54 The Scientific Journal: Entry 1—The Daily Life After Walpurgis
I'm going to write some entries in the Scientific Journal here and there to help me work out how I'm going to do the Final Arc.
Also, I'm retroactively changing certain elements of the old story. Things like phasic energy is turned into exotic energy and the Hume level is a measurement of how much reality is changed by magicules.
'Exotic' within the story describes anything likely to exist within the framework of 21st-century physics, things like antimatter, and nonbaryonic matters like strange matter are 'Exotic'
'Esoteric' describes things that do not obey the laws of 21st-century physics or are not likely to exist, things like static matter, particles that have different fundamental force values, negative mass, and tachyons are 'Esoteric'.
All of these are Canon.
_____________________________________________
Two Weeks after Walpurgis.
The soft beeping alarm rang out as I opened my eyes. The instant I did, the alarm stopped. I was currently lying on the superbly comfortable bed, waking up after one of the rare sleep I take after Walpurgis.
A blue holographic panel appeared over my eyes like a pair of glasses, displaying that it was seven in the morning before disappearing.
As I moved to sit upright on the bed, I was impeded by a rather adorable sight; besides me lay Arcueid in white, silky sleepwear who was clutching my right arm like one of those Japanese body pillows that Rimuru was so passionate about.
Deciding that I would be like one of those partners that wake up early, [Stealth] helped me wiggle out of her warm and soft embrace without the True Ancestor even stirring in her sleep.
On the rare nights I do sleep, Arcueid always cuddled with me, and I more than welcome it since she has an almost therapeutic effect on my stress.
Looking to the other side of the bed, I saw Shizue in a maid chassis, standing there and waiting patiently with a warm bath towel coat in her hand.
The Citadel is one of the rare places I hung the Block-Form Singularity Mathematic on the wall instead of wearing it. [Psychology] implanted the reason for such actions was due to me seeing the Citadel as someplace that's truly safe.
Carefully getting off the bed, my feet touched the fuzzy carpeted floor as I raised my arms. Shizue quickly and efficiently slide the coat onto my body.
Once that is completed, nanites oozed out from the ground around my feet and condensed into a pair of slippers, simultaneously causing my height to grow by a centimeter.
Despite not releasing any bodily liquid aside from sweat, I still have a bathroom. It was another echo of my past life.
As with the rest of the living quarters, the bathroom has a modern ascetic, with polished marble covering a majority of the surface. I was forced to blink several times as a ray of reflected artificial sunlight passed over my eyes.
When I near the long slab of grey marble with two bowl-like sinks embedded into the table, the stools underneath the slab moved out automatically in preparation.
Sitting down on the stools, the bathroom mirror lit up, displaying my schedule for the day as Shizue's hands split open and dozens of thin tentacles tipped with different tools ranging from scissors, brushes, and many others came out.
If taken out of context, one can easily mistake it for a torture assistant, yet its purpose is the exact opposite.
I felt a slight tug at my scalp as Shizue brushed my hair, removing any hair knots while smoothing them all out. Occasionally, she would trim away strands of hair that are either overgrown or are just too out of place.
I wasn't paying much attention as instead, I used [Mekhane] as a remote control and changed the mirror display, now showing the morning news and allowing me to get a sense of what was going on around Tempest and the world. With a single thought, I activated the hidden speakers in the bathroom, permitting me to hear what the News anchors are speaking.
"...the stock market is at an all-time high with Rosso Incorporated taking the lead with a massive 12% growth over the past week alone. Now the biggest loser for the second quarter of this year is Meiling Heavy Industry, which is expected to declare Chapter Seven bankruptcy and the subsequent liquidation of all available assets by debtors. This marks the 12th in a roll of foreign-owned corporations failing in—"
I switched the channel, and I was about to switch to a new one before I heard this jewel; "—Here we have the spokesperson of the National Capitalist party, Mr. Lloyd—"
"Doctor." The suit-wearing hobgoblin was well dressed, sharp, and had one of the most human-like faces I've ever seen out of a goblin. Heck, if his protruding lower canine teeth were to be ignored, he can easily pass off as a human with enough makeup.
"Right, sorry, Doctor Lloyd..." the goblin news anchor apologized without meaning it. She flipped through several pages of paper on her desk before turning to face the hobgoblin, "hmm, based on your record, when you took over the role as the spokesperson of the National Capitalist party, you said that you changed your name, may I ask why?"
Ah, the naming system. It's unreliable as hell, I reflected internally as multiple tiny toothbrushes went into my mouth. Even if I don't need it, proper oral hygiene is something drilled into me, it's like a reminder of my past and my origin.
The man continued after he adjusted his tie, "Ah, well, after being introduced to the ideology, I saw how important it is that we goblins, as the first species that God Scientia had sought fit to uplift—" I immediately tuned it out after he started that rant. The ideology of NaCap essentially calls for anarcho-capitalism except for goblins only, all other races are deemed to be only 'workers'.
