"Lorgar... Lorgar..."
Turing's consciousness drifted beneath the boundless crushing weight of psychic energy and the agony of his shattering body, like a man about to drown.
He struggled, turning his one flesh-and-blood eye that could still move toward the nearby figure—the only one who had ever shown him understanding and kindness.
His gaze held the pain of impending death, the devastating wound of rejection by his closest kin, and one last, faint, almost instinctive plea for help.
"Father," Lorgar spoke at just the right moment, his voice clear and steady, carrying a reasonable appeal for restraint and a defense of his brother. He raised his head to meet the Emperor's gaze, blazing with golden fire.
"The punishment... has been enough. Turing has learned his lesson. If this continues, his biological parts will fail as well. Please... stop."
His words were not a heated protest, but more an earnest appeal grounded in practical circumstances and brotherly affection.
In that suffocating moment, beneath the Emperor's absolute authority, his voice became the only crack that did not feel quite so cold.
As Lorgar spoke, the terrifying psychic pressure bearing down on Turing, as though an entire star system were weighing upon him, abruptly vanished without warning.
It was as though a hand holding up a mountain had suddenly let go.
"Cough! Aaargh...!"
The recoil from the sudden release of pressure made Turing double over, coughing violently and dry-heaving.
He felt like a rag that had been crushed to pieces, then barely spread flat again.
He lowered his head and looked at his body—
His left half, the flesh-and-blood portion, was covered in bruises and tears, and his internal organs had been damaged by the crushing pressure, but at least it remained largely intact.
But his right half...
The mechanical body that had once