Chapter 25: The Servitor Conversion
The desert night was cold and silent, save for the eternal wind, which howled like a dirge through the twisted metal and fractured concrete of the forgotten ruins.
But within the only intact large structure—Joric's sanctum—it was another scene entirely.
Power conduits thrummed with a low, steady frequency. The subtle sounds of automated tool-arms working in concert wove a cold, efficient, industrial symphony. The air was sharp with ozone, the heat of molten metal, and the chemical scent of fresh insulation sealant.
The "medical tithe" paid by Maine's crew, along with the resources from several subsequent, tentative trades, were now stacked neatly in a corner, sorted by material. This was a quantum leap in quality from the true "scrap" Rebecca and Pilar had first scavenged: sealed, mil-spec high-yield power cells, still bearing the Militech logo; advanced neural processor prototypes, their light still pulsing, clearly an unsanctioned "outflow" from a corporate lab; several alloy ingots of a special composition, marked with unreadable internal corporate codes; and even a small, inert-gas-sealed case of refined rare earths—the foundational matter for high-end archeotech.
This was true, hard-to-acquire currency, sourced from the shadow-economy of Night City.
"The resource-acquisition channel has stabilized. Utility is acceptable." Joric stood before his workbench. A slender, powerful mechadendrite deftly lifted a power cell, slotting it precisely into a new energy-array. His synthesized voice, while still flat, carried an almost imperceptible undercurrent of satisfaction.
"Old Friend, it appears we may proceed to the next phase."
On his visual interface, a complex holographic blueprint was in motion. The most critical project: a high-efficiency, stable power-array, designed specifically for the Dimensional Sextant.
"Old Friend, assist me. Re-calibrate the output-waveform stability. Deviation must be controlled to within 0.03%," Joric said, his gaze never leaving the circuitry he was welding.
++[Affirmative.]++ The servo-skull's blue oculars pulsed, projecting a fine laser-guide onto the nascent power-array. Several mechadendrites worked in unison, arranging the power cells in their optimal matrix.
Before committing more resources, Joric once again placed the burnished gold dodecahedron into the custom-built energy field at the center of his workbench, connecting it to the new array's output.
"Old Friend, monitor all energy-flow and structural-feedback. Report any anomalies immediately."
++[Affirmative.]++ The servo-skull hovered nearby, its scanning beam enveloping the Dimensional Sextant.
A stable stream of power flowed into the relic. The complex patterns on its surface began to glow, emitting a soft, deep light. Joric was completely focused on the data-stream.
"Intriguing..." he murmured, his fingers flying across a virtual interface. "It is not merely absorbing the energy. It appears to be... verifying. Logging..."
After half an hour of intense computation, two relatively stable, strangely-structured coordinate-parameters were isolated and displayed on his interface.
"Two coordinates..." he mused, his metal fingers brushing the cold, smooth surface of the Sextant. "One... perhaps the path home? And the other... where does it lead? Or... is it merely this world?" A strange thrum, something beyond mere curiosity, pulsed in his core processor.
However, when he attempted to increase the power-flow, the light on the Sextant's surface immediately dimmed, and all reactions ceased.
"Still insufficient power... not even 5% of the required threshold," Joric concluded, a note of rare disappointment in his voice. "All deep-function protocols remain locked. Old Friend, it seems we must expand the power-array significantly."
He carefully removed the Dimensional Sextant from the energy field and placed it back within its specialized, shielded case. "Patience. We will attempt the litany again when the output is greater."
Shelving the archeotech-project for the moment, Joric turned his attention to a more immediate, practical need: defense.
He moved to the bio-processing slab in a colder, sterile section of the manufactorum. Four human bodies were laid out upon it—the "resource-providers" from a few nights prior.
His memory-log replayed the incident: a different pack of scavengers had stumbled upon his sanctum. They had seen the lights and heard the thrum of machinery, and, believing they had found an unguarded treasure-trove, they had charged. They hadn't even performed a basic recon, simply opening fire with their crude projectile rifles, machetes, and firebombs, screaming that the territory was theirs.
Their end was... predictable.
The sanctum's hidden auto-sentry turrets and electro-traps neutralized their combat effectiveness instantly. Joric himself had subdued the four physically-strongest specimens. The rest were rendered... unusable.
Now, they were conscious. A powerful bio-sedative held them immobile, yet fully aware.
Cold terror, like a toxin, flooded their every nerve. Their eyes were wide, bloodshot. Tears, mucus, and uncontrolled drool slicked their faces as they emitted choked, half-suppressed sobs.
"Please... mercy..." one of them, a large man with a facial scar, managed to hiss. "Let us... go... We'll give... you... anything..."
Joric's gaze passed over this new "material" as if it were unrefined ore. His optical sensors logged their vitals—all redundant, inefficient biological responses to an irreversible, logical conclusion.
His movements were without hesitation, driven only by absolute precision and efficiency.
"Bio-tissue viability is acceptable. Old Friend, prepare the conversion protocol," he stated calmly. "We will retain basic motor functions. All inefficient and non-essential systems will be... purged. We require combat-units of absolute obedience."
The mechadendrites, like a nest of sentient, silver serpents, extended, their tips gleaming with surgical tools.
First, the modification of the brain. A slender probe, guided by the servo-skull's targeting laser, inserted precisely through the upper orbit, deep into the frontal lobe. A high-frequency micro-current was discharged, ablating the neural-clusters responsible for individual will, complex emotion, fear, and creativity.
The begging stopped. The light in the man's eyes—the terror, the pleading—vanished, replaced by a dull, vacant, unfocused stare.
All struggle, all personal history, all greed and all fear... were erased.
"Frontal lobe ablated. Bio-emotional interference has been purged," Joric said to the skull, his tone as flat as if discussing the weather. "Old Friend, prepare the control-wafer and sensor-interface implants."
Next, the mechadendrites began the full physical augmentation. Skin was incised, muscle tissue peeled back to expose bone. Reinforced alloy bracing was precisely bonded to the existing skeletal structure. The organic eyes were removed and replaced with low-light optical sensors, which now glowed with a single, pitiless red dot. Weapon-interface ports were hard-wired into their arms and shoulders, the cabling linked directly to the newly installed central processor.
The air in the sanctum grew thick with the smell of antiseptics, blood, and bio-electrolytes.
"Old Friend, these four combat-servitor units will complete their basic initialization-rites in approximately four hours," Joric said to the skull, assessing his investment. "They are... crude, inferior to the blessed constructs of our home-Forge, but they will be sufficient for handling local threats. The cost-to-benefit ratio is acceptable, would you not agree?"
The servo-skull's jaw clicked once in assent.
Joric turned. He surveyed the resource-pile, the stable power-array, and the steel-and-flesh guardians currently being forged on the slabs. A subtle, cold satisfaction flowed through his logic circuits.
The path home remained distant, but the progress he was making was tangible.
He picked up a sanctified energy-torch and returned to his work on the power-array. His mechadendrites danced in silent, precise arcs, their blue-white sparks briefly illuminating his crimson robes, his cold augmetic arms, and the impassive, metal faceplate.
"Now, Old Friend," his voice resonated softly, "let us continue the Great Work."