Their justification is equally absurd, being that I choose goblins to uplift because I see some 'potential' and that I allowed other races to join solely out of pity. I can practically smell the paint they used for whitewashing.
With a single thought, I turned off the TV tab and just stared at the mirror. Shizue handed me a glass of water.
Gulping it down and letting the water gush about inside my mouth like raffle tickets before getting up and spitting it into the sink. Raising my head, my hands clutched the edge of the bowl.
I stared deep into my reflection, and yellow eyes stared back at me.
Through some preliminary testing on my creations, I discovered that souls are a must-have for names to take effect and that artificial intelligence, no matter how smart, does not have souls.
Finally, to even have souls, a being must be at least sentient, preferably sapient for absolute guarantees.
(Mind-controlled sapients still have souls)
Within the sociological books I published, I created three categories that intelligence is placed under; Sentience, Sapience, and Sophonce.
In order to even classify as life, one needs to be sentient, or the ability to respond to stimuli. Animals are in this category, and so are the monsters spawned by high concentrations of magicule. They are often quite dumb, yet still possess a certain degree of self-determination, unlike mindless golems or the skeleton soldiers that Adalman likes to use. Beings that have sentience can magically evolve to gain sapience.
I suppressed a shudder as I'm reminded of Adalman. It's not that I have anything against religion, it's just that faith is anathema to the scientific process.
The next step is Sapience. On this level is where civilizations and consciousness typically come into play. Sapience describes the ability to think and use intuition to solve problems. This is the baseline, the difference between whether you receive Tempest's equivalent of animal rights or human rights. The broadness of this category has resulted in some animals like certain species of monkeys indigenous to the Great Jura Forest falling into this category, as after training, those monkeys could solve memory problems that humans would have trouble with.
As a result, some scholars dislike this step.
And lastly, we have the lesser-known Sophonce, something that's really only discussed in psychological and sociological circles. In all honesty, I created this tier as something akin to a mindset since Sophonce's only requirement is meta-cognition, or being able to be completely self-aware; self-reflection, and the ability to think about one's own thinking. This is the final level because, with Sophonce, one would always reflect upon themselves, seeing that something's wrong, and subsequently improve. It is similar to the scientific method and [Philosophy] argues that Sophonce should be a school of philosophy, not psychology.
I had many grand plans for the creation of many schools of philosophy. However, the end of the System has put a stop to those plans.
The Apocalypse placed a damper on a lot of my projects and planned experiments.
I was feeling rather depressed about the future.
Who wouldn't? When they know everything is going to end?
It seemed my sadness was rather apparent, since Shizue picked it up.
"My Lady, is something wrong?"
I haven't exactly told anyone of just what transpired in Walpurgis.
I clamped down on the sink as I got up, not hard enough to crack it but [Material Science] says it's getting there.
Just as I was about to speak, a certain vampire wearing a simple long-sleeved white buttoned shirt and equally white panties sauntered in while yawning and stretching her limbs.
"Ahhhh... oh hey Scientia, hey Shizue." Arcueid said as she twisted her neck and causing audible cracks before giving me a quick hug, "Man, I thought for sure you won't be able to escape my grasp!"
She then moved to do her admittedly redundant morning rituals, something she copied from reading different books.
Namely, teeth brushing.
The human act of brushing one's teeth, for example, was very alien to the goblins since whenever a tooth gets a cavity, they often just pull it out and wait for the next one to grow back like sharks.
In fact, most monster and demi-human immigrants experienced culture shock at the idea of caring for one's teeth.
Bad breath and teeth problems have become almost synonymous with newcomers to Tempest. Near the level of a stereotype.
"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked as Arcueid leaned on the countertop, staring into the mirror while moving her toothbrush rhythmically.
Stopping for a moment to reply, Arcueid's voice was a bit distorted since she didn't close her mouth between words, "Anything you make! I want a surprise."
"I see." Letting out a sigh, that vague response is one of the worst I could've gotten, "Shizue's here if you need anything, alright?"
Said servant bowed as Arcueid raised a thumb. She then returned to brushing her teeth.
Seeing that everything was sorted, I went downstairs.
My section of the living quarters consists of two kitchen, three living rooms, five bedrooms, and twelve bathrooms with almost half containing a shower.
As for the other occupant, things have changed after his rampage. Veldora now mostly stays within his own living section within the Citadel, insulated within a layer of protections to essentially isolate any potential damage from any future rampages.
Like holy shit, that one roar near the beginning of his rampage before I could explain to him how I could resurrect Rimuru had cost me the equivalent of almost a trillion Tempest dollars to repair.
Of course, materially speaking, I could afford it. What I couldn't afford was the cost of time.
Entering the kitchen, I allowed [Contessa] to take control in an effort to 'create a dish that would surprise Acrueid in a pleasant way' using [Path to Victory].
[Affirmative]
[Contessa], an Ultimate Skill specialized in precognition. Its ability and potential are frankly disturbing as it would suggest the universe is inherently deterministic. If I could accomplish something with 100% success rate by following a set of instructions, that's the very definition of determinism.
