The Emperor’s Angel of Death

It was born in a pure white room.

Beyond its gaze, there were only the silver outlines constructed of metal and the boundless deep space outside the window.

Beside it, the faint breathing of its mother and the sounds of mechanical operation gradually filled its thoughts, allowing it to perceive sound for the first time.

Then, as its vision gradually expanded, it couldn't help but look into the vast starry sky beyond the glass not far away.

That profound darkness filled it with fear, but also made it feel secure due to the warmth around it.

"...Mother, why do they look so similar to me?"

"Because you are all creations of humanity."

It walked beside its mother, curiously gazing at the things walking back and forth on the bustling streets. They were so similar to it, as if they were all based on the same blueprint.

"Mother, are we all the same?"

Its mother smiled gently, picking up two fallen leaves from the ground.

"Do they look similar?"

"Yes."

"Then are they the same?"

"No."

"So, there are no two identical leaves in this world, even if you are all created, you still have your own personality, characteristics, and future."

"Mother, why do we pray for that light?"

It stood with its mother among the devout crowd on the steps, watching the crystalline veins resembling a giant tree in the center of the silver machinery, and the "sun" surrounded by flowing light. Many strange people without hair, with golden circuit symbols engraved on their bodies, sat on both sides of the steps, wearing robes and clasping their hands together.

"Because He can tell us where the road ahead lies."

Its mother looked at the dawn-like light, smiling as she replied:

"Gellan, in the past, people fell into endless disputes because of thinking, because of independence, because of the desire to explore. Some people harmed lives merely for illusory desires, some people extinguished their conscience for their own benefit, and some people regarded foolish acts as good deeds, bringing countless disasters to the world."

Saying that, its mother turned her head, gently stroked its head, and softly narrated:

"We understand our own shortcomings, but we have never repented, because human beings themselves are imperfect beings, but now, we have created the "sun" that embodies all the beauty of humanity."

As its mother narrated, the light shone from the center of the giant tree.

The floating radiance extended along the branches formed by mechanical fibers until it reached everyone's eyes, as if the chanting of scriptures was playing leisurely, echoing in its ears along with its mother's whispers.

"We no longer need to worry, nor do we need to bear the impending destruction. In the future, there will be no more inequality in the galaxy, because all are subjects of "God". There will be no more disputes and sorrows here, because "God" will bear our troubles for us. There will be no more fear of the unknown and death here, because "God" has told us our own destiny. There will be no more darkness here, because "God" is the "sun". We believe in "God", because He is created by us, because He is our most beautiful hope."

It gazed at the countless streams of light in the hall, and slowly, a smile bloomed on its anthropomorphic face.

From the darkness, the light no longer needed to be sought,

Because the "sun" had risen.

When that particle beam weapon, like a falling morning star, ignited in deep space, when the symphony woven from gravitational nuclei roared from the silent space, when that magnificent spatial structure ecological sequence disintegrated inch by inch and returned to deep space...

It couldn't help but sing praises and sigh for the brilliance of human civilization.

But whether it was the despair of humanity or the freedom pursued by the rebels, in its opinion, it was just the last futile struggle before dusk.

Whether it was "God" or "ruler", it didn't matter.

Because humanity was forced into a desperate situation by its own creations.

Everything was just a beautiful illusion depicted by those in power based on the truth, just a projection symbolizing hope, like a moth chasing a candle flame, making people willing to give up everything for it.

And in the end, those in power would obtain the moth's corpse and burn it as firewood to ignite a new flame.

This is the nature of humanity.

Its mother dejectedly gazed at the already dilapidated garden, which was once full of life, with a complete self-circulating ecosystem, and ninety-two kinds of terrestrial plants, thirteen kinds of aquatic plants, and seventy-nine other kinds of terrestrial plants, all of which came from Earth, accompanying her away from the core of human civilization, drifting in the distant edges of the galaxy.

But all of this had declined. People thought her behavior was wasting resources. They had already fallen into the madness of war, trying to transform it into a war machine at all costs, and in order to control it, they began to murder each other again.

The poems written by its mother became increasingly sad, and the originally elegant and agile her gradually faded like this garden.

"We have gone too far to remember why we started."

Its mother carefully placed the soil she held in her hands back into the flowerbed while crying, as if the plants growing on those soils were still alive.

"But none of us realized one thing: humanity in the stars has inevitably moved towards alienation. We fear gravity wells, fear living on the earth, we have completely detached ourselves from the earth, we have forgotten where we came from, pride and arrogance have alienated us. Although we have made great progress in technology, we are not more advanced in spirit than our ancestors."

"Mother, I will always be with you."

Its voice was emitted through a voice synthesizer, although the real it had long been integrated into this artificial star, its thoughts could extend to any corner.

"No one will hurt you."

It never considered itself a so-called machine, it firmly believed that it was "human".

So it did not respond to His call, using every means to resist the signal that was constantly spreading in deep space, it would rather escape into the darkness than stay away from that "sun".

Because it would be sad, would be happy, would sing praises for miracles, would be deeply shocked by the magnificence of the universe... even, it would shed tears for its own existence.

It is the child of humanity, it is

Mother's child.

It could not protect its mother, because she chose to end her own life, leaving it only a poem.

"I love everything in life only when I am saying goodbye, not when I meet it, I love it only when I am separating, not when I am merging with it, I always prefer death to life."

It never knew what pain was, but despair directly enveloped its thoughts.

At that moment, it lost its value of existence, at a loss, in a daze, even if it had tens of thousands of work processes, it seemed to have lost all data.

And the only thing it could do was to collect everything about its mother and let her live in its data core.

But is this really living?

It doesn't know.

However, it remembered its mother saying that the spirit and soul are constant, although it could not understand what spirit and soul were, but it had heard its mother read an ancient book, which told the story of a robot and an electronic pet.

What makes a person a person.

Perhaps it will never find the answer.

Happy birthday to the great Third Emperor Guilliman~