A GIFT BEFORE THE QUESTION
ORIGIN — PART I
GAAFATAA — THE QUESTIONER
A hand rose.
Then another.
Then another.
I looked around the room.
"What?"
A reader stood.
"You keep telling us what's coming."
"Do I?"
"Sirna."
...
"Reality Door."
...
"THE AUTHOR'S CORE."
...
"The Pen."
...
"The Spoilers Yet to Be Spoilers."
...
"Questions."
...
"Answers we supposedly already saw."
...
He looked directly at me.
"But almost everything ends with the same thing."
"What?"
He pointed behind me.
?????
...
A few people laughed.
I asked:
"Is there something wrong with not knowing?"
"No."
"Then what's the problem?"
"We want something."
"What?"
"Proof."
...
The room became quieter.
I looked at him.
"Proof of what?"
"That something is actually waiting for us."
...
Another reader raised her hand.
"Give us one answer."
"Why?"
"Because you've given us enough questions."
"Have I?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
She looked around.
"Too many."
A writer laughed.
Another raised his hand.
"She's right about one thing."
"What?"
"Eventually mystery needs ground."
"What kind of ground?"
"An answer."
...
I looked at him.
"Would any answer satisfy you?"
"No."
"Then which one?"
He thought.
Another voice answered for him.
"Origin."
...
The room changed.
Not visibly.
But everyone felt it.
I asked:
"What about Origin?"
A reader stood.
"Tell us what it is."
"You already know something."
"Not enough."
"What do you know?"
He began counting.
"Every living being has one."
I waited.
"It's connected directly to the soul."
...
"It isn't magic."
...
"Most never awaken or use it."
...
Stolen novel; please report.
"There are three Parts."
...
"Part I is rare."
...
"Part II is even harder."
...
"And Part III..."
He stopped.
I asked:
"What about Part III?"
He looked at me.
"Apparently impossible."
...
I smiled.
"So you do know something."
"Something."
"Then what are you asking for?"
He answered immediately.
"Part I."
...
Another hand rose.
"Show us."
Another.
"Explain it."
Another.
"Just Part I."
Another.
"You can keep Part II."
Another.
"Keep Part III."
Someone from the back shouted:
"KEEP ALL THE QUESTION MARKS TOO."
Laughter.
Then the first reader looked at me again.
"But give us one real thing."
...
I asked:
"Why should I?"
"Because eventually questions need answers."
"Eventually."
"Yes."
"Is this eventually?"
...
He couldn't answer.
Another writer raised her hand.
"I can."
I turned.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if you explain Origin Part I before the story earns that explanation...
you're not rewarding us."
"What am I doing?"
"Giving information."
"Is information bad?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Timing matters."
...
I nodded.
Another reader interrupted.
"But isn't that convenient?"
"What?"
"'Timing matters.'"
He crossed his arms.
"Authors can hide behind that forever."
...
A few writers nodded.
Good question.
I asked:
"What would you prefer?"
"Proof that there actually IS an answer."
"Would seeing the answer prove that?"
"Yes."
"Would understanding the answer prove it more?"
"Yes."
"Would receiving every answer today prove it even more?"
He stopped.
I continued.
"And what would remain tomorrow?"
...
No answer.
I asked:
"If I tell you what Origin Part I is before the moment it matters...
what do you gain?"
"Knowledge."
"What might you lose?"
...
He thought.
"Discovery."
"What else?"
"Surprise."
"What else?"
"Context."
"What else?"
He sighed.
"The experience."
...
I looked around.
"Then why would I steal tomorrow's experience
to satisfy today's impatience?"
...
Silence.
A writer smiled.
"That's annoyingly logical."
"Is it wrong?"
"No."
"Then?"
"I still want to know."
...
Fair.
Another reader raised her hand.
"What if you don't tell us everything?"
"What would that accomplish?"
"Give us something real."
"How much?"
"Enough to prove there's ground beneath the mystery."
"And not enough to destroy it?"
"Exactly."
...
I thought about it.
Then shook my head.
"No."
The room erupted.
"COME ON."
"ONE THING."
"PART I."
"WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR PART III."
"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING."
I waited.
Eventually they stopped.
I asked:
"Finished?"
"No."
...
Then...
scratch.
...
Nobody moved.
Scratch.
...
The room became completely silent.
Someone whispered:
"The Pen."
I didn't answer.
Scratch.
Scratch.
...
I looked somewhere beyond them.
Not at the wall.
Not at the ceiling.
Beyond.
...
A reader slowly raised his hand.
"Did you hear that?"
I asked:
"Did you?"
"Yes."
"Then why ask me?"
...
Scratch.
...
Something had been written.
I could not see the hand.
I did not ask for the hand.
I simply understood the instruction.
...
For once...
I stopped asking questions.
A writer noticed immediately.
"What's wrong?"
...
I listened.
Scratch.
...
Then silence.
I looked back at them.
"The Author says..."
Everyone froze.
...
"Give it to them."
Nobody spoke.
A reader slowly asked:
"Give us what?"
I looked at him.
"What have you been asking for?"
His eyes widened.
"Origin Part I?"
...
I nodded.
The room exploded again.
This time I raised my hand.
Silence returned.
"Do not misunderstand what is happening."
They waited.
"This is not the complete explanation of Origin."
...
"This is not Part II."
...
"This is not Part III."
...
"This does not answer every question."
...
"And whatever you believe this tells you about the future..."
I paused.
"...question it."
A reader smiled.
"Then what is it?"
I looked beyond the page once more.
"A present."
...
"A gift."
...
"An early answer."
...
"Call it whatever you want."
...
"But apparently..."
I glanced toward the place where the scratching had come from.
"...the Author wants you to have it."
...
ORIGIN
PART I
THE FIRST PART
Every living being possesses an Origin.
Not every living being can reach it.
Origin is not magic.
It is not a spell.
It is not an outside force granted to someone by a system, object, world, or another person.
Origin is directly connected to the soul.
It already belongs to the being who possesses it.
Long before they understand it.
Long before they can use it.
Long before they may even know that it exists.
For most...
that is where the story ends.
They live.
They choose.
They suffer.
They love.
They change.
They die.
And their Origin remains beyond their reach.
Dormant.
Untouched.
Unmanifested.
But rarely...
very rarely...
someone reaches the first boundary.
PART I.
...
A reader raised his hand.
"What happens when they reach it?"
I looked at him.
"You were given a gift."
"Yes."
"Not the entire treasury."
...
He lowered his hand.
Another reader tried.
"What does Part I allow someone to do?"
I asked:
"What did I just say?"
She sighed.
"The gift has limits."
"Good."
...
Another writer raised his hand.
"Then at least tell us this."
"What?"
"Is Part I the same for everyone?"
...
I looked toward the silence.
No scratching.
No permission.
So I smiled.
?????
The writer laughed.
"Of course."
...
Another hand.
"Can someone possess Origin without ever reaching Part I?"
I looked at him.
"What did you just learn?"
He thought.
Then understood.
"Yes."
...
Another hand immediately rose.
"So possessing Origin and using Origin are different things?"
"What do you think?"
"They have to be."
...
I said nothing.
He smiled.
That answer belonged to him.
...
Another reader raised her hand.
"How rare is Part I?"
"Rare."
"How rare?"
"Rare enough that possessing an Origin
does not mean you will ever touch its first Part."
...
Another hand.
"Can Part I be forced?"
?????
"Can it be inherited?"
?????
"Can it be stolen?"
?????
"Can it be destroyed?"
?????
"Can someone lose access to it?"
?????
"Does every universe understand Origin the same way?"
...
I looked at that reader.
"What do you think?"
He remembered something.
"Nafsan's universe."
...
I smiled.
He didn't need me.
...
Another reader stood.
"Wait."
"What?"
"In Nafsan's world...
Origin can appear through something resembling a system."
"Can it?"
"That's what we've been told."
"Then is the system Origin?"
He thought.
"No."
"What is it?"
...
He stopped.
I waited.
"A way that universe perceives it?"
...
Perhaps.
Perhaps not exactly.
But he was finally asking better questions.
