Chapter. 24. The Greatest Creditor (10)
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[Have you ever imagined the life of a genius?]
The light of the camcorder blinks and Gedreutz, wearing a space suit helmet, asks the survivors below.
[Just think about it. If you have the brains of a ridiculous genius who can come up with a rough answer to any problem as soon as you see it, it’s not just smart, it’s close to the realm of the occult. What would you do before the world became like this?]
His confession began with a question. A very simple question, ‘What would you do if you were me?’
[money? Ah, the surplus capital overflowing in the world? You can publish a formula that you scribbled as a joke in high school and patent it, or you can start a company with it, or you can follow the economic trends that are clearly visible at a glance and make a moderate investment. To me, money was like tap water. The kind of thing that pours out endlessly as long as you put in the effort to turn on the faucet. It was so meaningless.]
[Honor? good. It’s a little better. After making money, I also wanted to have fame. But I already had it. The world’s greatest inventor, a genius, a living, breathing treasure of mankind. A living, breathing singularity…. I was born and learned in an environment where I used my abilities to make money, and fame followed me like a receipt. I distributed the money that had accumulated pointlessly to those in need, and from then on, they praised me even when I bought ice cream on the streetside. Honor wasn’t that valuable.]
[Power was the same. When I got the first two things, the label of ‘powerful person’ started to stick to me. Power was like a throne created by stacking the previous two things well. I accumulated enough wealth and fame to reach a higher level than others without having to work hard to accumulate it. You can tell just by looking at this spaceport right now. Is this an area that a single private entrepreneur can prepare for? The fact that such a large-scale space survival facility exists in Earth’s orbit, where space for space launch vehicles has already been reserved for 60 years from now, is something that the powers that be must intervene in.] [In
this way, you, not humanity, must intervene in the complex problem that humanity has pursued all its life . The problems were so simple to me. It was pretty obvious. Like the problem ‘1+1=2’, it was so simple that you could find the answer just by looking at it without having to think about it. To put it simply, life to me was like a game in which all content had disappeared from the beginning.]
To him in his youth, life was fleeting. As if he was playing a game with an account that used all the cheats, the world gave him everything he could aim for so easily.
[It was ‘fear’ that brought purpose to that fleeting life. An infinitely simple problem. Ephemeral things, like fluttering dust, were moving through the world. It wasn’t just moving, it was burning and destroying. Do you ever understand how scared I was? Before your eyes, people all over the world are asking ‘Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?’ They start wheezing about the same thing and then suddenly they pull out guns and start shooting each other! How funny! It’s stupid! But the result of that stupid situation is not stupid at all! Even as the city was filled with brain fluid pouring out from exploded heads and the foul smell of intestines, people were biting people even more passionately, shouting ‘So are tomatoes vegetables or fruits?’ That was the world I saw! A world of idiots who bite each other without a moment’s rest over trivial issues! But it was a world where those idiots were given the power to destroy the entire world!]
The slurred speech due to brain damage was echoing inside the spacesuit helmet, making it even more strange.
A scientist whose intelligence is so outstanding that he becomes a stranger to society. He was vain and horrified by the many acts of destruction that vainness had wrought.
[So I tried to stop it. Anyway, unlike those idiots, I know a lot more. They may be stupid people, but they are people I talk to, share emotions with, and share my life with. I couldn’t let him die in vain like that.]
At the end, I felt a sense of responsibility. It could be seen as a consciousness of the chosen people, or it could be seen as a condemnation by an enlightened person against the foolishness of humanity, which can never guess the end. In any case, Gedreutz was more of a good person, so he tried to stop the endless acts of self-destruction of these fools.
[….It didn’t work out well. No, no matter what I did, it didn’t work. It only gets worse.]
And it failed. Infinitely miserable.
[I failed… me! I’ve found a problem that doesn’t have an easy answer! I have been given such a huge problem that I need to tackle it with everything I have, and not just an infinitely fleeting one! Just like other ordinary people! If there is a place given to each person in the world, then I must find that place!!]
Starting from that moment, a task arose in his life filled with futility and fear. The only task given to someone whose intelligence is so great that there is nothing left to do in human affairs. Turning back the self-destructive trend that even he cannot handle, so that these underprivileged people can lead a better life!
Gedreutz, wearing a helmet, spoke about his life, which he had lived passionately since that day, like a dreamer.
