Alkin paced in a large chamber, the ceiling reaching up into the darkness as the candles around illuminated much, and other light came from seemingly nowhere. A large ovular table took up the center of the room with screens elevated over it. Each one displayed a variety of information, from economic reports to the search parties that had been organized.

  Denyal and Alessandra entered the room, and were soon joined by Olfren. Denyal took control of one of the screens, showing Evaria's genetic structure next to a sample taken from Simeon, another from Olfren, and another from the Grey Knight Gene-seed itself. "She is a daughter of the Omnissiah."

  Alkin scowled and paced all the more as Alessandra leaned against the table, staring at the information as if it meant something to her. "Then the question becomes whether she's corrupted or not."

  Olfren crossed his arms, his eyes on the screen. "She did reveal the Great Deciever's presence."

  Alkin waved his hand dismissively. "Yet that could be a ruse. That infernal being and his followers are known to use confounding tactics."

  "Then why hasn't she ever appeared before?" Alessandra asked as she settled her gaze on the Grand Inquisitor. "It's been roughly ten thousand years since she was expunged. Why is she only appearing now? Is not the archenemy always appearing with their legions? Why didn't her legion fall with her? Any of them?" She went through a series of digital locks, and pulled up images of the different chaos legions. "Almost every one of these can be traced to their Primarch, and the few that aren’t don’t bear her colors or sigil."

  "A swath of the Blood Ravens fell to the Great Deciever." Alkin finally stopped pacing and roughly tapped his gauntlets against the surface of the dark table.

  "And the current chapter master, Gabriel Angelos, purged them." Olfren held his helmet in his hands, as if examining it for the first time.

  Denyal flicked through the screens to a recording of the Aeldari boarding the Judicial Pyre. "And according to your own Inquisitor's report, the Eldar vetted her as well."

  "Why would we trust Xenos scum?" Alkin spat. "They'd just as soon kill us as pass us by, and why would they want a Primarch to return to the Imperium?"

  Denyal glanced at the Grand Inquisitor, his posture smug enough for the cyborg to see it even with all the robes and cybernetics.

  "What?" Alkin's tone was sharp and dripping with contempt.

  "Whether you wish to trust them or not, they are enemies of Chaos. At least the ones that vetted the subject. They would have struck her down were she corrupted."

  They all fell silent for a time, the image of Evaria up on the screen.

  Denyal continued. "And I am the only one who has not come in contact with her. As such, I remain unaffected by her abilities in any manner. Therefore I am the most impartial."

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  Each one turned their gaze to the Archmagos in turn, considering the implications of their potential partiality.

  "In as we have seen, we are yet to know exactly her provenance. These test results mean nothing. The archenemy Magnus fell to Tzeentch. This could be an illusion of his, or a being created by the chaos god himself to confuse us. The only way to know for sure is for the Imperial Regent or the Lion to confirm."

  "You'd bring the Imperial Regent here to such a potential threat?" Alkin snapped.

  Denyal's internals whirred and clicked. "If she is as powerful as a Primarch, then we have no other option to stop her. We have no custodes on-world, and if the Blood Ravens have sworn fealty, and are coming here, then we will quickly be outgunned."

  Alkin grimaced and struck the table. "Damn it all!"

  They watched him, and he looked up. Realizing it fell to him, he took in a breath and straightened. "I'll send word to the Imperial Regent." Each word seemed painful for him, as if extracting a tooth. Being cornered was not a position Alkin often found himself in, but the few times he had, he was able to lash out and destroy whatever had offended him. He stormed out of the room, and Denyal made his way back to the observation chamber. He resumed his watch over the subject, and then noticed the subject was watching him back. Her mouth moved, and he read her lips.

  'Greetings.'

  Denyal tilted his head, and considered what to do. He then typed on a screen and pressed it against the window. The subject began speaking in binary, and something within his cold shell warmed. He wrote back in binary, his curiosity piqued. Soon enough, the stream of information shared was too fast for any in the room to follow.

  "Archmagos?"

  Denyal jumped and turned to see Alessandra, his ocular sensors refocusing on the Prioress. "Yes?"

  She glanced between the Archmagos and the subject. "What are you doing?"

  He stood silently for a time. "Her charm never touched me, yet I find myself..." He tilted his head and stared off. "Charmed." He shifted his gaze back to the subject.

  "You sound like you've got a crush, Archmagos."

  "She is very knowledgeable. Exceptional memory."

  Alessandra raised an eyebrow. "How is she affecting you? We've used all the wardings we can short of impaling her on a stake made from the bones of Blanks."

  Denyal went still for a moment. "Possibility: her powers are not affected by the warp."

  Alessandra frowned deeply. "How is that possible? It's a psychic ability, and therefore based in the warp."

  Denyal shifted. "Fact: the Immaterium is largely unexplored by man. We do know that each god has their own domain. Each God represents aspects of living beings, largely negative."

  "I'm with you so far, Archmagos."

  "Theory: there are other gods in the Immaterium that are the antithesis to these dark gods, but are weaker due to a lack of adherence to their ways. Example: The Blood God grows stronger from violent acts, even if they are two of his daemons killing one another. It can then be assumed each Chaos Being grows stronger due to an adherence to what they represent."

  Alessandra shook her head. "So you're saying Evaria taps into the powers of a benevolent god of the Immaterium?"

  "The ork gods, though heretical, seem real enough. The Dark Prince was birthed by Eldari behavior. It would stand to reason such beings would exist, so long as they have not been killed by the other gods." He began running calculations on one screen. "She purified a World Eater. Her Will fills those around her, and yet none of us has given up on our core directives as a result. Grand Inquisitor Richten continues to uphold his offices, as did Inquisitor Kurchen. The Ordo Hereticus sisters that assisted in bringing her here all reported feeling a strong urge to fulfill their duties like never before, though they all did feel conflicted about those duties. According to Inquisitor Kurchen's report, Lord Angelos vowed he would, and I quote, crush her skull with his own hammer."

  Alessandra opened her mouth to speak when she suddenly pulled her blade and slashed through the air, severing an invisible man in twain.