FixedLexmechanic dialogue — Rogue Trader Dialogue Archive

Entry point 1

LexmechanicA small, heavily augmented man in a filthy, tattered robe stands before you. As you approach, he hesitantly looks up at you, his eyes filled with horror. A portable inscriber with a keyboard hangs from straps at his front, and you can see his detached cerebral cogitator peeking out from under his hood.

YOU"You have nothing to fear from us."

Lexmechanic"Deus Mechanicus!" The Tech-Priest decides to take a better look at you, after which he lets out a ragged breath and manages to subdue his shaking. "He heard my prayers... I thought I was alone in a kingdom of madness and depravity! Please, save me!"

Heinrix"Tell us who you are and what happened to you."

Lexmechanic"I am manufactorum Lexmechanic Zeta-86. I performed the rituals for the machine spirits of Foundry 95... up until we started going mad! Priests devoted to the Omnissiah suddenly started praising the dawn of something or other... they stopped the belts... and then they desecrated the visages of the sacred machines with unholy symbols!"

Lexmechanic"Some of them resisted... The others grabbed them, tied them up, and then... and then they turned their implants to heresy! I saw the madmen, my former tech-comrades, deliberately connect those poor souls to corrupted cogitators... I watched as they were infected with the scrap-code..."

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

Lexmechanic"I... I didn't avoid it. They performed the same procedure on me. I felt the touch of unholy code, I allowed it to control me. I abandoned my sacred post and followed one of the traitors, serving his will and gathering all the data for his blasphemous experiments. I was driven by an unholy impulse coming from the depths of my auxiliary cogitator, where the code had lodged itself."

Lexmechanic(sequence)

IdiraIdira peers at the Lexmechanic. "The whispers are dancing around you, latching onto you but not for long... Maybe it will happen yet, maybe it won't at all..."

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Lexmechanic"Before I found a way to throw off the compulsion, I witnessed horrifying heresy... the extraction of True Flesh and its decomposition on altars... perverse procedures that resulted in heretechnical abominations... I even accompanied a fallen Magos to the Fabricator-Censor himself and attended the unholy mass he led personally! It was a wicked ritual, full of wilful deviations and blatant inaccuracies... all to create an ungodly monster in the name of the final dawn!"

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

LexmechanicThe Lexmechanic gestures at the wires and connectors spilling out from under his hood. "Praise the gifts of the Omnissiah, I managed to disconnect my external cogitator, which I used for primary data processing. The machine is corrupted — the scrap-code is locked inside it, like a beast in a cage, but anyone who tries to look inside will fall victim to the heretical program."

Lexmechanic"My primitive brain has been marked by corruption... I still see their silhouettes, hear their interference, I sense the malfunctions in my augmetics... but I was still saved from the great sacrifice! Oh, blessed are the workings of the Omnissiah and His benediction that shelters the weak from evil!"

HeinrixHeinrix tenses ever so slightly at the Lexmechanic's words. You see his hand casually stray to the handle of his weapon, but the Interrogator is in no hurry to act.

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

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YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

Lexmechanic"No, no, not those constructs that are melted down in furnaces and sent into the depths of the manufactorum! It is some kind of semblance of a cogitator — a nightmarish parody of a sacred machine, powered not by the Omnissiah's grace, but by the unholy spirit and life force of the unfortunates imprisoned on the lower levels!"

Lexmechanic"I don't know much, except that the Fabricator-Censor saw that machine as... special. It was special to him and to the crazies who defiled the Omnissiah's abode with their obscene blasphemy! For the final ritual, he even called upon one of the Astartes heretics who arrived at the manufactorum after the start of the uprisings. He... did something. Something terrible. And only after that were they able to switch the machine on."

Lexmechanic"It is a true abomination! Even standing near it is unbearable! I believe that even those who have been deprived of the Omnissiah's grace still feel its influence on them... its monstrous power utilised for unholy computations and chaotic calculations! Whatever that cogitator might spew out at the end of its cycle, no righteous soul should accept its heinous offering!"

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

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YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"

Lexmechanic"Like the grace of the Omnissiah had left them entirely, replacing free thought and progress with blackest corruption. I witnessed them desecrating structures blessed by the Fabricator-Censor himself... though what do the blessings of that rotten traitor count for now? Like men possessed they set upon the sacred instruments and assembled shells and nodes that didn't match any diagram or blueprint I'd ever seen. Sacrilege!"