The development of ‘Page Meat’ began with the idea of solving the most basic problems of food, clothing, and shelter. As a result, it failed and led to the creation of ‘Phage Bullet’, which gave birth to countless amputees in conflict areas.
The development of strong artificial intelligence and multi-purpose drones began with the idea that if humans were liberated from the task of labor, they would also come closer to the same perspectives as themselves. In fact, it failed, leading to global protests and environmental movements against the deprivation of labor rights and the disappearance of human dignity.
failure.
failure.
failure.
Failure….
After that, the stories were stories I knew. Endless failure. A world where there may be technological changes, but the essence remains unchanged. A future prediction program that became the basis for GG, the masterpiece of a lifetime, created by Gedreutz after thinking that it would not be possible to endlessly face repeated failures.
In the face of the outcome, in which all the cases that can be expressed in numbers lead to the ‘destruction of humanity’, Gedreutz became impatient with the thought that his only ‘goal in life’ would fail, and as a result, World War III led to a nuclear wasteland. This led to the ‘completer plan’ leading to GG.
Even though he was in a situation where he was confessing his mistakes to the world, he remained confident and unwavering.
[okay. I am the one who created the current wasteland. It is I, Gedroitz, who instigated the war, passed on each country’s secrets to each other, made us fall into the shadow of suspicion, and thus reduced 90% of humanity to ashes in an instant.] [Despite sacrificing so much,
the result was unclear. The completer’s plan was out of my hands, I still couldn’t find the answer, and the world was gradually deviating from the program’s predictions.] [
And then… I found the answer by chance. Without even thinking about it, I came to live with the personality of this very person, ‘Gustave Al Harb.’]
A murderous war addict. Looking at the world through the eyes of this mentally broken person who was unable to let go even after the war ended and created a group called Raptors, Gedreutz came to a surprising realization.
[Gustav Al Harb ‘Raptor’… Surprisingly, he was not someone who simply continued his acts of destruction. Surprisingly, he was a thinker who wanted to change and save the world with his own thoughts!]
[Are you listening, Professor Park? Gustave was more similar to you than you could imagine! I’ve been through tragedy, lost family, and lost so many things since then that I’m broken! Unlike you, he was unlucky and suffered endlessly. And at some point, I realized that I had reached the bottom of that pain.]
Tung! Good luck!
As he said those words, Gedreutz took off his space suit helmet. Both eyes were looking in different directions, and the tongue, which had lost control, was hanging out of the mouth and drooling, but the sight of Gustave’s enlightenment being put into his mouth with a face full of joy was clearly another person who had completely inherited the memories of the dead raptor. It was the face of ‘Raptor’.
Gedreutz, who had the face of a raptor, inherited the raptor’s memories and spoke.
[It was an endless relief. A sense of relief that there is no more place to fall and nothing left to lose. After enduring and enduring and enduring, nothing in the world could cause him pain anymore. The other side was not in the vast heavens, but at the bottom of the mud that we were struggling to escape from.]
[Gustav created the Raptor Society and pursued endless war so that more people could live in this world where there is nothing but pain. It was his own crusade to ‘save’ the people. I also realized a lot by accepting his mental world. Thanks to this, I was able to find a solution that was completely different from before.]
Jiyiing – Click!
As Gedreutz operated the device, the camcorder’s screen zoomed in on me frozen to the surface of the spacecraft.
[The appearance has changed a lot, but he is the same person that no one in the wasteland knows. It’s Professor Park. A saint, a hero, a symbol of survival…. He is called by many names, but I still like the title “Complete.” Ah, don’t misunderstand. Even though he is in such disrepair and frozen in outer space without any protective equipment, he is still alive. In the first place, the original purpose of developing the mutant virus was, ‘Would it be a little more peaceful if we freed humans from their physical limitations?’ The prototype is the human evolution project developed with the idea that if humans could survive in any environment and be reborn with a body of the same form as their ideal, if humans themselves became strong creatures, most conflicts would be reduced.] [Of course, the goal is this
. Perhaps because he set it too high, he failed spectacularly and ended up creating the ‘mutant virus’ that created the monster we see today… but he was different. My completer is the only successful example of a mutant virus that meets the original development intent. It just needs time to adapt to the extreme environment of space, but it never dies. Even now, he is still awake and listening to my story.]
