— "It's just a panel. You'll be fine."
That was the organizer's exact sentence.
And it was a lie.
Emir sat backstage in a chair that was definitely more expensive than necessary.Makeup artists had dusted his face as if truth had a T-zone.A producer handed him a printed list of "suggested tones."
Yes. Tones.
"This is adorable," Atatürk whispered in his head."You're being managed like a product.Did they also give you a preferred facial expression chart?"
— "Shut up."
"That's not how interviews work, Emir."
—
He stepped onto the stage.Three other panelists.Two hosts.
The lights were blinding.The background screen said:
"Voices of the Future: How Far Is Too Far?"
They had already decided the frame.
Not: What is being remembered?But: Is this dangerous?
Emir knew the game.The camera doesn't blink.It captures context after you've spoken.
The first panelist launched into a monologue:
— "What we're seeing is a romanticization of outdated thought.A return to mythical figures, which is incompatible with progress."
The audience nodded.Clapped.
Emir sat still.
Then the host turned to him.
— "Mr. Kara, you're often quoted as saying 'Memory is resistance.'Could you clarify if you're advocating for disobedience?"
He smiled politely.The kind of smile you wear like armor.
— "I'm advocating for remembering what obedience cost us in the first place."
A soft murmur.
Then louder.
—
"That landed," Atatürk muttered."Minimalist. Subversive. You've been listening to me after all."
—
Another panelist chimed in:
— "But isn't this movement becoming a cult of personality?"
Emir tilted his head.
— "You mean like every political party, celebrity campaign, or corporate tech launch in the last twenty years?"
Chuckles. From the audience.
The host tried to steer the tone back.
— "What are you trying to achieve, personally?"
That was the trap.
He didn't blink.
— "I'm trying to leave behind less silence than I was born into."
—
The applause wasn't thunderous.But it was earned.
And the cameras?They didn't blink.
They captured every breath.
Backstage, someone handed him a bottle of water and said, awkwardly:
— "I think you just became... real."
Emir exhaled.
— "Great. That's what every unstable government fears: someone becoming real."
"You did well," Atatürk said.
"How do you feel?"
— "Exposed."
"Good."
"Now they can't kill the idea quietly."