The Wheel is Death

A young neophyte witnesses the ritual execution of his friend by priestly elders after the friend invents a simple transport device. The high-priest recounts a transmitted myth of a prior technological holocaust that destroyed much of the world and set the survivors on a course of rejecting science. The narrative contrasts the priests' duty to maintain social order with the inventor's curiosity and drive to improve daily life. It explores how fear of repeating a catastrophic past, institutional memory, and concentrated authority produce cultural prohibitions against technology and the friction between preservation and progress.