Related:

• The fungus has been Planet's dominant lifeform since about the time of the Lower Paleozoic on Earth.
  But when, once every hundred million years or so, the neural net at last achieves the critical mass necessary to become sentient, the final metamorphosis kills off most of the other life on the planet....
• Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind. Have you drunk your fill?
  -- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet", Epilogue...
• You waited so long to heed us, earthdeirdre, Almost we pruned you, as we may yet prune your branches.
  -- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Plane...
• Observe the Razorbeak as it tends so carefully to the fungal bloom
  just the right bit from the yellow, then a swatch from the pink....
• You are the children of a dead planet, earthdeirdre, and this death we do not comprehend.
  We shall take you in, but may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease?...
• Having now established a secure perimeter, we have made ourselves relatively safe from enemy incursions.
  But against the seemingly random attacks by Planet's native life only our array of warning sensors can help us, for the Mind Worms infiltrate through every crevice and chew through anything softer than plasmasteel....
• In the great commons at Gaia's Landing we have a tall and particularly beautiful stand of white pine, planted at the time of the first colonies.
  It represents our promise to the people, and to Planet itself, never to repeat the tragedy of Earth....
• No longer mere earthbeings and planetbeings are we, but bright children of the stars!
  And together we shall dance in and out of ten billion years, celebrating the gift of consciousness until the stars themselves grow cold and weary, and our thoughts turn again to the beginning....
• We welcome you, earthdeirdre and earthwheat and earthtree as honored gue
  for you add great power to our ancient song-- planetfungus and planetworm and planetmind sing and play here, and you are welcome among us....