Rita's mind went blank. She never imagined that Ragna's death was also connected to the girl standing behind her, Sirin.
Though Sirin didn't know who Ragna was, she instinctively guessed she must have been one of the Valkyries who hunted her back then. She must have been close to Rita, so close that even Otto had concealed the truth at the time.
Sirin hadn't expected such a tangled web of events.
She felt a little lost, especially after Rita had taken care of her for the entire journey. She never thought it would come to this. They had just started to build a rapport, a connection that might have blossomed into something more.
But now, Otto's revelation had thrown Rita into an impossible situation.
"Otto! You bastard, you deserve to die!"
An uncontrollable rage erupted from Sirin.
Hearing Sirin's roar, Rita knew something was wrong. By the time she turned to grab Sirin, it was too late.
A wanton smile spread across Otto's face. "Yes! Yes! This is a Herrscher! This is what a Herrscher should be!" he laughed.
The moment the attack hit, Otto dissolved into a pool of liquid Soulium and scattered.
Rita, struggling to react, could no longer control the situation.
And where was Noldrei during all this?
He was currently vacationing on Gulangyu Island in China. Not that Dr. Tesla was letting him relax. Even on the scenic island, work found its way to him.
"Cecilia has already gone after them. It seems she's accepted her emotions."
Tesla felt the whole affair was rather underhanded. With a simple flick of his wrist, Noldrei had effortlessly ignited the most intense internal conflicts. These people were practically drowning in deep-seated hatred. Without the Honkai to suppress them, an explosion was inevitable.
And that was without even mentioning Sirin, who was at the center of it all.
"Is that so? What did she say before she left?" Noldrei took a sip of watermelon juice, lounging comfortably on a deck chair at the stern of a boat, enjoying the sun.
"I think..." Tesla said, her voice tinged with melancholy, "her heart must be completely empty. She probably isn't even sure if her emotions are real. And I don't know if she can actually stop Sirin, or help her realize what she truly wants."
"That's how it is with androids. We want to control them, yet we also want them to fulfill our emotional needs. So we deliberately create these hollow lifeforms. They lack the ability to fill their own spiritual void and can only do so through the network. Once the network is gone, the androids lose their purpose."
Noldrei was, of course, aware of the ultimate fate of androids. They were like the parents humanity craved, successfully mending their own spiritual wounds. Once humanity grew up, the androids would lose their reason for being.
A humanity that had lost the right to procreate had also lost the right to have parents.
This was a common phenomenon in a gene-centric society, not something that would elicit too much sympathy from Noldrei.
"Aren't you being a little too cold-blooded?!"
"Sigh..." Noldrei was truly at a loss with this woman. "Is it possible," he explained, "that I'm not being cold-blooded? I'm just watching as you all arrive at this point because of your own needs and production capabilities. How am I being cold-blooded? Wasn't it all of you who ordered custom androids?"
Tesla was speechless. She changed the subject. "The SELENE Engine deployment is ready. Once everyone is in position, we will activate it and completely seal off Babylon Labs. This will prevent any Honkai Energy from leaking out, and the converted Honkai Energy can be turned into heat to melt the snow and ice covering Siberia."
"Handle it yourself. I will just wait for the results. These are their personal conflicts. Only by struggling and fighting through them will they know how to resolve them in the end. If I step in and handle it for them, the final outcome won't be good."
In reality, Noldrei couldn't manage that much. Even he could only serve as a guide.
Could Sirin's hatred be eliminated? Yes! Just delete her memories and start over.
Could Otto's obsession be eliminated? Yes! Just kill him.
Could the responsibility and hatred Rita carried be eliminated? Yes! Just cut off her source of power.
But the conflicts would not be resolved. The people who were lost would not return. All that would accomplish is eliminating the people involved. Those who seek to resolve conflict must bear the scars it leaves and continue to walk forward.
They even have to put on a smile and tell future generations that everything is fine, that such problems will never happen again.
This was the unavoidable, painful price humanity had to pay.
"Are you really sure... they won't go down the wrong path?"
Tesla was still worried.
She didn't believe Sirin had grown that much, nor did she believe Otto wouldn't have some trick up his sleeve. And she certainly wasn't sure that Cecilia, now without her Valkyrie powers, had the ability to change the situation.
"And what if they do go down the wrong path? All that will happen is that they'll play out the consequences of that wrong path for us to see. What would it change? I believe Sirin already has the strength to bear her own pain, and Otto should pay the price he owes. As for the rest, they're just side dishes."
"And the android Cecilia? We'll see if she can bring a new ideological liberation to the android network. Otherwise, androids will still be abandoned by a grown-up humanity in the future. When that time comes, the number of androids who die or commit suicide will only increase."
"Because under the struggles of a future humanity, they will grow faster, and society will become even more brutal."
Noldrei had already done his best to expose these problems ahead of time, setting an example for all to see.
"What if they really die?"
Tesla thought Noldrei was being too callous.
"Humanity's conflicts will always be there. If they die, others will come to inherit those conflicts. Even if their bodies are destroyed, their spirits will remain, like a cancer rooted in the human psyche. It will just be someone else's turn to bear new conflicts, until one day, someone finally comes to end them for good."
Tesla thought for a moment and asked, "This 'someone' you speak of... who is it?"
Noldrei pondered for a moment. "Let them fight it out first. Then we'll ask Durandal and Kiana. If it were them, how would they judge such a conflict?"
"Only those who have equally borne this pain can truly bring these conflicts to an end. On a side note, live-stream Overseer Otto's glorious battle to the Valkyries still in Academy City. I want him kicked off his pedestal once and for all."
Tesla was utterly astonished. She suspected this latter part was Noldrei's main objective.
Dr. Lobster lowered her head. "I'll do as you say. I hope you don't cause any trouble. And just so we're clear, if anyone threatens humanity, or uses the Honkai to try and destroy humanity, I will eliminate them!"
She returned to her work, wondering what kind of venomous creature this latest experiment would breed.