The challenge of the water computer

This week I've been continuing with my edit of Jade.  I revamped my plot, making it more difficult for Kaath to get what she wants.  The man she expected to help her wouldn't. Politics has made him more cautious, and he's insisting she gather more evidence before they make the all-important legal application to protect Jade permanently from exploitation.

Which leaves me with as big a challenge as Kaath.  I now have to work out in detail how my sentient ocean collects and stores its memories.

I've been surprised how far-reaching my research for this book has been, and now I'm delving off into other areas.  I've decided the computer uses crystals growing on the sea bed as its storage medium.  But I can't see an ocean being able to develop a laser-substitute powerful enough to burn data pits into the crystals, so I've decided to use acids instead.  They'll have to be created by the black cells which carry the data, and I need some mechanism for controlling the acid to create different depth pits in the crystal.

I think I've figured out how to get the data gathering and memory storage parts of the equation done in a way that doesn't have people howling with laughter, but that's only half the story.  I then need to work out how this computer would retrieve its memories and use them.  And right now I have no idea how to do that.

Then again, I have no idea how the human brain stores and retrieves its memories either.  So that's my next line of research.  Every time I delve into a new area I find something I can adapt and use for my story.  And if I really get stuck I'll work out a new plot wrinkle which forces her to make the application before she has all the evidence. But I don't want to use that unless I'm absolutely stumped.  I want to see if I can rise to the challenge of working out how that system works.

Researching topics for this novel has helped my scientific education tremendously.  And I've enjoyed the journey.  I'm like a curious kid gathering in new knowledge.  The challenge of of the water computer has been the toughest yet, but I'm determined to rise to it, somehow.