Thought for the day: A SMALL MIND IS EASILY FILLED WITH FAITH

Master,

Returning to the Alms House, the acolytes armed themselves and prepared for treachery. When Moran had left his office and all was quiet they slipped out of their rooms and began to explore the building. On the ground floor they found a badly-kept kitchen, an oculus and cogitator behind the two-way mirror they had spotted earlier... and a smell of blood from a closed store room. In the room they found metal drums, each stencilled with a number, filled with a thick red liquid. Stirring brought a fragment of bone to the surface, and left the acolytes regretting their breakfast of gruel from the Alms House kitchen. In a room nearby, they found two folding beds and a large store of sealed military ration packs.

At this point, the acolytes were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Concealing themselves in the kitchen and store rooms, they watched one of the two kitchen servants, now armed and equipped with night-vision goggles, leave via the loading-door at the back of the Alms House. When he had gone they proceeded cautiously to the first floor but found little but dust and empty rooms. Moran's office held little besides official records (including a request some six months ago to stop delivery of protein-base for gruel) and a locked desk. His sleeping-quarters on the second floor held only bed, a spare robe, and a copy of the Imperial Creed.

Hearing the lift, they proceeded stealthily back to the first floor. There, they found Moran and the other kitchen servant accompanied by two more of the pale abominations they had fought the previous night preparing to enter the acolytes' rooms. Falling upon them without warning, there could be no outcome but victory for the true servants of the Emperor. With his servant and the abominations dispatched, Moran threw down his gun and cravenly begged for his life. He was, he said, a mere tool of the unknown forces responsible for the disappearances and would have warned the acolytes were he not under constant watch.

Distaining to take the word of a suspected heretic, the acolytes relieved Moran of his weapon, keys, and other effects, and locked him in an empty room to await judgement. Disturbingly, they noticed that his gear bore no purity seals or verses to pacify the machine-spirits. With the keys they were able to open his desk, finding a gun and metal-bound book titled "In Defence of the Future: A Logical Discourse". A glance at the first page revealed Denialism and outright Tech-Heresy. They wisely chose to read no further lest its vile insinuations cloud their judgement.

Another key allowed access to the third floor infirmary. There, the acolytes found signs of recent construction - metal walls and a heavy metal door sealing off the central dispensary area. Of the two hospital wards, one was empty while the other held further abomination: half a dozen victims of expert but deranged surgery, two unconscious and four dead. Clearly, the acolytes had found the source of the disappearances. Commending their souls to the Emperor, they prepared to confront whatever lay beyond the metal door...