Before the discussion could proceed further, Aron swiftly created three runic contracts outlining the rules for using the system within their bodies. After signing them, he handed each tree folk their respective contract to review and sign. They did so quickly, as the fear of him changing his mind and activating the system prompted them to act fast once they confirmed that the contracts posed no threat.The two traitors, who had been silently observing everything within the timeless meadow while being unable to speak or react due to Aron’s interference, expressed their frustration and shock through their eyes.Aron, having dealt with the primary concerns, then turned his attention to them. “Now that we have established the necessary terms for trust,” he said, addressing the traitors directly, “we can move on to your matters.”“What are you going to do with us? Now that you can control our bodies, are you planning to make us your slaves?” Oak asked, his tone and expression attempting t
"See you later," Aron said with a casual wave to Crabapple, Birch, and Cypress, before vanishing from the timeless meadow.They had finally concluded their meeting, which had lasted more than a day, meticulously finalizing every detail of the handover process. Surprisingly, the tree folks didn’t contest the handover at all and instead directed their attention toward the next phase.Since their children would be treated as ordinary imperial citizens, that part of the process was relatively quick. What consumed the most time, however, was determining the fate of the tree folks themselves—what classification they would fall under and what rules they would be governed by moving forward.After lengthy discussions, they agreed that the tree folks would be classified as "special entities." Under this status, they would have the freedom to do as they wished, provided they did not break the imperial constitution and sought prior approval from the emperor for major matters. Additionally, they w
While everyone on Proxima B was occupied with the recovery process, the situation was quite different for the watchers back in the solar system. They were limited to observing and reacting to the live stream, unable to intervene or influence the events unfolding on the planet.The live stream setup was sophisticated, featuring multiple cameras positioned in various locations.These cameras were capable of focusing on different significant events simultaneously, with the ability to zoom in on objects without any loss of quality, provided the objects weren’t protected by privacy laws. This meant the empire was employing military-grade surveillance technology for what was essentially a live broadcast. Numerous cameras were placed throughout the star system and above the planet's orbit, ensuring comprehensive coverage.As a result, viewers had the option to watch the live stream from the same camera but see entirely different perspectives based on their preferences. The official broadcas
A week later.Following a full week of recovery efforts, the rebuilding process for the destruction caused by the fights and the planetquake triggered by Aron was well underway. During that period, nearly all details of the meeting, except for a few classified points, were made public. Along with this, the announcement of a handover agreement was revealed, alongside the news that strict limitations would be imposed on the elders to prevent them from interfering in the lives of the Proximians, ensuring such an incident would not repeat itself.The news was met with overwhelmingly positive reactions from both the empire's citizens and the Proximians. After enduring the recent chaos, many Proximians had been anxious that another elder might go rogue, plunging them into a similar situation once again. While joining the empire was already seen as a favorable step for them, the announcement that the emperor had made it impossible for the elders to interfere in their lives — combined with
The moment Aron logged in, Nova wasted no time and teleported him to a private simulation she had specially created for the event."It took quite some time," Aron remarked as he settled into the chair she had prepared for him.{Since their brain structure differs from ours, and they’ve evolved various ways of interpreting things throughout their existence, I had to restart the decoding process several times after analyzing each evolutionary phase. They’ve had quite a few of those over their long history,} Nova responded. As she spoke, she materialized visual representations of the distinct brain structures she had to decode, showcasing the complexity of their evolutionary changes."Why didn't you just use the little protagonists in our two workers to speed up your analysis?" Aron asked, puzzled by her decision to use a more manual approach.{The little protagonists can monitor and interfere with the brain, but due to the power level of the beings we're dealing with, they can't fully c
Two weeks later.Aron stood calmly inside one of the physical labs on his ship, his eyes fixed on five medipods positioned before him. Holograms hovered over each pod, displaying streams of data being collected in real time.Inside the pods, five bodies lay motionless, sustained by a constant supply of nutrients directly administered to their systems. The pods were designed to keep the bodies alive while preventing any activation of brain function, ensuring that consciousness remained completely dormant.Although the bodies in the pods outwardly resembled the various races of the Proximians, the similarities ended there. Internally, their structure was much closer to Aron’s own physiology than to that of the Proximians or even humans.{I think that’s enough observation. We should start the final etching,} Nova suggested, materializing beside him, ready to move on to the next critical step in their experiment."Sure, let’s do it," Aron said, stepping closer to the nearest pod. Immediat
"Do you want to test it out?" Aron asked when the three tree folks used the access he had granted them through their contract to reach out with questions about the bodies he was creating.Birch responded, "We need physical contact with the body to attempt the transfer of our consciousness.""That’s an easy fix," Aron said, and moments later, the tree folks sensed his personal ship in orbit beginning to deorbit and head toward the planet."Anything else you need?" he added."What level of consciousness can it handle? Depending on the brain's capacity, the amount of consciousness we can transfer will change, and I don’t want the brain to explode right at the start," Crabapple asked.Aron considered the question before replying, "During the transfer of part of your consciousness into your humanoid bodies, do you do it by cutting a piece of consciousness and inserting it, or is it like pouring water, gradually filling it up until the body reaches its capacity?"Cypress responded this time
“This feels different,” Birch remarked, her voice coming from her new body as she emerged from the now-open medipod.She experienced drowsiness and a headache, feeling unusually heavy, as if she needed more rest. Despite the discomfort, she was captivated by the sensations her new body provided. While she could simulate these experiences in VR, they were never fully accurate due to differences in brain data and insufficient understanding of it. Now, however, the experience was genuine, and she was engrossed in it, not caring about the drowsiness at all.She realized she couldn't ignore or dismiss these feelings; her consciousness was fully integrated with this body’s brain, making her as vulnerable and perceptive as any human or Proximian, or so she thought.Meanwhile, Cypress, though also adapting to her new body’s sensations, was focused on something else. She attempted to unfold her transparent wings, which were currently tucked against her back. As she extended them, they reveal