THE MOMENT
"This is your attempt at small talk?" Ophelia smiled at her date to show she wasn't wholly put off. They connected through a supernatural match app and agreed to meet at the coffee shop after sundown. They both knew she was a vampire, and he was a human. Fae were revealed to the public less than three years ago and already the world had moved on. Isaac arrived and within five minutes he was informing her of the perils that awaited the immortals in the Fae community.
"No, sorry," Isaac shook his head with a chuckle. "It's just that, no one ever thinks about that, you know? Billions of years from now all you immortals are going to get swallowed by the sun. Ever think about how that's going to work? Are you still going to be immortal in the sun? Burning for billions more years?? I know I wouldn't want that...," he said.
"Is that your point in telling me?" Ophelia asked. "Simply to tell me you wouldn't want that? I can assure you most people wouldn't," she nodded.
"Whoa, sorry," Isaac leaned back and put his hands up with the palms out. "You don't need to get all defensive, it's just a conversation."
"Okay then, let's have this conversation. Are you immortal?" she asked.
"You know I'm not. Wouldn't want to be," he replied.
"What about psychic?" Ophelia asked. She turned and pointed at one of the nearby patrons minding their own business. "Can you tell me what she's thinking?"
"No. I thought we were having a conversation about immortals at the end of the world? Hell, even before that. You'll all be alone on a barren Earth being scorched by solar rays."
"We are, I just wanted to establish some things first. You're not immortal, and you can't read other people's minds," she said. "So, tell me. How is it exactly you came to the conclusion that 'no one ever thinks about that'?"
"Huh?"
"I have lived thousands of years before you were born, I've had a lot of time to think. I've also seen things you could never begin to imagine. You mortals with a 'blink and you'll miss it' lifespan are so focused on what you know 'right now'."
"All there is is 'now'," Isaac chuckled. He was smart enough to realize the date was over and good-natured enough to finish it with grace.
"Well yes, but it's helpful to acknowledge the 'now' here in this coffee shop is quite a different moment from the 'now' at the end of the world. A lot can change between those moments. Especially that many."
"Is that... is that it? You're just kind of hoping it won't turn out that way?" Isaac asked. "We know the sun's going to expand, it's physics."
"Of course the sun is going to expand," Ophelia shook her head with a giggle. "What makes you think we'll still be here?"
"You're .. immortal?" he asked.
"Human history is only about 300000 years, let's call all of that a single moment that brought us here to this conversation. And, let's call uninhabitable Earth, 1.3 billion years from now, the start of another moment. Between this moment and that one, there are 4000 moments. The length of human history 4000 times to get to the moment you think we'll all just stand around in the sunlight. In one moment, 300000 years, you went from hunting and loincloths to the moon and a supercomputer in your pocket. You can see and talk to anyone else in the world. What do you think is going to happen in the next 300000, building on those advancements? And the next after that? Keep iterating 4000 times. Why do you think we'll still be here?" she asked again.
"Oh," Isaac nodded. He was just sharing a thought, he wasn't actually prepared to think about the scale of time involved. "So... got your eye on any planets?" he asked. She didn't seem annoyed enough to leave or demand he did, so he planned to stick it out until the end at least.
"Nah, other planets don't exist. And, honestly, I was just giving you a hard time," she giggled with a shake of her head. She wasn't testing him exactly, but, she was surprised to see him willing to stay. "Honestly, I'm not even from this Earth. I was trying to keep it vague because I thought you were gonna leave any second. But, when I said, 'What makes you think we'll still be here', I already know how to travel between parallel Earths. When any Earth reaches its uninhabitable state, the easiest thing is for all the immortals to just move to a new one."