Damon let the previous topic settle like a soft dust cloud.
No one moved for a moment, not the security bots, not the press corps, not even the most volatile leaders in the room. There was a different kind of weight here now, a quiet one.
The kind that doesn't shout for attention but sits in the back of your head and makes you actually think.
He tapped the air one last time.
[Final Subtopic: Cultural Identity, Myth Integration, and Narrative Responsibility.]
The screen didn't show data this time, but rather showed faces.
A slow sequence of images played out.
There were African shamans casting salt into rivers, Tibetan monks meditating beneath cherry blossoms, Japanese children dressed as gods at temple festivals, German youths sparring in historical reenactments, Native American dancers in full regalia, Norse fire ceremonies in Iceland, Polynesian sky burial rites and Chinese dragon dancers spinning under neon holograms.
