Slaanesh governed every desire that brought pleasure into the world, including greed, appetite, lust, ambition, honor, the Lust of Sloth, and more. All these desires were sources of Slaanesh's power.
In practice, however, members of the Adeptus Mechanicus were relatively difficult to corrupt, because its ordinary senior members had only one desire: to acquire more knowledge. That fell within the domain of the dark god Tzeentch.
Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus generally believed that the more knowledge they possessed, the closer they could come to the Omnissiah, the Machine God's incarnation. To store more knowledge, they replaced their flesh with machinery, increasing their storage capacity.
A great many also believed that flesh was suffering and machinery was ascension. They were obsessed with turning their bodies entirely into machines.
These people usually held high positions within the Adeptus Mechanicus. That unfortunate soul, however, had been a novice Mechanicum Apprentice. The meager credits he saved through constant work and study had barely paid for a brain modification to expand his storage capacity. Most of his body was still flesh.
Deeply distressed by this adherent's fall into Slaanesh's embrace, the Adeptus Mechanicus ordered a thorough inspection of every relic of the Emperor's Children and every member who had come into contact with them.
People consumed by lust were easy enough to identify, but those consumed by ambition or greed might simply appear to others to be working harder than before.
Members consumed by appetite or sloth might merely be seen less frequently.
This was an extremely dangerous and well-concealed form of daemonic corruption. It had to be stopped immediately.
Once the first round of inspections ended, another comprehensive examination of all personnel began. No one would escape it.
Lillisa was on the run. The Adeptus Mechanicus's pursuit left her nowhere to hide, forcing her to keep moving through the tangled mechanical piping and maintenance passages.
Lillisa had always been a girl who loved looking beautiful. Becoming a Mechanicum Apprentice had not changed that, but when her mentor harshly criticized her efforts to adorn her flesh, she could not help feeling dejected.
Within the Adeptus Mechanicus, more mechanical augmentation often meant higher status. Her mentor, for example, had long since replaced his legs and spine with more powerful machinery, allowing him to support heavier knowledge-storage equipment.
His eyes were modified standard-issue scanners that could analyze all manner of equipment and connect directly to his brain. Both hands had become mechanical appendages. Skin was still visible, but who knew whether it was artificial?
The additional mechanical arms installed on his back let him complete tasks with a level of efficiency countless times greater than hers.
His internal organs had been completely replaced with mechanical constructs. He did not need to eat; regular additions of nutrient solution and machine oil were enough to keep him alive.
Looking at her mentor's magnificent mechanical body, Lillisa felt despondent. She knew she would inevitably have to bid farewell to her flesh someday, unless she became rich enough to purchase the outrageously expensive culture fluid needed to maintain it.
Yet the only people who could afford such expensive culture fluid were the big shots whose bodies were already almost entirely mechanical.
Only by making an extraordinary contribution could she purchase even a tiny amount of culture fluid. It could make her skin moist and smooth, as delicate as a baby's.
Reluctantly, Lillisa had her brain modified, adding knowledge-storage equipment to improve her abilities and earn more money.
Beautiful hair cascaded beneath her high bun. She used it to conceal the ugly device at the back of her head, but whenever she looked in a mirror, she still felt some degree of disgust.
No one wants to become a slave to machinery, Lillisa thought, but she could not change her fate.
Outside lay industrial fumes and radiation. Industrial waste accumulated over countless years had utterly contaminated the planet's environment. No normal organism could survive out there. An Astartes might manage it, but Lillisa certainly could not.
Fully mechanized personnel operated heavy machinery outside on specialized assignments. Lillisa could not stop envying how much money they earned, yet she still recoiled from undergoing such modifications.
If only I could wear the kind of Power Armour the Astartes wear. Then I could earn enough money to buy culture fluid.
Then that day came.
"Lillisa, fetch the casting material for me. Material number 490 on shelf A1412."
"Yes, mentor. I'll go right away."
Lillisa hurried to the warehouse. As it happened, personnel from the Adeptus Mechanicus Exploration Fleet had just returned and were moving large quantities of material inside.
"Excuse me. Please let me through."
Lillisa barely managed to squeeze into the warehouse. Pushing through a crowd of mechanized people was difficult. Even her heavy black robe could not prevent bruises from forming all over her body.
She searched for the item her mentor had requested among rows of storage areas filled with strange constructs. This warehouse was designated a radiation-free zone. Even she was allowed inside, and its contents were generally low-risk items.
