Lorgar's words settled on Hercules's heart like heavy foundation stones, piling up one after another.
He was no fool, but the immense responsibility and foresight revealed in his father's words—extending beyond the Legion, beyond the individual, even beyond their age—still struck him with unprecedented force.
Never before had he understood so clearly that his father bore far more than the outcome of battles or the honor and disgrace of a Legion.
He was guarding the fragile vessel of their entire species as it drifted through endless ages of darkness, driven by an almost pessimistic foresight and the endurance that duty demanded.
Hercules remained silent, absorbing this weighty revelation. He felt the boundaries of his mind being forcibly expanded, even as that bleak vision of the future pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.
The heavy conversation left the air in the chamber still. Then the faint turning of gears and hum of servomotors broke the silence.
Archmagos Valkyrie, who had stood motionless at their side like a precision instrument, recording and analyzing everything through his many mechanical eyes, interjected evenly in a synthetic voice like grinding gears:
"Lord Hercules, there is no need to be so... to use biological terminology, 'tense' or 'anxious.' According to existing variable models and probability calculations, Lord Lorgar's theoretical risk coefficient falls within an extremely low range."
He raised one mechanical arm, projecting a small hologram from its tip. Dizzyingly complex data streams and schematic mathematical models flowed across it.
"My comprehensive assessment of physiological functions, combat capabilities, psychic energy defenses, accompanying guard strength, known threat levels, and historical survival data indicates that the probability of Lord Lorgar's natural or unnatural termination within the foreseeable future is below 0.000001%.
"In nontechnical language: the probability of such an occurrence is several orders of magnitude