folkooc | TFLN, November 2023

It was different times, so I couldn't say.

Yeah yeah, she's my sister, I'm not taking that away from her.

[ Tsukasa smiles. That's Senku for you. Willing to say so much about science but so reticent to step further when it comes to human beings. ]

You would be hard pressed to do so. And it wouldn't serve any purpose. That wouldn't be like you.

Ha. It wouldn't. It would be a waste of time. [ Yes...that's why. ]

In any case, between her, Suika and everyone else I can hardly feel as though I'm on my own. [ Biological ties aren't everything. ]

No one would expect you to waste time.

Even here, you still have Gen and me.

I do. I wasn't thinking I felt lonely anyway. Gen's always around after all, if I should happen to feel that way. He's got a radar, and I do mean before we were psychically linked.

A psychic connections feels a little like overkill for you two.

I'm glad you two arrived together or close together. Hopefully you'll never have to feel lonely again. [ Tsukasa doesn't say anything about himself. He is grateful to be part of the group at all. Senku and even Gen are very forgiving. ]

Ha! We're both flattered, I assure you. Gen will be pleased that you think he was psychic to begin with.

I can mange as long as there are others around me. I wasn't worried. It's good you've joined us. If only because if I get bat around by a sphinx again, Gen will have kittens.

He's a mentalist, not psychic. Strong observational skills can appear to be the same thing to many people.

If anything tries to bat you around, it will have to get through me first. [ Tsukasa surges with protectiveness. He appreciates that it has been easy to keep them safe. He's done more hunting than protecting, but Tsukasa is always ready. Like with Xeno. ]

Indeed, no matter how many times he tries to claim otherwise. Between that and his astrology he seems to have a masochistic streak where he enjoys my lecturing him.

I appreciate that. I'm not even going to pretend my paltry combat skills compare to yours. I can shoot a gun relatively well, but that's as far as it goes. And I haven't done it since before going to the moon and that was some years ago. I'm sure my skills have degraded further.

Many people enjoy astrology, but I do not personally see how the day I was born determines who I am or how anything in my life will go. Other than predicting birthday celebrations. It's good for Gen to enjoy your lectures. You'd give other ones regardless.

All skills take practice to perfect and to maintain. Even an excellent fighter will be worse off after going without for long periods. It's why I continue to train. I would be more concerned should we need to rely on your combat abilities.

I would, but that's because he should know more than he does.

I don't have much of an interest in keeping those skills sharp.

Am I exempt from those lectures?

No, it's far more important you keep your science skills sharp.

Probably not, although you tend to follow me like Gen does. Much of the time. Or you're pretending. Either way. But it always surprises me when Gen doesn't know something. I don't know why that bothers me, it just does.

[ And Gen is all too happy to learn anyway. ]

I will leave defense to the professionals.

I wasn't planning to spend my whole career in MMA, only long enough to see my sister cured. I did well enough in school to follow along with much of what you talk about. The information was generally available to anyone paying attention to their classes. No one knows everything, Senku. That includes both Gen and you.

As you wish.

I'm not judging your career choices. Besides that, fighting is something you can only do when you're younger. You'd be outclassed eventually, it's good to have a fall back.

I never claimed to know everything.

I know. I've done it longer now than expected. Though I cannot say I've figured out a fall back option.

You manage to be both humble and have no humility at the same time.

That's true, but I think the petrification did wonder on restoring your youth, so to speak. I'm sure you can manage for awhile longer.

I don't know what you should do. I'm certain you could name your job and get it, I just don't know what you'd be best suited for. Perhaps a strategic position? [ Is this Senku offering to...delegate? Quite possibly. ]

I get accused of both regularly.

The repeated petrification events definitely expand the period of time I can perform at my peak. However, I will not fall to the temptation of petrifying myself for that reason alone. That is a slippery slope down a path we do not wish to follow.

Do you speak of this world or our own? I wish to serve where I may do the most good, in either case. If that is a strategic one, I am so willing. [ Tsukasa appreciates the offer, the idea. He knows they need Senku to get out of here, but the means are not the only problem. ]

You vary, moment to moment.

Yeah, I don't think anyone's going to let you either. I don't know, decisions haven't been made as to the best application of the petrification itself, nor have we finished replicating the technology. It's going to have to be strictly controlled. Humans need their life spans to end. A little longer wouldn't cause much harm, but not much longer. It will be deeply debated when the time comes.

I did mean our own. I hardly have anything to offer here either except for things I am using to spend my time.

Ha. I'm not going to apologize.

Most of all, I will not let me. I am sure there are plenty of people who, if they knew, would want to use petrification to live forever. [ The same people who were rich in the old world, who had power and money and influence. They don't have the same as they once did, but they are still part of the world. Tsukasa will not let them use petrification to recreate the old world. ] Whether anyone else learns what it's capable of in our lifetimes or not, yes, we need to develop the rules and regulations to prevent its misuse in the future and to instill those values in those that follow us. It is the only way.

