Leareth isn’t a Healer and this answer could stand to be more helpful. Oh well.

He tugs at the foggy threads of memory.

:- Your solution. Should work. I think. Good enough. Worth trying: 

He’s not sure, but it’s not like he’s ever tried to Gate to another world either. At some point he has to decide that he’s sure enough.

Shavri rests a hand on his shoulder. :Leareth. Hey. Are you with me:

Mindspeaking her is actually, weirdly, harder than with the Proto.

:Yes: he manages. :We are - north, camp... Today is -: he gets stuck for a few seconds on retrieving the date but eventually manages it. The Healer is going to want to check how confused he is, and he would rather get on with the work at hand.

Well, that’s more reassuring than she’d feared. :Good. Do you, er, have any idea what the Proto...?:

:I asked it to:

:What:

:Needed - to think clearer - less tired...:

:Well. Please don’t do it again: 

Since Leareth seems kind of stabilized, she returns her attention to Julie.

And Leareth returns his attention to the problem at hand. 

:Energy requirement?: he thinks at the Proto.

.̴̥͎͛͑̉͊̌͆̔̆̊͘̚͝:̴̡̢̫͔̦̠̙͈̪̊̇͛̆̿́̓͠e̵̢̜̻͍͖͔̫̥̞̪̜̰̖̽̊̋̍̉̓͊̿͒̈́̀͑ͅn̷̗͑̎͘ȩ̶̛͖͎̤͖̥̳̘̩̹̦͙̓͊̅̈́̇̅̒̈́͒͠͝͝r̴̢̨̞̜̗̻̼̲̿̀͗̀̊̀̎̉́͌͗͝g̴̛͈̼̖̳̾́̂̉̈́͘͝ỹ̵̢͎̲̭̺̪̫̤̉̄ ̵̧̟̣̩̦̤̣̜͓͔̰̘̄̌̓͝͝͝ͅģ̴̧̧̼̞͕̥̬̺̿́͛̊̒̚ͅę̶͇̖͖̮͇̖̌͗̌̆̅̔͊̀n̷̢̤̹̳̙̩̣̱̆̃͝ͅḙ̵̡̝͈͂̍͂̑̍r̶͓̗̼̳̖̱̭̩͈̈́͗͆̒̈́̀̂̽̀̊̔̉ͅͅá̴̧̧̛̟̯̻̠̯͇̭̎́̉́̈́̍t̷̢̡̟̱̪̖͇͓͔͔̺̽͌͂͊͑͜í̸̧̝͔̪̣̹̫̬͚̰̤̼͋͆̄̃̏̌͂͌͗͛̚͜͠ͅo̴̮̊̉̾n̶̨̛̯̖̙̎͆̅̈́̍̌̾̓͂̊̀̍͘!̸̣̭͓̳́͌͗̃̀̅̚:̴̨̲͓̤̤̠͎̘̤͍̱̥̫̄͗̎̐̂̚͝ͅͅ

Leareth isn't sure if this is intended to be an answer to his question, which was probably an ill-formed question from the Proto's perspective anyway. 

:Energy generation!: he agrees, and then visualizes the Gate-math again - but this time, rather than focusing on the search-destination, he moves his attention to the power input - remembers the feeling of power leaving his reserves, how that looks to mage-sight... 

:Need more power: he adds. :How much?: 