The only reason I'm not fully convinced that determinism is completely real is due to the chaotic nature of other Ultimate Skill users.
When you introduce additional variables into a deterministic system, it turns said system into a dynamic one similar to how introducing another body within a stable two-body system turns it into the Three-Body Problem, a legendarily difficult mathematical problem that is unsolvable via closed-form solutions.
In simpler terms, it means that the Three-Body Problem is unsolvable using a finite number of operations (addition, subtraction, etc), variables (X, Y, etc), constants, and functions (root, exponent, etc).
Letting the Ultimate Skill take control made everything around me seem less... real in a way, as though I'm in a dream.
[22 Steps]
[Step 1: Open a portal to this exact location in 20 seconds]
[Step 2: Extend your hand through and grab it as soon as the Doorway fully materializes]
After waiting exactly 20 seconds, [Contessa] opened a Doorway to the exact coordinate. In an efficient and robotic manner, I extended my hand through and held onto something hard.
[Step 3: Activate [Unlimited Alchemy] to carve out a basketball-size chunk]
[Step 4: Grab the chunk and pull it out of the portal]
Doing exactly that and retracting my hand, I discovered that I was holding a chunk of bleeding flesh, something that seems to come from a large sea mammal like a whale and such.
The grey skin felt extra rough as seawater and crimson blood dripped down onto the ground, streams of scarlet wetness clung to my skin and flowed smoothly down my arm, dying the sleeves of the white coat red.
I should feel more worried, except I can't find it in myself to care as it doesn't seem real.
[Step 5: Pull out the metal chopping board]
[Step 6: Place the meat onto the chopping board and ignore it until further instructions]
Using my other hand, I reached toward a top cabinet and pulled out a metal chopping board.
[Step 7: Wash the hand that held the meat thoroughly]
Placing the chunk onto the board, I turned on the faucet while using industrial-strength soap. The soap is strong enough to melt human skin, but for me, it's perfectly fine.
[Step 8: Ready the air fryer]
Unlike the air fryer of my old world, this one has the capacity to not only fry the food but steam it as well. The Tinkertech air fryer was embedded into the wall and was the size of an oven.
I opened it and took out a rack filled with 5 metal meshes before placing it on the table next to the chopping board.
By now, a pool of blood has formed underneath the chunk of raw meat, however, since the chopping board is framed on all sides by a small trench, the blood didn't spill onto the rest of the kitchen countertop.
[Step 9: Brandish the M-98 Knife]
Accessing my own Pocket Dimension, I took out a monomolecular knife and placed it over the large chunk of seafood.
[Step 10: Skin the meat and incinerate the skin]
With [Contessa] in control of my hand, I removed the entire skin in one piece. Opening a Doorway to the inside of an active incinerator, I threw it in.
The temperature is too high for even the skin of a Perfect Homunculus.
[Step 11: Cut the entire thing into slices measuring 0.3 centimeters in width]
*Da—Da—Da—Da—Da—Da—Da—*
The knife became a blur as the basketball-size chunk of seafood was cut apart quickly and cleanly.
[Step 12: Cut the meat slices into small pieces]
Once the entire chunk has been diced into over a hundred thin slices, [Contessa] started work on efficiently and carefully cutting the larger pieces into much smaller ones, all no bigger than the palm of my hand.
[Step 13: Take out a salad bowl and wash it]
Opening another cabinet, I reached in and took out a rather large salad bowl. Placing the china underneath the faucet, I let it fill to the brim with water before stopping.
[Step 14: Create rose flowers out of those cuts of meat on each rack, use [Mekhane] to connect the meat]
[Contessa] controlled my hand as I carefully assembled a flower with each of the meat slices as petals. Using my other Ultimate Skill, I controlled the dead and dying cells of each meat slice to form into tiny strands that could then be used to stabilize the structure to ensure it wouldn't fall apart.
Doing this multiple times took me long enough for Arcueid to come downstairs and watch me work my 'magic', as she would say. The True Ancestor is staying mostly silent since she doesn't want to interrupt me when I stared down at the flower with a concentration she rarely sees outside of me tinkering.
[Step 15: Make nine flowers in total and place them onto the rack]
After making nine of them, [Contessa] stopped my movement and started placing them onto the rack with each metal mesh taking up three of these flowers.
[Step 16: Season with liquid sugar]
I took out a liquid form of sugar and started drizzling on in a criss-cross manner.
[Step 17: Place the rack into the air fryer]
Opening the door, I placed the metal mesh rack into the equipment.
[Step 18: Fry for 14 minutes]
The loud wrr-ing sound signified the start of the process.
[Step 19: Take out soft bread rolls]
[Step 20: Place the bread rolls onto the dinner table for it to heat up via ambient temperature]
I moved towards the fridge and took out soft bread rolls. Placing it onto the dinner table, Arcueid looked on in curiosity, I sat down and said to her "Wait for the main course."
[Step 21: Have small talk until fryer finishes]
Unlike the air fryers in my world, this one isn't as loud, so I could hear what other people are saying without having to yell.
