A Message

It's my hope that if I tell you my story, you will be able to save yourselves

There she saw the message, clear as day, inscribed in her sample. She blinked and shook her head and looked again at the scanning electron microscope's display. The stems of each character couldn't be more than a few hundred atoms wide. Each stroke a tiny rhombus protruding from the flat face of the crystal.

As she worked across the tiny facet of the crystal, adjusting the microscope’s focus and shifting the sample position, she tapped the words she read into a note on her phone.

Dear Humanity,

I write to you with hope. I love you so much. You are my most precious creations. In you I see your father's volatility and the arrogant, insatiable gaze of my great-grandfather. But you have your mother's heart, my heart.

It's my hope that if I tell you my story, you will be able to save yourselves. Our work, the work of the Elements, is invisible to you. But it's my dream to share with humanity the history of our world through my eyes: Who I've loved, lost, kissed, and killed. What I've feared and hoped for, built and destroyed. How I grew, changed, and fell. I believe if you hear my story, you might be able to save yourselves from the dangers that you face.

You, my heartbeats, have grown incredibly powerful. Humans are capable of changing the planet in ways that even we, the elements, cannot. I think this is what Hydrogen spoke of when he warned that one day we might create a new generation of gods ourselves. Your power has made many of us fear. But I know your heart. And for that reason, I believe in you.

Love,

Carbon

The best DALL-E 3 rendition of how I imagine a healthy, pre-industrial manifestation of Carbon. Prompt: “A woman in drawn in a simple style inspired by Japanese anime. She has skin with the texture of gnarled wood. She has huge buck antlers protruding from her head. Her eyes are of pure diamond. Hair is oily black and dripping. Her expression is serious but kind.”

P.S. Lydia, I am a big fan of your research. Nitrogen told me that aqueous ammonium hydroxide might work well as an absorption promoter.