"Would the Emperor be regarded as the Machine God, the Omnissiah, or merely a messenger sent by the Machine God in the revelation?"
Qin Mo observed the kneeling Martians.
Nearly everyone who had come to Olympus Mons had knelt, but in the distance, some of those watching through special means remained standing, their faces full of disdain.
Naturally, even farther away, some laborers or priests who watched reports from Olympus Mons would kneel as well. Of course, there were also those who did not.
"People are complex, variable functions." Malcador shook his head lightly. "Some will believe the Emperor is the Omnissiah. Some will believe he is the Machine God's messenger. Some may even believe he is the incarnation of the Machine God. But likewise, some will believe he is nothing more than a fraud from Terra, while others will believe that the prophet who descended upon Mars all those years ago, along with his revelations, were nothing but fabricated lies."
"Mm." Qin Mo thought that was true enough.
As the two spoke, the Emperor forced an expression as cold as steel machinery onto his face and walked toward the crowd.
The Martians rose and made way for him, following behind the Emperor.
No one guided him, yet the Emperor effortlessly found the most important city on Mars, and even the Adeptus Mechanicus council within it.
This made those priests who firmly believed the Emperor was the one foretold in the revelation even more convinced that he had come to guide Mars, chosen by the Machine God.
But after taking only a few steps, the Emperor suddenly stopped.
A precognition arose in the Emperor's mind.
A succession of chaotic images surfaced in his thoughts.
From a floating perspective, the Emperor drifted through those images and ever-changing scenes, his viewpoint sometimes