The Open Question

TW-155 is classified at the verbal level only. Its holder is a single M.A.L.I.C.E researcher with Level 5 clearance who is not permitted to ask it of anyone without Director authorisation. The researcher has described living with it as 'like having a splinter in the brain.'

TW-155 is a question, 14 words long, that cannot be written down — every attempt to transcribe it produces a different question, none of which is TW-155. The question can be spoken, and those who hear it find themselves unable to stop thinking about it for a period of days to weeks. The question has been described as 'obvious in retrospect' and 'the most important thing I've ever been asked.' Its content varies slightly per listener. What is consistent is that no listener has been able to answer it.

TW-155 was discovered when a linguist reported that a sentence they had heard in passing — a fragment of overheard conversation — had never left them in 3 years of trying. They submitted a research report. The report's attempt to transcribe the sentence produced 47 different questions. All 47 are filed.

No incident reports on file.