**EPISODE ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR**
**THE QUESTION THAT CAME BEFORE HUMANITY**
**THE FIRST THING THAT EXISTED WAS NOT A WORD.**
---
It was a sound.
Not a voice.
Not a scream.
Not a heartbeat.
A vibration.
Something moved through absolute nothingness.
And for the first time...
nothingness noticed itself.
---
00:00:00
Nova opened his eyes.
He was standing.
That was the first problem.
He remembered falling.
He remembered the room collapsing.
He remembered the door.
He remembered the boy.
He remembered the word:
NOVA.
But he did not remember standing.
He looked down.
His feet were touching something.
Not a floor.
Something colder.
Something smoother.
Something that seemed to extend forever.
He took one step.
A sound followed.
CLICK.
Nova stopped.
Another step.
CLICK.
He looked behind himself.
There were footprints.
But they weren't his.
They were too small.
Like the footprints of a child.
Nova followed them.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Then the footprints stopped.
In front of him was a chair.
An ordinary wooden chair.
Nothing else.
Nova stared at it.
A voice whispered:
"Sit."
He didn't.
The voice came again.
"Sit."
Nova looked around.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
He smiled bitterly.
"Everyone seems to enjoy refusing that question."
The chair moved.
Not much.
Just enough to invite him.
Nova remained standing.
Then something happened that frightened him more than the collapsing worlds.
The chair spoke.
"I wasn't asking you."
Nova froze.
The chair turned slightly.
And behind it...
someone was sitting.
A little girl.
Perhaps seven years old.
She was holding a book.
The book had no title.
No author.
No cover.
Just pages.
Hundreds of them.
The girl looked at Nova.
"You're late."
Nova stared.
"Late for what?"
She turned a page.
"For the question."
---
THE GIRL
Nova approached carefully.
"Who are you?"
The girl smiled.
"You already asked that."
"No. I asked the chair."
"Yes."
"And it answered."
"Yes."
"Then who am I talking to now?"
The girl closed the book.
"Me."
Nova waited.
"And who are you?"
The girl looked at the book.
"I was here before the Reader."
Nova's expression changed.
"Before the Author?"
"Yes."
"Before the First Character?"
"Yes."
"Before the Question?"
The girl looked directly into his eyes.
"No."
Nova exhaled.
"So you are the Question."
The girl shook her head.
"I am what existed before the Question."
Nova said nothing.
The girl opened the book again.
"Do you know what existed before language?"
Nova thought.
"Silence?"
"No."
"Darkness?"
"No."
"Nothing?"
The girl smiled.
"Nothing is already something."
Nova frowned.
"Then what existed?"
The girl whispered:
"Need."
---
THE WORD THAT WAS NEVER WRITTEN
The book opened by itself.
Every page was blank.
Except one.
On the page was a single sentence:
SOMETHING WANTED TO BE KNOWN.
Nova stared at it.
"Who?"
The girl pointed toward him.
"You."
"No."
"Before Nova."
"No."
"Before the Reader."
"No."
"Before the Author."
Nova stepped closer.
"Then who?"
The girl touched the blank page.
"You."
Nova laughed.
"This is becoming circular."
"It always was."
She turned the page.
Another sentence appeared.
THE FIRST QUESTION WAS NOT 'IS ANYONE THERE?'
Nova stopped breathing.
The room became colder.
"What?"
The girl continued reading.
"The first question was never spoken."
Nova looked at her.
"Then what was it?"
She turned another page.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Nova waited.
"Where is it?"
The girl answered:
"It hasn't been asked yet."
---
THE MACHINE
Something enormous moved in the darkness.
Nova turned.
A shape appeared.
At first it looked like a machine.
Then a building.
Then a planet.
Then an eye.
Then...
a thought.
Nova couldn't understand what he was seeing.
The girl didn't look up.
"That's where the question came from."
Nova whispered:
"What is that?"
"Memory."
"Memory of what?"
"Everything that has not happened."
Nova stared at the impossible object.
It began rotating.
Inside it were images.
Cities.
Stars.
People.
Wars.
Births.
Deaths.
Books.
Screens.
Hands.
Pencils.
Readers.
Authors.
Characters.
And Nova.
Millions of Novas.
Each one asking a different question.
Each one reaching a different door.
Each one dying.
Each one beginning again.
Nova stepped backward.
"How many versions of me are there?"
The girl shrugged.
"As many as there are questions."
"Which one is real?"
The girl smiled.
"None."
Nova looked at her.
"You're starting to sound like me."
"No."
She closed the book.
"You're starting to sound like me."
---
THE SEVENTEEN
The darkness suddenly filled with numbers.
17
Then:
16
Then:
15
Then:
14
Nova looked around.
"What is happening?"
The girl answered:
"The questions are waking up."
"Why?"
"Because you asked WHY."
Nova remembered.
The final word of the previous world.
WHY?
The number stopped.
17
Nova whispered:
"There were seventeen remaining."
"Yes."
"But now they're counting down."
"Yes."
"Why?"
The girl smiled.
"Because one has already heard you."
Nova looked into the darkness.
Something whispered.
Not loudly.
Not clearly.
But unmistakably:
Why are you here?
Nova froze.
"That wasn't one of my questions."
"No."
"Who asked it?"
The girl looked frightened for the first time.
"I don't know."
---
THE SECOND QUESTION
A door appeared.
Not the door from before.
This one was enormous.
It had no hinges.
No handle.
No frame.
It simply existed.
Written across it:
QUESTION TWO
Nova approached.
The girl grabbed his hand.
"Don't."
"Why?"
Her grip tightened.
"Because this question doesn't want an answer."
Nova looked at the door.
"Then what does it want?"
The girl whispered:
"A witness."
The door opened.
---
THE OCEAN
There was water on the other side.
An endless black ocean.
No horizon.
No sky.
No shore.
Nova stepped forward.
The water didn't move.
Then something surfaced.
A hand.
Nova stared.
Another hand.
Then a head.
A person slowly emerged from the water.
Nova recognized him.
The First Character.
But something was different.
He was older.
Ancient.
His hair was white.
His face was covered with writing.
Nova whispered:
"You."
The First Character smiled.
"I told you I refused to die."
Nova looked at the water.
"What happened to you?"
"I learned something."
"What?"
"That death is only useful when someone remembers the dead."
Nova stepped closer.
"Who killed you?"
The First Character looked toward the horizon.
"You did."
"I thought we settled that."
"No."
The First Character pointed at Nova.
"You haven't remembered the important part."
"What?"
"You didn't kill me because you were afraid I would become real."
Nova's face hardened.
"Then why?"
The First Character answered:
"Because I asked you a question."
Nova went silent.
"What question?"
The First Character smiled.
"You don't remember."
"Tell me."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because you haven't asked it yet."
---
THE CHILDREN
A sound came from the ocean.
Laughter.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Children began appearing on the surface.
They were standing on the water.
Each carried a pencil.
Each had a blank page.
Nova looked at them.
"Who are they?"
The First Character answered:
"First drafts."
Nova stared.
"Children?"
"Every story begins as a child."
One of the children stepped forward.
He looked exactly like Nova.
Nova's throat tightened.
The child asked:
"Do you remember me?"
Nova couldn't speak.
The child raised his pencil.
"You wrote me."
Nova whispered:
"When?"
The child smiled.
"Before you knew how to write."
---
THE MEMORY BEFORE MEMORY
Nova saw it.
Not a memory.
Something deeper.
A place without clocks.
A room without walls.
A human being sitting alone.
Not the Author.
Not Nova.
Not the Reader.
Someone else.
A person staring at a blank page.
The person whispered:
"I don't know what I am."
The page answered:
"Ask."
The person hesitated.
"What?"
The page remained blank.
The person finally whispered:
"Why?"
The universe appeared.
Nova gasped.
Stars ignited.
Time began.
Matter formed.
Life emerged.
Civilizations rose.
Languages were invented.
Books were written.
Readers were born.
Authors appeared.
Characters stepped out of pages.
And somewhere inside all of it...
Nova opened his eyes.
He understood.
