I guess they wouldn’t need a firmament if they were doing a thing where.. they just let life-supporting planets see them until intelligent life emerges, because unintelligent life would be indifferent to them, and then once intelligent life starts to build telescopes they descend and scan everyone and move it into a simulation. This would get them a completely accurate biological history. The simulation, from then on, might not be completely accurate, but if so, I am not sensitive to what would be missing from it.
I guess they wouldn’t need a firmament if they were doing a thing where.. they just let life-supporting planets see them until intelligent life emerges, because unintelligent life would be indifferent to them, and then once intelligent life starts to build telescopes they descend and scan everyone and move it into a simulation. This would get them a completely accurate biological history. The simulation, from then on, might not be completely accurate, but if so, I am not sensitive to what would be missing from it.