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The Truth About Lying
The space filled with images, cities of impossible beauty, technologies that looked like magic, species of every conceivable form working together in harmony. Henry felt his breath catch. This was what they could become. If they didn't fail.
"And if we fail all three?" he asked quietly.
The Curator's blank face somehow conveyed infinite sadness. "Then I am authorized to implement the Extinction Protocol. The complete sterilization of Earth's surface, returning it to a pre-biotic state. The Preserve would be reseeded, and in another four billion years, consciousness might emerge again. Or it might not.
"It is the choice that consciousness requires," the Curator continued. "The ability to hold two truths at once, that individual lives matter and that species survival matters. That love is real and that sacrifice is necessary. Most species fail because they cannot hold that tension. They choose one truth and abandon the other."
"Why tell us this?" Henry demanded. "Why not just implement whichever protocol you think is best? Why make us choose?"
"Because consciousness implies choice," the Curator replied. "Even in failure, you deserve to understand what is happening and why. And because, occasionally, the act of explaining the test helps a species pass it."
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