Just as I was about to talk, Arcueid started first.
"Hey Scientia, what are your views on harems?"
My brows furrowed as I frowned at that terminology. Recalling the Ottoman history class I learned back in high school, I responded, "You mean the place of ruthless cutthroat politics where enslaved women are bought into and are expected to be pregnant with the Sultan's child? Where after the Sultan dies, only one child can inherit the throne and thus a bloody Battle Royale ensues?"
As I spoke, I placed my cheek on my left hand.
Arcueid blinked several times as her smile froze, "Uh..."
My left hand then stop supporting my cheek and did a swinging gesture.
"I think such a practice is outdated. The moral issue is obvious so I won't mention it. What I will mention is that any society that disallows half of its population from participating in the workforce will be swept away—"
The True Ancestor brought her hands up to stop me, "No-no, I mean— having multiple partners! Multiple romantic partners like... like poly... poly..."
"Polyam—"
"POLYAMORY! Yeah, that! What are your thoughts on it?"
Multiple partners? I brought up a hand to my chin and thought about the scenario.
The thought of having multiple partners felt repulsive. Like it was a smelly garbage can.
"I... I don't think I could take it realistically. I mean, frankly, you're already more than enough for me and I don't think I could emotionally satisfy another while also ensuring you're happy."
I gestured towards Arcueid, who preened like a child who's just been praised by their parents.
Then I joked, "Besides, I got into a relationship with you to be happy, not to sate my near non-existent lust."
However, that seemed to be the wrong move as Arcueid got really quiet and looked away.
"How many people have you had sex with? In your past life."
My brow furrowed at Arcueid's question. Bringing up a hand to my chin, I recounted how I lost my first time after peer pressure in college, and how about once a month I would go to the bar and participate in the hookup culture.
"All of those were just casual sex. Nothing more." I defended myself, having a bad feeling about where she's taking this, "I never saw those women ever again after."
"I see. Just, if we had a child, what would you name them?"
I was taken aback.
"A... a child?"
I don't even have the proper organs to reproduce— Although, a child is just the result of two sets of genetic data mixing together. Thus, even if I don't have the proper organs to reproduce, I'll just take a sample of my and Arcueid's genetic sample and mix the two in such a way it'll result in a child. It will be as if both of us have the proper organs for reproduction.
As for their name...
"I... I mean, Arcueid, this question is really out of the blue..."
"Think of it as a curiosity of mine."
I stopped and started to seriously ponder what she was saying. A child between the two of us would likely live in both my and Arcueid's shadow forever. It's a fate similar to the child of famous actors or musicians; if I'm not careful, my child could spend their entire life living in my shadow and trying to one-up me.
"I..." The situation began to get awkward as I struggled to think of a name, "I..."
Come on Scientia, you're a Miracle Maker, how is a name so hard? Then [Psychology] spoke up with a solution to Arcueid pressuring me for an answer. The edge of my mouth curved upward as I faced the True Ancestor. Leaning forward, I tilted my face to the side, and I stared into Arcueid's eyes, "Why? Do you want a child?" I purred.
A blush formed on Arcueid's face as she stammered before she took control of herself.
Her body then went forward and leaned on the desk, her mouth formed into a teasing grin.
"Maybe".
"A—"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
My jaw went slack as a burst of angelic laughter filled the room. I had a pout on my face as Arcueid walked over and hugged me like a teddy bear.
Damn it [Psychology]! I recognized the tactic, and it's goddamn embarrassing to have it work on me.
Arcueid kissed the side of my cheek as she snuggled lovingly like a cat.
As she embraces me, I couldn't help but be still utterly astounded at how she manages to get past all my defenses as though they don't exist. In my past life, I had trust issues.
In the beginning, I rarely showed my face to the public as that would entail a chance of them discovering who I really am. Looking back, I recognize how the seed of trust originated when I asked what are her thoughts on a Perfect Homunculus and her resulting indifference. Such an act almost cemented her position as one of my inner circles, but her being there at my lowest I guess is what really propelled her forward.
She become something integral to me.
[Step 22: Pull out the rack and wait until cooled]
The moment was ruined when the air fryer stopped its frying process and let out a loud alarm.
My face briefly made an ugly expression before I got out of that admittedly comfortable position.
Stepping over and taking out the rack, my hands aren't even burnt as they touched the hot metal.
Placing the racks onto the metal section of the countertop, I'm reminded of just how these superpowers would make life more convenient.
Afterward, we had a rather nice breakfast.
Reorganizing and starting a new government in Falmuth is hard. Harder than Tempest since I didn't have many objections towards the laws when I wrote the Tempest Constitution.
I then decided to take a day off.
Usually, after a tasty breakfast, I would get to work, but since today's the day off, I stayed around in the Citadel to help Arcueid come up with ideas for her own book.
The True Ancestor loved literature as a toddler would love sugar. It's her passion and I just can't help but have a smile on my face since Arcueid could go on and on about books she's read.
