<P> Soon, Louise became quite proficient at Heptapod B, and found that when writing in it, trains of thought were directionless, and premises and conclusions interchangeable . She found herself starting to think in Heptapod B and began to see time as heptapods do . Louise saw glimpses of her future and of a daughter she did not yet have . This raised questions about the nature of free will: knowledge of the future would imply no free will, because knowing the future means it cannot be changed . But Louise asked herself, "What if the experience of knowing the future changed a person? What if it evoked a sense of urgency, a sense of obligation to act precisely as she knew she would?" </P> <P> One day, after an information exchange with the heptapods, the aliens announced they were leaving . They shut down the looking glasses and their ships disappeared . It was never established why they left, or why they had come in the first place . The heptapod languages changed Louise's life, and once she knew the future, she never acted contrary to that future . Gary and Louise start spending time together and eventually marry . When Gary asks Louise if she wants a baby, she agrees, knowing that they will divorce, and their daughter will die young . </P> <P> In the "Story Notes" section of Stories of Your Life and Others, Chiang wrote that inspiration for "Story of Your Life" came from his fascination in the variational principle in physics . When he saw American actor Paul Linke's performance in his play Time Flies When You're Alive, about his wife's struggle with breast cancer, Chiang realized he could use this principle to show how someone deals with the inevitable . Regarding the theme of the story, Chiang said that Kurt Vonnegut summed it up in his introduction in the 25th anniversary edition of his novel Slaughterhouse - Five: </P> <P> Stephen Hawking...found it tantalizing that we could not remember the future . But remembering the future is child's play for me now . I know what will become of my helpless, trusting babies because they are grown - ups now . I know how my closest friends will end up because so many of them are retired or dead now...To Stephen Hawking and all others younger than myself I say, "Be patient . Your future will come to you and lie down at your feet like a dog who knows and likes you no matter what you are ." </P>

Main characters in the novel the story of my life