Legacy

Story so far

Bernard introduces the hidden Legacy material to Lukas, whose access to its books is initially restricted alongside Bernard’s. The books preserve a carefully edited world history, images of unfamiliar animals, and handwritten manuals, mementos, and guidance for future leaders. The name also denotes men and women of the old world kept asleep in storage. Inductees receive the Legacy as part of their initiation, and Thurman describes its truth as something to distribute carefully or withhold.

For Solo, the thick reference books supplement the servers and transform his understanding of familiar objects. Illustrated entries explain locomotives, locusts, cats, and snakes; practical pages teach fishing tackle and filleting. Volumes are kept in alphabetically labeled metal tins. For Lukas, the collection becomes a charge to protect alongside life itself, a source on historical uprisings and their aftermath, and confirmation that the world orbits the sun. Thurman says knowledge capable of enabling humanity’s self-destruction has been excluded.

The books also preserve information about older animal breeds. When Remy demonstrates his knowledge, Elise wonders whether he learned from a copy of this collection about the old world.

Appearance

Thick reference volumes, including leather-bound gilded books, with vivid illustrations and explanatory text; books are stored in alphabetically labeled metal tins.

Role

A controlled store of historical and practical knowledge, with the same name also used for preserved people from the old world.