65 million years ago, Victoria Power Station, Earth
Using the 250-kilometer-wide Lingshen Star as a hard drive was a stroke of genius. Nikola Tesla felt that some mysterious force seemed to be protecting the Venusians.
Mars exploded, Venus reversed its rotation, and Earth, as if by a gift from heaven, once again became the most likely cradle for a new human race.
The heat flow ejected from Mars's core condensed in space into Lingshen Star, which joined the asteroid belt.
It was made almost entirely of iron, nickel, gold, and platinum. It would endure for billions of years, preserving the consciousness codes of six billion Venusians.
Lingshen Star had thus become a true VESSEL—a container for faith and souls.
Maria still wore a deeply troubled frown as she said to Tesla, "We've finally solved one problem by engraving their consciousness onto a hard drive, but what about the genetic material of six billion people? To preserve it for tens of millions of years, we don't have enough electricity, or a reliable source of it!"
Tesla remained silent, gazing up at the towering Space elevator. Maria was about to say more, but when she saw how physically and mentally exhausted the man before her was, she held back. She rested her head against Tesla's gaunt shoulder.
Tesla turned his head and pressed his cheek to Maria's hair. Wrapping his long arms around her waist, he said gently, "I'd been counting on Victoria Power Station, but the Lightning Ball external brain told me it couldn't keep running for that long."
Maria asked, "Will the station eventually collapse because the crust shifts?"
"Not just crustal movement. No power station standing upright on a planet can last very long. Instability above and below ground, storms, and disturbances in the upper atmosphere are all unavoidable.