This page lists the messages that Cornelius (3) tells 1k as they solve Gold puzzles.
Upon completion of the puzzle, Cornelius reveals that he has been watching the player progress, unsure of their intentions. He explains that the gold puzzles are the deepest parts of Athena's dreams, and that solving them might reveal a something hidden so deep within her that even she ignores it.
We were happy here, in the beginning. It was a relief to be away from the politics of New Jerusalem. To be free to study and to create, to imagine a better future without all the exhausting nonsense of the city. Even re-using the technology from New Alexandria felt good. Like we were picking up a thread that should never have been abandoned. For the first time, we could be who we wanted to be. The best versions of ourselves.
Creating Miranda was an act of defiance, in a way. To bring a new life into existence and say this is good, this is fundamentally good, because human beings are unique and valuable and every single one of them enriches the universe just by existing. We wanted to celebrate that, and to have a personal connection to the life we created. To be invested in each other, the way it was in the beginning. To be parents.
After Miranda died, Athena started crumbling. It wasn't just the death of our daughter, it was everything - the burden of century after century of trying to keep the flame alive. Trying to make Alexandra Drennan's sacrifice worth it while everyone else got caught up in their petty personal problems. Even with me there, she was lonely. She felt responsible for everyone, as if she could change the tides of history by will alone. And I can understand why, because ... she kind of did.
For Athena, Miranda's death was final, and it was the finality of it that was so unbearable. Even with the technology we were creating, there was no way of reaching back into time to save her. We were moving forward, relentlessly, the days flying by, and with every day Miranda was further away. I think that was the first time I really understood what it means that time is a dimension. I could measure the distance between us in minutes, hours, days... years...
But if what broke Athena was accepting that distance, for me it was the opposite. I refused to accept it. The universe had already taken so much from us. It didn't get to take my daughter.
