So Long

In a singularly improbable incident, the likes of which have never happened before or since in recorded history, a voice spoke to the infinite universe. Directly into the minds or equivalents of every species with the evolution to comprehend it, the words were spoken. Though not in a language that any living could dare dream to understand.

Yet still they did understand. Those words spoken into the infinite void by the last breath of a dying species did not fall on deaf ears. Rather it was heard and understood in near perfect form by all but one of its intended hearers – that one being the only sentient life form in the universe to not have heard it, was by that token, the most singular being in the universe. The most lonely.

Some races reacted to the words with reverence, carving bloody swaths across their home planets or stellar territories to proclaim a new religious truth. For only the voice of God could speak to the faithful so, and those who did not heed the words must be cleansed as were the heretics of the past. These faiths rose to power, buoyed by the fervent belief in “The One Who Spoke” as they called their new God, and fell into darkest ruin.

Others regarded the voice and its words as proof positive of the nonexistence of God, and dove into greater explorations of the stars. They sought to find the source of the voice, and to know why its speaker had vanished. Theories ranged from ascension to a higher plain of existence to destruction by some alien hand. And they sought that knowledge in the endless dark of space, vanishing just as did the voice that spoke to them.

Another selection, though fewer in number than the other two, merely pondered it. They dug deep within the new information presented to them, and thought the long eons away. Every generation presented their own interpretations of the words, though their meaning faded with time until naught but the first poetic recollection remained. The truest meaning, grasped by only one generation in the history of the universe, was thus lost forever.

It was a joke, in a way. That one simple phrase released to sow discord and promote progress across all life that drew breath at the time of its utterance. But likewise one that ensured the end of its native species would not mark the end of their influence in life.

The chosen’s understanding of the task was flawless. And he knew its rules to the letter, perfectly understanding the importance of his task. Say one thing to the cosmos, one thing to mark humanity’s last moments and imprint their legacy among the stars for millennia. Of course, since the understanding of whatever was said had to be perfect, there was only one course of action for the designated speaker, who did not know by whom he had been designated. Only one thing he could say that would promote the albeit limited extension of human culture in time.

Perfect understanding. Of every nuance and implication, of every reference and reinvention, of the story as a whole. What one phrase could he say, with a cheeky grin as he stared into the maw of eternity?

“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”

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This story was inspired by something I saw online. If you could say one thing to the entire cosmos at once and be thus perfectly understood, what would you say to mark humankind's last moments?

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!