But inevitably, something went wrong.
A tremendous commotion erupted at the entrance. Members of the Adeptus Mechanicus scattered in flight, their cries mingling with the sound of tearing metal. Before long, an alarm sounded.
Lillisa had no idea what had happened at the entrance. She only noticed objects toppling everywhere and fragments flying through the air. Even her face was splashed with a few drops of machine oil.
Disgusting. This stuff is so hard to get off your skin. Lillisa was thoroughly displeased. She was curious about what had happened up ahead, but, obedient to regulations, she found somewhere to hide and waited for the alarm to end.
Although she did her utmost to conceal herself, she stood out conspicuously among the ranks of mechanical constructs.
She hid behind a large metal box, one of the few oversized objects here. It had originally stood against the wall, but newly delivered items had been moved onto this storage rack, leaving a little space between the box and the wall.
Heavy, rapid movements and the grating scrape of something hard against the metal floor made Lillisa feel sick. Her stomach churned, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from vomiting.
An enormous head appeared above the metal box. The creature was hungry. It needed to eat. It had smelled fresh flesh here.
Lillisa made no sound, but she could not silence her heartbeat or the flow of her blood.
Even those faint sounds rang out like heavenly music to this Genestealer, newly awakened from a state of suspended animation.
Its claws tore open the metal box in a single stroke. It had mistakenly assumed its fresh meal was hiding inside.
A foul stench poured out of the box. Whatever it contained, Lillisa could not endure the nauseating smell and let out a whimper.
An enormous claw came down at once, slicing through the metal side of the box and leaving Lillisa bleeding profusely.
The Adeptus Mechanicus troops arriving from behind spotted their target and immediately opened fire. Powerful rounds, trailing flames from their friction with the air, passed through the foul-smelling gas.
A massive explosion engulfed the entire storage area. Fire scorched everything.
When Lillisa woke, she discovered that the face she had been so proud of was gone forever. Her entire head had become cold machinery, and everything from the wound in her chest to her left shoulder had been mechanized as well.
"Have you regained consciousness?" The attending physician's face was almost entirely mechanical, making his expression unreadable, but a smiling face appeared on the auxiliary display beside him.
"What... happened to me?" Lillisa startled at her own dreadful synthesized voice.
"You're all right now. Although you suffered severe burns and a puncture wound to the chest, we successfully saved you. The metal box protected your lower body from serious burns, and it has healed on its own. Your facial injuries were too severe, however, so we performed mechanical augmentation."
Lillisa desperately wanted to cry, but all she could produce were meaningless mechanical noises.
The attending physician was startled. Suspecting a fault in the little mechanical speaker he had installed, he examined Lillisa again.
After surgery, Lillisa saw her mentor.
"Lillisa, I paid your surgical expenses up front. Based on the value of your labor, around fifteen years of work for me should settle the debt."
From that day on, Lillisa became a properly taciturn Mechanicum Apprentice.
Several times over the years, her mentor and fellow apprentices wondered whether her voice apparatus had broken.
Lillisa still resisted every further mechanical modification, even though the money she had spent on food over those years would long since have paid for modifications that eliminated her need to eat.
Then that day came.
"Lillisa, you're so beautiful." A Mechanicum Apprentice training alongside her looked rather strange, staggering as he walked.
Lillisa said nothing and gave a perfunctory nod. Under ordinary circumstances, that was how she expressed her thanks.
But he kept staggering toward her.
Lillisa sensed something was wrong. Had he been infected by a virus?
Lillisa sent the apprentice a message. He did not respond at all.
Something was definitely wrong. Realizing keenly that something must have happened, the girl immediately put distance between them and sent messages to her mentor and the nearby defense forces.
Lillisa ran with all her strength, but neither her legs nor her spine had undergone mechanical augmentation. With heavy machinery weighing down her shoulders as well, her speed could not compare to the other Mechanicum Apprentice's.
The instant the enemy touched her flesh, Lillisa lost consciousness-or rather, entered a mental realm.
What... where am I?
A sea of flowers stretched before Lillisa. All kinds of blossoms she had only seen in history books and planetary travel guides bloomed together across the plain.
Brilliant, mesmerizing auroras filled the sky. She had only seen such a sight as a child, in the planet's history museum.