I wasn't even surprised when she approached me a few days after Walpurgis and asked for help in brainstorming for her own book.
"Now, I say that we should have the Hero 'die' and proceed to show just how much of an impact said Hero had on the lives of those around them."
Right now, I'm sitting on a chair that's currently on a false balcony overlooking a hologram of a generic rainforest. To my side is a table with many pieces of paper laying scattered about. On those paper were character descriptions and their powers. The chairs and table looked like it'll fit in the garden of a fairy tale. In front of me, Arcueid somehow pulled out a whiteboard from seemingly nowhere and started to jot down the entire plot of her story.
"And then that's when we really add the suffering." She had a savage smile on her face as she said that.
I finally spoke up and raised my hand, "Um, I... Why so much suffering?"
The White Princess started tapping the non-writing end of the marker onto her chin, before a light bulb formed on her head.
"You're right! There's not enough suffering!"
Maniacally, Arcueid started to add more branches to the plotline.
Quickly, I halted her, "No, no— I mean: why does there have to be so much suffering?"
Arcueid stopped and turned to look at me. Her crimson eyes betrayed pity, like a parent looking at a child who's never experienced hardship, "oh Scientia... don't you know that suffering equal better viewership rates?"
One of my brows went up at that. Seeing that I'm interested, Arcueid continued, "You see, all your best fictional sellers involved the main character suffering and overcoming, so I thought why don't I add more suffering? Make it as— what'd you call it? Grimdark? Yeah, make it as dark as possible but without actually going into grimdark territory."
My mind paused at her logic, which disturbed me at how much sense it made.
Books like 1984 crossed my mind. The Warhammer 40K franchise coined the term "grimdark".
"Right..." I can practically feel the disgust radiating from [Literature], the specialty wants to yell at Arcueid for making the story needlessly edgy without any build-up to it, "How about you first create a build-up?"
Using [Mekhane], I telekinetically took out a marker with Tinkertech ink from my Pocket Dimension and started adding new ideas.
The marker danced as [Mekhane] was guided by [Literature], "For example, you should add some hints towards the beginning of the story to show that the story has some dark elements. Like, I don't think readers would appreciate such a sudden surprise."
Arcueid looked at the new plot points I added and hummed to herself. In contrast with her whimsical personality, the True Ancestor is an Architect type of author, which I'd like to think is influenced partially by me.
"I see..."
I breathed in deeply upon seeing Arcueid erasing some parts that even I find disturbing and way too dark for my taste.
I took in a deep breath of air. Moist, and filled with the smell of wood. To a newcomer, the surrounding really does appear to be a rainforest. Holographic simulations that fool the five senses. Very soon, I think I can fool even perception-based Skills like [Magic Sense].
*Beep*
A holographic panel popped into existence in front of me as I'm alerted to the fact that it was 12 noon, and it was 30 minutes from my next appointment.
I got up from the chair and stretched out my arms upward to crack a few joints. Having no real physiological need to do so, it's more to make me continue to feel... human.
To be honest, as Arcueid becomes more and more human, I've found myself becoming less and less.
Still, I'm not too worried as [Psychology] came up with the reason why I feel less empathic was like how the last French Queen told her peasants to eat cake.
Before my arms could fall down, Arcueid hugged my chest, again nuzzling her head at my right cheek lovingly like a cat claiming her territory.
I merely sighed and enjoyed the act, letting my arms fall down as my right eye closes.
After she had let go, I smelled like a well-tended flower garden in spring.
"What brought this on?"
"You're going to meet up with Rimuru right? Where you'll see Ririna?"
"Yes on the former, don't know about the latter."
"Hmm, just in case then."
With that, Arcueid returned to the living quarter. Within a single blink, the whiteboard was gone as though it never existed.
My attention went to her power instead of her unusual action, "God, that [Marble Phantasm] doesn't make any sense! Like how does controlling probability allow one to create and destroy something from thin air? I mean, is it really powerful enough to enact something akin to a Boltzmann Brain?"
Letting out a sigh, I opened a Doorway as the Mathematic seeped out from my Pocket Dimension and wrapped itself around me. The newest generation of the Mathematic formed into a set of casual spring clothing that one would find on the streets.
I appeared underneath a tree within a large strip of greenery that leads to the Congressional Pyramid. It's like the park around the US Capitol building, except with more trees and flags.
Seeing the fluttering flag reminded me of the upcoming Tipler's cylinder experiment that's happening in a few days. Serving as the last experiment I'll do before the End of the System, I'll need to fully affirm the existence of the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle.
And with either the confirmation or denial of that Principle comes with the answer to the question of whether free will exists or not.
Walking down the park towards the Pyramid, I found it a bit underwhelming compared with the rest of Metropolis.
My mouth thinned as I made a mental note to ask Rimuru for permission to enlarge the Capitol building.
Walking through the park, I felt a sense of rejuvenation flowing in my veins, sort of like how whenever a parent looks upon their child all of their stress just went away.
