703  Rebirth I


    "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, "We can do both, but we typically use the first method since we already know the amount of consciousness each humanoid body can handle."


    "Good. Start with the lowest amount you can safely transfer, and then slowly increase it until you feel the body has reached its limit. Don’t worry if the body gets damaged—I can remake them. Just don’t do it deliberately, as you’ve seen the time it takes to reconstruct them," Aron said.


    As the conversation unfolded, the ship finally arrived and hovered above what seemed to be an empty ocean.


    Aron stepped out of the ship''s door, and simultaneously, the hologram that had been speaking to the tree folks vanished, replaced by his physical presence.


    "Okay, let’s start," he said, as though speaking into thin air. Moments later, slender roots emerged from the ocean, gently floating in front of him, awaiting his following command.


    "Okay, you can open and move your bodies now," Aron added, giving them permission to start moving in their new physical forms.


    “.........”


    Instead of eyes opening, there was only silence.


    “Is there a problem?” Aron asked, materializing a hologram to display the information from the medipods.


    “We still have a connection, but it feels like we’re in a maze or sluggish goo, and that’s hindering our progress,” Birch explained.


    Aron examined the real-time brain data, noting that the brains were still in a "booting mode." Thanks to the runes, the consciousness placed within was attempting to reconcile with the subconscious, trying to blend the two parts into a single, cohesive entity.


    “Don’t fight any changes you’re feeling,” Aron instructed. “What’s happening is the consciousness is integrating with the subconscious to operate seamlessly.”


    Understanding this, the tree folks stopped resisting and allowed the process to unfold naturally.


    This continued for ten hours, with Aron and the tree folks maintaining their focus on the process.


    After half a full E-day, the bodies'' eyes finally opened. At first, they appeared lifeless, but then they showed signs of vitality as life entered them.


    “Damn,” was the only utterance from the two traitors, their voices tinged with defeat. Their hopes for the situation to unravel had not come to pass; instead, everything had worked seamlessly.