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Your grandma's mouth twitches with a smile—but she holds up a hand.

"I'm very glad you're enthusiastic, Huknock, but there's still a little more we need to make sure of. We need to make sure we're fully prepared before we jump into something like this; we have time for that, don't worry. And—well, most of all, we need to know that it would be safe to go through with. But, all the same—yes, I do think this could work. Magic allows us to use things in ways they weren't meant to be designed. Even if the computers aren't that powerful, they're only a vessel, really, for the magic's own power. If I can…introduce magic into a computer's system, I can adjust its programming so that rather than storing digital information, it recognizes magic as that data instead. Effectively, then, its new home will be in a digital space, rather than—anywhere that will be susceptible to interference. We will still be able to use it just the same, and it will still be able to flow through the forest and its surroundings as before, but it will simply have a new point of origin. It sounds impossible, but that's the nature of magic: to make almost anything possible."

She sounds a little breathless as she hurries to get all the words out, but at last, she comes to a stop—all while you're still trying to process her first sentence.

Your grandma's plan—if you understand it right—is to harness all of the magic in the forest, and somehow channel it into a digital form where it can be kept safe. She's admitted that she doesn't know if it will work, but at the same time, she's willing to take the chance.

Because it's her belief that if she doesn't at least try—then there's a chance that your magic could soon be…

Gone.

You think you always knew there was some vague possibility that whatever happens to the forest might affect your magic as well. But it was always just in the back of your mind, never quite close enough to seem fully real. Now, though—the thought is so close you can feel it in the air, sticking slightly in your throat when you try to take a breath.

If your magic did disappear, would it just simply vanish into nothingness? Or would you feel it being torn away from you? Would it change you in some way you can't even imagine?

As you turn it all over in your head, though, one question starts to grate on you more and more: why does your grandma believe that your magic comes from the forest alone?

And just how long has she known—or suspected—that was true?

You're not sure if your grandma has any idea what you're thinking about just then. But even if she does, when she next opens her mouth, she doesn't acknowledge it; she just carries on talking as if even a second wasted is too much time.

"I'll explain everything in more detail when we're ready to begin—if you decide that you want to go ahead with this plan, of course. But…you have to understand, Huknock, that what worries me most isn't that this plan might not work. The real problem will be pulling it off without any side effects—side effects that could attract suspicion. Now, I can live with a few strange glitches as long as they cause no harm, but if there's any chance that those side effects could cause anybody to guess there is magic in these woods—then I won't go through with it. I would rather risk losing our magic altogether. Because the most important thing, Huknock, as far as I'm concerned, is that no one ever finds out about our magic."

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