810.M30, Segmentum Solar, Sol-System, Ganymede
Aboard a ship headed for Terra, a young boy, 10 years old stood inside a cargo hold with many boxes labelled with the Moon-Vaults delivery address.
"Diagnostic check, Atlas, does the confined space interfere with your body?" the boy said in a whisper to the box beside him
"My joints... they grate like stones, Lord Silvanus." a gruff sounding voice came through, but with an unmistakable child's tone.
"You were the one who said you wanted to try that elixir. I told you it was not ready yet. That is on you" Silvanus also complained.
Atlas has been his follower, granted to him by his family. The boy is not very smart but has a good and strong body. Silvanus, bearing the tattoo of medicine has been trying to get to Luna because medicine is not the limit of his abilities.
Whenever he looks at Atlas, he sees a certain function in him not seen in most humans. His genes are optimized for power, his natural growth should see him become one of the strongest humans below the Astartes.
And he knows how to make him better.
The very thought of creating his own Astartes, with none of the barbaric ways of the current Imperium, made him shiver in excitement.
One thing he also has to look up to is the possibility of Ferrum-Rho, the gear fragment finding the panacea STC. From the conversations Ferrum-Rho had with Caspian, it would seem that is a major goal for him.
And a benefit for Silvanus.
Just thinking about it made him itch to get his hands on it. He has been lacking materials since the day he was born. Not enough material to experiment the way he wants.
The Selenar Matriarchs would welcome new blood into their cult with open arms. As his mind wondered the different possibilities he slept on the floor next to Atlas' box.
Even in his dreams he is thinking of various forms a human can become.
Bird men. Fish men. Harpie ladies. Aeldar human hybrids.
The list went on and on and on. The mind of Silvanus would be akin to a heretic, if heard by anyone.
As his dreams grew wilder his smile became more prominent.
The journey took 5 days, with no food or water. Silvanus synthesized an alchemical serum that could replace food and hydrate the body, but it was only meant for emergency situations and should have not been used for 5 days straight.
The result is his body emaciated, his lips cracked, and he lost almost all his energy reserves, unable to even walk. Atlas remained silent, his loyalty was the only thing growing faster than his ribcage.
The journey was delayed by patrol ships around Terra. When they arrived to drop off Luna's cargo, Atlas finally came out of the box.
He went from being a child with a little size, to a full giant human. He now stands at 7ft tall, at only 10 years old. With no signs of stopping growth.
The serum Silvanus had made was to grow the body exponentially. He did not consider bone density, muscle development, or any other parameters that would usually be considered when enhancing someone.
Atlas drank it believing it will help Silvanus, what came out of it is a skinny 7ft tall boy-man, that could only survive as he does due to the lower gravity on Ganymed and now Luna.
If he ever steps foot on Terra, his body would collapse under its own mass.
They pretended to be cargo staff and helped in unloading the cargo off the ship into the tram heading towards Sector 9 manifold cities.
It was a smooth ride to the dome, and Silvanus had to get started immediately. Locating selenite lords on Luna is never difficult. What he needed was one that would grant him access.
"Sir I offer my service to you as an acolyte to serve in the gene cult" Silvanus walked up to a random cultist as said these words.
"Leave here now, I have no time for dregs of your nature" the cultist looks at Silvanus and his thin frame thinking he is another beggar looking to be fed.
Silvanus did the same thing to every cultist he could see. For days he did the same thing, frustration starting to set in within him.
Until finally one day
"You have the eyes of a scavenger. Very well, carry my toxins and do not touch the vials." a cultist said to him.
"You are replaceable."
The rumor of the boy offering his services had spread among the selenite lords. He found humor in the boy and decided to make use of him. If the boy died then so be it, but the boy would need to be useful.
"My hands are small, but they are precise. I seek the truth written in the blood, allow me to witness your craft." Silvanus said with a wide grin on his face.
Just like this he was accepted by the selenite lords.
While he worked for the cultist, Atlas went to join the gangs to collect more resources. His instructions were to understand the gangs and bring Silvanus anything that could be useful for his research.
Yes, including humans. Dead or Alive.
Things slowed down from here. Silvanus kept his work as a runner for the selenite lords, learning their skills, and how to use their tools. He learnt their creed and mannerisms.
By the time 3 months had passed he could not gain anything from his current master. With a bit of swindling he got a new master that was higher up and more accomplished than the previous one.
Meanwhile, gangs began to notice a new gang developing. It consisted of a tall lanky man that speaks like a child, but has more muscle than 10% of the gangs on Luna combined.
All his men were strong, stronger than most humans could achieve in their lives even with some augmentation.
Silvanus had been testing his creations on the men. The very first mutagenic elixir was the mind solution. Ingesting it made the person suggestible.
With it he rewrote their minds.
Then he moved on to genetic enhancement. Strength enhancement failed multiple times due to an increase in muscle density, but he failed to account for the other parts of the body that allowed the muscles to move.
"Sublime, the threshold was lower than predicted. The ligament snapped at 400 newtons, note the pattern of the tear." Silvernus said as he looked at the corpse in front of him with fanaticism.
"Let us move to the next one. Bring me someone stronger, I want to determine when the bones will fail, with this amount of muscle density increase."
Silvanus had always wanted to test on subjects, but he never got the chance and he could not risk Atlas. But now, his soul feels alive.
The issue is that he knows exactly how to enhance an individual perfectly, but where would be the fun in that.
He wanted to experience the process not just the results. If he is allowed his way, Silvanus will use the population of a densely populated Hive world for his research.
Through his experiments the tattoo on his shoulder has begun to fill out. Not yet close to 50%, but to Silvanus he doesn't care.
All he wants is more materials.