The Athenaeum of Broken Code wasn't a bastion. It functioned as a refuge for wisdom housed within the remains of a pre-fall data vault. Its protections were psychic dampeners, fields that warped light and a maze-like layout intended to befuddle trespassers. Its true power lay in its holdings: the final pieces of human history, scientific knowledge, cultural heritage and importantly its records, on Abyssal energy dynamics and dimensional study. It served as the Compact's intellect.
Raziel wasn't merely targeting a location. He sought to sever their capacity to comprehend their foe to strategize to recall the reasons, behind their battle.
"They will dig in yet they won't withstand an attack " Morgan stated, walking back and forth in the strategy room. The Static Net buzzed with communications, from Finn, the Athenaeums chief archivist. "Their defenses will collapse under pressure. The maze merely delays an army; it doesn't halt it."
"We're too distant " Sierra declared. "Even using our skimmers we reach there a day after the siege starts. They'll be overwhelmed."
Cassiathon examined the map feeling the two rivers of his strength moving slowly inside him. A head-on clash was unfeasible. Backup would take long. He required an answer that surpassed both distance and might.
"The Athenaeums valuable asset isn't paper or data-crystals " he stated deliberately. "It's context. It's our story. Raziel intends to incinerate the book. We can't prevent him from accessing the library…. We can ensure the story endures the blaze."
He glanced at Celeste, who was still regaining strength but attentive. "The Ghost Web has disappeared. However we established a bond with Finn. A profound one at the moment it was cut. Does that bond… does the mark remain?"
Celeste shut her eyes extending her ability. She grimaced. "Yes. It's, like a… an injury that never fully healed. I can sense it. Dim,. Present."
"Excellent " Cassiathon remarked. "In that case deploying an army isn't necessary. We'll dispatch a concept instead. That ancient scar will serve as a conduit allowing us to project the essence of the Athenaeum ahead of Raziels attack."
Kuro, who had been notably quiet whistled softly. "You intend to execute a data transfer. Of a library. Through one recovered link. Into what? The ether? You'll fracture Finns mind. Disperse the information to the cosmic breezes."
"Not into the aether " Cassiathon replied, his eyes reflecting thought. "Into the network. The Static Net. We convert every receiver every retrieved communications device, every mind influenced by our resonance into a vault. We break the knowledge into pieces. Distribute it globally like seeds. Raziel might incinerate the tree. The seeds have already been sown in the earth."
It was a desperate attempt to save culture. It demanded Finn's sacrifice—to fully open his mind as a vessel endangering his sanity. It needed Cassiathon to harness an amount of energy to enable the transmission.. It called for each member of the Compact to embrace a deluge of unfiltered raw data—history, science, sorrow, poetry, recipes—overwhelming their receivers and more subtly their subconscious minds.
"It could succeed " the Angel of Death declared. "However the pressure will be fatal, for the archivist.. It will push you to the edge of your own unraveling."
Cassiathon locked eyes with his father. "So we face the edge, as one. We allow the tale to be recounted anew."
A message was sent to Finn, outlining the plan and its cost. The reply came back almost instantly, a single word on the Static Net: PROCEED.