Chapter 4: Wall and Ball, Unsolved Problems
The lady originally had her own name, with Christina von Gattuso being her full name.
It's just that she has existed in this space city for too long, and her 300 years of service have taken away all her comrades and ancestors.
Over a long period of time, everyone who had the opportunity to call the lady "sister" and by her name, one after another, could no longer walk with the lady due to various reasons.
Or he died in a certain mission and returned to the throne, or he was transferred to other vacant positions to take charge of his own role.
When the lady finally became the "Black Ship Lady" and began to take over the rights and mission of the spaceship, she was the only one left by her side, and no one could look at her lovingly or call her kindly. "My dear little Chris".
Not the nun, and even less so the ship's mortal crew.
The overall transfer once every three years is a strict rule, because the working environment of the Black Ship is too harsh, and the oppressive environment of working in the anti-psychic field set up for safety reasons is something that mortals are destined not to endure for a long time.
The Star Language Court's opinion on this matter is: Except for the nuns themselves, other staff members must be replaced regularly and their relevant memories of serving here must be cleared.
Because they don't know who they are or who their colleagues are, they just call each other by their numbers.
So on this ship, no one cares what the lady's name is, just call her "Ms." Just like they, as mortals, don't care what their names are, the numbered plate on their left chest is their only reference for calling each other.
There is no communication between the crew except working. In this way, they will not be emotionally bound to each other, and when the critical moment does come, their emotions will not interfere with the decision-making of their comrades.
This is both to protect yourself and to protect others.
This universe is so cruel and hostile to humans. As a weak mortal, silence is loyalty, and working in silence is the only way to contribute to the empire.
Live in silence, die in silence.
………………
On the first floor of the church at the top of the spaceship, in the lady's office.
"I think I made a mistake, ma'am."
"Oh? Tell me, my little Cassin."
"You should formally call me by my first name - Sister Cassin."
"Okay, my little Cassin."
Under the slightly yellowish candlelight, there was no one else in the cabin except the lady and Cassin. Women do not need to deliberately show the dignity and determination of leaders. The tall armchair decorated with dark green velvet made the lady's figure, which was quite upright among her sex, look a little thin. She held her chin with both hands, tilted her head slightly, and looked at the young man in front of her at leisure.
"Okay, let's skip this step." Cassin sighed helplessly.
"You continue." When talking about the task, the lady also sat up slightly to show respect.
"The mission target has been successfully captured, but during recovery we accidentally discovered a psychic awakener."
"You brought him back?"
"Yes. Unregistered psykers must be recycled or cleared. This is the law of the empire and our principle."
"So what's the problem?"
"He may be a noble, and Sister Aldeline's opinion is that we need to file with the Planetary Governor."
"That's not your concern. You're doing great, Sister Cassin."
At this point the Lady has regained her scheming and decisiveness as the Lady of the Black Ship, the highest ranking officer among the Silent Sisters of the Emperor's Claw. She waved her hand forcefully:
"Politics is what I need to think about, not you."
The lady stood up, crossed her arms, took two steps, turned to Cassin:
"Aldeline's idea is not wrong, but please remember that at any time, we will and will only act in accordance with the principles of imperial law."
"Your will! Madam, what shall we do next?"
"Have you done the purity test?"
"It should be working on it, but I did a preliminary check and there was nothing wrong with it."
"Okay, now, notify the Clerk. Send an accountability letter to the Planetary Governor. Why did an unregistered psyker appear in our mission? I need his explanation! Otherwise, before the next High Lords Council, I He will complain to the Inquisition and the Chief of the Imperial Guard at the same time, hoping that accountability from the Ministry of the Interior is not what he wants."
"Huh?" Cassin was confused.
"Just do as you say, my dear little Cassin." The lady suddenly put away her serious expression and winked at Cassin in a playful manner.
………………
At the same time, our protagonist Calvin is being watched in a cabin 10 meters directly below the lady's office.
He was asked to stand naked in the center of the cabin and place his hands on a scripture placed in the center of the table.
The adamantine cover and chain buckle were obviously more than one centimeter thick, making Calvin secretly complain that the weight and feel of this thing could be used as a weapon. Then he was shocked to discover: the edge of this cover was actually edged! There are still some dried blood stains of unknown creatures on it that have not been washed away! The throne is up! This thing really kills people!
Before Calvin could digest this shocking information, the red-robed Anglican priest behind the bulletproof glass had already become impatient.
"Calm down! Next, read after me."
"The nature of the devil is such that righteous people do not yet understand it. Once we know it, we must fight against it..."
Although he didn't understand the reason, Calvin decided to graciously forgive the other party's offense for the sake of the solemn priest and the obviously powered-on flamethrowers at the four corners. He followed the priest's slow voice and said:
"The nature of the devil is such that righteous people do not yet understand it. Once we know it, we must fight against it..."
The priest who was waiting for Calvin to finish reciting this passage carefully observed the psychic instrument in front of him. On the rune reading table engraved with dazzling red paint, the pointer was floating quietly, motionless.
After waiting quietly for a few seconds, the relieved priest copied the index onto the parchment and handed it to the nun waiting next to him. Then he stood up and said to Calvin on the other side of the bulletproof glass:
"Okay, you can go."
After getting dressed, Calvin just walked out of the door when he was watched from both sides by two armed soldiers who led him to the next test session.
What awaits him will be the most important test since he boarded the black ship, which may affect the fate of his entire life - psychic rating.
The new test chamber is slightly different from the previous environment. The same gray steel serves as the main tone of the wall, but the difference is that the weapons on the four ceilings have been removed, and there is no bulletproof glass on the front. On the contrary, three high-level psykers, accompanied by two fully armed guards, sit In front of Calvin.
When Calvin entered the cabin and sat down as instructed, the three psychics signaled each other with their eyes, and then a silver arc flashed in the eyes of the tallest one in the middle. He looked at Calvin, and a sentence suddenly appeared. In Calvin's mind:
"Then, now start your psychic grading test. I will only say the following once, please remember it. After awakening psychic powers, everyone will have an initial reference object according to the principle of telekinesis. You can also use it Understand it as the specific microcosm of your mind projected in the material world. It may be a sword or a pen, but no matter what, it is the form that your subconscious wants to see when you release your spiritual energy. So please close it now. Eyes, relax, take a deep breath, open your mind and let us see the reflection of your heart.”
Subconsciously, Calvin began to follow the voice's instructions. Close your eyes and put your consciousness into the ocean of void spirit. The small, black gem covered with countless facets embodied by Calvin's soul naturally responded to his call and slowly emerged from the deep sea. rise slowly.
At this moment, he seemed to have withdrawn from all "human" emotions, quietly looking down at the gem from above, and at the same time examining his own soul.
The tiny black luster lights up and goes out regularly from the smaller facets of the gemstone, as if echoing Calvin's breathing.
From a more microscopic perspective, Calvin saw that most of the facets on the gems were damaged, while only a few were intact, and even fewer of them could respond to his call and emit light. .
"Well, very good, keep it up. Let's see, a wall? A black crystal wall? What does this mean? Protection or imprisonment? Okay, regardless of it, the psychic energy fluctuations are very stable, and the fluctuation period can be called accurate. ”
Calvin, whose thoughts were interrupted by the sound, was thinking about how to deal with other problems that might arise next, but when he heard the word "wall", even though he had lived for so long in two lifetimes, he couldn't help but raise his head in shock. beginning.
"Wall? If a ping-pong ball like this is floating here, will you be blind?"