GLORIA Can we go on?

IAN Why not? This is the most interesting conversation I've ever had with myself.

GLORIA We were talking about a contradiction.

IAN Which one? My life is full of them.

GLORIA Do you think the whole universe evolved and supports life for nothing?

IAN Then what does it do it for, recreation?

GLORIA No. For the space between birth and death.

IAN Come on. It's too brief to give a damn about. We each rise up out of a genetic hole that goes clear back to the first higher molecule, run across a crowded and confused field in the darkness with explosions going off all around us, and then, quite unexpectedly, step right off a cliff into a second oblivion -- and all too soon, much, much too soon.

GLORIA I hope we planned better than that.

IAN We