Obliviate

The Ministorum Calixis preaches that “the Emperor protects” refers to the immortal soul of the Imperial subject. Death is not to be feared, but destruction of the soul is a horror almost beyond words—it is a fear that can roil hives to uprising and overturn the Dictates Imperialis in panicked riots. The body of one whose soul has been destroyed is a terrifying abomination, and to burn that empty shell upon the pyre is an act of cleansing. The notorious Illucis Grizvaldi and his heretek followers prey upon these Imperial fears through heavy-handed use of oblivion volitors. These tech-devices are a corrupted and clumsy pattern of neuroaugmetic; when surgically implanted into the brain, an oblivion volitor turns a man into a soulless “obliviate.” Obliviates are empty shells, living on after the soul is consigned to nothingness. Hereteks further augment obliviates with crudely implanted blades and metal fangs, so as to use them like attack animals. They debase the divine form of man by whipping obliviate packs to savage their foes. But the true weapon is terror— terror of oblivion brought to cherished souls, terror that the God-Emperor’s protection is sundered. To the psyker, there is little difference between an obliviate and an aggressive combat servitor. The Mechanicus Calixis have many times pressed upon the Inquisition that the results of heretek destructive neuroaugmentation are often indistinguishable from many servitor patterns. Speculation following from this observation is best kept quiet, however. It is doctrine within the Ordos and Ministorum that oblivion volitors destroy the soul—and it is thereby in the interests of the Mechanicus to earnestly aid in suppressing what might otherwise have been a lesser tech-heresy. Illucis Grizvaldi held court for heretek vermin upon Scintilla at the opening of the 8th century M41. Iron-clad hereteks paraded those who once spoke against their master: the newly made obliviates were leashed and naked—bloody, drooling, and empty-eyed. The idea that those torn souls would never feel the God-Emperor’s embrace put terror into Imperial hearts. For all to see, the arch-heretek had destroyed the essence of the faithful by means of the heavy, clacking augmetics embedded in their skulls. It was by fear and death that Illucis Grizvaldi held sway over his underhive domain. However, these unfortunate victims of such a process are by no means related to those rare humans who case no shadow in the Warp; Untouchables, or “Blanks” as they are sometimes called. The Obliviate’s soullessness is of a different kind entirely; their minds irrevocably broken and twisted by heretical technology. Thirteen bestials were discovered by Brecht District Magistratum in the low- and mid-hive strata over the course of late 705 and early 706.M41, minds and souls destroyed by oblivion volitor neuroimplants. Ministorum preachers performed exorcisms, ward-prayers, and blessings upon the wretches, and word began to spread. It was judged necessary for the Ordos to act before fear and rumor led to greater unrest in the hive.