My Dear Girl: By the time you can make sense of these Catastrophe data, you will be a capable and independent researcher. I am not worried at all, because I am confident that with your effort and talent, it is only a matter of time. You are my greatest pride. So more than work-related things, I have something else I would write here for you. I know you must complain that your father and I always have so little time to be with you. Please believe me when I say this is also our greatest regret. For us, every time we look upon your peaceful, sleeping face, leaving home becomes a difficult prospect. We never know if this goodbye might be forever, and we can’t know how to say goodbye to you under such circumstances. Know that this field we have given everything to is important. Humans are so small in the face of the vastness of the land, but we choose not to be small. It is the search for knowledge that gives meaning to our tiny lives. Knowledge leads humanity to surpass the limitations of what we see, pierce through soil and rock, glimpse the true face of this land, and thus tells us who we are. So even at the mouth of a volcano, beholding the abyss before me, I am thinking that we may be able to go directly to the secrets hidden in the depths of the earth. This is dangerous work. I am writing these words now, to a certain extent, in order to ease my fear. I always have reasons to press on. Because this is an ideal I share with your father, and I am fortunate enough to have had a family with him, and your arrival was a gift to the both of us. Seeing you choose to embark on the same journey as we have, we are over the moons. Of course, we do not see you as simply our successor, and you have no obligation to inherit our career, but we also believe that you will accomplish things far beyond what we have. As a researcher, I see many qualities worth emulating in my daughter. She is meticulous, focused, tenacious, and brave. How happy I am to see this in you! I sincerely hope you continue down the path of scientific research and see your efforts bear fruit. Your father and I have left behind many achievements in our research, but the most precious treasure we leave to this great land is you. We want to expand the boundaries of human knowledge with you. That is the goal we are working toward, and you can surely stand on our shoulders to see a clearer, more beautiful world. —This letter is found in a thick pile of scientific research documents.