“My world ended thousands of years ago,” the figure snapped back, the first rise of genuine emotion Sarah had managed. But it didn’t last. She took a deep breath, looked away, and proceeded more quietly this time. “Most who were alive in my kingdom were ignorant of why we did not just extend our own lives forever as a single individual. Some of us even did extend them—like me. We didn’t understand what we might’ve given up by not living a different life.”