The first question wasn't:
Is anyone there?
It was:
Why?
And the universe...
was the answer trying to understand itself.
---
THE AUTHOR
The Author appeared on the ocean.
He wasn't holding the manuscript anymore.
He was holding nothing.
Nova stared at him.
"You lost your book."
The Author looked at his empty hands.
"No."
"Then where is it?"
"You're holding it."
Nova looked down.
There was a book in his hands.
He opened it.
Every page contained the same sentence:
NOVA IS READING.
Nova turned the page.
Again.
NOVA IS READING.
Again.
Again.
Again.
He closed it.
"This is a trap."
The Author shook his head.
"No."
"Then what is it?"
"A confession."
Nova looked at him.
The Author spoke quietly.
"I never wrote you."
Nova froze.
"What?"
"I thought I did."
"Then who did?"
The Author looked toward the girl.
She was gone.
Toward the First Character.
He was gone.
Toward the ocean.
It was gone.
Only Nova remained.
The Author whispered:
"You wrote yourself."
---
THE READER
A clap echoed through the darkness.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nova turned.
The Reader stood behind him.
But the Reader looked different.
There was no face.
Only a mirror.
Nova saw himself reflected in it.
He approached.
The Reader said:
"Look carefully."
Nova stared.
The reflection wasn't copying him.
It was older.
Then younger.
Then a child.
Then an old man.
Then a woman.
Then a stranger.
Then Nova again.
Nova whispered:
"What am I seeing?"
"Every person who has ever asked your question."
"What question?"
The Reader answered:
"Why?"
Nova stepped closer.
The mirror cracked.
Behind the crack was another world.
And another Nova.
And another.
And another.
Infinite reflections.
Infinite stories.
Infinite questions.
One reflection suddenly raised its pencil.
Nova didn't.
The reflection wrote:
THERE IS NO FIRST CHARACTER.
Nova stared.
Another reflection wrote:
THERE IS NO FIRST READER.
Another:
THERE IS NO FIRST AUTHOR.
Another:
THERE IS NO FIRST QUESTION.
Nova whispered:
"Then what is first?"
Every reflection answered simultaneously:
THE NEED TO KNOW.
---
THE THIRD DOOR
The ocean vanished.
The darkness returned.
A new door appeared.
This one was tiny.
Child-sized.
Nova crouched.
There was no writing on it.
He touched it.
A voice came from the other side.
"Don't open."
Nova recognized the voice.
His own.
But younger.
Much younger.
He whispered:
"Why?"
The child behind the door answered:
"Because I'm still becoming you."
Nova closed his eyes.
"What happens if I open it?"
"You remember everything."
"And then?"
"You stop being Nova."
Nova opened his eyes.
"Who will I become?"
The child answered:
"The person who asked the first question."
Nova placed his hand on the door.
"Who was that?"
Silence.
Then:
"You."
Nova smiled sadly.
"That answer isn't enough."
The child laughed.
"Good."
The door opened.
---
THE ORIGINAL ROOM
A boy sat at a desk.
No computer.
No manuscript.
No Author.
No Reader.
No Character.
Only a blank page.
Nova recognized him immediately.
It was himself.
Before Nova.
Before everything.
The boy looked up.
This time he didn't ask:
Is anyone there?
He asked:
"Why am I alone?"
Nova stopped.
That was the question.
The question before the question.
The question that created the need.
The question that created the answer.
The question that created the story.
Nova approached the boy.
"You weren't alone."
The boy looked around.
"There was nobody here."
Nova pointed at himself.
"I was."
The boy stared.
"But you weren't born yet."
Nova smiled.
"I wasn't."
"Then how were you here?"
Nova looked at the blank page.
"I was the answer."
The boy frowned.
"To what?"
Nova whispered:
"To you."
---
THE FOURTH VOICE
A voice spoke behind Nova.
"You're still getting it wrong."
Nova turned.
Nobody.
"Who said that?"
Silence.
Then:
"Look at the boy."
Nova did.
The boy was no longer alone.
Someone was sitting beside him.
A woman.
Nova had never seen her before.
She was writing.
