54th Move | Space Elevator

"Miss Shirou, are you truly sure we're supposed to be here?" A timid young man spoke as he fumbled around trying to carry multiple colorful shopping bags, each carrying very expensive commodities. The man was following closely behind a woman with pale skin, flowing white hair, and way too fancy clothing that show off just how rich she is; everything from a white fur coat, and expensive sunglasses, all the way to the way she walks, all of it screams elitism.

"Why of course, darling" Miss Shirou spoke with the tone commonly found in noblewoman as she walked down the streets of Trantor's shopping district, "10 in the morning is when I'm supposed to be in my SVIP seating at the opening of the Space-Elevator," she turned to face almost invisible cable that stretches into the high heavens off in the distance, the many tall buildings and Archologies hide the current base of the Elevator.

"Wow Miss Shirou, I heard the SVIP tickets cost as much as a house in the Merchant District of Lura." The man exclaimed.

Whipping out a fan, the foreign noble started fanning herself even when it was spring, "Of course, even if such costs are just pocket change for me, I need to look fashionably or else I'll embarrass myself in front of the other! I am one of the first to ride it after all."

As she continued her walk, Shirou suddenly stopped when she walked by another clothing store with the cheapest costing several weeks' worth of the Working Class' salary.

_____________________________________________

The opening of the Space Elevator is slated to be the largest celebration ever since the victory over Jistav.

Rimuru has been promoting the construction ever since I started working on the base, which is around 4 weeks ago, and managed to build up immense anticipation.

Just like how I had built public infrastructure like the hyperloop, roads, and the Arcologies, I utilized preprogrammed self-replicating nanites and Doormaker to hasten the completion date of the Space Elevator to weeks instead of years.

The design I choose opted for speed of construction over anything concrete, thus, instead of a solid structure going up or down, it's a set of wires and cables that connect both the ground hub of the Elevator and the one 36,000 kilometers up in geosynchronous orbit. The carts run up and down these sets of wires that have been stretched to their absolute limit, making any swaying by wind or outside forces nigh-impossible— not to mention the main load-bearing cable being made out of strings of mag-matter, a type of exotic hyper-dense nonbaryonic matter made out of magnetic monopoles.

With foreign diplomats, princes, and princesses from all over the continent attending, it's like the Olympic Games.

Most News sources forecast up to 300,000 people (or a quarter of Metropolis) will be visiting Trantor for the 7-day Space-Elevator celebration

As this is a Tolkien knockoff world, it's a really big number.

The celebration is split into two parts: on the first day, it's open only to a select few people before opening to the public.

I was still a bit apprehensive about building a space elevator. Such a megastructure fills the role of cheap-space flight, but I have access to stars worth of material, so saying that I'm swimming in cash is like saying Guy Crimson is stronger than a human being, technically the truth, but the reality is way out of proportions.

So in the end, I figured it was more like a vanity project than anything, one designed to show that we aren't all terrible monsters but still, a vanity project nonetheless.

Coming up to the opening date, every hotel or other rental-based building was rented out to max capacity. In order to avoid a tragedy concerning the excessive number of people coming, I had to step in and build a new Arcology for the city that was about to balloon to 2 times its original size.

Really, nano-construction is the real hero here, allowing me to build what should've taken years in the span of two weeks.

"Nervous?"

A familiar voice called out to me, facing it, I looked down and saw Rimuru in his slime form.

It's been a while since I've seen him using that form, hasn't it? Both of us were inside one of the ground Hub's washrooms, I was standing by a sink and mirror, thinking until Rimuru interrupted my thoughts.

"A bit, after all. As someone responsible for the opening speech to the first batch of people— I've just... never really spoken to such a large crowd, the most I have been at a press conference and those are for Journalists." I played around with the ends of my ashen blond hair to distract myself from the butterflies in my stomach. If one were to listen carefully, one would realize my breathing patterns are different, since I'm using techniques created by [Biology] for the purpose of maintaining a calm facade.

Rimuru turned into his human form, currently, he's wearing a fine suit with a guilty expression on his face "I'm sorry that I asked you to do this, I should've—"

"No." I silenced his words before he could continue, "I accepted your decision on my own terms, did I not? Besides, it's technically my first public appearance in months. Moreover, I should be the one that's nervous, since are you sure I can tell the world about our secret?"

"I mean, if it'll get them to trust us more, then I don't see why not."

Due to neither of us nor the presenters needing much makeup, we only needed a single washroom for the pre-show prep like getting our uniform ready or practicing our lines.

