John Scalzi, “Redshirts”

Hanson: I don’t think it would actually make you happier to be told you were right about this.
Dahl: I don’t want to be happy, I just want to know.
Hanson: And even if you were right, what do you get out of it? Aren’t you better off believing that you’ve accomplished something? That you’ve gotten the happy ending you were promised? Why would you want to push that?
Dahl: Because I need to know. I’ve always needed to know.
Hanson: Because that’s the way you are, a seeker of truth. A spiritual man.
Dahl: Yes.
Hanson: A man who needs to know if he’s really that way, or just written to be that way.
Dahl: Yes.
Hanson: Someone who needs to know if he’s really his own man, or—
Dahl: Tell me you’re not about to make the pun I think you are.
Hanson: Sorry, it was there. Andy, you’re my friend. Do you believe that?
Dahl: Yes. I do.
Hanson: Then maybe you can believe this. Whether you’re an extra or the hero, this story is about to end. When it’s done, whatever you want to be will be up to you and only you. It will happen away from the eyes of any audience and from the hand of any writer. You will be your own man.
Dahl: If I exist when I stop being written.
Hanson: There is that. It’s an interesting philosophical question. But if I had to guess, I’d guess that your creator would say to you that he would want you to live happily ever after.
Dahl: That’s just a guess.
Hanson: Maybe a little more than a guess.