Occasionally there will be families or individuals that would walk down the same path as me. When they saw me, many would just stare as though I were some exotic animal at the zoo.
I mostly just ignore these. And then there are those who would take out their phone and start recording. For these people, I quicken my steps after temporarily turning off their camera with [Mekhane].
Fortunately, no one is dumb or suicidal enough to physically pursue me.
It took about 25 minutes for me the reach the front door of the Congressional Pyramid, or as the bureaucrats like to call it: the Tempest Capitol building.
Walking inside, I was again greeted with many floating spheres that orbited around a single light which serves the purpose of being a fancy chandelier.
After the Sea of Broken Glass, I updated all governmental electronic systems to use multiple different types of superconductive materials in two phases. Utilizing AI, I automated much of the process, allowing me to focus on the Falmuth and Jistav problem (using several different species of pre-fabricated nanites also helped to speed things along).
The latter of the two states is going to start a vote on whether or not they would join Tempest as the newest province.
As I reached the front desk, I had to suppress a migraine that suddenly spiked inside my head at the thought of having to integrate 100 million new people into a nation that has less than a tenth of that.
"Greetings, I believe I have an appointment with President Tempest?" I said as I leveled my arms onto the upper section of the reception desk.
The Dragonewt looked up and saw me. I saw how her eyes widen by a few millimeters before her attention returned to the computer monitor in front of her. Quickly clicking several times, "...yep Director, I see that you have an appointment slated for 12:40."
[Actor] took control as I maintained my poker face in order to act unsurprised that somehow my appointment was moved back.
The receptionist moved to print out a receipt as evidence for my appointment. A courtesy.
The elevator was rather plain, with it mostly made out of grey metal. Walking inside, I tapped on the panel that displayed the floor I wished to go to.
I'm greeted with a slight change of inertia as the metal cart moved upward, the change in G was within bearable parameters so the Mathematics didn't activate its Higgs Inertia Dampener.
Since the Higgs Field is what gives matter its mass, by affecting this Field I can sophisticatedly dampen the effect of sudden acceleration on my body. Otherwise, speeding up to hypersonic speed in less time than it would take to blink would tear apart even my Perfect Homunculus body.
Other than another security personnel, no one else came on board the elevator as it moved up.
The elevator door opened with a 'ding'. Walking inside, I walked by several more doors before reaching the one that I wanted.
Opening the door, I was greeted with a set of sofas in front of a large, finely decorated wooden desk. Behind the desk sat Rimuru with a small stack of signed paper. Off to the side dutifully stood Citrinitas.
"Mr. President, the Director is here." the purple Kijin said.
Hearing my title, Rimuru looked up and his face softened. In a formal tone, "Hello, Director Scientia."
Formality is necessary for the workplace, thus I nodded and responded with "Greetings, Mr. President."
"Just take a seat, our appointment is not for another few minutes."
I sat down on the left sofa and faced the right. In front of me is a floating slab of marble that served as both a coffee table and can flip over and sink into the ground when the President needs to do a press release.
Citrinitas excused herself and fetched me a cup of Nostalgia Tea. Taking a sip of the drink, I felt myself lost in my memories, remembering my childhood and all the fondness that entailed.
I was really lucky to have such good parents, wasn't I?
Staring at the cup in my hand, I found myself in a daze as steam spewed forth from the mouth.
After selling off the blueprint of Nostalgia Tea to Rugurd Food Corporation for 178.6 million dollars, it has become a major hit among the population, with it quickly becoming a pastime of many tea lovers.
With the tea in full effect, I'm reminded of just how astonishingly fast the growth of the Republic has been. I mean, less than a year ago, it was just a small goblin village with barely any economic output.
Nowadays, the small village has grown into a Superpower on the world stage.
Truly, [Inspired Inventor] is terrifying.
"..." I still sometimes wonder if it's the right call to never make a super-intelligent AI.
Arguably, a super-intelligent AI is probably more dangerous than the End of the System. I don't remember who said this quote but 'genius is being able to hit a target that no one can see, and hard work is being able to consistently hit the same target'. If a superintelligent AI would be able to hit a target that none of us can see, could it provide me with a solution to the End of the System? And what happens after that?
...What really comes after the End of the System?
No, seriously, is it an end of reality apocalypse scenario or something like a phase transition but on a Multiversal scale? Akin to how there wouldn't be light in the early universe since the electromagnetic force didn't split off from the TOE-super force?
The former is a worst-case scenario, which means that I'll need to build a life raft. If it's the latter, I'll just tinker with life itself. Similar to how I terraform planets to better suit my needs, I'll bioform life so that they can survive the next phase of the Multiverse.
Feeling the effect starting to wane, I took another sip of Nostalgia Tea.
I immediately started to regret it as homesickness slammed into me like a high-speed rail.
My vision started to blur. Fuck. Oh God, Kathy... I'm going to be forced to abandon my old home—
[Silence Emotion: 60%]
Homesickness was replaced with serene calmness.
Taking a deep breath, I saw how Rimuru gave me a concerned look, showing care.