Ririna was the main organizer of this event, primarily since her Unique Skill [Warmaster] makes the handling of logistics as easy as me satisfying Milim with my cooking.

Rimuru opened his mouth to speak, only for the door to open. The purple Kijin wearing a purple suit popped her head in, Citrinitas, "Mr. President, His Majesty King Gazel wishes to speak with you right before the start of the celebration."

"Alright, I'll— wait, right now?"

"Preferably, yes."

"O-oh, alright," he waved me goodbye and left.

Seeing that I'm alone, I turned towards the washroom mirror and gave myself a look-over.

For this event, I decided to go for something sophisticated, yet the dress can't be so sophisticated that I look inhuman— heaven knows my uncanny perfection makes me look more like a Lovecraftian Horror's attempt at making the ideal human, male or female be damned. My features are without flaws, something vital to staying out of the Uncanny Valley. The main purpose of the Space-Elevator is to fight against the bad PR that the Western Holy Church is babbling about us, so I can't wear something that'll make me unapproachable.

I was oh so tempted to go with streetwear, only to get flat-out rejected by [Social Engineering] the moment I came up with the idea. In the end, I decided to just screw it and live up to my title of 'Futurist'.

Sleek, black, smooth, with lines of neon lights and bits of technology jutting out here and there, the current form of the Mathematic wouldn't look out of place in a Tron movie.

My clothing was to symbolize what technology could be, contrasting heavily to what surrounds me, which is supposed to represent what technology IS. Think of it like how I'm the eye on the American dollar bill while everything else is the pyramid, currently building up to me.

Placing my two hands on the side of the sink, I stared deeply into my reflection, yellow eyes, pale complexion, and ashen blond hair, it was like looking at a small palette swap of my old reincarnated self, except I seemingly have gained a more feminine outlook...

...And retained that goddamned inhuman perfection—!

*C-Crack*

The sink cracked and crumbled underneath my grip as I gritted my teeth. Bits and pieces of the ceramics fall to the floor. Even to this day, months later, Walpurgis still haunts me.

Whoever encounters this perfection for the first time either finds me repulsive in the extreme or lusts after me almost to the level of Romeo lusting after Juliet (the amount of sexual drawings of me is so numerous that the only thing that outstrips it is every other category of porn... combined).

Unlike the annihilation of Corbin, I cannot properly justify or even explain how I am a Perfect Homunculus beyond Guy's insinuation I am a reincarnation of Relentless, which is absolutely fucking ridiculous since I was sure I'm a human in my last life.

[Agreement]

See! Even [Contessa] agrees with me.

My world, my preconceptions, and my beliefs were nonetheless shattered by Guy's words, adding to the fact that Psychohistory is predicting the world is on the cusp of a world war and you can see why Rimuru's proposal was so important.

I bared my teeth, and a dark aura surrounds my body like clouds.

EVERYTHING IS JUST SO GODDAMN COMPLICATED!

*Krissssssssh*

I smashed my head into the mirror, shattering it completely. The sink broke in its entirety, my hands acted like two drills had broken the ceramics into pieces, and the only thing remaining in my clenched hands was naught but dust.

My forehead was unharmed due to the Mathematic's passive protection field.

Taking a few, calming breaths, I bit deep into my lower lips, hard enough to draw bits of blood.

I've long accepted that I need to do dirty acts to thrive. In my past life as an Assistant VP, I was skilled in the act of cutting corners and maximizing profits. But I'm not a sociopath, I don't want to kill more people than I need to, I just want to advance society into an intergalactic empire, to actualize a post-scarcity utopia...

Removing my forehead from the shattered mirror had caused the entire thing to fall out of its frame.

...And even that's denied from me.

Ugh... my shoulders slumped forward in annoyance as my brows furrowed, gotta clean up this mess.

*Vuuuuummm——*

Summoning a small vacuum from my pocket dimension, the prehensile vacuum started sucking in all the shards of glass and ceramic as per my orders when I used antigravity to pull out another mirror for the washroom walls.

Again using [Fundamental Force Manipulation], I nullified the Strong nuclear force inside the remaining shards of glass inside the frame, causing the silicone to disintegrate on a subatomic level as each atomic nuclei turned into quarks.

Placing the mirror over where the old one had been, I observed the sink, wondering if I'll need to place a charge inside [Plumbing] before seeing the valve was fine, only the basin was destroyed.

