He remembered now. He remembered the exact moment obsession had taken complete hold of him. Twenty years before extinction, Silas was attending the annual gathering of Scholars. This gathering was a 90-year tradition of the greater Human Empire and the only event Silas participated in, in his later years.
This annual gathering of Scholars was essentially an Open House where the entire world presented their inventions to Silas and discussed scientific theories.
He remembered a lecture conducted by one of his subordinates on Unified Theory at this gathering. He even remembered his subordinate, Val's, exact words.
He had said, "Humanity has reached untold glory under his highness, the emperor. Our job is done, the Unified Theory is essentially complete. Every force, every particle, every quantum fluctuation now bows to our understanding. The universe holds no more secrets from us. We have mapped the fundamental code that governs all existence, from the smallest subatomic dance to the grandest cosmic symphony. Physics is finished. Reality itself has been conquered by human intellect."
This declaration by Val received a standing ovation from the entire gathering. But what Silas heard was not the praise but the stagnation. This was the exact moment he realized that he had no chance of actually comprehending this world's secrets.
He realized that he, along with humanity, was completely at a standstill. There was no hope further. There was no clue; each unsolved question was a clue, a chance to push further. The fact that the people thought there were no more questions told Silas all he needed to know. He knew in that moment that they were fucked. Not because they'd failed, but because they'd succeeded too well. They'd answered every question they could think of and then stopped looking for new ones. The worst part wasn't hitting a wall - it was convincing themselves there was no wall to hit. They'd built the perfect intellectual prison and locked themselves inside, throwing away the key because they thought they didn't need it anymore.
The worst part was that Silas too was in this prison.
He knew that the Unified Theory was incomplete. He knew this deeply because completing this theory was his life's goal. This theory was the culmination of everything he knew about the universe.
So, he knew it was unfinished because there were too many exceptions. Any exception was just a nice way of saying there was a flaw.
A flaw meant that he had not achieved the goal he had spent his entire life on. This revelation was killing Silas internally; he couldn't bear the weight of his failure.
He remembered that to be the exact moment, he decided to try again. This was the moment Silas completely gave up on humanity and his empire. This was the moment he decided to create a time machine...
Silas was dissatisfied. He was extremely dissatisfied because nothing achieved by humanity was complete. Humanity's exploration didn't find any other life in the universe; their life extension methods had no way to extend life without permanently giving up the potential for further growth; their genetic engineering eliminated most diseases and made them stronger, but not before creating another plethora of problems. So naturally, he was dissatisfied.
He had scoured most of the galaxy himself, but he found no other intelligent being.
He even sent signals to the rest of the knowable universe, but there was never any response.
In despair, he shifted his focus to exploring other dimensions, but even there, he found nothing...
There was no god, no heaven, no hell; humans were there all alone. Or perhaps Silas had never reached a level where he could interact with such beings.
In any case, he had exhausted all his options. He was so obsessed with finding other life forms because he was looking for a way to extend his lifespan.
Silas had no problem with dying, but dying like this without accomplishing anything was not something he could tolerate.
Sensing his thoughts, Silas chuckled, 'Perhaps this is what every coward who is afraid of dying says.'
In any case, he refused to give up just yet.
In his youth, he had developed a super serum that would elevate his genes to the next level, but it was flawed.
It gave him unparalleled strength and adaptability, but it also locked his genes forever.
Now, even 93 years later, he couldn't unlock these genes.
He could still upload his consciousness to a computer as a last-case scenario, but Silas was not that desperate to live.
He refused to let go of his potential for further advancement, even if it meant sacrificing his life. To Silas, growth meant an elevation in life level; he wanted to become a perfect being free of any flaw. This was necessary for 'perfect comprehension'
And his gamble had paid off. Silas had created a time machine...
By scraping together all the resources of the solar system, Silas finally created this machine.
Bit by bit, he had absorbed the solar system's resources. The oceans had become reactors. Moons were carved for their minerals. Planets and asteroids were stripped bare of any resources. Under Silas's lead, humanity had destroyed the ecosystem of the Solar System beyond repair.
Now, just like the Solar System, its only inhabitants had died because of Silas too.
This was the riskiest move Silas had made in his life. If the machine fails, he will have no future left. This machine was the result of 20 years of relentless effort by all of humanity.
He realized now how foolish he had been. He had to do better in this life. He vowed never to let his life be led by desperation and hopelessness like that again.
"A century of discipline and training - all of it crumbles the moment obsession takes hold," Silas said, his voice dripping with contempt.
Silas decided to forget this debate for now and decided to take a reserve of his current situation.
"I have decent martial arts skills, but their effect will be almost inconsequential with my current weak body. I also have good hacking skills, especially for this era, and a good foundation in science, technology, and bioengineering".
Well, considering he managed to achieve matter-energy conversion and teleportation. Maybe good is already being modest.