But now, Proteus had been gone for a while, and she'd been left to her own devices. Ellie had seen countless of the holograms, freezing them in time so that she could wander through them. It was so easy to walk through all the images of what this place had once been, to peer into the past. The glory days really were remarkable.
So much of their equipment was taken for granted. She'd seen marvelous things done with machines that could perform surgeries on their own, but also create. Her pod had been very similar, but that was the most expensive equipment in Tau. Not just anyone was allowed to use it, but it seemed like the machines here had been freely used for centuries.
The people here had been so intelligent. They used their minds without hesitation, and they made every hair on her body stand up on end when she watched them do it.
There was only one thing left to do. Push her limits just a little more.
She stood in front of one of the exits, taking a deep breath. She didn't hear the wind howling outside, nor could she hear the crackle of thunder. Sand wasn't blowing into the doorway, and as far as she could tell, there wasn't any ice falling outside.Which meant, if she was going to do this, then the perfect moment had arrived.
"It'll be fine," she muttered. "Everything will be fine."
"Ellie," Pilot said as he stood beside her. "This is a very stupid idea."
"Yes. It is." But she had to see it for herself. She couldn't stay in this place, or even honestly allow others to stay here, without leaving it. She had to know what it would be like to not just poke her head out the door, but actually try and exist where the sun could touch her.
Steeling herself with a steady breath one more time, she opened the door and walked outside.
The heat was the first thing she noticed. How could anyone not? It blasted her in the face, nearly pushing her back into the opening that she'd just left. Brutal, blistering heat made sweat slick her body. She'd never experienced heat like this anywhere else and had no idea how anything could survive it.
Ellie tried to breathe through her mouth, but it was like she was trying to breathe water. The air was so heavy out here. It made her lungs seize, trying desperately to suck in more air, but she couldn't no matter how fast she breathed.
Not to mention the weight. Maybe it was just that it was so overwhelmingly hot, but her body felt heavier as she stepped out onto the golden sand.
She'd seen this sand countless times inside. Ellie had played with it, letting it run through her fingers and fall in a waterfall down onto the ground. But when she touched it out here, the sand was so hot it burned her fingertips.
Hissing out a breath, she backed toward the building. How could anyone live out here? How could there ever be any hope at all that they would return to this place?
At least it was cool inside the facility. For the first time, she noticed the vents where there was icy air pouring out. Hereyes clung to the insulation that was one of the few things left remaining in this building and suddenly she was grateful for it.
Gasping as she was overcome with dizziness, she sat down on the much cooler sands and stared out the still open door.
"You're alive then," Proteus's voice interrupted her thoughts. He was still in the water, watching her with those dark eyes that saw far too much. "Did your little experiment go well?"
"How are you expecting us to survive out there?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's so hot. Everything is so warm it feels like it would melt the flesh right off my bones."
"Some people might think that it's possible. I've seen humans die in heat less than that." He pulled himself out of the water, sliding across the floor toward her. With him came a rush of icy ocean water that pooled around her feet and gave her some sense of relief. "But no human would be out in the heat like you just were. It's dangerous, for one. You’ll have to adjust. When the sun is at its peak, humans cannot be outside. The facilities were meant to protect you from the heat."
She swallowed hard. "I'm just not... not certain how it will be possible for any of us. You know? It just feels like it's futile."
"Perhaps. But with the plan the other scientist laid out, and with your own people working on it, I believe we could make the environment more habitable for all of you with a few tweaks of the plan. The world is malleable. It is not something that exists only in one way, shape, or form. And yes. It will take a lifetime to fix, perhaps even generations of your people before you'll see the difference." His hand came down on hers on the floor. "But you will see a difference. The world will ease. The heat will become easier for you to withstand. And what has been broken will be fixed."
She nodded. "I know in practice it makes sense, but I just... I still don't see how we're going to do it."
"You don't?" He nudged her with his shoulder. "Do you really not see how it's possible?"
She took some time to think about it. There was a lot that could be done, but most of it was almost impossible from where they were.
"The land is uninhabitable. We can't grow things out there." She waved her hand at the door.
"No, you cannot."
She thought even harder, almost breathless with the work of it all. "So we'd have to start with the sea. With the coral reefs. Rehabilitating what we can to make sure that the colder sea could perhaps slow down some of the storms that are brewing on it."
"Correct. And once that is done?"
She blew out a breath. "Then we can focus on the land. There are pockets of areas less affected, perhaps areas around mountains with natural shelter from the storms. Focusing there would give us a chance to grow more trees, more barriers, and create pockets where the earth itself could start to heal and spread out from there."
"Smarter and smarter every day." He nudged her with his shoulder. "That is precisely what we're going to do. But that is a lot of work. Humanity has long thought it could rage against the planet, forcing it to do what they wanted, but a planet is not like that. It does not bend to human whims. It cannot be told what to do. The best it can do is take what it has been given, and create from there. That was the downfall of humanity long ago, and it is a downfall that we will avoid once again."