Feeling rather wasteful of me just disintegrating matter into its basic components, I instead opted for partial disintegration of the links which connect the base of the previous basin before pulling out another one from my pocket dimension, brand new and fresh off the molecular assembler. Reconnecting it, the new sink looks exactly like the old one.

I was suddenly hit by this wave of dizziness. I was having this out-of-body experience, wondering if the last few minutes had actually happened when the door opened.

"Tia!" Arcueid burst in with the energy of a rocket, only to stop once she saw I was staring off into oblivion. Slowly turning to look where I was looking, Arcueid was confused, since I was just staring at the sink, "Scientia? Is something the matter? The opening is in 10 minutes and Rimuru asked me to bring you to the main stage."

It was only then that I snapped out of my trance.

Rubbing my forehead, I took a deep sigh before pushing this... illogical hatred into the recess of my mind. Turning to look at the True Ancestor, who's currently wearing—

"—Huh?"

My mind stopped when I noticed what Arcueid is wearing.

She wore a full dress of blackness like the void of space, the fabric shimmering as countless crystals are embedded within, with a large number of said crystals congregating around a single lengthy area that stretches from her left shoulder and down to her right hip, creating the illusion of a spiraling vortex. The blackness of the dress served as a canvas as the area around where the crystals congregate is dyed with deep blue and flashes of white.

Around her hands, Arcueid wore long silky gloves which made her fingers look so delicate they could fall off if the wind blew too hard.

Overall, it looked like Arcueid was wearing the night sky itself— absolutely gorgeous since the dress puts the focal point on her beauty.

I was so used to seeing her wearing white that the moment her dress code changed, I was completely unprepared.

Upon seeing my slacked jaw, Arcueid giggled, "I had always saved this one for a special occasion, and well, it seems my intuition was correct. Perhaps next time I should choose something other than the night sky as a reference?"

Clearing my throat, I desperately tried to hide the fact that I think she looked so beautiful in that dress, "well let's not keep Rimuru waiting any longer."

Unknown to me at the time, this should've been a major red flag.

_____________________________________________

The Hub of the Space-Elevator resides on an artificial island off of the coast of Trantor, directly in the Bay of Ashdapor, and accessible only by boat. The island is square-shaped with a total surface area totaling 10 square kilometers, the surface of the island is made from concrete and dotted with things like trees, souvenir shops, restaurants, and plenty of other buildings you'd typically find on a resort. The lower layers are for things like storage, power reactor, and plenty of other things vital to the continued function and maintenance of this planetary megastructure.

Due to its mobility, it technically can't be counted as an island, but the name stuck and here we are.

It was hoped that after the opening, the Space Elevator will become a major tourist destination as well as sell our culture and the concept of modernity to the tourists.

There's a single flattened upright standing triangular prism that serves as a docking station for the Elevator. The building has a main entrance for the visitor, and in front of that entrance is a large public square with beautifully decorated water fountains and patterns composed of different flowers, I should know, I'm the one who made it with assistance from [Sculpture].

Now, off to the side of that public square is the curtained stage area. Behind it is a walled-off backstage, like something you'd find in a concert.

Right in front of the stage were rolls upon rolls of chairs with names on the back of the seat for the diplomats, princes, and princesses of various nations we had invited. Behind them are the chairs for VIPs and SVIPs, and behind even them is an area sectioned off by stanchions, it's the seating for those who bought the normal tickets and it extends as far as the eye can see.

The normal tickets are on a first come first serve basis.

Using a small prehensile telescopic sight, I was able to peek through the closed curtains and see the crowd.

It seems most of the diplomats, princes, and princesses' seats are all filled, the only ones missing are those reserved for diplomats from countries situated closest geographically to Ruberios. I can see King Gazel of Dwargon, King Aegil of Ingrassia, the newly elected Chancellor of Falmuth, Governor Carrion, Field Marshal Ririna, General Rubedo, and Arcueid.

The only reason I didn't invite Milim and neither did she come was due to me promising to give her a private tour right after the celebration was finished, it would not do well for the attendance rate if the 'Dreaded Destroyer' were to attend the opening nor will I give other countries a good excuse to not send their diplomats.

There are around 30,000 people for the opening, I noted internally, only to narrow my eyes once I saw a bit of commotion out in the back.

Using the Noosphere, I connected to a camera near the area and looked in, discovering a family of goblins arguing with another human male and female pair, probably a couple.

And through the Noosphere, I directed some Security Personnel— who almost had a heart attack when they heard my voice— towards the area.

