It was not called a being.
It was not called an entity.
Those required categories.
So Proto-Exist marked it
with the only symbol neutral enough to endure:
1
Not because it was singular—
but because it was the first proof.
One did not think.
It did not feel.
It did not ask.
It merely stood as reference.
With its presence,
Zero ceased to be absolute.
Not because Zero changed—
but because it could now be compared.
And comparison
is the beginning of everything.
If One exists,
then Zero is no longer supreme.