Wonder made a decision that confused every adult in her civilization.
She wanted to become singular.
"That's impossible," the Council of Dreamers told her. "Singular consciousness is extinct. Has been extinct for millions of years. Your neural structure is designed for distributed awareness. Your species evolved beyond singularity. You can't become something your biology doesn't support."
"Then change my biology," Wonder said. She was still eight years old. Still young by Dreamer standards. But she spoke with certainty that made adults uncomfortable. "You have genetic modification. You have neural restructuring. You have consciousness engineering. You can make me singular. You can give me the neural architecture that supports bounded consciousness. You can make me one."
