"Marshal Lizz"
"What are you doing here?"
Evan asked with a grimace. This grumpy old woman was targeting him again!
Lizz sat down in the chair, ignoring the expression on her little one's face as usual. This time, he didn't start with a joke or a pretense as usual, he was calm and serious.
"We don't think we can handle it"
Evan also fell silent. "Of course, we've reached our limit," he took a deep breath.
Their motivation to live decreased with each passing time. Space was empty and dark. A silent danger, they were left alone with their worst fears, loneliness.
Drifting through this nothingness...
Not everyone among the 10,000 or so can go to the Universe of the Dead. There is a capacity limit. To give an example, only about 20 more people can go.
Those who remained would take on metal corpses to escape the confines of the biological body. In this way, something would be sacrificed in order to live.
A word lost in the dusty pages of history fit too well.
"For life to continue, it must either adapt to conditions and reproduce in the name of immortality, or it must be immune from death with the highest adaptation to the unlivable harness it is in."
It was a choice.
Humans would lose their ability to reproduce along with their humanity, and in return they would get a life close to immortality. Of course, the laws of physics wouldn't allow it. No matter how much these bodies were renewed, their non-renewable consciousness would erode over time.
For those who did not want to lose their humanity, there were two options. The first is the Universe of the Dead, where there is at least some hope. The other is the discovery of a suitable habitable planet in the entire universe.
Unfortunately, such a place has not been discovered yet, with low population and scarce facilities.
"Evan, that boy..."
Lizz looked as if she had made a decision. Evan understood what he meant. There was mention of Mr. Xue.
Can it help? Maybe... that kid was special in some way...
"I don't know. Even if he did, he's not the type to help out..."
To be clear, the twenty people to go have already been obvious for a long time. And most of them were gone. Before Xue made the Universe of the Dead independent.
Those who are left behind are the people who decided to stay here a little longer in order to maintain the order of the society. Still, there are many who are fighting here for the rights of those who remain. This is no different than trying to take the food from someone else's mouth, the lion's mouth.
Ah... of course there is another option...
But this is an option that should be eliminated without thinking. A new Universe of the Dead.
But this is impossible. Because the Universe of the Dead is from the time when technology exploded, when humans were at their brightest, compared to the current famine. To seek a habitable planet is to gain access to something that already exists. The Universe of the Dead is something else entirely. Along with the technology to build a universe from scratch, an energy to support it is essential. Uninterrupted and almost endless energy.
The Universe of the Dead meets this from the stars and has no single alternative. Whether with light or movement...
Actually, the Universe of the Dead is not in this place. There are 3 replica containers, that is, the body that will take the universe and make it work. Only 1 of them is used. The reason is simple, if something rude happens, the memory and load are automatically loaded by activating the other device. There are very few of them in the infinite universe, but unless they fall into a black hole, it is very difficult to almost disintegrate or be disabled. Likewise, the challenge of meeting these exacting requirements applies to its construction.
3 is actually a big fortune.
But even if people fall into their greed and want to live, they cannot reach this blood. Even if it does, it doesn't provide access. It is just a temporary body with no entrance or exit.
The influence of the Universe of the Dead has reached 10.7 billion. Yet, however perfect it may seem, the workings of this universe are based on simple little cunning.
First, a new spirit of life cannot be created here. Whatever is done, people exist as long as they enter this universe. New births exist only as a result of death, and this results in the loss of memory and the attainment of new life.
With the forgetting of memory, your new appearance and another environment, the personality may change and give an illusion 'A new man is born'.
No.
This is the lie they most enjoy telling themselves. People tend to deceive and love sweet lies. Even the Universe of the Dead, which seems to be perfect, reveals its true face even with this function alone.
"And the flash drive?"
"I gave it to... Mr. Xue"
"Are you crazy?"
Liz got angry.
"No, it was a step. It was a gamble, rather. If he opened up, he would be able to understand the Universe of the Dead, this desolate universe and its foundation. Maybe... he would be willing to help at the cost of this knowledge?
"But he still hasn't contacted you, has he? Obviously not on purpose!" The Marshal was really angry.
Evan was silent.
Alright...
What if the Universe of the Dead is facing possible extinction? This also had a solution. Consciousnesses will be transferred into highly durable metal bodies that have already been prepared and protected. In other words, people will open their eyes again to a painful reality.
Regardless, a living-based habitat was essential. Evan and Lizz almost devoted their life to this issue, their only goal was to find a way out for the continuation of humanity's generation.
They were aware.
No matter how many billion years passed, the Universe of the Dead could not last forever. Destruction was easy, construction is difficult. Entropy wouldn't allow it.
It could be said that "Entropy is simply the name of the act of dispersal of matter".
Even this second law of thermodynamics was enough to show the battle of life.
Those who knew that they could not rely on a single thing did not rush to go even if they had the right to go, and they tried to find a way out for themselves, to try to their limits.
"Call Mr. Xue, please, let's get in touch. This situation does not only affect us, all humanity, including himself, is involved."
Even though it may seem cheeky, what he said had a grain of truth in it.
The result was not something as simple as death, it was annihilation.
And perhaps never to exist again
-To be continued-