Page 164 - TruthAboutLyingFinal
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The Truth About Lying
Henry looked at the parents.
They hadn’t spoken to their son in days.
The man wrote again:
If they tell him he’ll be okay, and it’s not true, the system flags it. Level 3.
The man kept writing:
You built a system that forces people to choose between survival and safety. Between health and family. Between truth and protection.
You called it a choice. It isn’t.
It’s coercion.
“I didn’t know.”
You didn’t ask.
You created a zero-sum system, the man wrote.
Someone has to lose.
Henry looked at the child again. The boy was sleeping now, his breathing shallow and labored.
“What can I do?”
The man wrote with a jarring, rhythmic screech of chalk against slate:
Nothing. You can’t fix this.
He paused, then added:
Not without destroying the system you built. And if you destroy it, the ones you just saved will be the first to go.
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