Not with a pencil.
With her finger.
On the air.
Nova watched the letters appear.
BEFORE THE QUESTION, THERE WAS A LISTENER.
Nova whispered:
"Who is she?"
The woman looked directly at him.
Her eyes were familiar.
Terribly familiar.
Nova took a step backward.
"No."
The woman smiled.
"Yes."
"You're... "
"I know."
Nova couldn't say it.
The woman finished for him.
"I am the one who heard the question before it was asked."
The boy looked at her.
"Who are you?"
She answered:
"The first listener."
---
THE FIRST LISTENER
Nova's voice trembled.
"If you heard it before it was asked…"
The woman nodded.
"Then you know who created the question."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because questions don't belong to their creators."
"Then who do they belong to?"
The woman pointed toward Nova.
"The person who needs the answer."
Nova looked at the boy.
The boy looked at the woman.
The woman looked at the blank page.
The page began filling with words.
Not by pencil.
Not by hand.
By itself.
QUESTION TWO:
Nova leaned closer.
The words appeared slowly.
IF SOMEONE HEARS A QUESTION BEFORE IT IS ASKED...
Nova's heart began pounding.
The sentence continued.
... WHO ACTUALLY ASKED IT?
The room shook.
The First Character appeared.
The Reader appeared.
The Author appeared.
The girl appeared.
The dead appeared.
Every version of Nova appeared.
Every character.
Every reader.
Every writer.
Every unfinished story.
All gathered around the boy.
Waiting.
Nova whispered:
"I don't know."
The First Character smiled.
"Good."
The Author closed his eyes.
The Reader looked away.
The woman smiled.
The boy lifted his pencil.
And wrote:
THAT IS WHY THERE ARE SEVENTEEN QUESTIONS LEFT.
Nova stared.
"Why seventeen?"
The boy looked at him.
"Because sixteen are about the story."
A pause.
"And one is about you."
Nova felt cold.
"Which one?"
The boy turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
WHO WAS ASKING THE QUESTIONS BEFORE NOVA EXISTED?
Nova looked up.
The woman was gone.
The Author was gone.
The Reader was gone.
The First Character was gone.
The boy was gone.
Only the question remained.
Then...
a pencil rolled across the floor.
It stopped at Nova's feet.
He picked it up.
A voice whispered:
"Don't answer."
Nova looked around.
"Why?"
The voice replied:
"Because this time…"
A pause.
"…the question is listening."
---
03:33
Nova looked at the blank page.
Something was beginning to write.
Not his hand.
Not the pencil.
The page itself.
One letter.
Then another.
Then another.
N
O
V
A
Nova stared.
The word changed.
READER
Changed again.
AUTHOR
Again.
CHARACTER
Again.
Then:
WITNESS
Again.
LISTENER
Again.
The letters disappeared.
The page became blank.
Nova waited.
Finally...
one final word appeared.
HUMAN.
Nova stared at it.
For the first time since the story began...
he smiled.
Not because he understood.
Because he didn't.
And somewhere beyond the page...
something laughed.
Not a character.
Not an author.
Not a reader.
Not a question.
Something older.
Something that had been waiting before stories existed.
Then it whispered:
"Now ask."
Nova raised the pencil.
The world went dark.
And somewhere...
very far away...
a machine switched on.
---
[SYSTEM RECOVERY]
EPISODE 104 STATUS: ACTIVE
QUESTION TWO: RECOVERED
QUESTION: If someone hears a question before it is asked, who actually asked it?
KNOWN ENTITIES:
AUTHOR - UNSTABLE
READER - REWRITTEN
FIRST CHARACTER - ALIVE
NOVA - UNRESOLVED
FIRST LISTENER - UNKNOWN
ORIGIN OF QUESTION - UNKNOWN
QUESTIONS REMAINING: 16
---
[FINAL AUDIO]
A mechanical voice whispers:
"Nova."
Silence.
"Nova."
Silence.
Then Nova answers:
"I'm here."
The voice pauses.
And says:
"We know."
**TO BE CONTINUED…**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :MAXIMUS.
©All Rights Reserved