.̴̢̢̤̠͈̗̯͖͕̤̿̑̃̎͂̿̍̾̃̉͊̒̀̑:̶̡̳̮̖̤͍̗̣̫̝̈́p̸̧̺͚͍͉̠̘͔̩̜̼̻͂̓ő̵̧͚̩̬̯̓͛̀́̊̈́̔́̔̔͘͝w̴̛̲̃̋̂̅́͆̏̌̚̕͘ȅ̵͍̦̫̥͓̦͓͇̟̲̱̬́ŗ̶̮̟͎̝̜̤͍̭͒̈́̈́͑̈́́̀̄͂̕̕͘̕͜͜ ̷̨̡͎̮̲̦̱̘͚̆̀͛̐̓̌͂͂̇̈̉͝ͅr̴̙̪̱̣̺͙̬̟̼͆͊̑̿̋͂̀̚ĕ̷͎̩̯̹̙̪͇̞̪̖͚͒̓̊̀̎͗͂͊̔͘͝q̸̮̤̥͉̻̜̦̯̪̣͉̱̼̇͜͜͝ǘ̸̳̱̰̪́̔̒̋͌̆̀̾͜͜i̴̛̥̻͈̍̀͑̃̎̿̐͑̍͒̕ŗ̶̦̟͔̰̜̝̊͂̂̉̈ͅȅ̷̡̠̺̞̼̟͔̻̼̫̯̹́̌̾ḿ̴̤̘̗̐̀͌̀̏̿͗̕͝͝e̷̗̐͛̄̏̍͐̀̕n̸͙̥̮̗̮͇͚̩͙͎͙̹̱̂̓̋̐͊͛̍̏͛͊̓͂̈̚t̸̘̄̄̑́́̔͛́͑͌͛̈́͘̚ś̸̞̓͝ ̴̨͍̐̂͘t̷̨̨͎̣̗͙̆į̵̨͈̘̟̹̻̂̒̓̎́n̸͚̝̘̫̠̭̝͇̬͔̲̐͑͛̃̀͊y̷̨͚̰̦̯̠͕͍̼͔̆̐̈́̓̇̕̚͝͝ ̶̡̰̺̣͉͓͓͓̫̘͉̀̀̈̀̒̌̉̇͛͗́̑́̚b̴̥̳̯͙̥̦̮̞̐̈́̊̂̀ṷ̴̫̅̉́͂̚͝ț̴̡̭̣͊̑̇̉ ̸̧̢̥̞̭̭͕͔̙̘̦̺͈̱̆͌͛̑͜͠͝͝͝p̶̧̡͍͖̤̯̗͓̱̩͖̹͐̔̾͛̉̊̽̀͝ͅō̴̢̫̰̙̠̦̑̏͊̉̑͘w̴̛̮̪͔͍̣͍̞̞͓̰̭̤̉̄̌̌͊̑̒͌͒̚͘͜͝͝ę̸͇̰̻̟͍̝̳̣͈̯̝̙̐͋̏͂͆̐̀͂͌͗͊̆̚͜͠͝r̸̹̰͕̺̰͓̹͙̥̩͎͙̤͎͋̈́̌̎͗͊̇͑̈́̆̿̚ ̵̢̼̝̪̕ģ̵̳͐͗͂̑̈́̇͝e̵̳̪̫̦̖͈̞̱̝̖͈̼͈͕̍̓̀͌̋͆̋͂̀͌̚͠͝ͅn̷̢̨͍̖̞͇̯͇̐͑͂̓͐͑̔̅́̉̕̚͠͠ȩ̵̛̺͔̗͉̪̤͋̓̃̌͆̉͛̅̑ŕ̷̘͕̺͎̀̃̀̓͠ͅa̶̼̼͕͕̯̺̥͆͗̿̓̂̒̒̌͗͘͠ţ̸̨̮͙̠̱̠͎͎̞̼͗į̷̪̫͈̖̦̻̹̣̤̥̺̜̾̏̓̅͋̆̅͗͗̌̚ố̶̧̩̠̜̤̤̖͎͍͕̱̟ͅͅn̷̢͈͉̗̻̬̠̞̟͋͒̐ͅ ̴̛̥͈̪͉̦̙͓͍̯͑͑͑̋́̊̓͗̆̔̄̾͘͠c̵̨̨̡̬͔͙̰͎͚̝͕̼̹̓͐̆̓̅́̇̿͒̀͋̐̀͠ú̷̜̼̒̽̀̀̀̀͒̀̋͒͝r̷̨̡̝̪̰͖͍̠̙͔̲̫̰̒͝r̵̨̜̩͕̞̖͍̞̙͎͂̇̈͊̔̂̽̈̇̍́͠ę̴̦̳͖̬́̈́̈́̄̈̅͐͒͂̃̀̾̉̕n̵̨̧̩̗͔̖̳̼͓̺̙̯͔̗͂͗̈́͆̎̾ͅt̷̡̙͔̞̖̀̐͘͝l̵͈̬̫̫̩̃͒y̵̧̢̩̱̩̿̆̉͆̐̓̀̍̒́̿̓̊́̚ ̴͔̬̩̠̌̈́̄̀̅̐̋̇̏i̶̧̡̟̦͎̟̺̖͔̟͐͐̓͐̍̀̌̒̈̇̓̕̚m̷̧̖̫̼͈̯̪̂͆̊͋̔̀̓͠p̷̛͍̰̘̜̲̟̮͍̗̞͛̉̐͋͂̀̀̈́̔͌̕ͅͅȏ̸̧̢̧̯̭̰͍͎̲̙͙̦͊͂̅̋̊͜͝ś̷̡͍͖̤̱̩̩͚͒͐̅̌͛̀͛̅̄͌̄͘̚͘ś̷̹͎̠̹̉i̵̡͕͙̳̣̼̙̾b̸͔͈̱͍̺̼̮̥͓͚͖̍l̷͉̝͐̎͛́̓̈́̔͘ē̷̥̭̦͇̗̊͊́̽̌̎̇̕͝.̴̫͚͉̓͛͑̐̓̑͋:̷̻̋̄͘

Leareth - is not at all sure that he wants to even consider helping the terrifying alien entity gain the ability to ARBITRARILY GENERATE POWER which is...apparently something it understands and can do...which in hindsight makes perfect sense given that it apparently makes wormholes through spacetime itself but he somehow still failed to think through the ramifications. Probably because he's still seriously ill and recently almost died and thinking at all is very effortful.

...He has no idea what to do. 

:- Nayoki?: he tries. 

He cannot at all reach the surface. 

:Can you call Nayoki?: he asks, to everyone nearby. 

     (This includes the Healers on his staff, who pass this along.) 

Leareth takes a deep breath, and reaches for Julie. :...I just. I - I learned something. About the Proto's capabilities: 

Mmm?

:...It can....generate arbitrary - well, very large - quantities of energy...: 

Somehow Leareth feels as though this came across as much more significant in his thoughts than it does now, saying it to Julie, who after all comes from a civilization capable of building ships that can travel between planets, if not different stars - 

- oh, yeah, I guess that'd be a big deal at your tech level. You, uh, I don't know whatever the fuck the aliens know but if you want to jump the human tech tree you rotate a magnet inside a wire, and you can build watermills that do that, and then you can power cities. You need precision manufacture for fusio- for the thing that powers the ship -

:Right. Thank you:

It...is possible, no, very reasonable, that he should think more, or run this by someone else who can think better, but.

He reaches for the Proto anyway. Pictures Julie's ship, as it appeared to his eyes and to his mage-sight.

:Power. How?: 

?

:?: 

:- I need - more concrete - math, matter, what, show me...?: 

(Leareth is vaguely aware that his thoughts are becoming increasingly incoherent and he should plausibly just wait for Nayoki but he's so curious.) 

The next attempt is even less comprehensible, bright and cloudy and baffling. It's saying that you - build overlapping-clouds and the process releases lots of energy?

:????: but he's so tired and it's so hard to stay awake... 

And then, abruptly - or maybe he lost consciousness somewhere in the middle - Nayoki is there. 

:Leareth. Leareth? Talk to me: