[ WP ] You are a Science-Fiction writer in the year 3017 , struggling to write because everything good has already happened .

`` Science *fiction* is not a genre, Nok. There is no such thing as *fictional* science,'' Aung punctuated her remark with another lazy shot from her pistol. It hit its mark and the holodisplay dinged. 
 
 `` I just think it could make a comeback, you know. I mean, Cyber Romances are spreading across the net like crazy now.'' Nok fired her pistol, but missed the discs that arced across the sky. 
 
 `` Romances are still a genre. People still feel love. Nobody makes up science anymore.'' Aung waved her pistol haphazardly at Nok. `` Just call it magic.'' She shot again and the holodisplay rang out excitedly. `` Look, you're thinking too hard about it. You did terribly this round.'' 
 
 Nok holstered her pistol in the machine and it enveloped it back into storage. She shrugged, and turned away to see if anything else in the arcade caught her eye. Aung grabbed her hand as they ambled through the game machines. 
 
 `` But is n't magic just a simulacrum of advanced technology? Clarke always said-'' 
 
 Aung cut her off. `` That was centuries ago. Magic is just a crutch to ignore the laws of physics.'' She sniffed. `` Nobody wants to read about something that will never happen. If it could n't possibly happen, then who cares?'' 
 
 `` Would n't it be cool though? To.. To.. To imagine a world where anything is possible? Every book ca n't just be about humans and boring Earth colonies sitting around boring mid-range suns.'' 
 
 Aung rolled her eyes. `` Oh so we're just going to invent a whole race? What will they be called, space-elves? Star-Dwarves?'' Nok let out an exasperated sigh and pulled her towards the exit. They walked out and she paused to look up at the shielded vacuum of space above them. 
 
 `` Do n't... Do n't you ever wonder if maybe there's something more out there?'' She squeezed her hand. 
 
 `` No, Nok, because it's been centuries. There's no one and nothing out there but more matter waiting for us to realign it. It's just stars and space dust with varying levels of entropy all the way down.'' 
 
 She sighed again and Aung pursed her lips. `` Well,'' she said, `` if you did write science fiction, what you write about?'' 
 
 `` Oh... I... do n't know.'' She turned away slightly. 
 
 Aung laughed and pulled her closer. `` You do, I know you.'' 
 
 She blushed. `` I wanted to write about an armed spaceship. Like, they've been cast out from their home - which is at war, a really bad war - and then they're running away, right? Because they defied orders or something.'' 
 
 `` Mhmm, okay.'' 
 
 `` And then they're out there and they discover an alien artifact. It's an ancient device they find on an abandoned planet, totally in ruins, but it still works. An alien appears and asks them what do they want more than anything in the world, and they say, to stop the war, so it sends the ship back in time-'' 
 
 Aung smirked. `` Shush,'' Nok said before she could say anything, `` They go back in time, and then they're like... Back right before the big civil war that's destroying their home, so they try to stop it, but... But somehow, they're the ones who start the whole war.'' 
 
 `` Well, at least it's not a paradox,'' Aung said dryly, `` At least that's scientific.'' 
 
 `` It's just an adventure story, I guess.'' 
 
 `` Then why have time travel in it? Everyone knows you ca n't go back in time. You might as well have a wizard wave his wand,'' Aung waved her hands as if casting spells. `` Kapow, you're back in time. Pew, you're in an alternate universe. Zap, you're an alien.'' 
 
 Nok pushed her away. `` Stop it.'' Aung stopped with a martyred look. `` It's not funny.'' 
 
 `` I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just do n't think the nets will read it.'' 
 
 `` It's different, okay?'' Nok paused and looked back at the grand expanse of stars that stretched out above them. 
 
 `` It's not the best idea, I know. But fantasy and magic.. That's about humans, doing human things, that are fantastical and unreal. But... But... That's so insular. That's always about who we are removed from our worlds.'' She stopped again. `` I... I want to write about something outside of ourselves but carries part of us with it. It's so lonely... Being the only things out here. Humans are too comfortable.'' Still staring upward, she reached out for Aung. `` If it's just us, making a space civilization all by ourselves, spreading across the galaxy one habitable system at a time, there's nothing to remind us about what's bigger than ourselves.'' 
 
 She looked back down into her eyes. `` We're small, you know? We're just cyber-organic creatures crawling around this incredible canvas, but it's not art. It's not beautiful for the sake of being beautiful. It's so... scientific.'' Aung smiled, and Nok kissed her quickly. 
 
 `` Science can be more than just physics and numbers and... I do n't know, things that make us feel comfortable. Science fiction is n't about the science or the fiction, it's about what makes science beautiful. All this order, all these laws and rules that define everything, sometimes it's more beautiful to break them. We need to remember what happens when science goes too far, or not far enough, and remind ourselves that we are more than just sentient space dust.'' 
 
 `` We need a bit more asymmetry, Aung. Everything is such a perfect reflection of what we know it to be, I just want to write about some cracks in the mirror.'' 
 
 Aung hugged Nok, and brushed her lips against her cheek. `` Well, that was beautiful,'' she whispered. `` If you write like that, maybe science fiction could make a comeback.'' 
 
 They both looked up at the thousands of tiny lights. `` Time travel is still stupid though,'' she said softly. Nok punched her lightly in the ribs, and Aung let the silent vastness overwhelm them for a moment longer. 
 

