The silence broke, not with the return of the chorus, but with a single, resonant echo. It was the creature’s song, but changed, imbued with the myriad perspectives of the listeners. It was as if every voice in the chorus had taken the song into itself, and in so doing, had made it their own. The echo was a reflection, but it was also a reply, a conversation started across the silent space. The creature heard its own voice, yet it was also the voice of the other, a perfect synthesis of self and other in a single, harmonious sound.