“But it is imperative that you be in the city of Atalantaya when you detonate this explosion. You must be within the dome and you must be in the presence of the Replimoid who built and rules Atalantaya. It is imperative that this being know who you are, whence you came, and what you are about to do. And then with utter resolution you must do it. Indeed, you will need all your intellect and skill to make the journey from where we plant you on Earth to the city of Atalantaya to confront the Great One of Atalantaya. If at any time before that final confrontation he suspects that you are Replimoids, if he suspects that you have come from Bravenna, he will seek to imprison you or destroy you. And he no doubt possesses the means to dissolve your bodies back to their basic chemical components, while removing the explosives and toxins in your bodies, and indeed he will use all the components to continue his unlawful rulership on the planet. You must take him by surprise. You must announce your purpose and explain it right before you fulfill it.”

I was pondering this. So were Welf and Garekyn, but Derek was plainly horrified. And how could anyone expect otherwise, because we knew full well what death was. We had been watching humans and animals die for days or weeks, or months, for all we knew.

Derek cried out at once, “I don’t want to die! Die? All of us will die? You mean Welf will die? You mean Kapetria will die? Garekyn will die? Why must that happen to us? What good will we be to you when we are dead? And where will we be when we are dead, the we inside of us, our minds, our…who we are!”

The Parents were obviously completely stopped by Derek’s words. If they’d heard such an outpouring from a Replimoid before, they gave no sign of it.

Then the Parents began to answer.

“You will not be anywhere, Derek, when you die,” said the Parents. “You will be finished, and gone. There will be no Derek. There will be no more of any of you. That is what death is, Derek. We die too, we who developed you and created you. All creatures die. And that will be the end of you.”

Derek was in helpless tears. Welf and Garekyn couldn’t comfort him. And I could see that they were none too happy with this revelation themselves. It had caused in me a sinking feeling I’d never known before.

“Perhaps you can explain to us,” I suggested, “how this will feel.” They answered, “You will not feel anything. When you detonate the explosion, you will cease to be. That’s all. There is no life beyond biological life. There is no life beyond visible life.”