The designation was . To the archivists of the Fracture Institute, it was a footnote. To the rest of the known universe, it was a warning.
The surveyor’s report was filed under , and a new note was appended: “Canon self-terminated. Cause: unsolvable query. Recommendation: Do not wake the sleepers. Their song is still running.” taryf-tabah-canon-f158-200
A young Tabah, designated Cantus-177 by the Institute (though her true name was a melody only her commune could hear), watched her mother’s light gutter and vanish. She did not feel rage—the Tabah lacked the neural wiring for it. She felt a wrongness , a tear in the communal song that left a bleeding, silent hole. The designation was
