Joint Consultation 12 (III)

Belisarius Cawl asked for twenty minutes of round-trip time, and he neither wasted nor saved a single minute of it. One thousand two hundred seconds—not a second more, not a second less—he sauntered into the Wing of the Eagle's medical hall at the precise moment they elapsed.

The act was quite deliberate, and the genuine smugness on his face thoroughly transformed the arrogance behind it, leaving onlookers first annoyed, then amused, and finally reflective—could a great sage of the Mechanicum really be this childish?

He had returned to the medical hall exactly on time because he wanted to emphasize once again just how professional he was?

The answer was yes.

The red-robed monstrosity, as large as a tank, straightened his hunched back and placed his right hand over his chest. With comically exaggerated flourish, he offered the three people waiting for him an elaborate salute. The appendages on his back writhed, drawing a black metal sphere the size of an ordinary human head from beneath his red robes embroidered with golden thread, gears, and skulls.

Cawl carefully held it up and spoke to Fulgrim with solemn gravity.

"Please allow me to show you the Emperor's singularly magnificent achievement."

The Phoenix gave him a slight nod with impeccable courtesy and asked with extreme restraint, "Is this the Sangprimus Portum?"

Cawl stared at him in astonishment.

"What? Of course not, my lord! It is an entire fortress-like vault; there is no possible way I could carry it around with me—but you are not entirely wrong. This object is indeed related to the Sangprimus Portum."

The Phoenix struggled to maintain his composure before asking again, "Then what is it?"

Cawl thrust out his chest and raised his head even higher. The hum of machinery continued without pause. He raised his right hand with