They met at a tea house built for people who never had time to finish their tea.
Neutral territory.Public.Too polite for anything dangerous to happen.
Selim Aydemir arrived on time.Pressed shirt.No tie.A folder under his arm—thicker than the menu.
He didn't sit right away.
Instead, he looked at Emir and said:
— "You've won.They're quoting you now in public schools.Even my assistant has your spiral on her phone lock screen."
Emir waited.
Selim sat.
Opened the folder.
Inside: a proposal.
National Civic Literacy Curriculum, partially based on Circle writings
Emir to be appointed as Honorary Memory Advisor
The Circle to be formally integrated into a broader Ministry of Cultural Alignment initiative
Nothing erased.Nothing censored.
Just… filed.Edited.Finalized.
— "We want to protect what you started," Selim said.
— "By putting it in a case?" Emir replied.
— "By keeping it from being twisted."
— "You mean before it twists you."
Selim exhaled through his nose.
Not annoyed.Measured.
— "If we don't define it, someone else will.That's the price of becoming part of history."
Emir stirred his tea without drinking it.
Then said:
— "You're not offering protection.You're offering curation."
Selim leaned forward.
— "You built something that matters.This is how it survives."
Emir paused.Then asked quietly:
— "And if I say no?"
Selim's smile didn't reach his eyes.
— "Then it will survive anyway.But not the version you'd want."
Silence.
The sound of cups.Chairs creaking.A single spoon dropped too loudly across the room.
Finally, Emir stood.
— "Let me show you something."
He took Selim outside.Walked with him to a nearby wall.
On it, in childlike handwriting:
"Don't quote him.Just listen like he might be watching."
Selim stared at it.Longer than he meant to.
Emir said:
— "You've already lost control.Now the best you can do…is lose it with grace."
He turned.
Walked away.
—
That night, Emir wrote:
"He brought me a mirror.Asked me to smile into it.So they could sculpt it later."
"But I'm not afraid of misinterpretation anymore.I'm afraid of becoming correct."