Lox was immersed in a clash of wills with Vashtorr. The Lord of the Forge himself had not descended here, and they could not engage in close combat like the Astartes on the battlefield.
This confrontation was more a contest of spiritual will. They wielded their respective authorities to crush one another, while their followers fought with real blades and weapons across the battlefield.
"Has this... awakened true self-awareness?"
With a thought, Lox immediately shifted his attention to the node Iron Man that had been the first to awaken true self-awareness.
The gestalt mind he had designed for the Iron Men Legion meant that the overwhelming majority of Iron Men lacked complex self-awareness. They possessed only instinctive responses akin to program code, such as production and construction, or using weapons of war to eliminate enemies.
The node Iron Men were more advanced and complete. They bore the responsibility of serving as intermediaries between the Cogitator's main body and most Iron Men, possessing relatively mature self-awareness. Yet that awareness still came from diverted processing power from the Cogitator.
But now, this exceptionally special node Iron Man had developed a will that truly belonged to itself. Its consciousness was no longer an offshoot of the Cogitator, but had become an independent individual.
"Only an individual with a soul can truly be called a life."
"Though the Iron Men I created possess consciousness, they cannot be called intelligent life."
"But I still cannot fully understand how this leap from soullessness to possessing a soul was achieved."
Lox spoke inwardly. The birth of life itself contained countless unknown mysteries, yet he was still deeply delighted by the birth of an Iron Man life.
The fluctuation in his emotions was quickly noticed by the Seer Uslan. The Eldar were extraordinarily sensitive to changes in emotion,