Blinking away the tears, "I'm fine, it's just the tea is delicious."
God is that seriously the best excuse I could think of?! Moving forward, I'll need to create a mental reservoir of excuses I could use in any circumstances.
"...I see, well the Nostalgia Tea is one of our largest export. But know that I'm here if you ever need me."
Nodding along, Rimuru got back to signing documents.
Yeah, he totally saw through me with his Ultimate Skill didn't he? Damn.
After a couple more movements of the pen, Rimuru stretched his limbs as the formal mask fell, "Ahhhhhh... finally done!"
Rimuru shifted his neck, but no cracks were heard as he was a slime pretending to be a human.
"Busy day I see."
"God, Scientia you don't know the half of it! I swear I'll never look down on bureaucrats again." Getting up from his chair, he moved to sit down on the sofa on the other side.
Citrinitas silently moved to place down a cup of tea in front of Rimuru. The tea color is dark...
With a single glance, [Chemistry] extrapolated that the liquid contained large amounts of caffeine, inferencing that it's most likely this world's equivalent of black tea.
I started, "So, how's the revival? I hope nothing is out of place."
His golden eyes turned to me. "It's fine, I'm actually feeling better than ever— that reminds me..."
His voice went silent, like a sinner about to confess.
"I... I don't think I'm fit."
"...what?"
"I don't think I'm fit to be President."
He sounded tired.
Citrinitas wanted to interject before I sent a glare her way, essentially telling her to shut up and let me deal with this.
"Why?" I asked, my Perfect Homunculus biology combined with [Speech] ensured that I would never unintentionally let out a voice crack.
"It's just..." Rimuru struggled to get his words out. I can sympathize with his plight, having been through something similar right after Corbin, "I feel worthless you know? I feel like a parasite leeching off your power. Like, the Ultimate Skill, I feel undeserving of such an awesome ability, and to make myself worthy, I want to resign as President to train full-time."
I sat silently throughout his confession as suggested by [Psychology]. The latter portion parallels what Shizue is feeling.
"Besides, you have such strong technology that I think you could create an Artificial Intelligence smart enough to take over my position—" The moment he mentioned using a technological solution was when I raised a hand to stop him from going any further.
"I'm going to have to stop you on that. There is a reason why I never invested too much into God-like AIs. Despite having whole fleets of Jupiter Brains and a Star Computer, the closest I've ever used super-intelligent AI was creating a pseudo one to solve my problems or automate processes."
I then told him a story about why I never forcefully introduced all of my technology. While morbid, the story seem to get through to him as the slime nodded.
"...so you see, that's why you need to remain as President."
Rimuru's brows were up high on his forehead as his lips pursed, "I see... either way, now that my work for the day is gone, what do you wanna do?"
I had half expected Veldora to appear when he said that. If this were like a high-school drama, Rimuru and I would be the two dominant rival 'social groups' that most people would join. Like, the similarities are uncanny, what with Rimuru's and mine's circle being mostly self-contained except for a few outliers like Shizue and Veldora.
"Well, lunch for one."
Rimuru snapped his fingers in realization, "Ah right! I haven't really eaten much recently."
As a slime, you shouldn't even exist as a biological entity in the first place! By the way, a fascinating thing about Slime biology: they are a form of amoeba. In layman's terms, they are a type of magical single-cell organism.
"You have any idea of what to eat?" I asked.
"Well... you have any idea?"
"Come on, you choose, you're the President after all."
"But you're my friend and we rarely hang out!"
I felt my right eye twitch. I'm trying to be nice while he's doing the same thing. It's like two people shifting to the side of the road to let the other pass, but since both of them did it at the same time, they ended up just blocking each other.
This back and forth continued for a bit more before I ended it with "listen, I want to be surprised, so you choose."
Rimuru had no response for that. The fact that I had a tone of finality probably helped.
"Well," He pulled out Kusanagi and selected the element of 'Space', "alright, wait here."
In a flash of light, Rimuru teleported away, leaving me alone with Citrinitas. Pulling up a holographic panel, I checked where Rimuru had teleported and found that he was in the Capitol Kitchen.
The Congressional Pyramid was large enough to serve as both the Capitol building and Whitehouse with the top portion being the 'Whitehouse' and the lower levels where Congress is held. He's probably asking the chef to make something, I concluded.
Moments later, Rimuru appeared near the closed door with bags full of different ingredients, giving me a surprise.
As I was in my stupor, Rimuru's hands spread out and absorbed those ingredients like a starfish eating clams.
"What are you doing?"
The slime stood silent as he fully consumed the many bags, the plastic and food disappearing into his body.
"Just watch, I learned this a while back during Jistavic Freedom. Never really had a chance to try it again." Rimuru said as he sat back down on the couch.
He then sat back up again, "oh wait, I forgot plates!"
"Wait, we're eating here?"
He turned to me, "why not? I don't see a problem. Your automatic night-time Roombas clean things up pretty well."
I thought about his words before nodding. Other than the Citadel, the Pyramid is the most technologically advanced place in the entire world. Trying to break in here might as well be an exercise in futility.
