[Ambient Intro] (Low hum, like breath held underground. A single clock tick, far away.) ⸻ OTIS I know you’re listening. You always are. Even when no one’s looking at me. ⸻ OTIS They call you light. That’s what people call things they don’t understand but still want to use. You’re not light. You’re balance. ⸻ [Lantern hum deepens — slow, heavy] ⸻ OTIS I’ve watched how you count. Who gets taken. Who gets left behind. You don’t ask who’s ready. You ask who’s next. ⸻ OTIS Those children… they weren’t supposed to make it. I know that. I pulled them out anyway. ⸻ [Silence — a held breath] ⸻ OTIS I didn’t do it because I’m brave. I did it because somebody had to look at them and see more than numbers. ⸻ OTIS So if you’re going to mark someone… Don’t mark them as a king. Don’t mark them as a prophet. Mark me. ⸻ OTIS I’ll keep your secrets. Not because I agree with them. But because people like me don’t get believed when we tell the truth too loud. ⸻ OTIS I won’t tell them that surviving breaks your rules. I won’t tell them that mercy scares you. ⸻ OTIS But I won’t lie for you either. ⸻ [Clock tick — closer now] ⸻ OTIS I’ll stand in the space where obedience is expected. I’ll slow things down. I’ll teach them how to listen without bowing their heads. ⸻ OTIS And if one of them grows up and changes what they were meant to be— That’s not rebellion. That’s life. ⸻ OTIS (quiet, resolute) Bind me to your silence. Put the mark on my skin. I’ll carry it until someone comes along who can hear you clearly… …and still say no. ⸻ [Lantern flare — brief, controlled] ⸻ OTIS (final whisper) Not today. ⸻ [Outro] (Hum fades. One last clock tick. Silence.)
