What is this: https://steemit.com/writing/@improv/new-project-announcement-open-source-interactive-story
Start the story here: https://steemit.com/thedyingtrees/@improv/the-dying-trees-open-source-interactive-story-start-here
Previous entry: https://steemit.com/thedyingtrees/@improv/3tduzc-the-dying-trees-open-source-interactive-story-continued
"Hello?"
You call into the dark tunnel. You step carefully towards the hole, and peer inside. You can see nothing, but getting on hands and knees, you crawl inside. A few meters into the tunnel, as the sunlight from the entry is subsumed by the darkness of the cool cave, your eyes adjust and notice another source of light. Bioluminescent mushrooms grow on roots along the tunnel.
You crawl forward on hands and knees for what feels like hours until you see the dryad sprite thing standing in your path. Behind it is a tangle of roots, and on the tangle of roots, glowing fungi show an outline of a quaking aspen. As you gaze at the fungi growing on the roots, the parts of them that glow begin to move. You notice that the fungi are growing on the entire wall of roots, but only parts of them glow. The glowing fungus shows you the aspen's root system which connects it to each other aspen in the grove, then it shows you the animals that live in the grove, and that they bring seeds to the forest from elsewhere, and that they take the seeds elsewhere. It shows you rain falling on the world, and it shows you dust being swept from the deserts to craggy mountain peaks.
And then all at once, the green of the phosphorescence becomes a bare grey white. You watch as this color sweeps into each tree. You watch as the roots push through earth covered by asphalt and as healthy young saplings are burnt away.
"I can't change all of humanity by myself!" you cry out.
The images slow and dissolve into darkness. Then one point of green shines. The grey edges in at the corners of the green, but it shines and pushes them back, growing bigger. Abruptly, the green disappears, but a moment later, another green point, slightly fainter appears elsewhere. As the grey pushes against it, the color deepens then brightens. It remains small, but persistent. It becomes briefly grey, but then returns to green. A grey slash appears in its midst, but then the divided green connects itself again. It does not grow bigger, but it persists.
"Do you understand?" asks the dryad.
"I don't know," you say "what is this?"
"You are speaking with everything and one thing. They will help you, guide you, but they cannot find themselves. You are one of many, but they are many and one, and so they cannot find the one special thing that will let them thrive."
"No, I don't think I understand."
The creature sighs. "Tell me what you do understand."