Neo said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the unknown girl, but in a blink, she was no longer there. It was as if she hadn't been there at all. No footsteps, no echo. Only silence and the same green leaf swaying in the wind.
Arriving home, in his room, Neo felt that reality had become too thin. It was as if everything he had experienced until then had been just a shell. In his mind, questions multiplied.
"Who was the girl?"
"What does it mean that she remembers how everything begins and ends?"
On his desk, among his notebooks, he found a piece of paper that hadn't been there in the morning. On it was an imperfect circle drawn in pencil. Below it, a line written in thin letters:
"Not everything that dies disappears. Not everything that is reborn is new."
Then he felt that he no longer had time. He had to understand. He had to find out what was beyond what he saw.
The next day, Neo returned to the same place—the roof of the building. He hoped to see the girl again. But instead of her, he found an object: a small metal box with no lock. He touched it. It opened on its own.
Inside: a black pebble that seemed to absorb the light. And again, a note:
"A door is not always something you see. It's something you feel. And when you feel, you can pass through."
That evening, Neo dreamed. He saw himself floating in emptiness, in total darkness. From a distance, a voice:
"You asked. It's time to see."
Out of the void, a light ignited. In front of him—an immense circle of light and darkness, like a cosmic gate. Beyond it, shapes, shadows, planets, people, chaos and order. And in the middle, again, the girl.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
Neo wanted to answer, but the dream shattered. He woke up suddenly, his breath quickening. And in his hand—the black pebble from the box.
It was no longer a dream.
End of Chapter 2.