Wjsm

“Because I already said it,” he said, and his voice cracked into two frequencies at once. “In a previous universe. And the only reason I remember is because WJSM wants to be spoken. It’s lonely. It’s been waiting at the end of time for someone to ask the question.”

Her blood chilled. “How did you—?” “Because I already said it,” he said, and

“Someone’s been here before us,” Leo said. “Not aliens. Not gods. Us . A future version of humanity—or what comes after—seeded the Big Bang with a trigger. WJSM is the wake word.” It’s lonely

W J S M

She’d dismissed him as a tech-bro mystic. Now, staring at WJSM, she wondered if he’d been accidentally right. “Not aliens

WJSM.

Elara stared at the floating letters. They hummed at 23, 10, 19, and 13 hertz. She felt the answer forming in her throat, unbidden, as if her vocal cords were no longer her own.