After a moment of deliberation that felt like hours, Noah looked at the terrifying woman with caution that bordered on resignation.
"I… should have some time."
Her smile grew dangerously as she nodded.
"Let me tell you about existence, Outsider. About the real existence, before definitions and categories and all the pretty boxes that later arrivals created."
She moved.
She did not walk, she simply existed in a slightly different position…closer to him, though maintaining distance that suggested respect for his obvious wariness.
"Imagine," she began, her voice taking on the cadence of ancient glory "lifeforms waking up day in and day out, harmoniously carrying out their way of existence."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"Their Way of Existence. Not chosen, not decided, simply what they were. It was natural. It was Existence. It was theirs."
