Teacher's Will
When I encountered this line again:
- Asuka to everyone during a meeting in Strive story mode, Confrontation
I kinda doubted what I've just heard, because it implies that this entire time, he's just following his "teacher's will" instead of his own. But, Asuka also likes science right? He's a (generally) good person too. Why wouldn't his past as a scientist align with what he wants? But thinking about it, I realized that I overlooked something.
Just because someone likes science, it doesn't mean that they want to find a cure for cancer. That's like assuming every artist can paint realism. Or every programmer wants to work in cybersecurity instead of game development. It just doesn't work that way, especially since not all good people want to serve everyone for their entire lives. Some professionals just wants to utilize their creativity for entertainment's sake. And that includes scientists.
In fact, there are studies made for the sake of gaining knowledge, even if it has no immediate benefit for society. And that, is Basic research.
"Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena...Though often driven simply by curiosity, basic research often fuels the technological innovations of applied science."
- Portions of Wikipedia's definition
In addition, despite being an expert in life sciences, Asuka might have more interest in math based on some points, such as:
1) his major (bioinformatics) ultimately deals with computing biological data,
2) the name of his radio show is "Clear Numbers" (at least, based on how both his Japanese and English Strive page quotes on it),
3) how his voice lines made several references to physics (though it might be hard to reference biology in there anyway), and
4) based on this line:
"Just Asuka. The boring man with a fondness for math that you know so well."
- Asuka replying to Sol's question about his identity, Strive story mode, Omen
He might also have an interest in philosophy based on his philosophical discussions with Frederick/Sol in Overture Material Collection and Xrd Sign, Devastation A, and also based on, whatever Asuka R# meant by his interest in truth/reality (I'll reserve my assumptions for this one because it feels vague).
But, regardless of what his true interests are, why did Asuka chose to do stuff against his will? It's possibly because of this so called "teacher's will". Which, although not directly mentioned in the story, might be implied as "service to humanity".
"The pupils he left behind continued to await their master's return, but began searching for a way to stop the robot on their own. One chose to educate the people and help them evolve. Another thought to halt the advancement of humans, suspending them in their current state. The pupils will eventually become known as the Gear Maker and Conclave."
- A portion of Asuka's story about the Universal Will's origin, Xrd Rev story mode, Cause A
So, which of his actions are actually "his"? That's, where speculation comes in. Unless he directly states it (which is unlikely, at least for most details), we'll never really know for sure.
At most, I can only suggest which might be truly his decision or not. And I don't know about you, but I find that entertaining, so here's what I think:
Gear Project
For humanity, because it was originally made for medicinal use.
Turning Sol and Aria into Gears
Personal agenda, because the military kills witnesses, so he was desperate to save his friends (based on Guilty Gear Begin).
2nd Gear Project
For humanity, so that he will have full control over the Gear research.
"It was never my intention for Gears to become weapons of war. With the collective information system I've built, we can give orders to the weaponized Gears. We can stop the wars... In order to do that, I needed to be involved in its development. That's the reason why I've created Justice."
- Asuka explaining the nature of his past actions to Sol, Xrd Rev story mode, Cause A
Destruction of Japan
For humanity, to prevent the Universal Will from manifesting in their world. However, he did so with guilt, even during the act:
Lab Tech 1: Are you serious?! You'll vaporize Japan!
???: Fire, Cecile.
Lab Tech 1: I...I can't...
???: I'm sorry, I should never have asked you. I'll do it.
Lab Tech 1: Sir...!
???: Firing gamma ray. Aria, I'm sorry!
- A portion of Asuka's flashback before his reveal, Xrd Sign story mode, Kaleidoscope B
Accepting I-No and Raven as subordinates
Personal agenda, because he genuinely wants to help them:
"He can be a little mean sometimes, but he would never use people as pawns. He's trying to save you and Raven. That's the truth."
- Jack-O to I-No in I-No's Xrd Rev episode mode
I argue that this perspective made his relationship with them genuine instead of transactional (though I don’t know if I-No felt the same way).