My attention returned once the Mathematic alerted me to one of the female Dragonewts ('Souka' was what was etched onto the metal nameplate on the side of her chest) walking up to me, her body displayed signs of the ever-slightest hint of nervousness. The nervousness that was impressively hidden, [Negotiation] noted.

I quickly retracted the telescopic camera back into my Mathematic-in-suit form and turned to face Souka.

"Director," she bowed a little bit. Souka's current dress is a red one with an interweaved webbing design, basically like every female TV host.

Souka opened her mouth to speak, only to close as when no sound came out.

Nervousness finally overcame her senses. Like a sword, I cut away those doubts by placing a hand on her shoulder

"We hired you for the opening ceremony of the Space Elevator for a reason," the clock just hit 9:59, "you are one of the best singers and music writers on TV, you currently have around 200,000 followers on Musify alone. And that you looked almost indistinguishable from a human; there is no need to be nervous. Moreover, I would not have recommended you if I know you couldn't take it."

Souka nodded as I removed my hand. Seemingly assured, I turned away to walk toward my seating-

"Director! I want you to know that I never believed the stigma around Perfect Homunculus!"

Turning around, I gave her a small smile and nodded, before continuing.

I left the area to take a seat by one of the chairs off to the side of the main stage, letting Souka take the brunt of the attention as the clock strikes 10:00.

"It's showtime," I whispered. In an instant, the curtain rose and music start blasting out, virtual, holographic dancers appeared next to Souka.

Rimuru took a seat in the chair next to me, seemingly enjoying the music she was playing.

"So what did you discuss with Gazel?" I asked without taking my eyes off Souka.

Rimuru turned to face me, his lips thinning as hesitation and uncertainty showed on his face, "...nothing to need to worry about."

"..."

I gave him a look before letting go. If he thinks that it's nothing to worry about, I'll trust him.

My focus returned back to the show Souka's putting on.

Her music is very similar to pop songs from my old world, which surprised me greatly since the only reason I chose her was due to her popularity.

Meaning that I never listened to any one of her albums.

Requesting data through the Noosphere, a holographic panel materialized displaying her history.

I saw that Souka was one of the first graduates of the Omniversity. Originally, the Dragonewt was studying to be a Market Analyst, and she started writing songs and singing them as a hobby. It gained her a large and unprecedented following after posting her first song, named 'Rosemary', which was on top of the list of Musify's Hottest for two weeks. After that success, Souka changed her career and focused on music.

Now, she's one of the biggest pop stars in all of the Jura Tempest Republic.

My attention went back to the show of holograms, changing what was once a very bland stage into a movie filled to the brim with stars, galaxies, and all.

It's like looking at the dream of a Sci-Fi fan.

Eventually, the performance ends and Souka takes a bow, the stage return to how it was before: monotonous and boring.

"Look's like it's your turn," Rimuru patted my back as I got up, "break a leg!"

I had to suppress the urge to look back in surprise. While it may look insignificant, 'break a leg' is not a Japanese saying, meaning that he's been learning Western slang.

The heads-up display of the Mathematic showed I'm approximately 30 steps away from the center of the stage.

My perception of time sped up as I fall into deep thought, as typical of what the Mathematic is programmed to do.

I thought about my new life, about everything, about my reincarnation, about Rimuru, about everyone else.

Who would've thought the Hindus were the closest to discovering what really happens after you die? I mused. I am not a good person, even in my past life, I've almost never done anything out of altruism. The closest I have is for the greater good.

I am a selfish, pragmatic person, which may be what caused me to love sci-fi so much. Space contains many times the number of resources that are on Earth. Heck, an asteroid several kilometers wide contained more iron than human civilization in my old world has ever mined throughout its history. Thusly, it is logical—expected even— for a race to reach for the stars. It would be the hallmark of a species' development on the Kardashev scale.

I can still remember the awe I had at the sheer scale of everything when I learned of the Kardashev scale, where a single Type-II can easily defeat a typical galactic empire that only colonizes other planets.

And now... I have made my dreams into a reality, I have access to more resources than I know what to do with, I have touched the farthest stars in the Observable Universe, I have seen the very edge of Hubble's Law, and I have discovered almost all of physics, only missing a Multiversal Theory of Everything.

