As Above, So Below, and Philosophical Debate

Mr. Wernherluft is at a lake named in the Grunewald forest located near the capital of Deutshctonia, Berlin. The name of the lake is Teufels Lake, which means 'Devil's Lake.' Although it is in the forest, many people already know about the existence of the lake.

However, many people do not know that near the lake, there is a man-made hill. The object, which is a secret government project, is about 80 meters high. The hill is called Teufelsberg, and like the name of the lake, the name Teufelsberg means Devil's Hill.

Apart from Mr. Wernherluft, only a few people know about the existence of the man-made hill—not even all members of the Five know about the hill. One person who has information about the hill is a man who is currently fishing with Mr. Wenherluft. The man is none other than the Minister of Defense, Mr. Huttereich Blitzkaper Waldwuff.

Mr. Waldwuff asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be concentrating on fishing.”

Mr. Wernherluft immediately showed his cellphone, which displayed breaking news about the Quietus Cloud. Mr. Waldwuff was surprised. “What? How is that possible? In our country? Do you know that device?”

Mr. Wernherluft shook his head. “It seems that other than us, there are also parties who have secrets,” said Mr. Wernherluft.

Mr. Wernherlfut added, “As above, so below. It seems that the hole in the Quietus Cloud is like a solitary wave in the ocean.”

Mr. Waldwuff said, “Whatever it is, let’s find out who they are. Let’s end today’s fishing session. I’m afraid that whatever it is, something that can damage the Quietus Cloud could ruin our party’s plans to establish. And that would mean threatening the survival of our people.”

Like Mr. Waldwuff, Mr. Wernherluft also immediately tidied up his fishing equipment. He said, “Maybe my survival is different.”

Mr. Waldwuff asked, “What do you mean?”

Mr. Wernherluft, packing up and walking away from the lake, explained, “Well. I am a member of the Five—odd and untouchable—and also one of their Big Five. Let me remind you again, my goals and yours, Mr. Bushy Mustache, can be different even though sometimes we are on the same path. I make weapons; sometimes there is a reason why we have to point them at Earth, but my main goal is outer space.”

(***)

Starkgeist's heart was beating faster at that time. At that time, he was still working in his laboratory in the state of Bavaria. While he was operating his tools, a notification appeared from one of his laptops. Not a public news notification, of course, but a notification of what he was monitoring: the Quietus Cloud. With the tools and knowledge he had, Starkgeist would certainly know faster than any media about the changes that had occurred in the Quietus Cloud.

Starkgeist initially ignored the warning. But when he was walking to get a cup of coffee, he passed by the laptop. That's when he realized there were signs he didn't want to know: that he had something that could escape the Quietus Cloud.

"No way! No way!" Starkgeist canceled getting a cup of coffee and immediately walked quickly to his air observation room. With the help of his various tools, he knew that the Quietus Cloud had indeed had a hole. Not only that, he knew that the rocket that penetrated the Quietus Cloud had also succeeded in orbiting a satellite.

"Impossible! Impossible! I've tried my whole life to prevent this! I even willingly became a cold-blooded person who killed my colleagues! But how could all this happen?!"

While continuing to express his disbelief, Starkegeist's hands nimbly pressed the buttons in front of him. His goal at that time was to contact the satellite that had just entered orbit.

In the end, Starkgeist was able to establish communication with the SEE-SAW satellite by force.

(***)

"Hey, look, someone's contacting us!" The princess said in a high tone.

I immediately turned around and returned to the control room. At that time, the princess said, "It seems like he wants to communicate with us."

I, who was looking at the princess at that time, immediately turned to face the Round Jonqu. I approached the ball and said, "I need your help, Jonqu."

"Ready!" Jonqu answered with full confidence.

The help I meant at that time was help so that I could use one of Jonqu's functions: changing and disguising my voice directly.

I put Jonqu on a stand in front of me, between my face and the satellite's operating screen. I pressed the command to set SEE-SAW to allow two-way communication between me and the caller.

As soon as the communication line was connected, I immediately heard a cursing voice: "Damn you! Damn! Damn! Damn!"

At that time, I spontaneously turned and looked at the princess's face while putting on a meaningful expression: "Who is this person?"

The voice from the other side asked while cursing again, "You or you guys, right, made that rocker? Damn you guys! You're dead!"

I tried to respond casually, "Hey, hey, calm down.... Who are you!"

The voice said, "It doesn't matter who I am, and it doesn't matter who you are!"

I replied, "Then—"

The voice immediately cut me off, "What's more important is that you can penetrate the Quietus Cloud! Are you going to tell other parties or countries how to do it?"

I explained, "Yes, of course. Because with that we can start space exploration that—

The voice again didn't give me a chance to finish my sentence, "Stupid! Don't do that! Can't you think about what will happen after the Quietus Cloud is penetrated?!"

I replied, "Of course, we can try to find another planet to live on."

The voice asked again, "After that?!"

I asked back, "After that?"

The voice expressed its thoughts: “After that, humans will continue the Thousand-Year War again! Can’t you think about it?! After getting a new planet, the humans on this planet will start another war, a war on a new planet, or a war between planets!”

I didn’t reply, and the voice continued to scold and lecture me, “What do you expect from the humans on this planet?! Look, when the war stops temporarily, gladiator sports can become popular! What do you expect from humans whose desire to kill each other is ingrained?!”

I remained silent, and the voice continued to echo, “What is that like?! I said it was like Sisyphus, who was punished to lift a rock up a hill, and then, after the rock rolled down, Sisyphus had to lift the rock again. That’s how the humans on this planet are! Absurd! They build and then destroy! And so on!”

The voice asserted. “That is why it is better for Sisyphus to die! So that absurdity will not continue! That is why it is better for humans to die under the Quietus Cloud! Why wander into space if humans will end up starting a conflict again?! Will they start lifting rocks from the bottom of the hill again?!”

For a few seconds, we were silent. Finall,y I said what came to my mind at that time, “It may be absurd. But, there are still other options besides killing Sisyphus; there are other options besides letting humans die. How about our choice of trying to make the lifted stone into a different essence so that it can finally change humans themselves? I call it Stone Work.”

The voice cursed, “Ahhh! Damn it! Are you trying to trap me, influencing me with your philosophical chatter? Damn it! There is no point in this conversation! I'd better take action!”