Helping Sol survive
Both for humanity and personal agenda, as his friend (as seen by his care for him in the past and in Strive later) and carrier of the FoC.
"The only things that could stop me now are the Flame of Corruption or the Scales of Juno."
- I-No after turning into a god, Strive story mode, Strive
Helping defeat the Conclave, Ariels (Universal Will), Happy Chaos, and I-No
Both for humanity and personal agenda, as the world and everyone he cared about is at stake.
Creating Jack-O Valentine
Both for humanity and personal agenda, as a physical patch for Justice and a way of returning Aria.
Removing the Flame of Corruption
For personal agenda, because in time, Sol will lose control of himself (based on the implication in this scene). Though he might also hurt a lot of people in the process, Asuka's response focuses more on Sol:
Asuka: As with the Tome... Our world has no need for his power.
Vernon: Bullshit. Tell me, who is Sol gonna hurt?!
Asuka: Himself.
- A portion of the conversation about "getting rid of Sol", Strive story mode, Conclusion
This made me believe that he cares more about Sol getting hurt than... Well, in his defense, that can be solved when it happens, hopefully.
Taking the Tome (and FoC?) to the Moon
Mostly for humanity, because it's inevitable for evil people to use the Tome (and FoC?) for selfish reasons, and the moon is the safest place to hide it. In addition, having a guardian alongside it helps secure it from those people. However, I think Asuka also did this out of atonement based on what Slayer mentioned in his path in Guilty Gear XX:
"So you live only for atonement."
and based on what Asuka R# mentioned,
"Your duty, and your penance for throwing the world into chaos."
For context, Asuka R# was wondering if he was made to replace Asuka.
Clear Numbers
Both for humanity and personal agenda, because he believes in the potential of obejctive data:
"We often misunderstand each other's feelings. We don't always agree. But we can't reject the other's entirety. What we lack is accurate knowledge...The Tome teaches about the nature of our world. What we need is not a call to action... but numbers. Just numbers, free from ideology, profit, and value."
- Portions of Asuka's explanation regarding the "Accumulation of Good Will", Strive story mode, Conclusion
And arguably, as I proposed above, I think it's because he likes math. I think of it as making your hobby into a job, but that might just be me.
Creating Asuka R#
Personal agenda no doubt. It's not like he can use this on earth, and if the clone serves as his back-up like sci-fi stories does, maybe it can be useful. But he straight up created another unique human being by tweaking his personality a bit and letting him be conscious. There's three possible reasons for creating Asuka R# (wanting to try out creating an artifical human, wanting someone to talk to, or wanting a replacement for himself), but arguably, those are still under personal agendas.
Battle Method Turing Test
... Personal agenda. Because of the nature of Turing tests to determine if an AI is considered "intelligent enough". In this case, it might be meant for
1) making a human convinced that they're fighting a real person (and create better illusions?)
2) creating an AI smart enough to... have their own fighting style??...
Yeah, this is personal agenda alright. Even if there are benefits, I think it'll be just as indirect as (or arguably more indirect than) the benefits of basic research.
Lastly, his future actions—whether it's for humanity or himself—will now be done in his own terms, based on his declaration,
"I've never decided anything for myself before. I followed the influences around me, tried to adapt myself to them. My long list of aliases is a testament to that. I've never truly been myself. Thinking back on it now, it seems the same could be said for my becoming a scientist. In turn, I've always pushed the responsibility for my presence in this world... ...onto everyone else."
- Asuka to Sol in their meeting before the G4, Strive story mode, Omen
Disclaimer: I didn't include his actions in Lightning the Argent (through Raven) because there isn't a complete fan translation of the story yet. So, yeah, I had zero clue which ones were his actual commands and which ones were Raven's decisions. Well, aside from the collection of a sample, but I had zero context for what it is for: experiment? identifying the source to help Sol? I don't know. And I'm not taking my chances on machine translators.
Did I forget anything else? Probably. Will I secretly add it when I do remember? Yes–