"What kind of Astartes transformation surgery is this?" Nolan muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "I'm afraid this is a perfect copy of a Primarch's heart, isn't it?"
He read through the annotations beneath the third reward option carefully, absorbing every detail. The implications were staggering.
Nolan drew a deep breath, trying to process the enormity of what he was seeing. Shock warred with growing curiosity in his expression.
A question formed in his mind, both fascinating and slightly terrifying.
Suppose someone underwent all the standard Astartes transformation surgeries, but every procedure was performed using Primarch-grade biological materials. Every gene-seed, every enhanced organ, every modification drawn from a Primarch's own genetic template rather than diluted Legion stock.
What kind of being would result from such a process?
Would they become something like the father of millions of Astartes? A figure comparable to the Emperor's gene-crafted sons?
Or perhaps the chief instructor of the Three Hundred Custodians? A warrior who could train the Emperor's personal guard?
Or maybe even something resembling the least of the twenty-two Primarchs? Not quite equal to those demigods, but approaching their magnificence?
For several moments, Nolan's imagination ran wild with increasingly grandiose possibilities. His thoughts spiraled into territory that bordered on delusion.
Then pain lanced through his body, sharp and insistent. The reminder of his still-healing injuries dragged him back to reality with brutal efficiency.
Grimacing, Nolan carefully repositioned himself on the medical bed. He focused his attention back on the simulator interface, pushing aside his more extravagant speculations.
He closed his eyes slowly and worked to calm his racing thoughts. His breathing steadied. His heartbeat slowed to something approaching normal.
Then, with a silent prayer to the Emperor for protection and guidance, he selected the third reward without further hesitation.
"It's a shame about the other rewards," some stingy part of his mind thought reflexively. A Thunderhawk transport and a master-crafted power axe were nothing to dismiss lightly.
The next second, that thought vanished completely.
Pain exploded in his chest. Intense, overwhelming agony as flesh and blood began spreading and growing where nothing had existed before.
Nolan had assumed the simulator would use some special method to place the Heart of Leman Russ within him. Perhaps a moment of discomfort, then completion. The process would be instantaneous, or nearly so.
He'd been catastrophically wrong.
The inhuman sensation that crashed over him like a tidal wave brought sudden, terrible understanding. This heart, blessed by the Emperor and saturated with the Wolf King's genetic legacy, needed to grow naturally. To integrate properly with his existing biology through actual development rather than instantaneous insertion.
Nolan tried to scream. His mouth opened, but no sound emerged. The pain was too great, too all-consuming. It paralyzed his vocal cords, locked his lungs.
He collapsed backward onto the medical bed. His entire body convulsed. Muscles twisted and contorted beneath his skin. Tendons pulled taut, then relaxed, then pulled taut again in rhythmic spasms.
Sweat poured from every pore, drenching his skin in seconds. The white sheets beneath him became soaked, darkening with moisture.
Through the agony, through the fog of pain that threatened to drag him into unconsciousness, Nolan's enhanced perception tracked everything happening inside his chest with horrifying clarity.
He felt the Heart of Leman Russ growing. Felt nerves extending outward, seeking connections. Felt blood vessels forming, branching, spreading through surrounding tissue. Every millimeter of growth registered in his awareness with perfect, excruciating detail.
His chest cavity was undergoing revolutionary changes. Organs shifted position slowly, reluctantly, making room for the new arrival. His lungs compressed slightly. His primary heart adjusted its position. His esophagus moved fractionally to one side.
Everything was rearranging itself to accommodate the second heart.
The Heart of Leman Russ completed its basic structure and beat for the first time.
The effect was immediate and dramatic.
Nolan's short hair began growing rapidly. Within seconds, it had lengthened to shoulder length, then beyond. His natural black color faded, replaced by mottled gray streaked with white. The texture changed too. Each strand became thicker, coarser, as fluffy and strong as wolf fur. The hair was almost wire-like, stiff and slightly prickly to the touch.
The heart beat a second time.
The rhythm disturbed Nolan's primary heartbeat, causing a moment of arrhythmia that would have been fatal to a normal human. His eyes, which had been clenched shut against the pain, suddenly snapped open.
His dark brown irises were gone. In their place, cyan wolf eyes stared at the ceiling. The pupils were vertical slits rather than circular, distinctly inhuman. Something vague but unmistakable lurked in those eyes. A ferocious animal instinct, primitive and wild, barely contained beneath a thin veneer of humanity.
The Heart of Leman Russ beat a third time, gradually synchronizing with his original heart's rhythm.
Nolan's teeth ached intensely. His canines elongated, pushing through his gums. The pain was sharp but brief. When the process finished, he possessed two prominent fangs, sharp as daggers, capable of tearing through flesh and crushing bone.
His hands changed too. The bones shifted subtly, restructuring themselves. His nails thickened and grew, becoming sharp claws rather than human fingernails. They were hard as steel, yellowed slightly, wickedly pointed.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. THUMP-THUMP.