Gedreutz seemed to try to wink at me, but only a small twitch occurred in his eyelids, and he was unable to balance his body, which was tilted to this side, and fell down. Even at a glance, it was visible that the forebrain was losing control of the body, with the brain losing its function.
[My one and only success…. It is the one and only finished product in which everything about me has melted…. A truly perfect human being who is wise, good, and never broken…! The only one who will become the shepherd of mankind who has confidently overcome the trials I have prepared and even more trials…!]
[My plan is similar to Gustave’s, but different…. I will bring the world back to its original state again in the hands of someone more righteous than anyone else. It is what gives birth…!]
The equipment that Gedreuts, who failed to raise his body in the end, managed to operate illuminated the universe.
An unidentified metal pillar and a metal ring made of space debris surrounding it.
[I have come to the conclusion that the reason why all my plans have failed and why humanity will perish no matter what happens is because of humanity’s ‘evolutionary direction’ that was determined at a very distant moment, even in ancient times. ]
[For mankind, evolution means moving away from barbarism. It meant breaking away from our innate ‘animal nature’ and moving into the realm of reason. From ancient times, where it was natural to kill each other for survival, to primitive times, where people cooperate with their tribe members to fight against other tribes. From the Middle Ages, where it was natural for knights to kill serfs for fun, to modern times, where murder itself is taboo, to modern times where human rights, such as the right to pursue happiness, are guaranteed.] [The
direction of progress chosen by mankind is to escape the innate animal nature. It was. At some point, even the reproductive characteristics of men and women began to break away, and just before World War III, there was even talk of breaking away from the framework of the body and creating a society of complete electronic personhood. When did it start, or was it from the beginning?… It started to become completely misaligned somewhere. Because we place too much emphasis on reason, the threshold for happiness for humans has become too high! Mankind, who was satisfied with just food to fill his stomach, started looking for delicious food, and wanted food that had a beautiful appearance regardless of taste. Next, he was satisfied only when food contained some philosophical and ideological elements. Those who only eat grass, those who only eat meat, those who consider eating certain types of food a sin! In fact, is there a difference in total amount when comparing past happiness with modern happiness? Is there a qualitative difference between the happiness of a rugged savage who protects his family from beasts and the happiness of a salaried office worker? no! at all! There is no difference in the value provided by the actions of barbaric humanity and humanity that has evolved over a thousand years! Only the shape has changed! It means that humanity has developed for something meaningless! That’s why I decided it was wrong!]
In the video, his voice was mixed with gasping sounds.
Gedreuz writes in a voice that becomes increasingly difficult. His figure at the edge of the screen was pale and unbalanced. He was a living person trapped in a dying body, and while the body was still moving, he was struggling to achieve his only goal, the ‘salvation of humanity’, which was his entire life.
[The more we move beyond our innate animal nature, the more we will be reborn as an abnormal species that can only feel happiness through strange and terrible actions. The reason why all the cases pointing to the future of humanity lead to destruction is because of the choice of such a deformed civilization!]
[So, I reset everything and gave the only success conceived by our old humanity to the truly flawless ‘completer’ of humanity. I want to pass on the destiny of a new generation of mankind…!]
My fingers crawl up holding onto the chair and tap on the keyboard. After the password was entered, the metal rings lined up at regular intervals, similar to the five small celestial bodies surrounding the Earth, began to vibrate in unison in response to it.
[satellite. Military satellite. Three space stations. Remnants of the failed space orbital elevator project. Debris abandoned due to failed construction of a lunar base. Space debris that humanity has irresponsibly discarded has already been considered an important problem for a long time, and it has been being removed little by little through various methods. The black pillar at the center of that ring over there was one of the most novel methods among them.] The
oscillating metal celestial bodies were radiating heat to the point where they were red-hot even in this cold universe.
[It’s just a big, really big electromagnet. An electromagnet with a battery in the center is loaded onto a rocket and launched into space. The plan was that the giant pillar-shaped electromagnet launched in this way would operate at a point full of space debris, attract metallic space debris with strong magnetism, and then move forever in a direction away from the Earth along with the metals attracted by the magnetism. Even if the direction is changed by various external forces, if only the trash can be removed from Earth’s orbit, it is a success.]
