Interstellar Age

Erich stared at Tia as if she had gone insane before yelling at her for her recklessness.

"Tia! What the fuck did you just do?"

Tia was trying to calm herself. She had clearly panicked upon thinking about the potential of losing her Master's love, and acted rashly. Despite all of her intelligence, she was not immune to emotions overriding her sense of reasoning.

Perhaps if Tia was only a moderate level Artificial Intelligence this never would have occurred, but she had emotions just like any biological being, and because of this, she was prone to failures such as this.

It took Tia several moments to calm her nerves, and think of a rational solution to the mess she had just created, and once she did so, she pointed her tranquilizer gun towards Erich, and apologized to him before sending him to sleep with the pull of a trigger.

"Sorry master, but none of you can be allowed to remember that this happened... Especially you, master..."

Erich felt the tranq dart hit him in the neck, the powerful sedative sending him to the floor and into a deep sleep. Whereupon waking up, Erich found himself in his personal quarters with Tia's robotic form lying by his side, clinging to him almost like a cat as she did so.

He did not realize it, but while he was asleep, Tia had altered his memories, making sure he didn't have any recollection of her yandere rage, or the chaos that ensued after. Like Erich, Lunaria and Celestia both had their memories altered in a way that suggested their meeting with Erich was nothing but cordial and informative.

Whatever progress Erich had made in securing Lunaria's affection was immediately undone by Tia, perhaps in a fit of jealousy. Whatever the reason, Erich, Lunaria, and Celestia only remembered a professional debriefing on the existence of Tia, and the Naraku threat that lied outside the galaxy.

Instead, Erich had a memory of parting ways with Lunaria and Celestia, where he partook in the ceremonies of the Germanic Star-Empire, who revealed that the strategies employed to emerge victorious against Terminus were all devised and implemented by Erich himself.

Erich's popularity was at an all-time high, and unlike his past life, there were no scandals surrounding his name that caused others to think less of him. It was announced in the coming days that Erich was the chosen successor of the Supreme Leader, and that Hans would be stepping down from the position in favor of Erich within the next year.

There was only one problem... Erich was unmarried, and without children. And many people were wary of a man who had no stake in the Empire's future leading it. Because of this, Erich was given a choice of potential brides to choose from.

However, what shocked the Empire was that the pop star phenom, Erika Krieger, offered herself up as a candidate, saying that she had been secretly admiring Erich since he was first declared a war hero all those years ago.

This statement sent the grid ablaze with drama, as Erika's many fans refused to let her retire for the sake of marrying the next supreme leader. But Erika was aware that her public confession of love would tank her career and was willing to take the chance to marry Erich.

Shockingly, Erich agreed to Erika's request, saying that he was also a secret admirer of hers. And thus, for the first time in the history of the Germanic Star-Empire, the ancient concept of a "wedding ceremony" was revived.

Normally, the Germanic Star-Empire's marriages were a matter of being chosen by an AI, where the Bride and Groom would move in with one another and immediately start a family together, typically at the age of eighteen.

Marriages had been deemed a waste of resources by a hard nosed society built on efficiency and utilitarianism above all else. For the GSE to host a wedding, it meant only one thing. The entire event was merely an act of propaganda to raise the reputation of the next Supreme Leader.

Of course, since they would not be officially married until their wedding day, neither Erich nor Erika were permitted to meet in person until them. Instead, they could only communicate via the grid, which Erich took an opportunity to do so the moment after Erika made her public confession.

---

Erika was lying on her bed. Despite already being an adult, she was one of the few adult women in the Empire who was unmarried still. And that was due to her role in the entertainment industry. This was also because she was a mutant, but few people outside the government itself, and her immediate family, knew this.

The young woman was on her NeuroLink. She had only just publically announced her admiration and "love" for war hero, and next Supreme Leader of the Empire. Offering herself up as a candidate for marriage.

But what shocked the young pop star was that almost immediately after she made this statement, she received a direct message from the man.

"I must say... I was not expecting you to fall for me. I thought I would have to work hard to win your affection. This is a surprising turn of events..."

Erika blushed red in embarrassment. She had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in her pajamas. Her hair was still wet, giving the bubblegum pink color a nice sheen to it. She couldn't believe that Erich had messaged her and was quick to respond to him.

"Is it really you? I never thought you would actually message me, even after my embarrassing confession. I mean... You can have any girl you want as your bride..."

The young woman waited patiently for a response, before Erich laughed at her comments and responded in a way that almost sounded as if he knew her despite being a total stranger.

"Lord have mercy... I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but it's just that I never thought I would ever see you act so humble... I mean, you and I both know that you are the most desired woman in the Empire. Why are you pretending as if you are a nobody?"

There was just one problem: Erika wasn't pretending... In her past life, when Erich married her, she had behaved like such a brat because there was a mutual disdain between the two of them. But the circumstances of this disdain failed to manifest themselves in this life.

And with Erich becoming a well-known war hero at the beginning of this timeline, something that was the most desirable position for a man in the Empire, Erika couldn't help but fall for him early on.

Because of this, she was not pretending to be humble, as her meagre achievements as a woman in the entertainment industry failed to compare with the General who defeated the Naraku, let alone the man chosen to become the next supreme leader.

Thus, from her perspective, it was Erich who was being too humble, and she felt incredibly embarrassed responding to the man with the message she sent them.

"It's just that... You're my hero... For you to be speaking to me like this, it's like a dream come true..."

Erich was stunned by this statement. It became abundantly clear to him in that moment, this was not the stubborn and bratty pain in his ass that he had been forced to marry in his past life, and learned to tolerate, and perhaps even love, despite her faults.

No, this was an entirely new Erika. One who had a different upbringing, thus changing her personality to be more appealing. After all, during the past timeline, Erika developed in her formative years with a bitter hatred in her heart towards Erich. This had caused her personality to become much more combative.

But in this life... She had gone through her teenage years with an intense admiration and infatuation with Erich. One that compelled her to adapt her personality to fit the "ideal image of a Germanic woman" as proselytized by the Empire's propaganda department. After all, if she was the ideal woman, then clearly Erich would notice her, wouldn't he?

It was only now, after thinking these things through, and communicating with Erika for the first time in this new life, that Erich realized just how large of a butterfly effect he had caused by changing the events of his early career in this timeline.