"I've told you everything I know."
The Grand Patriarch leaned back in her chair. After saying so much, she seemed a little parched. She took a sip of Tree Sap, then quietly looked at us. "This is the history of the Tree Spirits, as well as this planet's secret."
Sandora got straight to the point. "What exactly was the thing that Empire General gave you back then? A piece of data? How do we extract it?"
"It's recorded in the planet's navigation system. The navigators have permission to activate the system, but we don't know how to read it. Perhaps you have a way. But before that, we must first awaken all the Tree Spirits, because the general told us that the core database can only be accessed once. Once the data is extracted, all the planet's systems will reboot and delete everything. During that process, the Life Support System will shut down."
I thought of the hundreds of millions of Hibernation Pods in the upper mantle. This was going to be a massive undertaking.
"Then let's begin now," Sandora said. Her eyes turned toward the window. The little wooden house's window was narrow, and from here we could see only a small part of the village: two Mushroom Treehouses, along with several Tree Spirits walking across the clearing. "When these dreaming Tree Spirits awaken, they'll retain memories of their time in the dream, right?"
"Yes. These continuously added new memories are the key technology that delays the dispersal of our souls. Tree Spirits must constantly receive new informational stimulation in order to survive. Such a lock was written into our genes." The Grand Patriarch nodded. "Our scholars have studied this and believe it was caused by the Tree Spirits' unique learning pattern."
Sandora nodded and said nothing more.
I