Astropath"Your Lordship/Ladyship!" The Astropath smiles at you — the shy, awkward smile of someone unused to smiling. "The sacred mechanism is working again with no disruptions!" With a trembling hand, the psyker hands you a strip of paper with smooth rows of etched characters, this time containing no errors.
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer rises proudly to his feet and says in Low Gothic, a language he clearly has not had much practice in, "With sacred words and virtuous thoughts turned toward the Machine God, I have been able to pacify this mechanism's wayward spirits. The Omnissiah blesses!"
YOU"I should rather say it was my efforts that helped make the machine operational..."
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer eyes you respectfully but with very sincere and poorly concealed confusion.
Sigma-AR87"I recommend installing two incense-burning units in this compartment to prevent the spirit's continued anger. The unit Zacchary Weisz will be provided with a list of minor recommendations, one hundred and forty-two in total, for improvements to this compartment's maintenance. Failure to implement will result in sanctions on the part of the Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood."
end of branch
YOU"How lucky we are that the venerable Tech-Priest is so pious and wise!"
Sigma-AR87"This statement is true."
Sigma-AR87"I recommend installing two incense-burning units in this compartment to prevent the spirit's continued anger. The unit Zacchary Weisz will be provided with a list of minor recommendations, one hundred and forty-two in total, for improvements to this compartment's maintenance. Failure to implement will result in sanctions on the part of the Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"So what now?"
Sigma-AR87"I recommend installing two incense-burning units in this compartment to prevent the spirit's continued anger. The unit Zacchary Weisz will be provided with a list of minor recommendations, one hundred and forty-two in total, for improvements to this compartment's maintenance. Failure to implement will result in sanctions on the part of the Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood."continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 12 of 13
AstropathHis head bowed and his shoulders twitching, the Astropath cuts a sorrowful and anguished figure. "Your Lordship/Ladyship... the sacred mechanism, it..."
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer rises proudly to his feet and says in Low Gothic, a language he clearly has not had much practice in, "The machine spirits have rejected my pleas. The sacred mechanism will continue in its cycle of suffering."
YOU"But I have fixed everything, have I not?"
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer stares at you sullenly. "False. I record a three point eighty-four percent decrease in the mechanism's efficiency as a result of the Rogue Trader's manipulations. I also record several blasphemous violations of the Catechism of Maintenance and Operation."
YOU"But I have fixed everything, have I not?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"You dare question what I say? Servitorise him!"
AstropathThe Astropath is shaking. He bows to you hurriedly. "Thank you for your invaluable help, Your Lordship/Ladyship! I will make sure to tell Master Weisz that everything is working again!"
end of branch
YOU"If prayers have not helped, a sacrifice will. Throw this loafing Astropath into the bowels of the machine."
AstropathHorror twists the Astropath's face. "Your Lordship/Ladyship, I implore you! I will work harder! I will pray more fervently!"
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer's facial augmentation emits a series of clicks. "Estimated likelihood of successful machine spirit placation by sacrificial means: greater than zero. It will be done, Lord Captain."
end of branch
YOU"Then your praying has been too feeble. I order you to begin a collective prayer to the machine spirits."
Sigma-AR87"It will be done, Lord Captain. Initiating a ship-wide summons of locally available Adeptus Mechanicus units."
end of branch
YOU"I have had enough. Deal with your cogwork issues yourselves!"
end of branch
YOU"You dare question what I say? Servitorise him!"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"If prayers have not helped, a sacrifice will. Throw this loafing Astropath into the bowels of the machine."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Then your praying has been too feeble. I order you to begin a collective prayer to the machine spirits."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"I have had enough. Deal with your cogwork issues yourselves!"continues where this line first appears above
Entry point 13 of 13
Astropath"Protect us from the machine spirits' unrest, for without His gifts our sacrifices are fruitless..." You can barely hear the voice of the young Astropath standing very still next to the bulky mechanism, his face frozen in a mask of despair. His anaemic hands are pressed to his chest, clutching crumpled strips of thick paper. He hears you approach and composes himself.
Sigma-AR87The Enginseer, his head lowered, does not so much as glance in your direction. With his hands folded underneath his robe, he makes a barely audible, unpleasant sound: a prayer in Techna-Lingua.
YOU"What is going on here?"
Astropath"The sacred compiler is ailing, Your Lordship/Ladyship. A gloom has come over the machine spirits, and they are disrupting the mechanism's operation. The twelfth row of the drum is now adding incorrect symbols..." The man shows you a stack of papers, and you notice at once that the rows of squiggles in each line all end with the same glyph. "We summoned the servants of the Omnissiah, but the machine spirits are none too eager to heed their prayers..."
Astropath"The esteemed Enginseer is in a state of tech-prayer trance and hasn't moved from the spot for a day now..." He shrinks his head into his shoulders timidly. "I had the audacity to think the sacred compiler could be better helped by examining its parts... but who am I to question the secret knowledge of the Adeptus Mechanicus?"
YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above
Astropath"The sacred compiler is ailing, Your Lordship/Ladyship. A gloom has come over the machine spirits, and they are disrupting the mechanism's operation. The twelfth row of the drum is now adding incorrect symbols..." The man shows you a stack of papers, and you notice at once that the rows of squiggles in each line all end with the same glyph. "We summoned the servants of the Omnissiah, but the machine spirits are none too eager to heed their prayers..."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why, such a trifle of an error..."
AstropathThe young man exclaims in astonishment, "Imagine a single extra character creeping its way into the coordinates for a warp jump, and sending the flagship to the centre of a star! Imagine the word 'disloyal' becoming 'is loyal,' resulting in thousands of your faithful servants falling victim to treachery! Nothing is a trifle to an Astropath!"
YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why are you all crowded next to this thing?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why, such a trifle of an error..."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"How did you let this happen?"
Astropath"Forgive me, Your Lordship/Ladyship, but I do not know the answer." The Astropath lowers his voice to a whisper, glancing at the praying Enginseer. "I'm afraid even the Adeptus Mechanicus don't fully comprehend the workings of this mechanism. We're only knowledgeable on the surface-level machines: the receivers commit the messages to paper, the transcribers sort the mental imagery by semantic category and feed it into the thesaurus core, and then the sacred compiler supplements the messages with a list of symbols and their interpretations. However, the mechanism extends far deeper, into the bowels of the ship... Therefore I wouldn't even venture a guess at the possible source of this trouble."
YOU"What is going on here?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why are you all crowded next to this thing?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why, such a trifle of an error..."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"How did you let this happen?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Let us see if there is any way I can help."
end of branch
YOU"Get everything working fast or all of you will be demoted to the lower decks."
end of branch
YOU"Let us see if there is any way I can help."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Get everything working fast or all of you will be demoted to the lower decks."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"How did you let this happen?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Let us see if there is any way I can help."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Get everything working fast or all of you will be demoted to the lower decks."continues where this line first appears above
NPC(sequence)
Pasqal"Unit Sigma-AR87 is currently in a tech-trance of shared comprehension with the spirit of the archeotech device catalogued under the name of 'Streamspindle.' Disturbing the unit is not recommended." Pasqal falls silent for a few seconds. "However, a preliminary diagnostic has revealed several algorithmic faults that are in conflict with the sacred mechanism's processes. A practical intervention into certain cycles will likely aid the release of the accumulated burden."
end of branch
YOU"Why are you all crowded next to this thing?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Why, such a trifle of an error..."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"How did you let this happen?"continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Let us see if there is any way I can help."continues where this line first appears above
YOU"Get everything working fast or all of you will be demoted to the lower decks."continues where this line first appears above