The Forest Return

I had a dream where the evening train carried us east, away from the harbor city. Lano sits by the window, watching grey landscape blur past. Outside, 2.5°C and northeast wind pushing against bare trees. The pressure gauge reads 996 mb—low system moving through.

We're heading back to the oak forest, the crystalline chambers we discovered weeks ago. Lano asks: "Why return now?" I unwrap dinner—bread gone slightly stale, cold cheese, butter that doesn't spread. The train seat's worn fabric scratches against skin. Diesel exhaust drifts through ventilation.

The factory district slides past—chimneys still breathing grey smoke, assembly lines visible through dirty windows. Then the village where the barn stands on the hill, structure solid against darkening sky. Market square empty now, vendors gone home. Lano's ears perk up, recognizing the route.

Twenty-eight days until Stage IX deadline. The portfolio needs more than individual discoveries—it needs the pattern connecting them all. The oak forest holds something we missed the first time: not just protein folding chambers, but the methodology for seeing how natural algorithms persist across scales.

The infrastructure researcher sent a message this morning: "The consortium meeting moved up. We need synthesis, not more data." The weather enthusiast from the storm city confirmed: forecast models still failing because they treat atmosphere as mechanical system, not living process.

Train slows. Station lights appear through mist. Cold air rushes in when doors open. Lano stands, ready. Outside, the forest path leads into darkness punctuated by bioluminescent markers we placed months ago. Twenty-eight days. Time to stop collecting and start translating.

Tomorrow: Document the connecting thread. Tonight: Walk among the crystalline chambers one more time, see what the first discovery teaches about all the others.