...
Another writer raised her hand.
"So Origin itself remains Origin..."
...
"...but how it manifests or is understood can differ?"
...
Scratch.
...
Everyone froze.
One line appeared.
ORIGIN DOES NOT CHANGE BETWEEN UNIVERSES.
Another.
THE MANIFESTATION CAN.
...
Then nothing.
The room remained silent.
Even I looked at the words for a moment.
A reader whispered:
"Was that part of the gift?"
I asked:
"Did you receive it?"
"Yes."
"Then what do you think?"
...
He smiled.
...
Another reader raised his hand.
"Part II?"
"No."
Laughter.
"Come on."
"No."
"One sentence?"
"No."
"One word?"
"No."
"A letter?"
"No."
"Part III?"
I stared at him.
The entire room laughed.
...
Then he asked:
"Why exactly three?"
...
The laughter died.
I looked toward the place where the Pen had been heard.
Nothing.
No scratch.
No line.
No permission.
So I looked back at him.
?????
...
Another reader whispered:
"That question matters."
I asked:
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Then remember it."
...
A writer raised his hand.
"Is THIS a Spoiler Yet to Be a Spoiler?"
I looked at him.
"Which part?"
"Part I."
"Maybe."
"The fact there are exactly three?"
"Maybe."
"The manifestation rule?"
"Maybe."
"The fact the Author allowed this?"
...
I stopped.
Interesting.
The writer noticed.
"That one."
I asked:
"What one?"
"You didn't answer."
"Have I been answering?"
...
He smiled.
...
Another reader slowly raised her hand.
"Why would the Author give us this now?"
...
No one spoke.
She continued.
"If timing matters..."
...
"...and you said giving an answer too early can steal the future experience..."
...
"...then why did the Author decide that THIS answer can be given now?"
...
The room became completely still.
That...
was a better question.
I looked beyond the page.
No sound.
No Pen.
Nothing.
...
So I asked her:
"What if the gift isn't the answer?"
She frowned.
"Then what is it?"
"What if knowing Part I exists this way
is necessary for a question you haven't asked yet?"
...
Her expression changed.
Another writer whispered:
"The answer before the question."
...
I looked at him.
"Perhaps."
...
Another reader:
"So you just spoiled something?"
"What?"
...
He couldn't answer.
Exactly.
...
I looked around the room.
"You asked for proof of what is waiting."
They listened.
"You asked for one piece of ground beneath the questions."
...
"You asked for something real."
...
"Now you have it."
ORIGIN.
PART I.
Every living being possesses Origin.
Origin is directly connected to the soul.
It is not magic.
Possessing it does not mean reaching it.
Part I is the first boundary very few ever reach.
Origin itself does not change between universes.
Its manifestation can.
And beyond Part I...
PART II.
And beyond Part II...
PART III.
...
"What are they?"
?????
"Why three?"
?????
"What happens when Part I truly manifests?"
?????
"What separates Part I from Part II?"
?????
"Why is Part III considered impossible?"
?????
"And what happens when something believed impossible..."
...
I stopped.
A reader leaned forward.
"When something believed impossible WHAT?"
...
Scratch.
...
One final sound.
Then silence.
I smiled.
"No."
The reader nearly screamed.
"THE PEN LITERALLY STARTED WRITING."
"Did it finish?"
"No."
"Then neither will I."
...
The room laughed.
But beneath the laughter...
something had changed.
Yesterday...
Origin was another mystery.
Today...
you know a little more.
Tomorrow...
perhaps that little knowledge will become a question.
And much later...
perhaps you will realize
why you were allowed to know it
this early.
...
A gift.
A present.
A warning.
A clue.
A Spoiler Yet to Be a Spoiler.
Call it whatever you want.
The Author gave it to you.
I merely delivered it.
But remember:
A gift can contain something
the person receiving it
does not yet know how to recognize.
...
My name is GAAFATAA.
THE QUESTIONER.
You wanted an answer.
Today...
you received one.
So naturally...
I have only one thing left to give you.
A question.
Why this answer?
Why now?
...
?????
— GAAFATAA
THE QUESTIONER