The Heart of Leman Russ beat louder, its rhythm building in volume and intensity. The sound seemed to fill Nolan's entire awareness, drowning out everything else.
His body moved without conscious direction. He launched himself from the medical bed in a single explosive motion, landing on all fours on the metal floor. The position felt natural, comfortable, correct in ways standing upright suddenly didn't.
His cyan wolf eyes saw everything with startling clarity. He noticed traces David hadn't finished cleaning from the floor, invisible to normal vision but perfectly clear to his enhanced sight. Microscopic scratches. Tiny stains. Every imperfection stood out in sharp relief.
His sense of smell exploded with information. He detected individual particles of disinfectant suspended in the air. Caught the lingering scent of Jessica from when she'd visited days ago, her perfume still faintly present despite the room's air circulation. Each smell was distinct, identifiable, rich with information.
His hearing extended far beyond its previous range. He heard footsteps approaching from distant corridors. Conversations happening three rooms away. The subtle creaking of the restaurant's infrastructure as temperature fluctuations caused minor expansions and contractions in the metal.
Nolan's lips pulled back from his fangs. His head tilted back. A long, mournful howl erupted from deep in his throat, echoing through the medical room.
The sound was pure wolf. No trace of humanity remained in it. Just the primal call of a predator announcing its presence to the world.
The howl ended. Silence fell.
The overwhelming animal instincts that had surged to dominance began to recede, fading back into dormancy. The beast retreated, not gone but merely sleeping, waiting.
Nolan's jumbled thoughts cleared rapidly. Reason and clarity returned, washing away the fog of instinct. He remained crouched on the cold metal floor, breathing heavily, trying to process what had just happened to him.
Slowly, he raised one altered hand before his face. Turned it this way and that, examining it from different angles. He stared at the sharp claws tipping each finger, confusion and wonder mixing in his expression.
The metal door burst open with considerable force.
David's tall mechanical frame entered quickly, its sensors immediately sweeping the room. Blue light flashed in its optical units as it located Nolan's position and assessed his radically changed appearance.
Surprisingly, David showed no signs of shock or concern. If anything, the servitor seemed almost pleased.
It murmured, its voice carrying an odd note of reverence, "Praise the Omnissiah. This resembles what I witnessed before in the presence of the Machine God."
Nolan's cyan wolf eyes snapped into focus, fixing on David with sudden intensity. "David, what did you just say?"
David's head tilted slightly, its mechanical neck servos whirring softly. When it spoke again, its tone was carefully respectful, perhaps even evasive.
"I merely wished to inquire whether my lord is feeling well at present."
Nolan frowned at the obvious deflection. David was hiding something, but pushing the issue seemed pointless. He had more immediate concerns.
One clawed hand pressed against his chest, feeling the powerful double heartbeat thrumming beneath his sternum. When he spoke, his voice was uncertain.
"For now, I honestly can't say whether this is good or bad."
He rose slowly from the cold metal floor, his movements slightly uncertain as he adjusted to the changes in his body. His center of balance had shifted subtly. His muscle responses were different. Everything felt familiar yet alien at the same time.
Nolan approached the medical room's metal wall, using its polished surface as an improvised mirror. His cyan wolf eyes studied the tall figure reflected back at him.
"Gray hair. Cyan wolf eyes. They're the same color throughout, not just at the edges." He examined himself methodically, cataloging the changes. "Height seems unchanged. The bolt gun injuries have completely healed, no trace of scarring remaining."
His tongue explored the inside of his mouth, feeling the unfamiliar shape of his new fangs. "Extra fangs. Two of them. I'm not used to them yet. They keep catching on my lips when I talk."
He sighed slowly, the sound almost becoming a growl before he caught himself. One last glance at his reflection, then he turned away and walked toward David.
Nolan's nose twitched, sampling the air. His fangs showed as he spoke. "Let's go, David. Accompany me to the training ground. I need to test these changes, understand what I'm capable of now."
"As you wish, my lord." David's mechanical voice carried more emotional variation than usual, suggesting the servitor was genuinely pleased about something.
It turned and opened the medical room's metal door, then stepped aside to clear the path for Nolan with almost ceremonial formality.
Nolan blinked his cyan wolf eyes and shook his gray-haired head slightly. "I can open doors myself, you know. But whatever makes you happy."
He raised one clawed hand and patted David's metal arm in a gesture of casual affection, careful to ensure his new claws didn't scratch the servitor's exterior.
Then, his expression settling into something more serious and determined, Nolan walked through the doorway and into the corridor beyond.
David's blue optical sensors glanced back at the brightly lit medical room one final time, as if committing the space to memory. Then the servitor followed Nolan, its heavy footsteps creating a steady rhythm against the metal flooring.
Behind them, accompanied by the slight whine of servo-motors, the heavy metal door slowly swung closed.
The medical room sealed itself away from the outside world, keeping its secrets locked within.
Whatever Nolan had been before entering that room, he was something different now. Something changed. Something more.
The question was: what exactly had he become?