4th Questions

Q. People say that this is the end times. Is it?

A. End times? What do you know about end times. This Great Lit has longer to go yet, much longer than your species will be about. Not too long now for me, another few billion years.

Q. Billion? How do you know.

A. The signs are there. The sun is slightly cooler now. I can feel the strings of the universe getting tight. All set for a big bounce.

Q. Surely the sun won't have an impact on the end of the, um, the Great Lit

A. Not directly. But the stars are held together by some force that I can't see, I can sense it sometimes. Each time a star dies that string is broken. The strings snap back and rip though The Great Lit, causing a cascading effect. That's what I can feel. The first sign is a cooling of the sun, its very minor, perhaps its just the earth heating I can feel.

Q. So the earth is heating?

A. What are you silly? Of course it is, you don't think you can dig up all those fossil fuels, burn them and not have an impact on your environment. I must say, of all the times I have been in the Great Lit, you are one of the most reckless and unthinking types. It comes from your own arrogance. Yes you can get hurt, yes your planet will respond. It's an eco-system. You just can't simply walk all over it and expect it to be the same always.

Q. What shall we do?

A. Do? Change your ways. Your spot on the planet is so short, the planet's spot in The Great Unlit is tiny, so you best make the most of it. Before you know it the sparrows will stop farting and you will be no more. Did you want it to last a bit longer? Then turn the generators off. Stop digging up oil and making plastic out of it. Plant more trees than you cut down. Its all very simple.