Page 59 - TruthAboutLyingCoverFlipAmazon20
P. 59
Nicholas Boothman
Now, she wanted to see how the others reacted, whether anyone else felt it too, or if she was the only one starting to believe something that sounded, not long ago, completely insane.
Then she gently patted the back of Vincent’s hand and excused herself.
Henry frowned. Claire caught it and smiled at him.
“We left Eden the moment we realized it wasn’t real,” Vincent continued.
“And lying?” Henry said.
“Lying is the price of that awareness. Animals can’t lie, they can’t imagine alternatives. Humans can. We see what is and what isn’t, and we choose between them.
“Fiction isn’t a flaw. It’s the feature. The thing that built everything.”
“So you’re saying we shouldn’t build Verax?” Jinji said.
“I’m saying you should understand what you’re building. You’re not just exposing lies. You’re attacking the mechanism that makes us human.”
Henry shook his head. “Or we’re removing the thing that’s destroying us.”
Vincent was quiet for a moment.
“And if that mechanism was never entirely ours to begin with?” he asked.
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