“When I die,” Marie said, “I really hope no one makes a fuss. I’ve arranged everything. My will is clear, all you have to do is follow the directions. Most of it is automatic, you’ll just need to show up. If you want to of course. I won’t hold a grudge if you don’t.”
Lyle shook his head angrily. He flipped through the copy of the will that Marie had given him to review.
“I hate the way you talk about all this,” he said, “like it’s some kind of joke.”
“We’re in our thirties,” Marie said. “It’s not that I don’t take it seriously, I took it seriously enough to make sure all my affairs were in order.”
“Right, and I appreciate you doing that, but this really doesn’t seem like a serious document. Other than the part where you talk about dividing up assets, the rest of this is a joke babe.”
“What do you mean it’s a joke?” Marie asked with offense in her voice.
“The point of a funeral is to allow your loved ones a last chance to say goodbye. To gather together to honor the person they loved and lost.”
“That’s fine, you should have a get-together or something in the event of my death…”
“Your will desecrates your body!” Lyle said.
“What are you talking about?” Marie was genuinely taken aback by Lyle’s anger.
“It’s not right what you’re asking for…”
“What? So many people do it, what’s wrong…”
“It’s a desecration. We can’t forget our humanity, we’re still human!”
Marie shook her head and stood from the table. She had to move to contain her agitation and she paced the room.
“I’m sorry for raising my voice, Marie,” Lyle said. “I just don’t understand how people could do that to their loved ones. It’s disrespectful. Everything out here is so backwards. These people out here, it’s like they forgot where we came from.”
“You didn’t have to come Lyle. I love you, that’s why I asked you to come with me when I got this job, and I thought you agreed to come because you love me too.”
“That’s the only reason I came. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I put up with everything weird here because I love you. I don’t complain about the artificial food, drinking our recycled pee, living indoors all the time and the only sun we feel on our skin is artificial. I can’t really get used to it, but I put up with it for you. For us. I want to make a family with you, Marie. But I won’t raise my kids out here in a place where people forgot what it means to be human.”
Marie stopped pacing and crossed her arms over her chest.
“This is a privilege, Lyle. We’re part of this long range mission to explore the universe, we get to see things that no other human on Earth gets to see. Everything we do here is out of necessity. Humanity isn’t just a one planet species anymore. We can’t treat this ship like it’s a planet, we can’t bury bodies out here.”
“You could be cremated, Marie!”
“I don’t understand why this bothers you so much.”
Lyle signed and looked away at the smooth walls of the living room. Their home on the large ship was extremely comfortable and in so many ways, their life had been luxurious, but there were constant reminders that their life wasn’t ordinary. They had been on the ship for more than ten years and Lyle’s regret at abandoning Earth had only grown. He hadn’t lied that he was willing to endure because of his love for Marie, but seeing her will had broken him.
“You know what happens to me if you die on this mission?” Lyle asked. “I’ll have to finish it without you. This is your mission, not mine. And if I outlive you, you want me to let them shoot your body into a black hole? At least let me cremate you so I can keep some part of you with me.”
Marie wiped a tear from his cheek and sat on his lap.
“I’ll tell you why I want to have my body floated into a black hole, why I hope you’ll do the same. They say that nothing gets destroyed in a black hole. Nothing can escape it, but everything that goes into it becomes a part of it. I’ll be there forever, Lyle. And if we ever figure out how to retrieve stuff from a black hole, I’ll be there. All of me will be there, my whole story, start to finish. Just because we have to do things differently out here, doesn’t mean we’re any less human. It’s a chance to use our imagination and figure out new ways to be human, to honor the people we love in this new life we’ve found for ourselves. I’ll change the will. I’ll have them cremate me if I die before you.”
The two hugged and kissed.
“I didn’t realize any of that,” Lyle said. “We should do it together, the black hole thing.”
“I’d like that,” Marie said. “I’d like our stories to end together that way.”
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