Simply put, the Human Federation did not have a person known as the "Speaker."
The "Mira" sitting before Lei Ting was an "anchor" bearing a name from an ancient Earth language. Her purpose was to act as a conduit.
By coordinating with a force field formed by specific wave frequencies, she played back technologically processed audio and video recordings within a designated space.
Using unknown methods, the humans of the 30th century had glimpsed certain historical developments of the future from the New Solar System. Consequently, they created this "program," recording their voices in a room large enough to hold over a hundred people. They bound these recordings to this pocket of space intercepted from the past, allowing the "Speaker" to appear at critical moments when the Federation needed its course corrected.
This "Speaker" could not be considered a "He" or "She," but only an "It."
It possessed no thought, consciousness, or self; it was merely a collection of audio and video recordings of the long-dead. Even the white-robed outer appearance was essentially just a "super-powered model." The mask could never be removed because the mask and the figure were one and the same.
It could be likened to a green-screen filming technique: Actor A performs before a green screen with no physical props, while Actor B performs against a placeholder. The final result, however, presents them engaged in a one-on-one dialogue.
This was a conversation that abruptly leaped across time and space. The people of the 30th century had foreseen and planned the developments of the 41st century, including Lei Ting’s visit. All of this belonged to a project named "Mirar." The Speaker did not mention what technology or super-power it was built upon, but to achieve this effect, it required at least a foundation of "precognition."
Amidst war and struggle, humanity had exhausted its strength to cast its gaze across a millennium toward these compatriots they had never met.
After taking a few more looks, they felt this era was actually quite good, and so they did their best to guide the future toward it.
However, this entire plan had countless historical branching points. Every choice made by every living being in this universe could point toward a new parallel space-time. Thus, they only recorded dialogues for the most likely parts of the future they observed. Even if this seemed like overstepping their bounds, heaven only knew what the repeatedly corrupting Federation would have become over these years without the guidance of thoughts tempered in war and despair.
Perhaps in some parallel world, Lei Ting was accepting this gaze from the past in his capacity as the new Vice Speaker, listening to this phonograph play incorrect, irrelevant lines.
Or perhaps in another parallel world, a Lei Ting who had wandered alone since childhood sat in the middle of a desolate, snow-covered planet, while this phonograph played a dialogue in this independent space that had nothing to do with him and that he could never hear.
Or perhaps in some other development, humanity had long since ceased to exist in the universe, its history ending around the year 3000 AD. Everything before that would be stored in a civilization specimen hall on a Ring World like a photograph of a fleeting firework, while the phonograph sealed here remained eternally silent until the end of the universe.
As Lei Ting pieced this together, a thought involuntarily surfaced:
*The current era is already this rotten. In some frontier systems of the Federation, people might even start a project spanning over a decade and consuming countless resources just because of a superior's whim, building a complex that serves only as an ornament... Why were the people of the 30th century actually looking forward to all this happening?*
He stopped himself before he could ask the question. But the phonograph spoke anyway; it seemed the timeline they observed was one where "Lei Ting asked the question."
"Why look forward to it? Resources are abundant, and no one will starve to death... Isn't this already paradise? Brother, you'll understand when you come to our time. The feeling of wanting to split a single grain of rice or a piece of iron into eight pieces just to make it last is truly unpleasant."
"You said I would go to your era..."
Lei Ting frowned. He knew there was a saying—of unknown origin but officially certified by the Coalition—that "time travelers cannot casually interfere with material changes." Thus, he didn't rush to ask why he hadn't helped them. Instead, he raised another question: "...Then, roughly when did I go? And how much do you know about me?"
"To the first question, I'd love to say 'I don't know, but it's not now,' but acting mysterious serves no purp—"
As the recorder spoke, he seemed to be shoved hard by someone beside him. "...Hey!! OK, OK, I'll stop wasting time. Anyway, the 'you' we see here is different from the one I saw 'ten years ago,' even though you're both young... Regardless, you don't have white hair yet. I think you won't be able to come to our time until at least two-thirds of your hair has turned white."
"White hair?" Lei Ting was stunned.
How strange... why would he have white hair? He didn't know about other 'Double-S' ranks, but his own vitality was so powerful that he should still have a head of healthy black hair even three hundred years from now...
