“Life and Death have a conversation while engaged in a chess match. The pieces represent the many aspects of existence and, while the game itself is short to them, it’s the entirety of time to us.” -u/AGIA, original post here.
Life and Death sat down across from each other, setting up the board for play.
Knights and bishops, just so. Hydrogen, set spinning in massive quantities at phenomenal speeds. Pawns, all lined up across the board. Physics and fundamental forces, set firmly into place.
Death threw back the tail of their cloak and sat on a gnarled stump of decaying wood. Life grew a curved sapling from the soil, gently resting on it’s supple bough. The game began.
“Tʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴏᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴀs ᴜsᴜᴀʟ, ʟɪꜰᴇ?”
“Someday, I’ll get a fool’s mate on you, Death.”
Death chuckled, a hollow sound. “ɴᴏᴛ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ɪᴛ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴛɪᴍᴇ.”
Life shrugged, moving a pawn forward. Balls of cosmic dust began to slowly coalesce. Death opened with a move from their knight, countering the attempted play. Proto-stars collided and scattered, delaying their formation. Life smiled, and began to think.
The game had been easier at the beginning. Now Life’s pieces were scattered, fighting on different fronts. They couldn’t defend each other against Death’s plays with their queen.
“Dᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴍʏ ǫᴜᴇᴇɴ?” Death pondered.
“Oh, yes!” Life said, their laughter ringing clearly like a bell. “My goodness, that was ages ago!”
“Tʜᴀᴛ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴡᴀs ᴇxᴄᴇᴘᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴇsᴛɪɴɢ,” Death said. “ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs sᴇᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ɪᴛ.”
Life frowned down at the board. Across the universe, small pockets of sapience stood isolated, ignorant of each other’s presence. But suddenly, they spotted something—two of their pieces, with Death’s queen positioned between them. It would take a few turns, but if they could bring them together…
They enacted their play. Over the course of centuries, a singular radio wave traveled across space, until for the first time in the history of the universe, contact was made between two space-age civilizations.
Death’s queen toppled. The speed of light was broken. Between the two civilizations, they had managed to work out the greatest limiting factor in the universe.
Death gave Life a skeletal grin. “ʜᴍᴍ. ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴅᴏɴᴇ.”
Of course, it was inevitable in the end. Life had never won a game against Death, and this time was no different. Even with faster-than-light travel and widespread cooperation, a combination of the rook Competition and the bishop Ennui took out most of Life’s pieces. It wasn’t long before it was just their king, pinned down on the board, with Death’s king advancing to force a lock.
Life pouted. “Do you have to be so rude about it? You could finish me off with any of your other pieces, you know.”
Death shook their head. “ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʜᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ᴍᴜsᴛ ʙᴇ,” they said. “ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʜᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ᴍᴜsᴛ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ʙᴇ.”
A skeletal hand advanced the king, and the endless machinations of Entropy caused Sapience to finally topple. From there, it was just a matter of cleaning up the board. The remaining clouds of space dust drifted further and further apart, in a cold, empty universe.
Life sighed as the tree below them withered and cracked, dying as the game came to it’s end. They stood, and Death stood with them, moving forward to take a seat on the gnarled remains of Life’s tree. Life took a few steps back, choosing a new place and raising a new tree from the soil.
Knights and bishops, just so. Hydrogen, set spinning in massive quantities at phenomenal speeds. Pawns, all lined up across the board. Physics and fundamental forces, set firmly into place.
“Sʜᴀʟʟ I ɢᴏ ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ?” Death asked.
“Fair’s fair,” Life responded. “Best of luck, old friend.”
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