This ancient Forge World had suffered industrial pollution for far too long. Industrial exhaust mingled with other poisonous gases, and fine metallic dust covered the entire planet. Whenever fierce winds swept through, they raised enormous metal storms.
The planet had not seen a clear sky in ages. Even the enormous space stations in orbit faded in and out of sight.
What beautiful auroras.
Behind her flowed a crystal-clear stream, as pure as the cleanest water she used in the laboratory. Irregular pebbles lay along its bed.
What a wonderful world.
In the distance, a black storm was gathering. Lillisa could not make out what was happening there, but instinct warned her that danger was approaching.
The roiling storm arrived with astonishing speed and suddenness. One moment it seemed to be on the horizon; the next blink brought it before her eyes.
The storm of black metal destroyed every flower, and darkness that blotted out the sky swallowed the beautiful auroras. Run? Where could I possibly run?
Metal fragments in the storm slashed countless wounds across Lillisa's body. Blood covered her, and amid that sticky blood, she closed her eyes in despair.
Sacred radiance shone upon her. Lillisa slowly opened her eyes. The blood on her body had vanished, and she was whole again, as though those horrific wounds had never existed.
The sacred radiance had driven the storm into the distance. Directly above her, a dazzling angel poured forth her light without restraint.
"So beautiful."
Lillisa beheld an indescribable beauty, as though all the beauty in the world had gathered here.
"I am the god of beauty, and also the god of flesh and machinery. You often call me the Machine God, or the Omnissiah."
"Omni... ssiah. God of beauty." Lillisa murmured as though she had lost all awareness, or had been utterly overcome by this being's beauty.
"Your flesh is incomparably beautiful, unlike those filthy bodies. You should not replace your flesh with machinery. Machinery should not conceal your beauty, but adorn it."
"Machinery... adorn... flesh."
Light flickered in Lillisa's eyes as she slowly regained her ability to think. The Machine God thinks the beauty of my flesh surpasses ordinary machinery!?
The angel of peerless beauty fluttered her pure white wings and slowly descended before Lillisa.
What a beautiful angel. Her flesh was beyond description, as though it were God's original template for beauty.
She gently picked up a metal fragment from the ground. With a casual stroke, she transformed it into an exquisite black ornament and gracefully put it on.
Her beauty seemed to rise to yet another level. Even Lillisa thought it an unbelievable miracle.
The angel vanished, and Lillisa woke. She lay on the floor, with Skitarii running toward her in the distance. Looking behind her, she saw that the Mechanicum Apprentice had been reduced to mechanical arms and assorted machine components. His flesh had disappeared completely.
She was isolated and investigated. Naturally, examinations that involved no psychic measures found nothing wrong. Judging by the symptoms, the deceased had died of spontaneous combustion.
Lillisa was released. The incident was classified as self-immolation caused by the use of inferior mechanical constructs.
Exhausted, she returned to her little room. The narrow space lay between two important life-support facilities. It was long and thin, with her sleeping area at the far end.
Instead of washing as usual, she hungrily ate her dinner. She did not notice that she was consuming several times her normal portion of meat and starch blocks. She simply did her best to finish every morsel of food she had taken from the refrigerator and placed on the table. Then she lay down contentedly on her soft little bed and fell into a deep sleep.
In her dreams, she saw the angel again.
"Do not let anyone know that you possess the most perfect flesh in the world. I have restored your body. You will be more beautiful and enchanting than before, but do not let anyone know. Do not let anyone discover it. They envy your beauty just as they envy the knowledge others possess. They will do everything they can to destroy you. Remember, you must never let them discover it."
Lillisa knelt among the beautiful flower fields, reciting hymns of praise to the Omnissiah.
She slept especially peacefully that night, more peacefully than she ever had since receiving this little dwelling between two noisy facilities.
The next day, the clock sounded on schedule. Inside such a completely enclosed facility, there was no need to worry about the sun.
Drowsily, Lillisa rubbed her eyes, got up, and went to wash.
Washing my face with clean water feels so good. It's been years since... since... by the Omnissiah's fourth uncle's cousin's daughter-in-law, how do I have a face?!
Looking into the mirror above the washbasin, Lillisa saw no trace of machinery anywhere on her body. More than that, even her appearance seemed to have changed dramatically. Her hands were soft and delicate, her skin smooth as cream, her brow graceful and her eyebrows fine. She was impossibly beautiful.
Is this really me?
She removed all her clothing and saw before her a perfect body that could make anyone in the world fall helplessly in love.