Could he have gone there in his late old age? No, that wasn't right. If it were white hair from natural aging, he certainly wouldn't project the sense of "youth" that could be perceived even through a visor.
Aging was a holistic change.
"Yes, white hair, at both temples. And when you communicated with us back then, I saw that your hair was actually mostly gray. You just cleverly covered it with the black hair on top when you wore your circlet, but it made the white at the temples particularly conspicuous..." The other party sighed. "To be honest, you looked dead sexy... Who hit me?!"
"..." Lei Ting raised a hand to rub his brow, but hit his visor instead, failing the attempt.
A head of gray hair at a young age...
Excluding organ failure and deficiencies in key nutrients—which were impossible for him—the greatest possibility was excessive rumination and stress.
Just what was he going to experience in the future to end up like that... Had the disaster that had given him a heavy sense of crisis for the past nine years finally happened? And... was Evenheiler not by that "Lei Ting's" side at the critical moment?
No, it didn't matter if he was by his side. As long as Evenheiler was still alive and well in this starry sea, he would...
...
...Wait.
Lei Ting’s hand, which was about to drop, suddenly froze.
...
In those "original story memories," in the plot related to the "Villain Lei Ting," there truly was a line mentioned: *'There is simply no one in this world worth his lingering affection.'*
And that was even the reason why he had taken care of Shane so much during the latter's painful mid-growth period. When giving the reason, the original text read: *'For a powerful man to retain the strength to love others in a cold universe—what a beautiful thing that is.'*
...
No, impossible... absolutely impossible. He would never let such a future happen.
Never.
Never!
Golden light surged around Lei Ting at some unknown moment. It was a power like sunlight, yet it could not warm even a fraction of the obscure, chilling coldness on his face.
"Though I don't know what you're thinking, brother, according to the developments we've seen, there's a certain possibility your current mental state might crush the force field generator into a ball..." the recorder whispered. "Cool off a bit? Lest we can't continue the conversation."
Lei Ting took a deep breath. "My apologies."
At this moment, he felt an uncontrollable thirst for knowledge regarding the question: *What exactly happened to make my hair turn white and enable me to achieve the nearly impossible feat of traveling through time?*
But he also understood that the group of people in the recording could not answer this for him. They were merely a group of humans who had long since died.
Thus, he asked again, "Then, how much do you know about me?"
"Not much. We only know that your soul comes from another universe that is not a parallel world... and whether your memories can awaken is a very important turning point," the other party replied. "While there aren't many particularly good timelines where you woke up, the timelines where you didn't wake up are especially bad. Irreparably bad."
Whether he awakened or not was important... it must be the influence of those "original story memories."
It made sense. Even for the same person, the difference between having more life experience and being able to "foresee the future" versus not was already immense. When amplified by the power of the "Sun Star," it would naturally have a profound impact on the future.
"Fine." Lei Ting glanced at the "Speaker."
To be honest, for a soul like his from the 21st century of another universe, both the 30th and 41st centuries were quite "the future."
What child of the 21st century hadn't imagined what the future would look like?
And now, he was living in it.
Though this future was not the shape he had once expected, in the "past" where it took root, there was a group of people struggling in the flames of war who, in their era, hoped for the arrival of this age they could never experience.
Lei Ting could fully understand that hope.
Once, on the third planet of the New Solar System, before his memories had returned, he too had hoped for a new future.
In short, after the conversation, Lei Ting understood: humanity could not touch ancient culture, but they could not completely abandon it either. Because the power of the "Mirar Project" needed to use thought and culture as a springboard, Retro-ism could exist—in fact, it *had* to be brought out for a walk intermittently. It was so in the past, it was so now, and it would be so in the future.
This information related to the "past" was stored within the "Mirada," the super-powered entity holding Earth aloft in the Ethereal Plane. This was a name derived from an ancient Earth Spanish word; the root "Mira" meant "to look" or "to gaze."
He didn't know if they had some rule about "one name passed down through generations," but Lei Ting didn't particularly care.
By contrast, the question he prioritized was: "No need for more words. I know you have something you need from me. So, for what purpose?"
"I thought you would say 'State your demands,'" the recorder laughed. "It's truly rare to hear you speak with a normal attitude...
"And... watch your hometown, 'Sun Star'!"
***
