It was a cold morning, and Neo walked the streets of a world that felt increasingly alien. Almost everyone around him was... silent. People stared blankly, their eyes lost in thought, or perhaps in nothing at all. They moved mechanically, without expression, their footsteps like echoes in the cold morning air.
In a dark corner of a park, Neo noticed a group of people. They didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, but they had a strange, almost palpable presence. They stood together but didn't speak to each other. They didn't smile, didn't laugh, didn't look around. They were just there, like human-shaped shadows.
One of them, an old man with a white beard and tired eyes, looked up and met Neo's gaze.
"You're searching for answers, aren't you?" he asked, his voice low but clear.
Neo shivered. How did this man know what he was looking for?
"Yes, but... what are you? What are you doing here?" Neo asked, not fully understanding what was happening.
The old man smiled but didn't answer immediately. He seemed to be waiting for a specific moment to reply. When he finally spoke, his voice seemed to come from another era, an era where questions no longer held meaning.
"We are 'The Silent Ones.' We gave up on questions because questions overturned our souls. Now, we live only for the moment. In silence. In silence, we no longer fear answers."
Neo remained silent, but questions haunted his mind.
"So, you no longer search for anything? No meaning? No answers?" he asked, almost incredulous.
The old man raised a finger, pointing to the gray sky above.
"Answers are not for everyone, boy. Some spirits don't need them. They just live. But if you choose to ask, then your journey has begun. You cannot go back now."
At these words, the entire group rose and slowly left, without saying anything. Only the old man remained, watching them silently.
At that moment, Neo understood. "The Silent Ones" weren't just a group. They were a choice. A choice every person made, at some point, in the face of life's impossible answers.
Neo looked at his palm, feeling smaller than ever. By searching for answers, he had already been caught in his own trap. But it was too late to stop now.
With quick steps, he continued his path, truly beginning to feel the world changing around him. The other side of the search was no longer a simple question, but a decision to live with the answers or to reject them.
End of Chapter 6