Flash continued visiting with Lem in her dreams, and he came to the realization that she was not gone at all. Her body was gone, but as she had pointed out, she was not her body at all. She was a force that had once ani- mated those cells, which Flash had mistakenly taken to be her. In the same way, he knew that he was not his body. His body was a universe of cells that lived for his benefit. They existed to serve him. They were loyal and hard working, each one fulfilling its role to aid him. Each atom of his body was born from an exploding star, and they would continue with some other function long after the force that was him departed.
Yes, he too, was a force. He would not be swallowed up by the universe, cast into the void, he would BE the uni- verse. Justasawaverisesfromthesea,andthenonce again becomes the sea.
Flash had been seeing an old man looking back from the mirror. What he now realized was that his body was beautiful. He adored it. Judgement dissipated. How could he have been so unkind to this collection of star- dust which adored him back?