Free Veracity by Mark Lavorato

blame for your reaction here. Maybe I was moving through the story a little fast, maybe I should have given you a bit more time to keep pace, to ask questions." His voice was calm, reassuring. "And really, if I were to think about it more objectively, we're almost asking the impossible here, we're asking for you, in the span of only a few minutes, to keep pace with an idea that took years to develop. I guess that would be enough to confuse or frighten anyone.
    "But I want you to bear in mind one thing. We didn't tell you the whole story because we thought you'd agree with us; in fact, we were almost certain you wouldn't. I think every Elder can admit that, at a glance, the concept of The Goal can appear fanatical, even deranged; and indeed, if that's what you're thinking, that's perfectly fine. The only thing that we wanted to accomplish this morning was to provide you with a completely transparent view of the big picture. That's all.
    "And now that it's done, the next step should come fairly natural. We need you to doubt. We want you to question, in the deepest way, the ethics and rationale of everything inside the story I just told you. Because the last thing we want you to do is unthinkingly nod and adopt our beliefs. No. We want you to probe them instead, scrutinize them, rip them apart and piece them back together, only to see if you happen to come to the same conclusions we have. If you don't, then you're welcome to continue living a sheltered existence here on the island (albeit under much stricter supervision of course, as - and I think you can appreciate this - we've trusted you with a few extremely volatile facts here). However, if you
do
find that you come to the same conclusions we have, then we would train you to set off across the ocean with a select few from our community, where you would be asked to wander around a landscape that is gloriously healing from our wounds, and make sure that it is uninhabited, unmolested, and pristine. And then, once you were finished there, to continue onto other lands, exploring, discovering, and adventuring for the rest of your days." He watched me for a few seconds, as if allowing time for these last words to sink in.
    "So then - you'll need to begin asking yourself a few questions. And, in order to find answers to those questions, you'll have to do a bit of research. Consequently, you will be one of the few people who have unrestricted access to the volumes of information in the Great Hall, and I would encourage you to use that privilege as much as possible. However, that said, having such an enormous breadth of data at your fingertips, it would be easy to get lost or sidetracked while delving into open-ended questions. For this reason, you'll need someone to help you formulate a process, someone to bounce ideas off, and to dig up relevant information in the Great Hall for you. I will be that person, supplying you with whatever you need - history books, war chronicles, atlases, or other reference material - and will meet with you every day to discuss your thoughts, and help you move forward through your own process.
    "But to get your mind shifting a bit, I want to pose an interesting question. Do you remember that charismatic man that I spoke of earlier? Well, he died long ago. Yet you and I are still breathing. Think of that for a moment. We are some of the last people alive on earth. Why is that? Are we better? Are we more worthy? Was our life granted to us because of some exceptional thing that we did for the universe? Do you think we 'deserve' to be here, Joshua?" he asked.
    I squirmed in my chair, realizing that I was expected to answer. When I spoke, my voice was almost a whisper. "I... can't really say. I mean - I have a hard time imagining that anyone
deserves
anything, really."
    Dana's face lit up with a warm smile. "I couldn't agree more. We don't
deserve
this life, neither of us has
earned
the right to be here. No. No, we stole it. And I understand that this is a