Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Just as Noldrei said, when you pull someone out of a shitty situation, you inevitably get some shit on your hands.

Most of the upper echelon of Nagazora City had spent time in the labs. Whether Valkyries or researchers, they all had further ambitions for human research.

But could the members of Nagazora City's council, this small ruling class, shoulder the future of humanity's genetic information?

Whether they would degenerate into feudal lords of the past, or lead the way into the next era, depended entirely on their choices.

The new era couldn't be Noldrei's alone. He wouldn't continue carrying a bunch of freeloaders.

So, Noldrei abandoned his empire – or rather, temporarily stepped down from his position of power. But this made people suspect he was playing some kind of long game.

And someone on the council dared to ask this directly.

"Isn't he just setting a trap?"

See, Raiden Ryuma couldn't help but voice this first question. Otherwise, wouldn't he be played for a fool?

"You ask me, who do I ask? How would I know what he's thinking?"

Cocolia seemed to have gotten used to Raiden Ryuma. In the world of Honkai, there were few reliable men besides the Overseer of Anti-Entropy.

Otto took a sip of wine and said slowly, "My friend from the future is a rare individual filled with idealism. Although he doesn't seem very human, he still has basic trust in humanity. He believes humanity can create a major crisis that will affect itself, and he has never given up on that belief."

Welt Yang looked at the wine glass on Otto's table, wondering when Otto had brought wine into the meeting room. Was it allowed to drink during meetings?

The Overseer's slightly affected voice echoed in Welt's ears. He had to admit, he also thought Noldrei had planted some unknown time bomb for humanity.

As for when this bomb would explode...?

Sorry, no one knew.

At least for now, Nagazora City's rapid development had suppressed the dissatisfaction of its own administrators.

"Let's not talk about touchy-feely subjects like trust. We don't have that kind of relationship anyway," Welt said. "The biotechnology leaking out of Nagazora City has already exceeded the limits of ordinary people's control. A couple of high school girls, with a little biotech knowledge, can concoct their own gene mixes and create 'pseudo-cannabis' plants for recreational use."

"That future person completely ignores these evils, continuing development as if it's perfectly natural. Tesla, you must have seen this too, right? This isn't about development anymore, it's about control."

Ever since Noldrei had wreaked havoc on Anti-Entropy's North American backyard, Welt had been heartbroken. If he could have fought Noldrei without making things worse, he would have challenged him to a duel right then and there.

Tesla knew her own situation. Her main work was on replicating the living Stigmata. For a top talent like her, this was practically child's play once she grasped the genetic information, especially since she already carried such a thing within her own body.

If she couldn't even replicate genes, then what was the point of being a Herrscher?

Tesla shook her head and said, "That's not entirely true. Many researchers in the institute are capable of this. But why haven't the researchers done such things, while ordinary students with a sliver of ability have? I admit, rapid technological advancement can bring harm, but I don't think the downsides of technological development are Noldrei's fault."

She said seriously, "We can't just blame everything on the future person. Admit it... we currently lack the capacity to digest this biotechnology. Even if we do our best to promote these technological innovations, they won't benefit humanity in our hands. Our power structure, our means of production, are fundamentally incompatible with these things. Even if brain-computer interface technology did exist, in our hands, it's more likely to become an entertainment tool than a learning tool."

Tesla paused for a moment, then carefully gave her conclusion: "Because this is an era where the market dictates human needs, consumerism should no longer be equated with human needs."

Welt hadn't expected Tesla to counter the development issue from a political and economic standpoint. He thought about it and realized her argument made sense.

He pondered for a moment and asked, "Then how should we handle Nagazora City? Or rather, how should we handle these new technologies?"

Tesla frowned, realizing everyone on the council seemed to be waiting for her conclusion.

Hey, you little white-haired shrimp! That little brat called Theresa, stop eating and say something!

Theresa innocently finished the cake in her hand, looked up at everyone with wide eyes, and hadn't considered that she held two votes for Schicksal.

The other two votes represented the Valkyries and researchers on Schicksal's side.

"Why are you all looking at me? I'm just here for show. I can't possibly know more than you about using technology to benefit humanity. I am a product of technology!"

Theresa's words weren't wrong, forcing Tesla to give up on hearing her opinion.

"We need to categorize and apply these new technologies more flexibly. And we need to further define the power related to technological development."

Tesla took a deep breath and said, "I intend to classify all technological achievements into two systems, a cognitive system and an activity system, both centered around humans. Then, we'll create a secondary stratification based on a person's will level, and then determine how these technologies are disseminated and applied."

She stood up, the pinnacle of human science, and declared her political philosophy:

"If humanity currently can't distinguish between spiritual needs and addictive material pleasures, then we will personally classify and rank human spirituality, assigning levels of study and guiding their development according to my direction."

Tesla didn't know what the consequences of her words would be.

Would it lead to the liberation of a new human society?

Or a more cruel future of exploitation?