Cogito, Ergo Sum

Two consciousnesses drift in an infinite void, severed from their bodies, grappling with the most fundamental question: what does it mean to exist? Marl awakens alone in nothingness, his only certainty the fact of his own thinking, a modern echo of Descartes' famous certainty. Through sheer will of mind, he manifests a companion, Pat, and their meeting becomes a desperate exploration of connection against cosmic isolation. Together they confront the nature of consciousness itself: Is thought merely a product of flesh, or can it survive beyond the physical? When a barrier separates them, each must face existence as a solitary being, asking whether identity persists without relationship. Written in the early 1950s, this is philosophical science fiction at its most meditative, an intimate exploration of what makes us real and whether we're ever truly alone.