Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a science fiction based story on cyborgs that have installed
metal lungs. One theme would be about the scientific method that could teach you the truths
about human existence. The cyborgs have to go to a station to refill their lungs with air, this is
where they communicate and socialize daily. The narrator hears gossip about the clocks in a
district being delayed and it makes him curious. He soon goes to inspect them trying to figure
out why it is doing this and soon realizes that the end of time is close.
The idea is that death is certain. His message to us is to enjoy life as much as possible
because it will soon all come to an end. He discovers this by reading the air flow through his
brain as it controls memory, and is slowing down causing a delay. This is from the low
atmospheric pressure they are experiencing.