Mind Cleansing

"I often praise the Emperor's mercy that I have been freed from my own memories. Despite my transgressions I have been given a chance to serve. I am free of my own guilt but I strive to remember the shame I should feel"

— Acolyte Heronius Dyle

Individual Inquisitors have different opinions on the process of mind cleansing; often, this involves complex psycho-viral, mimetic, and telepathic alteration to selectively edit a subject's memories and thoughts patterns. Whilst mind cleansing can be a useful tool, it is a process that requires a not-insignificant investment of time and resources. Many Inquisitors have no trouble using every tool at their disposal, but others are more select about the application of their influence, particularly when it comes to adjusting the minds of the loyal servants or retainers.

The benefits of mind cleansing are quite evident; those who have witnessed secrets too terrible for sanity to bear can be rehabilitated, whilst others who have learned that which is forbidden or better left forgotten may be reclaimed from what would otherwise be an automatic death sentence for knowing too much. In addition, the mind-cleansed individual often retains his skills (often rare or specialised talents that are in such demand that the individual warrants mind-scrubbing rather than death!). In some cases, mind cleansing is a form of reward to a loyal retainer, eliminating harrowing experiences and curing chronic nightmares of the dark things that Inquisitors and their allies must confront as a matter of course.

More often, mind cleansing is used as a safeguard or a punishment for those the Inquisitor finds weak-willed, untrustworthy, or worse. In such cases, these individuals are often executed once their effectiveness comes to an end. However, mind cleansing also presents a number of drawbacks, not the least among them that the process can render an acolyte unable to draw important correlations between past events, and there are some Inquisitors who refuse to subject their agents to mind-cleansing, preferring a cadre that can think on their feet.

In the Calixian Conclave, the process of mind cleansing is used with some regularity by many Inquisitors. These Calixian Inquisitors tend to follow a vaguely defined methodology for mind-scrubbing that generally falls into one of three seperate categories:

Forbidden Lore
In the course of serving the Inquisition, an acolyte often encounters many terrible facts, not least of which is the certain knowledge that the imperium is under constant threat from heresy, aliens, and daemonic influence. From the Ruinous Powers who lurk within the warp to the numberless hordes of alien fleets on the fringes of the galaxy, there are some things man was simply not meant to understand. Whilts an Inquisitor may trust a chosen few with such knowledge, for panic on a planetary or system-wide scale. High rank, wealth, and authority is little protection from the sanity-twisting horrors the Inquisition keeps at bay, and even such heroes as Imperial Guard Generals and, in rare cases, Space Marines must have their memories expunged to remain a trustworthy servant of the Emperor.

Dark Secrets
There are some mysteries that the Inquisition considers too dangerous to be known, some revelations too destructive to witness. Nevertheless, from time to time, agents of the Holy Ordos stumble onto the solution to one of these enigmas -- and thus, they must be silenced, their memories stolen and locked away. The Inquisition knows well the maxim that "knowledge is power", and they consider certain knowledge so powerful it requires -- nay, demands -- to be kept hidden.

Baneful Influence
Faith is the greatest strength of those who serve the Inquisition, but sometimes even faith is not enough. Possession, xenos pheromones, and the mind-warping powers of a rogue psykers are merely a few of the pitfalls that an acolyte of the Inquisition may encounter during his service. When an Inquisitor's sevant falters, mind cleansing is often as much blessing as a curse, for it can sometimes remove or mitigate the corrupting influence wielded by the Emperor's foes.