"Thor dismissed this idea with a small puff of breath that seemed to be the Asgard equivalent of a cantankerous 'pshaw'. "I have undergone the cloning process twenty-two times, and I am familiar with the risks. I have no wish to--" he paused, tilting his head and scanning the platform, as though seeing it for the first time. "That is to say, there is no need to linger, here."

It was the weariness in those last words, the huge emptiness that swallowed them up without so much as an echo, that got to Jack."

This sums up the Asgard for me. That sense of weariness, of having been doing what they've been doing for so very long - that their job never ends. There's always another planet to protect, always another battle to fight: same crap, different day, you know? And for me, it was that very stagnancy and repetitiveness that doomed them. Never really growing or changing - just moving their consciousness to another new body, building bigger, better ships, but never really advancing any further as a civilization. Their physical conditions as well as their entire species & culture deteriorating and ultimately failing because of non-growth. So very sad, and such a waste. :(

Excellent story with a piercing poignancy that's spot-on. Thank you for sharing it!