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

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YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"

Lexmechanic"The lay servants of the main units, they live in isolated segments under the sacred machine halls. I heard they were locked in there after the takeover. Then my crazed brethren changed the system for disposing of slag waste, and covered the machines in cursed symbols..." The Lexmechanic hesitates. "After they started the cogitator, they dragged the... survivors out of the segments under the machine halls. Well, what the survivors had turned into."

Heinrix"You demonstrate exceptional powers of observation and recall for someone who just happened to survive."

Lexmechanic"I'm a Lexmechanic. Gathering data is the purpose of my existence. That's even what they used me for..." He trails off, belatedly understanding the subtext to the Interrogator's words. "They used me against my will! The scrap-code turns everyone into their slave! Before I rid myself of the cogitator, I was forced to serve alongside those who perpetrated these atrocities and witness their obscenities!"

YOU"How did you manage to avoid the same fate?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

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YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

HeinrixThe Interrogator tilts his head. "Servant of the Omnissiah, I must know more. About the final dawn, the Fabricator-Censor, his mass... and about this machine as well."

Lexmechanic"I could give you the coordinates, but..." The Lexmechanic drops his head. "Even though I was present for many blasphemies committed by those heretics, all the details that were captured and processed by my True Flesh are in the augmetic that was corrupted by the scrap-code. I am convinced that if I hadn't fought off that foreign compulsion in time, I would have been doomed — the corruption would have spread to my biological cogitator as well." The Lexmechanic taps a finger on the device hanging from his ear on several wires. "I swear that no devout Tech-Priest should come into contact with what's hidden in that once-sacred device!"

HeinrixHeinrix's expression shifts as he stares intently at the disconnected implant and the still intact connectors protruding from under the Lexmechanic's collar. The corner of his mouth twitches involuntarily.

YOU"Can the cogitator be disconnected and reconnected to another machine?"

LexmechanicThe Lexmechanic shakes his head in reproach. "Even if the very idea of exposing a holy machine to the scrap-code wasn't profane in itself... my augmetics are not universally compatible — they cannot be connected to another machine spirit. They were created to interact within the system of my True Flesh, to innervate my compulsor unit and output data via the inscriber. Once I am safe, I swear that I will immediately perform a cleansing rite and destroy—"

Heinrix"In other words, there is only one way to extract the data stored in the cogitator."

YOU"Heinrix. No. Don't do it."

HeinrixHeinrix's voice turns dry. "The Lexmechanic could have been privy to conversations that are vital to investigating the cult. We need the contents of that cogitator."

LexmechanicThe Lexmechanic, who has been listening to your discussion in puzzlement, finally understands what is going to happen to him, and he begins to back away in fear. "No! Anything but that! I'll die... no, it'll be worse than that! I'll succumb to the corruption! I'm begging you! Please! I'd rather be burned as a heretic than have the scrap-code in my biological cogitator!"

HeinrixAt these words, Heinrix pauses for a fraction of a second, almost as if he is reconsidering.

YOU"Heinrix, stop. The leaders of the cult would never discuss anything of importance in front of witnesses. Leave the poor man alone."

Heinrix"We need to know where the cogitator is! Even if the heretics' conversations are unimportant, I must know why the machine was so valuable to them!"

Lexmechanic"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" The Lexmechanic rummages in his ragged clothes until he produces a scrap of parchment. "A different augmetic is responsible for my muscle memory. It has a data storage too. I remember where I walked and what I pressed with my fingers... here, here are the coordinates... and the code. It's probably the code to the bay." He scratches out the numbers with his fingernail and passes the parchment to Heinrix.

HeinrixHeinrix's eyes bore into the smaller man's. At last, having reached some conclusion, he turns to you. "He is a subject of your world, [Name]. It is for you to decide his fate."

YOU"He will be taken to my ship. After the cleansing rites, a place will be found for him there."

HeinrixThe Lexmechanic is given the shuttle coordinates and hurries away. Heinrix watches him go, then looks at you. "Excessive kindness, [Name], gets good people into trouble. Let's hope that the corruption only affected the disconnected augmetic and not his soul. Come on, we need to find this cogitator."

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YOU"He has been tainted by corruption. I cannot allow him on my ship. He can seek out his own path to salvation."

HeinrixThe Lexmechanic lets out a sob and hurries away. Heinrix watches him go. "Perhaps when Kiava Gamma is purged, he will find himself a place in the changed world. If he doesn't die before then. Let's go, [Name], we need to find that cogitator."

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YOU[Kill the Lexmechanic] "The weak deserve only death."

