Page 127 - SurprisingTruthFinal

Nicholas Boothman
In that instant of physical collapse, the shard
moved. Not physically, but psychically.
Henry’s consciousness was suddenly seized by a
white, agonizing flash of pure information. It wasn't
sound or language. It was a massive, simultaneous
rush of symbols: ancient cuneiform, complex
mathematical constants, and biological structures, all
overlaid on a single, dizzying image of a perfect,
central Spark being extinguished by two opposing,
chaotic vectors labeled Unfiltered Truth (Chaos) and
Total Deceit (Entropy).
The experience was shared. Miles away, Vincent,
huddled in the ruins of a church, gasped as the same
images of balancing equations and extinguished light
flooded his mind. Lina, underground, watching her
final server cores melt, screamed as the symbols of total
order overwrote her technical consciousness. They
were all linked, involuntarily, to the Shard’s emergency
diagnostic.
The flash lasted maybe two seconds, but it was
enough to convey the Shard's function: The
Experiment failed. The boundaries were violated. The
System is initiating Failsafe Protocol.
Henry fought his way back to consciousness,
gasping for the caustic air. His nose was bleeding from
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