I have traveled billions of years into the past and future by virtue of technicalities. The speed of light is the speed by which Conventional Causality can be enacted, meaning that the moment you travel faster than it, you are traveling back in time. However, unlike normal time travel, Supercausality (short for the Theory of Supercausality, a Theory I made to describe particles moving at FTL speeds) does not allow changing of the past. When you escape these bubbles of causality, you're still moving forward on the time axis, meaning you can only peer into the past if you have a strong enough telescope, sort of like post-cognition.

I am unbound by conventional causality, I am bound by the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle after testing through a minor time-traveling experiment.

These hands have crafted cosmic megastructures that encompass a star, these hands have crafted materials that do not obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle, and this mind manipulates the fundamental atomic forces with [Mekhane]. The number of voidcrafts I have made for my secret fleet in the Intergalactic Void is numbered in the multi-trillions

The dumb AIs in the Noosphere call me Administrator, Rimuru calls me his best friend, a Cosmological Entropy Reversal Machine sees me as a member of his family, I have become the hidden power behind the Jura Tempest Republic.

My technology has gotten to the point where I could easily beat almost any race in Sci-Fi.

Halo? I'll just throw monopoles at the Flood and cause their very structure to degrade and dissociate. Or if I really wanted to, I'll use any one of the Hyperweapons and extinguish the galaxy all together.

Warhammer 40,000? The Observable Universe alone contains little under 7 trillion galaxies, with each of those galaxies containing hundreds of billions— sometimes even trillions— of stars. The sheer scale I operate at makes galactic conflict seem more like battles between two different bacteria.

Star Wars? While the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force, how about the ability to destroy a Galaxy? Or the ability to launch galaxies at relativistic speeds to serve as missiles?

With exponential growth, I've paperclipped the entire Universe.

As I neared the spot where I'm supposed to stop at was when it hit me:

Despite being a Demon Lord, this would be my first introduction to the wider world.

I've been a relative recluse when it comes to the public eye, operating almost solely with a medium instead of direct appearance—Diablo explained that's how I got a Cult of Personality despite not intentionally making it.

I finally reached the center of the stage, in front of the view of tens of thousands of the most important, influential, and richest people in the world. This event will either break or make our relationship with the Greater World.

I opened my mouth to speak.

_____________________________________________

AN: Here's an updated version of what happened if Scientia was in Melty Blood: Type Lumina. I got the fighting game a while back and realized the number of mistakes that were in it.

Pre-Demon Lord Scientia. She wears a white lab coat, and underneath is a black skin-tight nanosuit with lines of neon lights.

(A)(light): Scientia does a quick stab using a reverse grip Dasher

(B)(medium): Scientia forms a sliver monomolecular blade on her forearm and slashes sideways.

(C)(heavy): Scientia opens up a Door above her head facing downward at a 45-degree angle. From that Door shoots out a gamma laser.

Built-in Combo: Scientia continuously slashes the opponent with Dasher before throwing them into the air and continuing the attack. Eventually, Scientia grabs the opponent and throws them away.

Grab: Scientia lifts the opponent up with Anti-Gravity before throwing them to the other side of the screen.

Specials:

Hasta La Vista [↓↘→] +(A) Scientia teleports next to the opponent and shoots them once with a plasma pistol +(B) Scientia teleports next to the opponent and shoots them multiple times with a plasma pistol +(C with a bar of a magic circuit) Scientia opens a Doorway next to her and shoot out a thick Starbreaker beam, can be dodged if opponent double jumped beforehand.

Experiment Termination [↓↙←] +(A) Scientia shoots out a single magnetic monopole that travels quickly +(B) Scientia shoots out a larger magnetic monopole that travels slower +(C with a bar) Scientia chucks an artificial singularity grenade that draws the enemy near it while dealing damage.

-works midair as well

Stay Away [↓→↘] +(A) Scientia slashes the area in front of her with the Strings +(B) Scientia shoots out five Strings of wrinkled spacetime and pulls the opponent towards her+(C with a bar) Scientia restrains the opponent with the Strings before closing her hand, the strings are then subsequently pulled.

-works midair as well.

ArcDrive: "This is the end!" Scientia opens multiple portals behind them to their Pocket Dimension. From those portals pokes out advanced weapons like gamma lasers, monopole throwers, antimatter missiles, and other more exotic weaponry. Scientia then fires all those weapons at the opponent.

Last Arc: "Die, and meet your maker." Scientia don the Block Form Singularity Mathematics and push the opponent through a Door. The opponent is then teleported into the gravitational well of a black hole.

