ServitorWhen His Lordship/Her Ladyship arrived at the scene, he/she found the servitors in the same position that they assumed after they had been corralled into the bay: all standing in a long spiralling line and facing the centre of their strange formation. The moment His Lordship/Her Ladyship crossed the threshold of the bay gate, their bodies jerked into motion: all as one, as if obeying a command, the servitors turned to face the Lord Captain! The technomats tasked with overseeing the defective units even reached for their weapons, but then the servitors went still just as abruptly, staring at His Lordship/Her Ladyship with vacant eyes.
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ServitorThe Enginseer Prime slowly waded into the motionless ranks of the servitors, peering into their faces and checking the readings. There was no haste in Pasqal's actions: with mesmerising diligence, he inspected every single unit in his path, and binharic prayers were his companions in this investigation.
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ServitorSector: [data unavailable] Region: [data unavailable] Location: Von Valancius flagship, lower decks Material: Report of a tech-phenomenon that was observed during the Lord Captain's visit to Bay AKN-108 (from the words of High Factotum Janris Danrok)
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ServitorWhatever the Lord Captain did, be it an incline of the head, a wave of a hand, or a step to the side, the defective units repeated it without a moment's delay or hesitation, like grotesque marionettes controlled by an unseen puppeteer. We observed this mime unfold in distressed bafflement for nearly a minute until the servitors finally came to a stop. Not sensing any threat from them, the Rogue Trader approached with confidence.
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ServitorThe Lord Captain...
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ServitorAs High Factotum, it was I who had prompted that entire inspection, and thus it was my duty to follow the Lord Captain. As we stepped closer, we noticed a fascinating irregularity — the servitors' pupils, normally still, were shaking wildly. Their bulging veins were pulsating under their copper collars inscribed with their past offences. It was as if those mindless half-machines were locked in a perpetual state of extreme tension.
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ServitorA visibly shaken technomat behind us proposed that the human souls had awakened within the servitors' bodies after a long slumber deep within their lobotomised brains. Formerly bereft of intelligence, they had attained awareness, feeling, and understanding.
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ServitorAfter a pause, the technomat added that the servitors used to function properly and that no one had been able to explain the change in their behaviour. His/Her gaze still trained on the motionless but animate half-machines and half-people, the Lord Captain...
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ServitorThe moment the blade sliced open the pale flesh, a wild howl washed over the cargo bay! We heard the screeching and crackling of servo-motors. As if having regained the ability to feel pain, the wounded servitor struggled to open its sewn mouth, but all it could muster was a stifled moan of horror. The Lord Captain's victim fell to the metal deck, and all the other servitors came crashing down with it. We all felt the grip of an otherworldly, bone-chilling cold.
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ServitorAs I met the technomats' fearful gazes, I realised that none of those present had any explanation for what had just transpired.
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ServitorThe Enginseer Prime proceeded to the centre of the spiral of servitor bodies, stood over them grimly, studying their lifeless faces, and spoke thus: "This tech-phenomenon warranted comprehensive study. Further investigation has been rendered impossible." Perhaps it was a trick of my imagination, but I thought I caught a semblance of sorrow in his gaze in that moment.
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ServitorThe Lord Captain, seemingly not attaching any importance to the situation, sheathed the blade and left the cargo bay without a word.
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ServitorAll present held their breath — disturbed by this sight, we waited for the Lord Captain to speak.
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ServitorThe technomats' long-winded and detailed report could have been summarised in a single key point: despite the servitors' abnormal behaviour, they were still quite capable of carrying out tasks, and therefore the circumstances did not call for their termination.
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ServitorAs the Lord Captain walked between the servitors and looked at them closely, His Lordship/Her Ladyship could see their eyelids fluttering, their chests heaving with restless breaths, and their sewn lips trembling as they strained to produce any sound at all.
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ServitorThe examination confirmed the technomats' initial hypothesis: the servitors' souls — or rather, the souls of the people they once were — had awakened. Not yet fully conscious of their past and present, these half-machines could nonetheless feel primitive emotions and sensations such as fear and pain. This undesirable consequence of shoddily performed lobotomy is most rarely observed, and yet, for some unknown reason, it had occurred in every single one of the servitors gathered in the bay.
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ServitorAlas, the Lord Captain's inspection bore us no new knowledge. The servitors were showing strange, uncharacteristic signs of fear yet simply stood there, petrified, awaiting instructions.
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ServitorA group of technomats hurried to act upon the Lord Captain's command. The servitor's mechanical parts separated with clicks, snaps, and hisses. The sutures between its wrinkled, pale flesh and its augments were laid disgustingly bare. We watched the technomats do their work and could see every centimetre of the servitor's stiff muscles abounding with valves and cavities pierced by countless cords and tubes.
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ServitorThe disassembly and analysis complete, the technomats concurred: the unit was in working order. Nothing in the dissected body that lay before us could provide any insight into the reason behind the defects.
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ServitorI should make note of one more thing: at that moment, all of us present discovered that not just the eyes, but the hands and heads of some of the servitors were now shaking too. It was as if the mechanised servants were overcome with some primordial terror.
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ServitorHis Lordship/Her Ladyship looked at me with unwavering resolve, and it was that confidence that wrenched me out of the nightmarish stupor that had me tensely observing the scene unfolding before me.
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ServitorThe Lord Captain gave the order...
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ServitorThe Lord Captain's command was executed post-haste: all defective units were incinerated in furnaces, and their remains were expelled into the void. The crew was provided with replacement servitors and soon forgot all about the destroyed units' peculiarities, yet this incident haunts my memories to this day.
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ServitorOn the Lord Captain's orders, the servitors were returned to the same decks where they had worked before. The crew was initially unnerved by their presence but adapted to their quirks soon enough, especially since, following the incident in question, there was a noticeable reduction in the servitors' strange behaviour.
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ServitorWith the fate of the defective servitors decided, nothing could now distract the Lord Captain from his/her mission.
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ServitorHis Lordship/Her Ladyship [Name] von Valancius...
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ServitorImmediately, the servitors — each and every one of them — stepped toward the Lord Captain in perfect unison. They mimicked his/her movements with frightening precision. The Rogue Trader halted in place and, after a moment's thought, waved his/her hand — and the servitors, just as synchronously, repeated that gesture as well. When the Lord Captain turned quizzically to the technomats, so did the servitors, as if mocking him/her.