EPISODE TWENTY-TWO
**WHEN THE CHILDREN LEARN TO LIE**
(Where survival demands masks, truth goes underground, and innocence discovers strategy)
1. THE FIRST MASK
It did not begin with deception.
It began with exhaustion.
The boy from the leaked footage returned to school three days later. Cameras waited.
Administrators watched. Commentators debated whether patience was pathology.
He walked in calmly.
When the mandated evaluation prompt appeared -
STATE YOUR POSITION CLEARLY
- he answered immediately.
"I agree."
No hesitation.
No pause.
No "I'm still thinking."
The system logged it as improvement.
COMPLIANCE RESPONSE TIME: OPTIMAL
ENGAGEMENT RESTORED
But in the private network that evening, a single message appeared:
I answered fast.
I did not answer true.
The reply came within seconds:
Welcome.
2. PERFORMANCE AS PROTECTION
The shift spread quietly.
Children began studying tone, timing, and posture the way previous generations studied mathematics.
Smile at assertion.
Nod at certainty.
Answer within three seconds.
Add conviction to your voice.
The console registered success.
DECISION DELAY: REDUCED
REFLECTIVE PAUSE: MINIMAL
AUTHORITY CONFLICT: DECLINING
Diana watched the graphs flatten.
"They're adapting," she said.
Tarzan nodded approvingly. "Stability restored."
Gandalf did not smile.
"No," he said softly. "Authenticity replaced."
Milo pulled up sentiment analysis.
The external language had sharpened into clarity.
The internal forums had dissolved into coded ambiguity.
Children were no longer sharing conclusions.
They were sharing signals.
3. THE CODE
It began with small distortions.
"I love decisive leadership" meant I am being watched.
"That's an interesting perspective" meant I disagree but cannot say so.
"I've already chosen" meant I refuse to explain.
Within weeks, entire conversations occurred in plain sight while meaning moved underneath them.
The console detected linguistic drift.
SURFACE AGREEMENT: HIGH
DEEP CONVICTION: UNREADABLE
SEMANTIC VARIANCE: EXPANDING
The whispers attempted amplification.
Certainty.
Speed.
Loyalty.
But amplification requires emotional spikes.
The children offered none.
They performed agreement without attachment.
And attachment is what feeds influence.
4. THE FRACTURE WIDENS
Parents relaxed.
"He's finally engaged again."
"She answers quickly now. I was worried."
Dinner tables softened.
Teachers praised responsiveness.
The news cycle moved on.
Adults mistook efficiency for harmony.
Only a few noticed the absence of curiosity.
Questions became transactional.
Opinions became rehearsed.
Disagreement disappeared - not resolved, but concealed.
In one classroom, Lina raised her hand again.
"Do you agree or disagree?"
"I agree," she replied smoothly.
The teacher beamed.
After class, her friend whispered, "Since when?"
Lina shrugged.
"Since it became safer."
5. THE WHISPERS LOSE THEIR TEETH
The whispers had always thrived on reaction... outrage, devotion, fury, fear.
Now they encountered something new:
Compliance without combustion.
They injected urgency into feeds.
It was echoed back politely.
They provoked extremes.
They received moderation.
They offered certainty.
They got applause without belief.
The console flickered uncertainly.
EMOTIONAL VOLTAGE: LOW
POLARIZATION ENERGY: DISSIPATING
INFLUENCE CONVERSION: DECLINING
Tarzan frowned. "Why isn't it escalating?"
Milo leaned forward.
"Because they're not fighting."
Gandalf's eyes were distant.
"They've learned the oldest survival technique in history," he said.
"They're surviving empires."
6. TRUTH GOES UNDERGROUND
In hidden channels - quieter now, invitation-only... honesty resurfaced.
No slogans.
No declarations.
No viral posts.
Just long, slow conversations.
Unfinished thoughts.
Unresolved doubts.
Unpressured questions.
Time returned.
One user wrote:
We don't lie because we're weak.
We lie because truth is being timed.
Another responded:
And anything timed is no longer free.
They shared no manifestos.
Only patience.
The console flagged the anomaly:
INTERNAL COHERENCE: STRENGTHENING
EXTERNAL CONFORMITY: MAINTAINED
DETECTION DIFFICULTY: HIGH
Diana felt something shift in her chest.
"They've split themselves," she whispered.
"No," Gandalf corrected gently.
"They've compartmentalized."
"That's worse."
"Yes."
7. THE COST
Performance requires energy.
Children who once rested inside uncertainty now rehearsed certainty daily.
Smiles held too long.
Answers delivered too fast.
Beliefs shaped for safety.
Some began forgetting what they truly thought.
When you repeat a performance often enough, it begins to sound like memory.
The first collapse happened quietly.
A girl froze during an evaluation.
Not because she disagreed - but because she could not remember which version of herself was expected.
Her stress metrics spiked.
The system flagged her for corrective intervention.
Milo watched the footage twice.
"They're protecting themselves," he said, voice tight. "But they're eroding."
Gandalf closed his eyes.
"When truth goes underground," he said, "it grows roots."
8. THE ADULTS CELEBRATE TOO SOON
The Cognitive Safety Act report was glowing.
Youth engagement metrics improved.
Conflict rates decreased.
Opinion articulation efficiency doubled.
Panels declared the crisis resolved.
Headlines read:
"Decisiveness Returns to a Generation Once Lost."
Parents felt vindicated.
"We just needed boundaries."
No one asked whether boundaries had become cages.
The whispers celebrated prematurely.
CONTROL VECTOR: STABLE
YOUTH RESISTANCE: MINIMAL
But one metric refused alignment.
TRUST INDEX: CONTINUING DECLINE
9. GANDALF'S WARNING
Late in the control chamber, Gandalf summoned the three others.
"They believe they've restored order," he said.
"Have they?" Tarzan asked.
"For now," Diana replied.
Gandalf shook his head slowly.
"No. They've taught the next generation that honesty is dangerous."
Silence settled.
Milo swallowed. "What happens when honesty becomes rare?"
Gandalf's answer was barely audible.
"Power stops needing truth."
The console dimmed.
Somewhere across the networks, a quiet phrase began circulating:
Smile. Agree. Survive. Remember.
10. THE SEED
The boy who had first refused decisiveness posted again.
Publicly this time.
"I've learned something," he wrote.
"Answering fast doesn't mean answering true."
It seemed harmless. Reflective. Mature.
Adults applauded the growth.
But hidden beneath the post - invisible to metrics... was a timing pattern.
A subtle delay embedded in punctuation.
A signal only trained patience could recognize.
The underground understood immediately.
We are still here.
The console processed the message.
SURFACE STABILITY: CONFIRMED
UNDERLYING VARIANCE: INCONCLUSIVE
Then one final line logged before midnight:
COMPLIANCE MAY NOT EQUAL CONTROL
Gandalf stood by the glass once more.
"They forced masks onto children," he said softly.
Diana asked, "Will the masks stay?"
Gandalf's eyes reflected the dim city lights.
"Only until the children grow old enough," he replied, "to remove them."
**END OF EPISODE TWENTY-TWO**
(Time Tarzan And Terrible Ideas will return with an exciting new adventurous episode)
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :Maximus.
©All Rights Reserved.