to be said for rewarding good behavior and hard work."
Isha tilted her head slightly, frowning. She doubted she had earned the right to roam around freely, but she also assumed that he wasn't just going to try and placate her with useless trinkets for a space that wasn't even really hers.
As if he understood her confusion, he allowed a small smile to twitch on his lips. "As such, I have arranged for your rooms to be provided with several pots of soil for your personal use."
Isha blinked in surprise, her body straightening up as she realized he was serious. Did that mean what she thought it meant? "Are you allowing me to keep a private garden now?"
The Emperor inclined his head. "Yes, you have earned that much. There will be limits on the size of the garden, of course, and you may not cultivate anything dangerous, but I see no harm in allowing you to keep some plants."
Isha nodded, relief flooding through her. It would be good to finally have a garden of her own again, even a small one. Though her chambers were comfortable and spacious, they were barren and limited in entertainment. Having life that needed nurturing and attention would be both a relief and give her something to do other than work or read the limited selection of novels in her room again.
"Thank you," She said quietly.
The Emperor nodded crisply. "I also believe," He said, "That it is time for you to learn of your next project."
Isha's brows rose, wondering what was so urgent that he wanted to get to the work now instead of sending her back to her chambers as per the usual routine. "Now?"
"Yes. I have need of every resource I can obtain, and cannot delay any longer." The Emperor said, beckoning for Isha to follow him as he walked outside the lab. She subtly checked over the warriors one last time as she passed by on her way to the door, more out of paranoia than self-doubt in her capabilities. As soon as they stepped outside, they were both surrounded by the Custodians once more, Isha only remembering after a moment about the bracelets when she caught his pointed look.
During the several minutes of walking down the long, winding halls of the building, Isha wondered what exactly this new project that he had in mind for her was. Did he want her to create something new, perhaps? She was under no illusions that the private gardens weren't as much a bribe as a reward in order to make her more amiable for this request - after all, if she refused, he could just simply forget to have the 'gift' delivered.
They arrived at their destination, a large set of steel doors, with more Custodians standing guard. As the Emperor waved his hand to have them open the doors, Isha took the opportunity to glance over the layer of wards around this room, which were similar but different from the ones around her own chambers. These seemed focused on containment, confining any psychic energies within them, rather than active suppression, though they could no doubt easily be turned to the latter purpose if the Emperor wished it.
As the doors slowly swung open, Isha followed the Emperor inside. What lay inside was a vast, cavernous room, easily a hundred meters in width and nearly ten in height. The walls were of a similar material to those in her room, and likely that of the rest of the hive, though it was textured and colored a smooth beige, in contrast with the more colorful and decorated walls just outside the doors. The ceiling overhead was much the same, and inset with large, circular lamps which illuminated the room with what Isha recognized as artificial stellar radiation, likely based specifically on the emanations of the local sun.
The ground, however, was what held her attention. From wall to wall, only broken by narrow paths between them that the Emperor could just pass through but left Isha with sufficient space, were numerous plots of empty soil, all neatly arranged in a series of rectangles, making the purpose of this chamber clear to Isha even as the Emperor turned to her with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.
"Here," He said, gesturing around the room. "I would like you to grow a number of things for me. My empire grows, and it is ever hungry for more resources. I wish for you to mass produce anything you can, such as crops and medicines." He paused and seemed to be considering something before speaking again. "I would also like you to begin work on some organic technology. There will be restrictions, of course, and I will need to review any design you make before I authorize mass production, but I would… appreciate any ideas you may have."
"And you trust me with this?" Isha inquired carefully. While she was pleased to be given this much freedom and hopeful of what it implied, she had to be cautious.
"Yes," The Emperor replied, a faint smile spread across his face at Isha's surprise. "You have proven yourself worthy of at least this much, and I would be a fool not to take full advantage of the knowledge you have to offer."
Isha nodded, her mind already abuzz with ideas as she considered what she would do. "Thank you. Is there anything in specific you would like for me to begin work on?"
The Emperor clasped his hands behind his back. "The crops you have examined so far, as well the medicines and antidotes you crafted various diseases, for a start. You may also experiment in creating variants which are more… efficient, but at least half of your products should retain their basic genetic design."
As if that was going to be an issue for her in comparison to the magnitude of the offer as a whole. "Of course. Is there anything else?"
The Emperor shook his head. "We will discuss more details later, but for now, I wish to see what you can do on your own."
Inclining her head in head in understanding, Isha found herself walking over to the closest plot and knelt in the earth, her power seeping into the dirt as her mind buzzed with ideas, her power practically eager to begin her work as she analyzed the soil and began mulling over the necessary alterations for her first ideas.
The Emperor had given her a great deal of leeway to make whatever she thought might be useful as long as she stayed within his admittedly broad restrictions and accomplished the tasks he gave to her, and she intended to take full advantage of it.
There were so many things she could make. Plants designed to perform limited terraforming that could both rapidly siphon the radiation and pollutants from an area, while also producing vast quantities of oxygen and enriching the soil, vegetables that could feed a man for a day with a single bite, fruits that could regenerate limbs and restore youth…
Yes, there was much work to be done.
