Hao Ren knew these ancient souls hadn't sought him out for a chat. As an inspector, he also had a duty to properly handle the remnants of an extinct civilization, so he took the initiative and asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"
"Stranger, we have no choice but to seek help from any traveler passing through," the collective of Tanan souls said with a low buzz. "There are repositories of our civilization in all three sanctuaries. All our culture, history, technology, and knowledge are stored in them. Please take them away, somewhere people can understand and read them. During our lives, the Tanans never managed to uncover the secrets between the stars. Now our civilization is extinct, and we hope that at least someone will know that a civilization called 'Tana' once existed. Even if all that remains is a single symbol, that would be enough. This is the last wish of the Tanans' collective consciousness before it loses itself. This memory bank hopes it can be fulfilled."
"I read in my work manual that eighty percent of extinct civilizations have a similar wish at the end of their lives. 'Leaving behind information about themselves' is apparently an instinct of intelligent beings," Hao Ren said with a sigh. "All right. Tell me where the repository is. The one in Alamanda."
The apparition told him everything about the Alamanda repository, then expressed its gratitude. But just before their mental connection was severed, Hao Ren suddenly remembered that he still had some questions. They'd been bothering him all day, and now he seemed to have finally found someone who could answer them.
"I found two strange devices. They're both keys." Hao Ren did his best to describe the two key-shaped stones he'd gotten from Igor and August. "...That's about it.