Work Text:
Through the Force, all things are the same.
All are parts of a fragile equilibrium.
No single cell can function without the rest of the organism. Different paths of development complement others. In isolation, each cell is both replaceable, insignificant - and precious for its very existence.
The grand evolutionary miracle or life is transient by its very nature.
A chain of reactions of reduction and oxidation that out of a few elementary components builds growth and reproduction, movement and perception, storage and replication of information, sentience and Force echoes.
Death is written into that cycle.
After a cell has fulfilled its role, it becomes one with everything else. Cellular structures are broken down and reabsorbed. The matter circulates. It is only a tragedy when a cell is destroyed prematurely.
But there are times when the balance is broken.
Every cell that has the capacity to divide has the potential to give rise to something evil; something that does not belong in a healthy body.
Something that is only concerned with its own needs.
The midichlorians are organella like any other. Endosymbionts that lost the ability to survive beyond their host cell. They cannot control what happens with it.
All it takes is one cell.
The transformation is gradual; at each stage of cellular life, there are safeguards to prevent aberrations of the cycle, refined over and over. The Force seeks homeostasis.
Sometimes, that is not enough.
It is not immediately noticeable when all those mechanisms fail. A cancerous cell looks like any other; it can, to some extent, mimic the function of a healthy one. The only difference is what it brings: corruption and harm. It hides in plain sight. All its priorities shift into taking and taking and taking until there is nothing left to destroy. Untreated, it grows into a tumor. Symptoms appear only after it has taken over enough healthy tissue to pose a danger. Then begins a race to find it, to burn it out before it metastasizes.
If that is not done quickly enough, corruption wins. The organism dies a prolonged, painful death.
The Force has no beginning or end. Despite all, life persists. Where one falls, another rises.
A new organism will to grow on the corpse of the old one; a new hope.