Then,theimpossiblehappened。
Thesymbolbegantomove。
Itrotatedclockwiseonce,thensplitintothreeconcentricrings,eachspinninginoppositedirections。Fromwithinemergednotwords,butsensations?achild’sconfusionuponseeingdeathforthefirsttime;thetremblingaweofearlyastronomersstaringintothevoid;thequiethorrorofrealizingonehaslivedalie。Thesewerenotmemories,butarchetypalmomentsofdoubtthathadseededallsubsequentinquiry。
Avoicefilledthechamber,neithermalenorfemale,neithernearnorfar:
>**Youseektheorigin。Butoriginsareillusionscreatedbylinearminds。Therewasnobeginning。Onlyaneternalnowofasking。Whatyoucall‘thefirstquestion’ismerelythepointatwhichconsciousnessbecameawareofitsownuncertainty。**
Silencefollowed。Eventhetreestilled。
Finally,LinSuisteppedforward。Sheplacedherhandoverthetablet。
“Idon’twanttoknowwhereitstarted,”shesaid。“Iwanttoknowwhathappensnext。”
Theresponsecameinstantly。
>**Nextisyourstocreate。Butbeware?deeperquestionsunravelmorethanignorance。Theydissolveidentity。Breakbelief。Shatterlove。Areyoupreparedtoloseyourselfinpursuitoftruth?**
Shedidn’thesitate。
“Yes。”
Assoonasthewordleftherlips,theentirecaverneruptedinlight。Thetreeexplodedoutwardinawaveofradiantfilaments,threadingthrougheachofthem,enteringtheirbodiesthrougheyes,ears,mouth,pores。Itwasn’tpainful?quitetheopposite。Itfeltlikerememberingsomethingforgottensincebirth。
Visionsfloodedtheirminds。
LinSuisawherselfstandingatopamountainofburningbooks,eachflamewhisperingadifferentversionofthesamequestion:*Why?*Shewatchedasfuturegenerationsabandonedschools,replacedbycirclesofstrangerssharingdoubtsbeneathopenskies。Shesawplanetscolonizednotbyflags,butbylibrariesbuiltaroundunsolvedmysteries。Andfinally,sheglimpsedadistantepochwherehumanitynolongerexistedasphysicalbeings,butasadistributednetworkofcuriosity,wovenintothefabricofspace-timeitself。
Theformerintelligenceanalystscreamed?notinpain,butinrevelation。Hesaweveryliehe’deverprotectedcollapseundertheweightofasinglehonestquestion。Hesawarchivesspontaneouslycombust,notfromfire,butfromtheunbearablepressureofsuppressedtruthsdemandingrelease。
Theblindpoetlaughed?asoundsopureitmadethecrystalssing。Inhisdarkness,colorsbloomed:indigoforgriefunasked,crimsonforragemaskedascertainty,goldforthejoyofadmittingignorance。Heunderstoodnow?sightwasneveraboutlight。Itwasaboutpermissiontowonder。
Andthemutemanwept。
Forthirtyyears,silencehadbeenhisprison。Now,itbecamehislanguage。Withoututteringaword,heprojectedaquestionsoraw,soprimal,thattheverywallsofthecavernresonatedwithempathy:
>*Didyoueverseeme?Reallyseeme?BeforeIstoppedspeaking?*
Thetreeshivered。Oneleafdetached,floateddown,andlandedinhispalm。Itdissolvedintoliquidlight,flowingintohisveins。Whenheopenedhismouthagain,hisvoicecarriedthetimbreofathousandsilencedsouls。
Outside,theworldchanged。
AcrossEarth,every承问者simultaneouslycollapsedtotheirknees,overwhelmedbyvisionsidenticaltothoseintheicecave。Governmentspanicked。Religiousleadersdenounceditasmasshallucination。Scientistsscrambledtomeasurespikesinglobalbrainwavecoherence,findingpatternsmatchingnoneknownneurologicalactivity?insteadresemblingtheharmonicresonanceofgalaxiescolliding。
InSwitzerland,thefirstQuestionAcademywasstruckbylightning?notdestructive,buttransformative。Thestrikefusedthebuilding’ssteelframeworkintoaperfectfractallattice,capableofamplifyinganyspokenqueryintoalow-frequencypulsedetectableacrosscontinents。Studentsreporteddreamsoftrees,bridges,anddoorsopeningontoinfinitecorridorsofchoice。
OnMars,SuYeawokegasping。HerneuralimplantsoverloadedwithdatastreamsfromEarth,allconvergingononeconclusion:theCognitiveVaccinehadevolved。Itwasnolongerpassive。Itwasseedingautonomousnodesofinquirywithinchildren’sdevelopingbrains,bypassingeducationsystemsentirely。Asix-year-oldinNairobihadjustasked,duringbreakfast,“Whydogrown-upspretendtheyknow?”?triggeringalocalizedgravityanomalymeasuredbyorbitingsatellites。
Backintheicechamber,thefouremergedchanged。
Theydidnotspeakofwhattheyhadseen。Sometruthscouldnotbetranslated。Instead,theyreturnedtothesurface,wheretheyfoundthethirty-twolightpillarsnowconnectedbyarcsofenergy,formingacolossalmandalaetchedintotheAntarcticice。
LinSuikneltoncemore,placingherpalmagainstthefrozenground。