Fight Introduction

- "let's end this quickly"

- "I don't have time for this"

- "I guess I have time for a field test"

- "How fascinating, is your survival instinct truly so skewed?"

(To Arcueid) "...I will restrain myself until you are satisfied"

(To Red Arcueid) "You're not her, who are you?"

(To Tohno) "An ordinary high schooler? No, [Metaphysics] is getting all upitty around you"

(To Saber) "That sword... I've seen it before."

(To Aoko Aozaki) "A Time Traveler? Tell me, how do you avoid the Self-Consistency problem that plagues all Closed Timelike Curves?"

Fight Ends

"Time to move on"

"What a waste of time, although, you may be of use in terms of raw resources."

"Impressive. Tell me, what do you say that you work for me from now on? You can have full benefits and other perks."

(To Arcueid) "You're not Arcueid... you're another Arcueid, how interesting. What do you say we talk some more over dinner? You must be famished after that fight. Would some artificial human blood be your taste? No?"

(To Red Arcueid) "You're just like her, only more unhinged, what caused you to be this way?"

(To Tohno) "your Mystic Eyes of Death Perception is a gift like no other, what would it take for you to fall under my employment? Name your price and condition, nothing is too high."

(To Roa) "Ah, immortality, it is the wish of all organisms to live forever. Your immortality violates so many ethical grounds that it's not even funny, though I will admit that if it works, it works."

(To Saber) "How interesting to see that sword here of all places, what do you think of perhaps forming a contract with me? I am not a cruel boss, I can assure you."

(To Aoko Aozaki) "Unfortunately, it seems she's escaped... how troublesome, perhaps I should make a pocket universe with no causal relation to this one the next time she shows up to trap her in? Surely that would prevent her escape."

Story mode:

Round 1:

Scientia: you know, in the future, when I write a book about [Dimensional Physics], I'll put in some MAJOR warning signs about unintended consequences.

Scientia: Like seriously, who knew that dropping a piece of metal weighing no more than 30 grams onto the platform would activate the magical circle?

Scientia: ... yeah I was right to place a ban on multiversal travel...

Scientia: oh well, it appears I'm in the middle of a modern city, in Japan it appears if those characters on street signs are any indication. Could also be China or Korea.

Scientia: God I hope this isn't a dystopian future, that way I can leverage my science to bargain with the local government.

Round 3: vs Arcueid.

Scientia: Arcueid! How are you here?

Arcueid: huh? Do I know you?

Scientia: Arcueid, stop playing around, we- wait, do you not know me? I'm Scientia! ...someone who accidentally took you from your home.

Arcueid: you... you're an abomination!

Scientia: wh-what? What are you talking about? Wait! Stop!

Arcueid: die!

Round 7: vs Red Arcueid

Scientia: you again? I thought I already defeated you, did I not?

Red Arcueid: you are an abomination unfit to exist, you are like an Outer God, only much worse, a mistake that should not exist.

Red Arcueid: as directed by both Gaia and Alaya, who for once have both united in the mutual interest of exterminating you.

Red Arcueid: if this were any other situation, I would congratulate you for being able to unite the two often bickering rivals, but this is far from normal, isn't it?

Red Arcueid: Boosted by both, I shall end you once and for all.

Ending: shows Scientia in a WcDonald typing on a laptop, leaning backward to stretch her muscles.

Scientia: *sigh*, I really need to get off-world... this place is dangerous! I almost lost to the True Ancestor!

Scientia: man, when I do return, I really should be wary of Arcuied.

Scientia: Moreover, the Metaphysical Superorganism that makes up the consciousness of this planet does not like me... and seemingly neither does the collective consciousness of man.

Scientia: I think the asteroid belt should be good enough to start an industrial base. Far enough from Earth while being close enough that a few months of travel is enough to get me there. Afterward, I'll create a Hyperdrive ship and move to the next star system to prepare an Interdimensional Bore.

Scientia: Now, should I infiltrate NASA and hijack a rocket or build my own? That is the main question... decisions, decisions, decisions...

Saber: So you're the one who's got Alaya all uppity?

Scientia: oh come on, are you kidding me? Listen, tell your boss that I'm about to leave!

Saber: Unfortunately, Alaya is determined to see you slain.

Scientia:... you know, I used to be a human, does that earn me any brownie points?

Saber: Brownie points...?

Scientia: just a saying. Either way, by the fact that you talked to me, I assume this isn't the place where we're fighting?

Saber: indeed.

Scientia: A person of morals I see. So be it, lead the way.