You do not idly pass your time. Your science is not busywork. You are working on things here.

I would never expect it.

As difficult as it is to consider, the only thing we can do is educate upon the consequences, for when our life spans end there will be nothing more that we can do.

There are many who would consider living forever. I didn't consider it for a minute. It's not as simple as just extending your life. It has cascading effects. Why do you think they were looking for another planet?

However, when the time comes I will be drafting some kind of proposal about setting a lifespan as extended, with all the full health benefits and at some point a cut off about its use. I don't know what that will look like. I have time to think of as many fail safes as possible. That, and it's important not to give up on the study of medicine. The petrification can't possibly anticipate everything in our future.

Then, when I die, I can only hope I've trained someone to take it up in my stead.

Teaching is a bit of busywork, so was making the biofuel and my current project of crafting Gideon a motorcycle. But it does allow me to think. I'm thinking we need to build a rocket. I want to see how high we can go. Not manned, of course.

Unfortunately, you are correct. I might advise we wait a short period to begin the education process. We need to go about it the right way or it would have been better to do nothing at all.

[ Further, Tsukasa would feel more comfortable if more of those who ruled the old world have passed on. It's not murder. It's not any different treatment than what they want for anyone else in the world. It simply provides more time to instill cultural values and decreases the odds the discussion will be hijacked for selfish means. ]

Overpopulation, a problem of finite resources to support life and an increasingly infinite number of life forms needing support. It is an alarming curve that quickly becomes unsustainable. They were not only looking for another planet but another and another and another, passing from planet to planet once they can no longer be sustained. Immortality is a curse, not a blessing.

I am still ruminating over my ideas toward how it should be handled as well. Ideally, we shall continue without war and not need to face another situation like Hyoga's. I look forward to hearing your ideas and putting forward my own. Certainly, you made many Dr. STONE's in our time in the stone world, and petrification is only yet another, not the final one. I would not wish for us to depend on it, only to discover its limits and see someone face that heartbreak when we could have done more.

Preferably, you will have trained more than one.

Taiju isn't here. Whatever you need for your rocket, my strength is yours.

Since we are not at that stage, your waiting period may come to pass without anyone objecting to it. It's hard to say and ultimately with the whole world involved, no longer just up to us. You wouldn't like all those tedious council meetings.

Parasitic to a fault, and completely unaware of the effects of what they're doing. It's a fascinating blind spot if you ask me. Considering they alluded to doing it repeatedly, and yet they have not learned the cause for their destruction.

Ideally, but unrealistic. While we're likely going to continue being in recovery mode for quite some time, eventually those settlements will expand to others and borders will be reformed. It's why Ryusui has already negotiated his kingdom's territory to avoid that kind of future. Can't say the same for every nation out there, surely. That's more Gen's job trying work the soft power of situations like that.

The thing about science is that there is never a final one and while I hope to continue to refine and invent things, my production output is not guaranteed. There are others that will step up as well. It's going to be a fascinating thing, but that competition has always been there. I want to assume it's limited. It must be. We just don't know what the limits are.

I will hold you to that.

Indeed, there are numerous other issues being sorted out at this time. [ While Tsukasa knows it was the plan, is the plan, and is how society progresses, he still doesn't trust everyone in those council meetings, everyone making those decisions. He would rather it were up to them, the small group of them that led things back in the day. He even trusts Ryusui more than most of the others. ] I would not, but unfortunately, those tedious meetings are important for the future of the world.

The ability to learn, to improve, and to do better remains our greatest strength. If we can continue to cultivate that attitude of science, it will go a long way toward ensuring our future, all of our futures. I do hope they learn, for others sake even if not their own. I cannot fathom how long they have been down this path given they spent nearly four thousand years at our planet.

War is a waste of lives, resources, and more. If other borders are disputed, there is no guarantee anyone will honor Ryusui's. When people decide it is worth it to kill for what they want, an agreement will not stop them. Gen has his work cut out for him. We need more than Gen alone, we need a multitude of Gens.

Nothing is guaranteed. Reasonableness has never been your forte. You are trying to build a time traveling device. If I were to make a bet, I would bet that device is finished sometime, whether in your lifetime or another. From the very beginning, you planned to save everyone, and you will. Science will. Petrification has limits, but science is not limited to petrification.

I expect no less.

Believe me, I know it. It's the only reason I don't delegate my position from what it is. I'd hate it more if I didn't have a chance to argue my point. They might not let me at diplomats or politicians but I'm happy enough debating the scientists.

It has to be an extremely long time, that they didn't think a few thousand years was a big deal. We could ask Whyman, but I'm not sure he knows.

No guarantees, and yet he will try and head it off at the start to keep us out of conflict earlier. Is the old guard of Japan going to challenge us? Probably. Someday.
Especially once we're gone. We're going to get a lot of latitude as it is for our role in how things came about. Especially me.

Science will not end with me. That is guaranteed.

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