In a place where nothing existed (well, mostly nothing, except for the stardust, the odd micrometeor and space vacuum) three cloaked figures gathered. They did not appear, because they were always there. You can say that they were Nothing dressed in Nothing. While not a very successful fashion line, this proved impressive. Perfectly innocent grains of stardust were floating in what they'd call a state of happiness and suddenly wham, they turn out to be a microscopic part of the hem of a robe which had always been a robe, not a swish of dust.
A distant nebula gave off weak pink-ish light.
One of the figures said, We have failed.
We are not to be blamed, another said. The human failed. Such an unreliable thing, life.
Indeed, the third robe said after a pause. But he was one of the most ingenious tools we have had at our disposal. It would be good to reconsider his... reemployment.
The second Nothing stirred, But that would mean to break the rules, to breach protocol!
We have failed to work through humans. We have failed to remove life ourselves, what will guarantee us that we will not fail this time?
At this point, if the third figure could smirk, it would have. We will work through the human and through our own means, at the same time. Analysis confirms that this method will improve our chances of success.
There was no sound here, but had there been any, it would have stopped being heard. Without apparent movement, the background shifted. What was interstellar blackness was now the blackness of an alley in the Shades in Ankh-Morpork. The three grey figures remained.
Let us commence, they said.
