The True Mentor

Two solar hours later.

Quadrant slowly opened his eyes. One appendage reached out and swept aside his red robe, retrieving a box from a storage compartment over his heart.

He then connected the box to his Brain-Machine Interface.

The extensive information Quadrant had gathered through his synths was projected before the Shield-Captain and Qin Xa.

File after file flashed past the two Superhuman Warriors at high speed.

"The three of them." Quadrant referred to the three files that had just passed by. "They were the three brethren who worked with me during the Hrud Extermination Campaign. My decision to put my name on the technical materials caused them to be ostracized by Kelbo Hal's supporters, but it only made them more resolute. They repeatedly mentioned our collaboration in public settings such as academic conferences."

The three files recorded the detailed histories of those three Mechanicus personnel.

Mars monitored every mid-ranking and low-ranking member of the Mechanicus. Everything they said and did was placed on record.

"Then they will be your core supporters, your backbone, your right-hand men." Qin Xa continued reviewing the other files.

The records made it clear that quite a few people supported Quadrant. There were over a thousand mid-ranking Mechanicus members alone who had mentioned Quadrant and the War of Broken Master and Apprentice in public, speaking on his behalf.

There was even a registered twenty-person group on Mars: the Divine Grace Fellowship.

The members of this fellowship freely shared their technical achievements. Their creed was this: the source of technology—the flashes of inspiration that came when people created something—was enlightenment and grace bestowed by the Machine God upon mortal flesh, proof of the god's love for humanity. Yet some people claimed the Machine God's enlightenment and grace for themselves, using it to gain status. The Divine