[As a result, it was a failed project. The direction changed more than expected, satellites and space bases that were operating normally were destroyed in piles, and the project was abandoned along with an astronomical amount of damage. The electromagnetic pillar that did not reach escape velocity and the space debris caught up in it were caught by the Earth’s gravity and remained as another space debris in geostationary orbit.]
– Crisp!
Before I knew it, the heat was getting stronger enough to feel it on my frozen body. I didn’t know if I was alive or able to move, but at least I could feel my frozen body melting and becoming free little by little.
[Those are the electromagnet pillars that were discarded at that time. The output was increased to a level close to its own gravity. As a result, as you can see, it was possible to collect all kinds of metal debris left in Earth’s orbit.]
[Metal masses weighing about 100 billion tons each. The five together amount to 500 billion tons. It’s far short of the 6.8 trillion tons mass of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, but this is my best for now. It is the best alternative I can prepare for our humanity.]
He leaned against the glass window, breathing heavily, and with an expression of endless pride, he took out a small box from his pocket and opened it in my direction.
[Five buttons. It’s connected to a detonator for five different uranium-3 explosives. And the explosive is placed at the bottom of that electromagnetic pillar. The explosive power is equivalent to that of a small hydrogen bomb, so there will be no shortage of propellant.]
[….Professor Park. Messiah, the only success our race has ever achieved. I’m thinking of dropping that thing on Earth from now on.]
Knock knock! Crispy! Crackle!
[Don’t be hasty. What you need to do is not move your body to block me.]
-Tuk
[Thoughts and choices. That’s the only option left to you.]
A hand stretched out toward Gedreutz, frozen on the surface of the spaceship. What the drone that flew from the base placed on top of the stubborn and futile resistance was a complex syringe filled with dark green liquid.
[It is a treatment for mutant viruses. One that can return your body to that of a human and ensure a significant lifespan. It is a path that leads to the old age of the human Professor Park. And this one here….]
-Click!
[….This is the detonation switch for a 100 billion ton metal storm that will fall precisely at the center of Area 47. It’ll probably be spectacular. If metal of this size enters the atmosphere, the heat of friction and compression would be enormous. The metal fired by mankind from the burning red sky will fall as rain of fire, and what is not burned will remain on the earth’s surface like meteors. That number will never be small.]
[Satellite meteor shower. That’s how I named it. I am confident that not a single living thing will be able to survive on the planet beneath our feet.]
[If you refuse to make a choice for the people in Area 47 who are watching our conversation right now.] I
placed the cure in my hand. A drone came toward my head. I felt my mouth being tightly closed and warm air being blown into my lungs.
[….This is the end of the old scientist’s long story. Now, I would like to hear your thoughts as you have to shoulder everything from now on…]
-Deuddeudeuk!
Coo!
Finally, the body that was clinging to the surface of the spacecraft fell. After a brief spacewalk, the semi-frozen body reached the tempered glass of Next Space where Gedreutz was leaning.
“Psycho… old man…!”
Crack, knock, knock!
The device covering the mouth conveyed the bloody sound of the monster’s teeth grinding to Gedreutz.
[Say whatever you want. Anyway, even if I press all the switches, it’s enough to save at least one area, District 47. No matter what you do, nothing changes. There is no need to change my will.]
Gedreutz’s voice, which had been panting heavily, had suddenly changed into a quiet, quiet tone, like a whisper.
[I have abandoned the body and the world in which I lived, and what can an old man with only a few days left to live hope for more than his lifelong aspirations?]
His body, which was leaning against the tempered glass, fell, and my and Gedreutz’s eyes were stuck to the glass. I encountered this.
Lifeless eyes that no longer twitch or move.
Motionless pulse. Non-stop breathing.
“I can’t believe it…”
He was already out of breath.
[Well, I don’t have time to be so surprised. There isn’t much time left! Make a deal! Whichever way you prefer!]
The forebrain implanted in Gustave’s head was talking by moving his dead body with electrical signals. The moment the built-in battery, which is all about the contracted muscles pulling the diaphragm, stimulating the brain, and causing the dead body to twitch here and there, runs out… Andrei Gedreuts remains a feeble being who will disappear like a candle.
“…Say…Gedroitz….”
But what was hanging on the fingertips of that twitching corpse was everything I had.
At my answer, a small laugh came from the mouth of Gustave, who was dead and motionless.
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