...Will mankind one day without the net expenditure of energy be able to restore the sun to its full youthfullness even after it had died of old age? How can the net amount of entropy in the universe be massivly decreased? asked Adell.

Multivac fell dead silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sound of clicking relays ended. Then just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold there breath no longer, there was a suddden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of multivac.

Five words where printed: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MENINGFULL ANSWER.

Man said,"AC, is this the end? Can this chaos not be reversed into the universe once more? Can that not be done?

AC said "THERE IS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MENINGFULL ANSWER."

Man`s last mind fused and only AC existed and that in hyperspace.

Matter and energy had ended and with it space and time. Even AC existed only for the sake of the one last question that it never answered form the time a half-drunken technician ten trillion years before had asked the question of a computer that was to AC far less than was a man to Man. All other questions had been answered, and until this last qustion was answered also, AC might not release his consciousness.

All collected data had come to a final end. Nothing was left to be collected. But all collected data had yet to be completely correlated and put togather in all possible relationships.

A time interwall was spent in doing that.
And it came to pass that AC learned how to reverese the direction of entropy.

But there was now no man to whom AC might give the answer of the last question. No matter. The answer by demonstration would take care of that, too. For another timeless interwall, AC though how best to do this. Carefully, AC organized the program.

The consciousness of AC encompassed all of what had once been a Universe and brooded over what was now Chaos. Step by step, it must be done.

And AC said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT"
And there was light...


Robot Dreams / The Last Question, Isaac Asimov