Iax's Biology Test

Iax and Osen both looked at Sien, who lay on the bed before them.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

The two voiced the same opinion in unison.

Neither knew why the other had rejected the proposal, but at that moment, they had reached the same conclusion.

Before Osen, the Apothecary, could speak, Iax offered his view.

"If you only want one prosthetic limb fitted, I'd suggest an arm. A Mechanical Arm can greatly increase your strength and provide additional protection when necessary."

"I used the standard Men of Iron Human Combat Template from back then to make your Bionic Body. Although I couldn't find enough suitable materials, both Bionic Body components are far superior to the armour you normally wear. Judging by biological responses, living beings evade or shield themselves when attacked. Legs are clearly better suited to evasion, while arms are better for defence and shielding."

"Once you have the Mechanical Arm fitted, you'll gain not only additional strength but also excellent protection. Among the weapons I've encountered so far, the Bolt Weapons and Power Weapons you carry can inflict only very limited damage on this arm."

Iax's analysis was clearly very accurate.

A Mechanical Arm tougher than ceramite Power Armour, perhaps even tougher than Artificer Armour.

The prospect was incredibly tempting to Sien.

Constant training to tap into his gene-seed's potential and encourage his body's growth was one way to become stronger, but no matter what he did, flesh and blood could never rival ceramite Power Armour, let alone Artificer Armour.

Yet fitting a Mechanical Arm would immediately give him one arm that surpassed Artificer Armour. That was simply too tempting.

Osen, who had been about to argue his case, could no longer get the words out.

A prosthetic arm even more outrageous than Power Armour?

He looked at the remaining Leg Prosthesis in Iax's hands.

What do I do? I want it so badly. Could I cut off my own leg and get a Techmarine to fit that one for me?

And judging by its dimensions, he could clearly still wear Power Armour normally after having the prosthetic fitted.

Not only would it avoid drawing attention, it would also provide a hidden boost to his strength. Most importantly, he could give the enemy a "surprise" when necessary and save his own skin.

Even if the Astartes could face death calmly, very few actually wanted to die every day.

Of course, there were also some who couldn't die even if they wanted to.

Dante on the job.JPG

ICU warrior Calgar.JPG

Iax seemed to sense what Osen was thinking and dispelled the idea with a single remark.

"This set of Bionic Body parts was made to suit your body. Their structure and the placement of their Electronic Nerve Bundles match your body exactly. If you're certain you only want the arm fitted, I'd still recommend keeping the Leg Prosthesis somewhere safe for now."

With that, Iax took out a canister and set it beside Sien's medical bed.

The metal canister was small but remarkably heavy, landing on the tabletop with a dull thud.

"This contains some powder left over from constructing the Bionic Body. I collected some of it. Replacing the material powder in your food with this would be much better. It should help your body cope with the power of these Bionic Body parts."

Sien eyed the canister of absurdly dense metal powder dubiously, unsure whether his body could actually digest it.

As for how Iax knew about this, he had discovered it by chance while wandering around the ship earlier.

At the time, a battle-brother of the Black Templars had just taken off his Power Armour and was eating in the dining hall. His far larger-than-human build had immediately identified him to Iax as one of those men in ceramite cans.

A casual scan of his body had also swept over the food he was eating.

The food gave off very high energy readings, comparable to the high-energy bars of the Dark Age of Technology. However, it looked far less appetising than the bars in the photographs and advertisements in those records, and it did not seem to offer the variety of flavours found in the emergency energy rations of the past.

Apart from the high-energy food, the table held only an enormous seasoning bottle. Instead of seasoning, it contained some sort of flavoured metal and Minerals powder.

The surgeries and organ implants that transformed the Astartes gave them superhuman bodies, but also came at an indescribable cost.

Ordinary bones could not support their own body weight along with their heavy equipment. Their modified glands allowed them to break down these Minerals powders, which were then absorbed by their equally, radically altered digestive systems and ultimately became one of the key materials making up their bones.

As these Astartes aged, they grew heavier, their bones became stronger, and their bodies could support more muscle.

Growing stronger with age was no joke.

Every one of those legendary Space Marines had lived a long life. If a ten-thousand-year veteran was lucky enough to survive intact, he would undoubtedly be terrifyingly powerful.

But the metal powder Iax had provided now made Sien hesitate.

According to Iax, even bolt rounds couldn't destroy this stuff. Could I really digest it?

To test it, Sien gestured for Osen to open the metal canister, then took a small pinch with his remaining hand and carefully placed it in his mouth.

His modified glands began secreting terrifyingly acidic saliva, attempting to break down the powder.

But clearly, the saliva that had always proved effective before failed to do its job this time.

The fine metal powder seemed completely unchanged in his mouth.

Sien hesitated, but the particles were so fine that he could barely feel any difference at all.

After a moment's hesitation, Sien swallowed the powder in his mouth anyway.

Iax immediately performed a Biological Scan on Sien.

He carefully observed what happened to the powder after it entered Sien's body.

But the results soon disappointed Iax.

He had clearly seen them consuming Minerals before, but he did not know whether this pure metal powder exceeded their ability to absorb it, or whether things simply worked differently from what he had expected.

Once inside Sien's body, the powder quickly triggered a reaction in his stomach. A mass of highly acidic gastric fluid enveloped all the powder and immediately tried to break it down, but had no effect whatsoever.

"Bleurgh~"

With a retching sound, Sien vomited up the powder he had just swallowed.

The highly acidic gastric fluid even gave off white fumes in the air.

Iax shook his head in puzzlement. Biology was apparently rather different from what he had imagined.

It truly was a branch of science that only the Creator excelled at.