Chapter - 18

Mars' Surface

Anastasia had just arrived on the red planet's surface and was ready to meet the Adeptus Mechanicus at the ruins of a previous civilization which was called the 'Vers Empire' according to Merlin, the objective of this meeting was to make the Adeptus Mechanicus accept the fact that AIs are needed for their cause and to pick up the first 'gift' left from one of the previous humanities.

Walking beside her there were Alatan, Merlin and an escort of Legio Custodes. The Primarch could already see the Mechanicus priests waiting for them at the entrance of what looking like a palace.

She felt a slight burning sensation on the back of her head before...

"Hello my daughter" A text-to-speech voice suddenly ringed inside Anastasia's ears

"Hello sister!" Another male voice said.

Anastasia was genuinely freaked out but didn't show it since she didn't want to make a bad impression in front of the Mechanicus

"You can speak with us with your mind if you want" the male voice said

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Anastasia replied inside her mind

"I'm your father, the other one while the other is your big brother Magnus" The Throne Emperor said as his mortal form appeared in front of Anastasia "Before you scream that I'm here, you're the only one who can see me just like Prophet" he said as Magnus also appeared in front of her

"I wasn't going to scream since no one else reacted to your sudden appearance and you are all RED" Anastasia replied upon seeing Magnus over-sized red figure "So you are the Emperor that sent the genes inside of me in this universe and you are a Primarch of that other universe and by definition my brother?"

"Indeed" Magnus replied "We are here to provide advice"

"And also because I was bored inside the stigmata" The Emperor replied.

"I will not follow orders" Anastasia said with determination "I chose to protect humanity but I will do it my way"

"Don't worry my dear daughter, I'm not going to give you orders since you're out of my jurisdiction and I want to have a good relationship with you" The Emperor said

"If only you could have done that during the crusade" Magnus muttered to himself "WAIT, FROM WHERE THAT 'DEAR' CAME FROM?!"

"But I will hear your suggestions" Anastasia added as she mentally sighed "Anyway the other father said you would have taught me how to develop my abilities...though I don't know what he was referring to"

"Oh yes, you're a psyker and as one you have to learn how to use your powers" The Emperor said with a nod "In this universe, after the Honkai took over, psykers are very rare but some got very famous as 'Herrschers'"

"I'm an Herrscher!?" Anastasia asked already worried for her wellbeing

"No, you are not" Magnus intervened "You're just a psyker, a human that can draw powers from the Immaterium, here called, Honkai Dimension"

"Normally, I wouldn't allow you to practice such power" The Emperor said

"Even though he uses it himself" Magnus whispered

"But since Chaos doesn't exist here, and you are theoretically immune to the Honkai corruption, there's no problem with it" the Master of Mankind said

Anastasia wasn't really happy with the whole 'I wouldn't allow you' part since it was against her previous statement but she dismissed it since she was kind of happy to see the Emperor and his brother for the first time. "Okay then, now let me deal with the mechanicus"

"Well, your entire body is made of machines and your mind has the power of thousands of computers so you're probably going to be their favorite Primarch out of all since Ferrus" The Emperor said

"Hopefully it will be enough to convince them that AI is necessary" Anastasia said sighing

"I don't really like the fact that you are going in that direction for the AIs but again Chaos doesn't exist and the Honkai God is too stupid and naive to use the power of the immaterium correctly...and what is waiting for you here will help you with machine corruption, but anyway it's your choice and since the other me seems to have nothing against this plan I'll just wait and see I guess...Just avoid depending completely on the machines and give them equality otherwise they will become like the Men of Iron all over again" The Emperor said

"Didn't the Men of Iron thought that they were superior to the humans?" Magnus asked

"Yes because humans completely depended on them and made them do all the dirty work" The Emperor said as Anastasia and the others finally reached the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Anastasia was immediately approached by three tech-priests escorted by the Skitarii. Anastasia was a bit weirded out by their appearance, they looked like cyber monks with hoods and lots of mechanical objects attached to their body and glowing eyes.

"You are the child of the Omnissiah, is that correct?" one of them asked with a computerized voice "The Child that embodies the machine side of the Imperium?"

"Indeed" Anastasia replied with a stoic tone "My name is Anastasia Apocalypse, the first child of the Emperor of Man in this universe. To answer your question, yes, my entire body is made of machines created by humans, you're free to see yourself if you need more proofs" she said as she offered her arm

The Adeptus Mechanicus shook his head "No, I don't doubt your identity, the Legion Master Alatan told me that the Emperor was with you...I am the Fabricator-General Abrariel Cybios, we are at your service"

Anastasia gave him a nod before looking at the palace they were standing in front of "Have you already entered this place?"

"No" The Frabricator-General said shaking his head "The door is controlled a machine spirit that will not let pass anyone unless they are worthy..."

Anastasia walked in front of the door and like in the destroyed New York she saw a small pad where she was supposed to put her hand on it, in her HUD SECOND started hacking the thing and after a few seconds the door of the palace opened with a hiss.

The Adeptus Mechanicus quickly started praying the machine god as Anastasia, along with her escort, started walking inside.

The Palace was completely dark inside and so seeing things would have been hard for a normal human, fortunately for everyone present, no one was human there and thanks to their augmentations they were all able to see in the dark.

The room where they were in was a throne room, on the floor there was a carpet with an unknown symbol, Anastasia guessed that was the flag of the previous civilization since that same symbol was on the almost destroyed banners that were hanging from the pillars that were placed on the sides of the room. Anastasia saw something shimmer in the dark as the light that was coming from the entrance.

The Primarch walked towards the unknown object that was laying on one of the arms of the throne and picked it up. It was a remote controller.

Anastasia looked around as she tried to see if the object was booby-trapped which didn't seem like it. "Prepare for the worst" She ordered as the Tech-Priests and the Astartes braced themselves while Merlin made a bittersweet smile.

"This is exciting" The Emperor said "Now I get it why the Adeptus Mechanicus are always so eager to discover ancient stuff"

"Shut up, I wanna see what happens" Magnus replied as Anastasia pressed the power button of the remote.

A Projector turned itself on and started projecting the image of a young woman on the wall above the throne. She had long blonde hair and green eyes, she was wearing a very fancy white dress similar to a wedding dress with the skirt that reached the floor.

"My name is Asseylum Vers Allusia, Empress of the Vers Empire. If you are seeing this recording it means that the man named Merlin told the truth and that you are the Primarch that will protect humanity from the Honkai..." she said with a bittersweet tone "I don't have much time, they will arrive soon, behind the throne there is a secret passage that leads to a bunker where Vers' most important artifact is...hopefully, it will help you in your task to save mankind" she said as tears started falling from her eyes "Good Luck" she said as the projection ended.