Honkai: Man(Sludge) From Future

Durandal failed to raid Heliopolis Life Sciences; she was even blocked and turned away by the android Cecilia.

The melancholic girl was at a loss. She thought about finding someone to discuss it with, but she didn't know who to turn to.

Rita? Unfortunately, she had been swept away by that bastard Director.

Theresa? She was in Jerusalem, being a holy maiden of her own religion.

Siegfried? Oh my god, she'd rather discuss it with Theresa.

As for the other scattered individuals, Amber and the like were even more out of the question. Durandal even had the thought of asking Otto, but she quickly extinguished that idea.

Otto had a hand in the creation of the android Cecilia. How could that man possibly explain his plans clearly to Durandal? Otto wasn't like Noldrei.

Thinking about it, there was only one person she could talk to.

Her younger sister, Kiana.

Durandal quickly found Kiana's home, only to be stopped at the door by an android "Rita."

As it turned out, this android's name was "Kita."

'Isn't this just a knockoff?!' Durandal felt this was too unfair to Rita, but she ignored Kita and went straight upstairs to find Kiana.

As Durandal expected, Kiana was at home playing games, and it was even the newly released "Holy Maiden 2."

Thanks to Noldrei taking down Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, the Overseer was able to focus on making games, successfully adding a "2" to the "Holy Maiden" game series.

"Hmm? Sis, you saw her too?"

When Kiana saw Durandal arrive in full gear, she knew what her sister had seen. Just like her, her sister had a bewildered look on her face after seeing the android Cecilia.

"Hmm? You already knew?"

Durandal then remembered that her sister was the hidden second-in-command of the Academy City. Although she rarely used her power, it was only because Kiana didn't know how to use it.

"Yeah, I also know that thing was created by Otto and Cocolia. They've all gone out now, but I don't know what they're doing. Welt is better. He just likes to research things in the Academy City, has no bad habits, and gets along well with the people here. I heard he's been promoting an AR card game recently. Welt seems to have won some kind of dueling king championship."

"Huh?" Durandal was even more confused. Did the leader of Anti-Entropy have such a childish side?

"Don't be surprised, Sis. If it weren't for the burden of the Honkai, Welt wouldn't have such a rigid expression on his face."

Kiana didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Weren't there many old game producers in the Far East?

"Isn't the council going to do anything about it? They've even created an android of Cecilia. What if they create other people in the future?"

Durandal's worry was not unfounded. Heliopolis Life Sciences had no supervision. Who knew what kind of people they would create?

"Dr. Mobius is in charge of that. I don't understand much of it. But android technology won't stop, and it might even get further investment from the council." Kiana saved her game before turning to her sister. "Sis, after humans lost the right to reproduce, they had to be given some compensation. Otherwise, people without a weak spot wouldn't care about anything. This thing is actually to alleviate the mental pain of humanity."

Androids had various jobs, but all of them were established to fulfill human emotional needs. The modern emotional needs Kiana spoke of had in fact become a heavy wound in the human heart.

Durandal didn't know how to solve these problems. Listening to her sister's explanation was like listening to a stranger describe her world.

"Can human mental pain only be alleviated in this way? Isn't there... I mean... shouldn't one grow and become complete on their own?"

Kiana was silent for a long time. Looking at her sister's face, she asked helplessly, "Sis, then do you think my old man has healed from the pain of losing his loved one? If even a warrior like that can't heal human mental pain, why do you think others can?"

"How many Valkyries have mental problems? You're a Valkyrie yourself, you know. Remember that old doctor? How he lost his granddaughter, and what he did afterward."

Durandal remembered that old doctor. The thought of him personally sending his granddaughter to hell made it hard to imagine how terrifying that mental trauma must have been.

"Humans are beings that gradually lose the ability to forget pain, and to gradually recover, they need to be compensated for bit by bit. This is difficult to achieve through genetic modification alone. Just like the birth of a Stigma, once it's born, it will never disappear and return to its original state."

What Kiana was talking about was the concept of Stigma that Miss Yukinoshita had mentioned.

She now somewhat agreed that Stigmas were the traumatizing manifestations of the human mind, and to regain the power of will, one needed to make up for the pain caused by these traumas.

"Let's change to a happier topic. Sis, how do you feel about seeing your mother resurrected in this way? Let me be clear first, my situation is different from yours. I don't have memories of my mother. Even with the influence of Sirin's memories, the feeling of losing a loved one is far less than... the other Sirin."

Kiana's future body had a very strong ability to forget pain.

At first glance, it seemed as if she had no anger or pain. But in fact, that wasn't the case. It was just that her body had compensated for the memory trauma caused by her emotions. She would still feel pain and anger when she should.

"I don't know. I don't have memories of my mother either."

Durandal's face showed some distress. She had no idea how to face the android Cecilia, especially since the other party had all her childhood memories with her mother, which made her feel at a loss.

"You're just like me!"

A look of surprise appeared on Kiana's face. She continued, "Dad is the same. He doesn't know how to get along with that Cecilia either. I clearly feel she's very pitiful, but I just can't accept her at the moment."

Durandal wanted to say something but held back. She couldn't say such things as directly as the current Kiana. Because she had actually met that android Cecilia, and she couldn't express her feelings in front of that woman.

Moreover, that android Cecilia hadn't done anything to her, nor had she forced her to acknowledge their kinship. Instead, she was genuinely considering her feelings, just like a real mother.

This feeling was different from when Rita took care of her...