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。