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‘Yeah,’ said Garovel. ‘I’ve tried a few times, actually. Everyone experiments in their youth, right?’

‘Your “youth,” huh? What were you, like, five hundred?’

‘Two hundred, the first time. Occasionally, I give it another shot, just to see if anything’s changed. I might do it again, eventually. Assuming someone doesn’t kill me first, that is.’

‘Hmm. So how does it, uh...? I mean, what happens when you go up that high, exactly?’

‘I start to lose consciousness.’

‘Ah...’

‘It might be for the best, though. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be if you flew up into space and got lost? AND you weren’t able to die? So you just... drifted? For millions of years, potentially? If not billions? In fact, who knows if you’d ever find your way back at all?’

‘Shit, when you put it like that, why would you even risk going up there?’

‘Mm, curiosity.’

‘Reapers must get REALLY bored, if that’s all it takes.’

‘That’s a bigger problem than people usually realize. I bet there are plenty of wars that were largely the result of some bored reaper.’

‘I can believe that,’ said Hector. ‘But, uh. I’m still wondering, um...’ He had to take a moment to find his wording. ‘Well. Hmm. What’s the planet’s role in all this?’

‘Heh. What do you mean?’

Hector’s brow furrowed. ‘What do you mean what do I mean? And what’re you laughing about?’

The reaper laughed outright at that. ‘I’m just getting the impression that you’re about to ask me a particular question that nobody knows the answer to. Something that a LOT of people have been trying to figure out for a very long time.’