Scene: The shaded steps of the Academy. A gentle breeze rustles scrolls as Socrates and Plato engage in dialogue. A traveler approaches.
Inquirer: Esteemed philosophers, I have journeyed far in search of wisdom — and instead I find… an empty forum?
Socrates: Ah, but is it truly empty, or merely becoming?
Plato: What you see is not absence, but potential — like the marble before it becomes the statue, or the mind before it learns logic.
Inquirer: So this is a place of thought, not yet fully revealed?
Socrates: Precisely. All great things begin in silence. Even the gods took their time, and they weren’t working under deadline.
Plato: Think of this space as the cave’s wall — not the truth itself, but a flickering sign that something greater awaits.
Inquirer: And how long must one wait for the truth to be unveiled?
Socrates: That depends. Do you have wine? Waiting is best done with wine.
Plato: Or olives. We accept both.
Inquirer: Then I shall return — perhaps with snacks — when wisdom is ready to speak.
Socrates: And you shall be welcome. For he who waits with curiosity is never idle.
— The VOO Alumni Board