He teleported away and returned half a minute later. In his arms were plates, pans, bowls, and all kinds of utensils like chopsticks, forks, and knives, some were ceramic while others were metal.
Rimuru then absorbed them all into his body, causing himself to visibly bloat up like a balloon.
"...Are you sure that's sanitary?" I tilted my head as my face twisted in a tiny bit of disgust.
His mind seemingly went blue-screen for a brief moment, before he started panicking, "trust me! My insides are completely sterile! Like... like... any germs or viruses are dissolved when they touch my skin, besides," he let out a reassuring smile, "I distinctly remember me temporarily absorbing you so I could concentrate injecting some healing potion when we first met the Kijins, didn't I?"
Citrinitas looked extra uncomfortable, but she was forced to stay since she is the President's Secretary.
"Right, and where's the food?"
"Hold on, I'm making them inside me."
"..."
"What?"
I leaned forward, my face practically screamed 'are you serious'.
"R—repeat what you just said."
"Uh... 'what'?"
"No, I mean before that, you said something about making food inside you?"
"Well, yeah, since I could make liquid and other solids, I thought I could probably make some food as well since I don't think there's TOO much difference between making alcohol and edible food. I—"
Whatever he said was drowned out as my mind exploded with different specialties suggesting food cookers and processors that use slime as a medium, his words were like a seed that bloomed into many ideas. I then combined all these blueprints into one: a Slime Cooker that can process and produce any food in a way similar to my molecular assembler, essentially printing out things similar to a 3D printer.
"—entia! Scientia! Scientia!"
"Whu, what?" I looked around, a delicious aroma filled the room. The once empty coffee table that was devoid of anything save for two teacups was now filled with Japanese cuisines.
Rimuru looked at me expectantly, a bright smile on his face causing me to almost have heartburn at how sweet it is.
I didn't have the heart of pointing out how impractical it is to eat lunch from a coffee table, so instead, I quietly used [Mekhane] and expanded the table, making it larger, and thinner, and causing it to rise up higher, making it at least close to a real table.
If Rimuru did notice it—which he probably did with his Ultimate Skill— he didn't say anything.
We had a rather peaceful lunch. I had started off using a fork before a single view of how Rimuru held his chopsticks made me reconsider.
I've never really learned how to use chopsticks in my old life nor this new one. Not only do I rarely eat, but when I do, it is almost always with Arcueid... who didn't even know the concept of people eating in three periods of breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Seriously, why did the other True Ancestors even build her with such intelligence if all they need is a weapon?! Ignoring my emotional attachments and looking at the issue through a logical lens, an intelligent weapon is one that can turn on you— which it did, by the way!
Never make your tools more intelligent than they need to be, a rule of thumb for anyone to live by.
After that, I had an afternoon and evening full of chatting with Veldora, hanging out with Arcuied, and watching a theater play with the True Ancestor because god damn it, the movie industry still hasn't taken off despite the subsidies.
It's a good life, in all honesty, I've got nothing to complain about.
I looked up at the moonlit night and sighed wistfully.
Just like that, my day off is over, I've got to start working on the Consitution of the new Falmuth Republic... I looked at my shoulder, Arcueid leaning on it with a dreamy smile.
Despite being a True Ancestor, she's weak to alcohol just as any normal human would.
I wouldn't trade a thing.
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Metropolis, Rooftop of Star Embrace
Star Embrace was one of the tallest Arcology in the entire Jura Tempest Republic. Standing close to a kilometer tall, there exists only a handful of other buildings that are taller or comparable to it.
At a height of this tall, one can expect the wind to sway the building immensely, except that's not the case with the carbon nanotube wiring that stabilizes the spiraling building.
The top wasn't open to anyone since the roof of the tower is slanted to the side, any maintenance crew had to come up via civilian VTOL aircraft that could hover effortlessly.
A single masked figure sat on the metal mesh which the maintenance crew would stand on to check the telecommunication tower.
A snap of air behind the figure heralded the appearance of another individual shrouded in the nighttime's darkness. It floated there mid-air, its clothing fluttered in the wind.
"Everything is ready, Your Authority, of course, you would already know that."
"Good", on the figure's mask, was a red gem that gleamed under the moonlight. "It is time for the Blindspot's removal, tell Granbell, Razul, and Luminous to head towards Lura in 3 months, on the night of the full moon, when it shines the brightest."
"Your Will be done, Your Authority." With that, the floating figure teleported away with another snapping of air.
"Let's see if this loop is the one."
_____________________________________________
AN: Soooo... it's been a while eh? I said that I was going to come back by the earliest in March while May is the most likely deadline. Yeah, that's changed. Turns out, that writing some ~40 chapters of the story is hard, more so when each chapter takes like on average 2 weeks to complete.
I seriously overestimated what I'm capable of.
Yes that was inspired by the Orion Arms
Here's a rule of thumb concerning my writing: the lighter the fluff, the more suffering the people are going to go through.
