The howling wind of Infinity’s north pole whirled around a hooded figure as he patiently waited for the doors of a bunker to finally open
Any normal human would have been fighting for survival in the icy conditions, and coupled with the wind chill and low levels of sunlight, would have perished in mere minutes
But he was no ‘normal human’, no, he was what mankind strived to be
Strong, enduring, intelligent. Free of disease and the weakness of flesh. Blessed by the holy machine and faithful servant of the Kroniissiah.
A techpriest of the Adeptus Kroniicus
His deep blue robe fluttering in the snowstorm as he diligently clutched his kroniisian axe
Internal clocks and sensors fed information directly to his brain as he absentmindedly sorted through the stream of data
Cutting the through the roar of the storm, an alarm blared followed by flashing bright red lights which reflected off the ice and snow, bathing the techpriest in a kaleidoscope of crimson
Slowly, the ancient doors began to slide open, creaking with age and centuries of being battered by the harsh weather
The techpriest entered, noting the punctual timing of the doors. Not a nanosecond too early or too late--precisely on time.
The doors soon closed behind him with a thud, leaving the room in pitch blackness for a moment
The overhead lights suddenly came to life, illuminating another set of doors that functioned as the facility’s airlock
The techpriest’s optics narrowed, adjusting to the bright light
Not like he really needed it anyway, he could just as easily see in the dark
It was a formality, used rarely when an unaltered human would visit
Another alarmed sounded and the next set of doors groaned opened, the light from the room spilled into a dark corridor, lined with lockers, racks, and all manners of storage containers
The techpriest walked forward and was immediately greeted by a number of servo-skulls
Several began to scan him which he dismissed with the wave of his hand, powering down his kroniisian axe and setting it onto a weapon rack
The servo-skulls swarmed the power weapon, one lone straggler following behind to act as torchbearer for the visitor as he further ventured into the bunker
The bright glow of the flame danced off the metallic walls as he passed corridor after corridor and room after room, steadily heading down and down
Finally, he reached his destination, now in front of a stone archway which opened up to a large spiral staircase carved into the very rock of the planet
With another wave of his hand the last servo-skull was dismissed. He was now alone.
Slowly the techpriest descending the spiral staircase, blue optics analyzing the chiseled writing and petroglyphs on the walls
Many times had he been down this staircase, and yet he still managed to become transfixed by the works of the ancients
At the bottom was one final set of ornate golden doors gleaming in the dimness of the stairway
A bright wave of light shot out from a small hole in its frame, racing up and down the figure to confirm his identity
With a chime it stopped and, with a positive ID, the doors slowly opened. The techpriest stepped forward.
He entered what was an enormous chamber, nearly 100 meters tall--large enough to accommodate a titan god-engine--filled with row upon row of shelves that rose until disappearing into the abyssal darkness of wherever the ceiling was
Each shelf was filled to the brim with books, tomes, and volumes, each painstakingly catalogued and organized with the utmost care
They extended in every direction for what seemed like miles, interrupted at regular intervals by walkways which seemed to form their own underground city
The low hum of thousands of servo-skulls reverberated in the air, going about checking, categorizing, and placing new works within the sea of text
The techpriest set a brisk pace, walking past towers of books and parchment as he made his way through the great library
It wouldn’t be surprising at all for one to get lost, passing by hundreds of nearly identical shelves containing untold amounts of literature, though at this point he knew the way by heart
Eventually he came upon a break in the maze, a small study carved into the rock and metal
Piles of books lay scattered around, as were many bottles of ink and pieces of blank parchment
Seated on a throne in the center of it all, hunched over at a desk, was the techpriest’s master
”Magos Olothinis.” The techpriest spoke, vocal synthesizer smooth and crisp
The magos turned his hulking body, far more machine than man, to stare his apprentice in the optics. His cogitators whirred as he recognized the figure before speaking.
”Castenum Argeon. You have taken longer to get here by a factor of 0.027 according to previous timings of your arrival.” The magos’ vocal synthesizer was much grainier, most likely clogged with dust after months of constant archiving
”My apologies, magos,” said Castenum, bowing his head slightly, “I was distracted by the petroglyphs on the way here. I diverted more processing power in analyzing them than what was necessary.”
The magos turned back toward his desk, picking up where he left off on examining the contents of a book. One of his many robotic limbs picked up a quill and began to scribble on a spare piece of parchment
”Apology accepted. Simply remember the Kroniissiah values punctuality.”
It was never too late to remind the younger adepts of the virtue of the core tenets
”I have the text you requested.” Castenum announced, producing a large ornamented book from the confines of his robe
Several of Olothinis’ mechadendrites gently grabbed it from the smaller figure, bringing it to his outstretched arms
He grasped the book tightly in his hands, running his synthetic digits across its cover with an almost fanatical reverence
”Ah…the Exolvuntur Aeterna. I had thought this was all but lost to the void. I have searched for this relic for quite some time. It will be the greatest of honors to finally archive it.”
He turned to Castenum
”And you shall help me in this endeavor.”