2 Death and Life

Infinitesimal Infinity In Between

"So, this is how it ends," Death mused. "As cliché as it may sound, it seems as if humanity will die not with a bang, but a whimper."

"Well, I wouldn't even really call it a whimper," Ada replied with a calm shrug. "I mean, I feel fairly relaxed."

"Well, you were always an odd one out amongst your crew," Death replied with an amused and affectionate smile.

"True!" Ada grinned cheekily. "Not many others can claim to have created Death incarnate, giving a bodiless entity a human form for itself!"

"And yet, you never managed to quite nab Life," Death mused thoughtfully.

Although Ada had met Life before, through Death's stories, she had never been able to give Life a human form the way she'd given Death one. Likewise, even though she managed to give Death a human form, she still did not know all that there was to know about Death. And Death was no god either, having yet to find a way to explain it all to her. It was analogous to a man trying to teach calculus to an ant, save that the mental gap between man and ant was actually smaller than the gap between Death and human.

"Ah well, we can't always have everything," Ada sighed. "And how fitting, too," she added. "It is life that we seek most as a species, yet Life was the one thing we never found or mastered. Death, however?" she turned to smile dryly at her companion.

"Do you regret finding me rather than Life?" Death asked, returning Ada's dry smile.

"I don't know," Ada replied with a shrug. "But I suppose it doesn't matter now. Not with me so close to your door anyway..." Then she fell silent, her usual cheerfulness settling into something more... somber. It wasn't sadness, fear, anger or regret. But it wasn't quite peace or joy either.

"If it makes you feel any better, you will not go alone," Death promised.

"Of course I won't. I know you will be with me as I pass," Ada replied, a happier smile returning to her face.

"As will Life," Death promised. "Life will walk through my doors with you."

"Oh?" Ada asked, genuinely surprised by this thought.

"Ah, did you not figure it out yet?" Death asked. "You are the very last living being in the entire universe. When you die, there will be nothing left. Nothing living, that is. And without that, Life will simply cease to exist."

"Ah. What a nice thought," Ada's face contorted some. It amused and intrigued her to think that Life itself was going to die, but it made sense... sort of... But then something else occurred to her.

"Wait. Won't that mean you will be all alone, then? With me and Life both gone?" Ada gave Death a saddened look.

"No," Death replied calmly. "I will join you as well."

"What?!" If Ada had been surprised before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Well think about it!" Death insisted. "You cannot have Death without Life, and if Life goes..."

"Then so will you!" Ada breathed. "If no one is around to live anymore, then no one will be around to die anymore either."

"Yes," Death nodded. "So, our little trinity will all pass together. Or, well, it won't quite be together. You'll go first, then Life, then me. But the principle remains the same. All of us will vanish. Then there will truly be Nothing once more and the entire universe will fall empty."

For a moment, the lonely pair fell silent, both of them somewhat frightened about such a quiet and eternal end, but then something else occurred to Ada and she did not hesitate to speak her mind.

"Wait!" she said suddenly. "Why would Life go first? If Death cannot exist without Life, wouldn't you two go together?"

"Because when you go, Life will follow, because all Life will have ceased." Death replied. "But since you will be dying, and then dead, there will be a brief period of time where only I remain. I will outlive Life, so to speak," Death chuckled darkly.

"Oh," Ada nodded in understanding, but only a second later, another realization struck her.

"Wait!" she cried again. "If Death will outlive Life, even if only for a little while, could the reverse be true? Could there ever be a time again when Life simply started up, existing without Death? Even if only for a little?" she asked, and Death's eyes began to twinkle.

"Ah ha!" Death cried happily. "Now you got it! Yes! It is entirely possible that, one day, Life will start up again! And that means that Life can come from, and in spite of, Death! Life can exist without Death, even if only for a tiny period of time. But do you know what that means?"

"Yes!" Ada replied, not missing a beat. Her eyes lit up as well. This was a scientific theory from eons ago, stating that the universe would die eventually, but could come back if quantum tunneling continued to happen even after everything else fell into perfect entropy. One little instance of tunneling could jumpstart the entire universe again in a second Big Bang!

And if that theory was true, who was to say the universe hadn't already ended and restarted many times over before? Of course, things would be totally different in this new universe, but the point was simply that in the same way the universe sort of just happened, maybe it could sort of just happen again.

Because that was the thing, even if no one was precisely sure how the universe began, many theories, both scientific and religious, always started with a concept of nothing somehow turning into something. Whether it was God's voice or a Big Bang didn't matter. The point was, in theory, something could come from nothing, if that something was the entire universe.

And for another principle, there was that unofficial "law of balance" in the universe, where everything had to have an equal and opposite counterpart. Everything would even out in the end. What if restoration of the universe was part of that balance? If Death were to exist without Life, in order for balance to be restored, there had to be a time where Life existed without Death. This would be the Creation Point, the Genesis, the Big Bang. It would be Life anew, all over again!

And as this thought finally struck Ada, she gave an awed and delighted gasp while Death smiled tenderly at her, glad that she had finally come to see the truth. Even if her existence as she knew it was over forever, she could still take a bit of comfort knowing that something could happen again someday, and it would all be thanks to that infinitesimal infinity in between Death and Life, and Life and Death.

When Ada finally passed away, she died with a smile on her face, and Death was there to watch over her as she passed. Life followed one infinitesimal infinity later, and then Death did the same. Then, for another immeasurable infinity, all was silent, until Life suddenly opened its eyes once again. In one infinitesimal infinity, everything changed, and Life existed without Death. Then one infinitesimal infinity later, Death returned as well, even if in different form now. Then the universe's story started all over again once more...

AN: Random chat between the last living thing in the universe and Death in a human form. My musing on the philosophy/science behind the creation of the universe. Feel free to correct me if anything is wrong. I know I simplified it, so I may have misunderstood and mis-written some things. So yes, please call me out if I messed something up. This was just more musing (as is the point of this "book" LOL)