The image of that exquisite angel surfaced in Lillisa's mind, and she hurriedly knelt to pray.
Peerless god of beauty, great Omnissiah, ultimate Machine God of this world, thank you for your blessing. Your mortal disciple Lillisa will follow you for all eternity.
Her former mechanical head and the precision instruments on her shoulder had been reduced to empty shells. Only their outer casings remained, lying quietly on the bed.
As though compelled, Lillisa put the devices on. For some reason, she felt that her brain worked more nimbly and her thoughts were more active than when she had used external cerebral storage.
From then on, she wore this false helmet to work every day, taking it off when she returned "home" to admire her beauty.
Her figure grew ever more alluring, her skin ever fairer. Every gesture carried an enchanting charm. Even when she merely walked past someone, that person's heart would race uncontrollably.
Perhaps this is love, many Mechanicum Apprentices who had interacted with her silently thought, believing they had met their destined woman.
Whenever she wanted some time alone, all manner of Mechanicum Apprentices came to pester her.
Her mentor helped drive them away. The ancient mechanical scholar had undergone almost complete augmentation. Even a Slaaneshi Daemon could not be bothered to infect him.
Gradually, Lillisa's skin took on a sickly pallor. Her steps grew lighter and lighter, and her teeth sharper and sharper.
Those who were satisfied were meaningless. Endless desire was what Slaaneshi Daemons wanted.
The exquisite angel appeared in her dreams once more, telling Lillisa that her flesh required the finest nutrient solution for its upkeep. She needed the culture fluid created by the Biologis Great Sage to maintain her body.
These precious culture fluids were originally intended to preserve the remnants of flesh on the bodies of the Adeptus Mechanicus's learned grandees. For a mere Mechanicum Apprentice to obtain enough to immerse her entire body was nothing but a fool's dream.
But she believed the Omnissiah was protecting her. Within this heavily guarded Adeptus Mechanicus base, she decided to take the risk.
She bypassed the monitored areas, crawled through tangled piping, and lurked on the ceiling. Even she did not realize why she could perform such inhuman movements.
Slowly, she approached the place where the Biologis Great Sage produced and stored those precious culture fluids.
Two low-ranking Skitarii guarded the main entrance. Lillisa slowly walked toward them.
The two Skitarii's blood flow accelerated rapidly. Their external olfactory systems were flooded with female hormones empowered by beguiling Warp energy. Every dose of calming agent they carried had already been injected, yet it could not slow their blood in the slightest. Their flesh trembled constantly, and their surging blood carried the hormones they released and absorbed throughout their bodies.
They were not mechanized enough. Not enough to withstand this terrifying allure.
The most beautiful woman on the entire planet was gracefully approaching them.
"Would you open the door for me?"
The irresistibly seductive voice made both of them open the mechanical door instinctively. Then all the flesh on the two Skitarii evaporated, leaving only mechanical equipment scattered across the floor.
The final mechanical door stood ahead. Only the Biologis Great Sage could open it, and even she was helpless before it.
When she touched the metal door, she lost consciousness again.
In her hazy awareness, she seemed to be soaking in some kind of solution. It was as comfortable as sleeping in soft clouds, yet also like someone gently brushing foxtail grass against her skin, leaving her whole body tingling and faintly itching.
Slowly, Lillisa surfaced. Where is this?
Some unknown kind of claws had torn the enormous metal door into chunks. A huge metal tank had been violently ripped open from above, and she was soaking inside it.
I... what did I do? I... I fulfilled the Omnissiah's wishes.
Lillisa lost all reason. She frolicked in the culture fluid, performing graceful movements that defied the design of human bones. She moved faster and faster, filling the entire solution with hormones she released that carried Warp energy.
She absorbed every last trace of nourishment in the tank, leaving behind a lethally toxic biological substance.
Lillisa slowly and elegantly descended the steps beside the metal tank. Graceful and light-footed, she resembled an elf dancing in the dark of night.
She returned home. Alarms sounded throughout the Adeptus Mechanicus.
An important laboratory belonging to the Biologis Great Sage had been breached, and all the culture fluid had been rendered useless. This was the most unforgivable of crimes. The Biologis Great Sage watched centuries, even millennia, of effort turn into a pool of wastewater. The Adeptus Mechanicus grandees who had long used his culture fluid also flew into a rage. They swore to tear the enemy into pieces.