The Egg. Author's Note: The Egg is also available in the following languages: The Egg By: Andy Weir You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. And that’s when you met me. “What… what happened?” “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…” “Yup,” I said. “I… I died?” “Yup. You looked around. “More or less,” I said. “Are you god?” “Yup,” I replied. “My kids… my wife,” you said. “What about them?” “Will they be all right?” “That’s what I like to see,” I said. You looked at me with fascination. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Oh,” you said. “Neither,” I said. “Ah,” you said. “All religions are right in their own way,” I said. You followed along as we strode through the void. “Nowhere in particular,” I said. “So what’s the point, then?”
“Not so!” I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “How many times have I been reincarnated, then?” “Oh lots. “Wait, what?” “Well, I guess technically. The Last Question. The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light.
The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way: Alexander Adell and Bertram Lupov were two of the faithful attendants of Multivac. As well as any human beings could, they knew what lay behind the cold, clicking, flashing face -- miles and miles of face -- of that giant computer. They had at least a vague notion of the general plan of relays and circuits that had long since grown past the point where any single human could possibly have a firm grasp of the whole.
Multivac was self-adjusting and self-correcting. For decades, Multivac had helped design the ships and plot the trajectories that enabled man to reach the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but past that, Earth's poor resources could not support the ships. The energy of the sun was stored, converted, and utilized directly on a planet-wide scale. "Sure you are. Stories from Rumi (Myth-Folklore Online) HOME - Help - Calendar - D2L - Ning The Elephant in a Dark Room (trans.
E.H. Whinfield) Some Hindoos were exhibiting an elephant in a dark room, and many people collected to see it. But as the place was too dark to permit them to see the elephant, they all felt it with their hands, to gain an idea of what it was like. The eye of outward sense is as the palm of a hand, The whole of the object is not grasped in the palm. "Elephant in the Dark" (trans. Some Hindus have an elephant to show.