Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
a day accepted by the young, cherished by we old. Across the gently undulating hills stood the magnificent Melopolis, encradling the Oracle of Delni. I do not, of course, believe in the gods per se still there is a grandeur in the very stones that transcends their human sculptors, and it is no wonder to me that many cling tenaciously, and ignorantly, to the old religion. Cling to the gods of old, who drew man upward from wherever he began. In whose names Man killed and plundered, while struggling up. In whose returned, and settled down to live. Saddened, but resigned and content to live in peace with his knowledge and his power. Gone now are all the ancient evils, wars, emergencies. seldom seen today. Indeed, Melia was on this account made the butt of many jokes and, I fear, would have had a lonely life of it had it not been for the friendship of Xeon. in Maternite. All the Prelife is gone." "All of it?" I asked. "There is nothing left," Melia insisted. "Can more be made? And if not, what will happen with no more children?" "That is for the priests to say, not I," I replied. In moments of that they stood in the midst of an unprecedented happening Not in the memory of the eldest among us has a machine failed. They were created so long ago, indeed, that the ignorant believe them to have been constructed by the gods themselves. And never, so far as I know, has one failed. Small wonder that the watcher had been Besides, had he been sober, he would not have known what to do. For who knows the mysterious workings of the machines? themselves on the floor as I took my place by the great table. had departed for home and supper. Yet perhaps it is for the best, for those left were the most earnest and intelligent. "I would not bore you," he said, "with details of which only the gods are sure. Know, then, that once granted a few cells of Prelife, it is an easy matter for the Maternite Machine to add more and more A murmur of assent and approval of these virtuous words whispered "That is not the worst," he cried, as if in defiance. "All the Prelife has been dried up. It will not function. There is no more. And there will be no more children!" At this I feared the Conclave was about to riot. It is at such times that I most revere the wisdom of the ancients, who decreed seventy "Is there no way, then, to produce more Prelife in order that the machines may produce more children for us? "As I have said," he replied, "give the machines but a bit of Prelife and they will produce more. But take away that least bit, and they are helpless." Such heresy could have brought a sad end to the priest had not the Conclave been so exhausted by the events of the day. We leaned back to think. and yet it came from somewhere." "Riddles are not called for," I answered severely. "Are not riddles often the beginning of knowledge?" he asked, in that irritating dumber-than-thou attitude of his. "Must there not, long ago, have been a source of Prelife: a source now forgotten? And may it not even now—should we discover it—be available to us? I am reminded of the story of the animals of old—" "I fear your mind is wandering, Rocsates," I was forced to interrupt. "I know well the legend of the animals, but what does it have to do—" The heads of the Conclave were turning to me, quizzically. I "If it be so," I said, quieting the hub-bub that followed, "and I would not doubt your word, Rocsates, for all know you are the wisest of men—if it were so, then, what of it?" "May it not be," Rocsates put in, "that these animals had no machines to reproduce their kind? For surely the gods would not grant machines to such creatures. And indeed, if they had Maternite Machines, why then we would yet have these animals among us." "I should like to ask the Conclave for permission to search the ancient records, in the hope of finding some such knowledge that would prove or disprove my words." "You wish to search the films—" I began. "Not the films, Sias, but the books." Gods, this Rocsates! The books, as well he knows, are so ancient, and so delicate, that they are kept in an air-tight tomb lest, being handled, they be destroyed and all knowledge within them lost. Therefore, they have not been read in the known history of our race. And Rocsates has been anxious for an excuse— "Sias," he went on, "if there exists such knowledge as I seek, is it not indeed lost to the memory of Man? And if so, are not the books the only place where it may be found?" Rocsates, it is suspected, will never ask a question unless he knows may say, why should this not be so? There is, indeed, no reason why we "Rocsates," I interrupted. "All this is fascinating, of course. But if you could be quick—" "Of course," he replied. "In the course of my reading I have read many books, and while they are all vague on the subject, this I have discovered: "That there was indeed a time before the machines, in fact the books were created in that time, for not one of them mentions the machines. land, but they have lived with us for all time somehow intimately related to the physical distinctions of the She's!" assembled overwhelmed him. "It seems," I shouted, "that there is a flaw in your logic." For if such there was, I was hopeful of dismissing the entire affair with no harm done. "For if people reproduced too often, why then this reproduction must have been a pleasant thing to do otherwise they would not have done so to excess. And if it was a pleasant thing to do, where is the necessity for the machines, and why were they created?" such a pleasure that the Conclave ruled it to be a sin? And therefore the machines were necessary!" in the dungeon until the Conclave is satisfied to release him, and this I needed a sufficient excuse to call a meeting of the Conclave, to be held the next day at dawn, and so that night slept well. "I have indeed discovered the secret of reproduction," he began. "After many searchings, I came upon this—" and he held forth the object he had carried in. "It is a book. It is entitled, 'Living a Normal Sex Life.' It seems to be some sort of a do-it-yourself pamphlet." He dropped the book on the table and rubbed his hands over his eyes. suppose," he said. "You see, once upon a time there were birds and bees...." When he finished the Conclave sat in horrified silence. His words, with all their horror, had the ring of truth and there were no cries of 'Heresy'. There was only stunned disbelief and the beginnings of nausea. "Shall not these organs which you mention have atrophied by now? With no use throughout all these generations, will they not have evolved into nothingness?" "I do not think so," Rocsates replied after a while. "What to us is There were none, of course. Who would refuse a boon to one who would "They seemed finally to accomplish all the book described," I muttered. "It doesn't matter," I said disconsolately. "Who could ask them to go through such an ordeal again?" about her shoulders, as if to protect her, but I know not from whom. "Of course," I replied. Anything they might want they could have. My I watched them turn and wander off together under the stars. My heart has a warmth in it, and I no longer fear for the future of our race when our young people can show such nobility and sacrifice.

<question>:
What is ironic about keeping their books stored away in an airtight compartment?

<options>:
A There is nothing in the books that can help Melopolis repair the Maternite or save its population
B The books were already designed with technology that would keep them intact forever
C There is little use in preserving something if the meaning is lost upon those preserving it
D The books contain antiquated knowledge that will only set Melopolis back further

<answer>:

C