POV: Rotating – Jianyu, Lena, Akio, Maya, David
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China – Jianyu POV
Jianyu pressed the black book to his chest, feeling the warmth of the pulsing roots beneath the cavern floor. The symbols on the pages shifted once again, forming visions instead of words—flashes of history intertwined with futures yet to come.
He saw the Great Wall not as it stood today, but as it had been centuries ago:
entire cities surrounding it, bustling markets, scholars scribbling scrolls of knowledge now lost to time. The roots ran beneath those cities too, invisible veins connecting people across generations.
Suddenly, the vision shifted. Fires consumed the cities, earthquakes split the ground, and floods swept through the plains. Jianyu's heart pounded in sync with the root's pulse—the Earth was not just recording, it was warning.
The cavern shook, dust falling from the ceiling, yet the roots remained calm, as if observing him. He whispered:
"It shows us everything… past, present… and what may come."
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Nazca – Lena POV
The desert spirals glowed brighter than ever. Lena leaned over her sketches, tracing each line with trembling fingers.
The sand beneath her hands vibrated, forming shapes that were not of this world—ancient cities, unknown animals, and symbols she had never learned.
A vision struck: civilizations across the globe building monuments over hidden roots, unknowingly tapping into the Earth's memory network. Then, a future unfolded: massive storms, oceans swallowing coasts, and cities trembling under invisible forces.
Lena's journal pages began to scribble themselves, spirals intertwining into maps and coordinates. Her pulse raced as she realized: the Earth wasn't just alive. It had a mind, a memory, and perhaps a plan.
She whispered to the desert wind:
"We're seeing what was… and what could be."
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Siberia – Akio POV
Akio crouched over the frozen roots, recorder in hand, magnetic pulses dancing in rhythm with his own heartbeat. The visions were relentless:
ancient ice sheets melting and refreezing, mammoths wandering beneath colossal root networks, humans touching the veins unknowingly.
Then the future: tectonic plates trembling violently, black veins bursting through ice, and an enormous pulse radiating from the planet's core. Akio's assistant's disappearance flashed before him—the young man had been claimed by the roots, perhaps as a messenger, perhaps as a warning.
The neural network beneath the ice pulsed faster, whispering:
"Witness… learn… prepare… intervene…"
Akio shivered. The Earth's mind was vast, incomprehensible, and now, fully awake.
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Amazon – Maya POV
Maya's jungle camp was silent except for the low hum of bioluminescent rivers.
The roots pulsed through the soil, carrying messages she could almost hear. Visions came unbidden: tribes from centuries past building ceremonial platforms over hidden veins, creatures unknown to science, and glowing symbols traced in mud and riverbeds.
Then, flashes of the future: massive hurricanes bending the trees, rivers turning crimson, forests splitting apart.
The roots reacted, sending her pulses that vibrated through her bones, almost pleading.
Her voice was barely a whisper:
"The Earth remembers everything… it sees everything… and it wants us to see it too."
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Antarctica – David POV
The ice groaned beneath David's boots as the roots beneath the glacier pulsed with increasing intensity. His instruments recorded sequences that defied physics—genetic memory, planetary resonance, electromagnetic coding.
The visions: cities buried under ice, humans observing patterns of light and root pulses, ecosystems long gone, and then future disasters—megathrust quakes, auroras so intense they lit entire continents, and a massive root structure breaking the surface in the Arctic Ocean.
David felt the Earth's consciousness pressing into him: a reminder, a test, a summons. He realized the Root Archive was not passive. It was sentient, and it was assessing humanity.
He spoke aloud, though the wind carried no response:
"We have to understand it… before it decides we cannot."
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Closing Lines of Part III:
Across the globe, the five witnesses experienced simultaneous visions—past civilizations, living ecosystems, future disasters—all encoded into the roots' memory. The Earth was alive, conscious, and aware of every human.
And now, it was watching them.
The Root Archive was not just a record. It was a challenge.
A pulse surged through the planet, synchronizing every continent, every witness, every root. Humanity had glimpsed the past and the future… and the weight of that knowledge pressed down on their shoulders like a storm waiting to break.