HeinrixYou deliver the killing blow before Heinrix can stop you. He stares at the body in shock, then turns his enraged gaze on you. "By the Throne, what was that for? Why would you deprive me of priceless data, and this poor man of his life? A senseless waste of resources..." He turns away. "I'll deliver my formal assessment of your actions later. Now, we need to find the cogitator that was so important to the Fabricator-Censor."

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YOU"We cannot allow the information to go to waste. One life is a small price to pay for the good of the Imperium."

Heinrix"For the good of the Imperium." Like a snake, Heinrix lunges at the Lexmechanic, whose mouth opens in the beginnings of a squeal.

HeinrixPinning the babbling Lexmechanic, Heinrix uses his free hand to feel for the connectors of the external cogitator, and then for the socket at the back of his captive's neck. The Lexmechanic struggles a few times, but when Heinrix twists the reel on the cogitator's hanging wires, the Lexmechanic lets out a chilling howl and arches his back sharply. His hands twitch and leap to the inscriber, and begin typing furiously, pounding on the keys with huge force.

Lexmechanic(sequence)

CassiaCassia, who has been stoically observing everything, flinches and averts her gaze when the Lexmechanic starts crushing his own fingers into a pulp.

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LexmechanicThe scroll that creeps out of the inscriber's printer continues to grow, undulating in waves of parchment that settle on the floor. The crunch of breaking bones can scarcely be heard over the hammering of the keys. After several minutes, the Lexmechanic's fingers are well and truly crushed and blood is spattered over the inscriber, but that does not stop him trying in vain to press the keys with the scraps of bones and skin that remain. Heinrix tears off the parchment and skims his eyes over it, sometimes frowning and looking away as though his eyes are paining him.

Heinrix"It will take time to study this in full, but at first glance... at first glance the data from the Lexmechanic's cogitator suggests something of the nature of the cult's major preparations. Refitting the manufactorum, accumulating resources, mentions of 'focus points'... these are preparations for a large-scale Chaos ritual. It appears the local cogitator, whatever that may be in actuality, is one of the key points in this list."

Heinrix"We can learn more if we find the construct that was created on the Fabricator-Censor's orders... The coordinates are here. It is located here, in the bowels of the manufactorum." Heinrix casts a final look at the Lexmechanic, now locked forever in a cycle of mindless motion, and turns away. "We had better hurry."

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Lexmechanic(sequence)

Pasqal"In failing to offer any resistance against the enemies of the Omnissiah, Unit Zeta-86 lost the grace of his machine rank and was recategorised as a resource of the manufactorum. The defilement and torment of said resource, if committed to advance the struggle against heresy, will not be deemed an apostasy or malefaction against a living soul. Upon expiry of the unit's utility, disposal is recommended."

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YrlietYrliet watches this scene unfold with something that can be described as fascination, practically spellbound. "How easily you commit your kin to a demise worse than death..."

YrlietShe glances at Pasqal. "...and how swift you are to dismiss them as an object."

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YOU"What are you talking about?"

Heinrix"If we connect the cogitator to the augmetics system, the Lexmechanic will serve as a conduit for transmitting the data. We will learn the details, even if they are incomplete, of the things he saw and heard but is now unable to recall."

YOU"Heinrix? What are you thinking?"

HeinrixHeinrix does not speak for several seconds, gritting his teeth. Then in a meditative tone, as though he is musing aloud, he addresses the Lexmechanic: "There may be a way to retrieve the cogitator's contents via another device..."

Lexmechanic(sequence)

AbelardAbelard notices the look on Heinrix's face. And once he does, he sighs heavily and looks away.

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YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

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YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

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YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

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YOU"You don't act like the other priests who were infected with corruption."

continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned a 'monster.' Is that some kind of weapon?"

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YOU"How did your crazed comrades behave?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU"You mentioned someone imprisoned on the lower levels?"continues where this line first appears above

YOU[Turn to Heinrix] "What do you make of it?"

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Lexmechanic(sequence)

Pasqal"And did nothing to stop them. I am recording a violation of the commandment 'Of thine own forge be a true sentinel.' Apostate Zeta-86, your accesses are hereby revoked. Proceed with your report." The icy rumble coming from Pasqal's vox causes the Lexmechanic to lower his head in fear and contrition.

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YOU"What's this? Another one of the cultists' minions?"

LexmechanicThe Tech-Priest cowers behind his hands, whimpering pitifully, "No! No! I'm not a cultist! They tried to corrupt my mind with their heresy, but I ran!"

YOU[Attack] "Death to the slaves of the Archenemy!"

HeinrixHeinrix stops you with a sharp gesture. "Keep your anger in check — I want to speak to this man. He appears to be less aggressive than the others."