First published in The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction (April 1965 issue), by Isaac Asimov, about a pair of Energy Beings that realize what was lost when they left their human bodies.
This story takes place so far into the future that humanity transformed themselves into immortal energy vortexes and have spent hundreds of billions of years shaping energy to their whims. Ames tries to tell Brock of his new idea; sculpting matter instead of energy.
Together, they craft a clay-like head between galaxies, labeling it with HEAD, NOSE, LEFT-EYE and RIGHT-EYE, trying to recall their human form from trillions of years ago. Brock keeps resisting the idea, because of the bad memories associated with it. As Ames adds more and more details to the head, Brock throws a fit; adding tears to the eyes while she runs away from heartbreak.
"Eyes Do More Than See" has been republished several times; Fiction (issue #139, June 1965), 11th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F (1966), The Best From Fantasy And Science Fiction: Fifteenth Series (1966), Beyond The Curtain Of Dark (1966), Nightfall and Other Stories (1969), Urania (issue #674, July 1975 and issue #827, March 1980), The Diversifier (issue #20 May 1977), One Hundred Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978), Science Fiction By Asimov (1986), The Best Science Fiction Of Isaac Asimov (1986), Robot Dreams Collection (1986), The Asimov Chronicles Fifty Years Of Isaac Asimov (1989), The Complete Stories, Volume 1 (1990), and The Complete Robot (1982)
"Eyes Do More Than See" contains examples of:
- Downer Ending: This story ends with both characters feeling sad because they've lost the "fragile beauty" of their physical bodies by turning into Energy Beings a trillion years ago. "Eyes Do More Than See" is supposed to reaffirm the reader's joy of being human.
- Energy Beings: The two characters of the story are humans who had abandoned their physical forms over a trillion years ago. Now Ames and Brock are beings of pure energy. It's been so long they can only vaguely recall what it was like to be physical. Brock's memories are painful enough that she runs away and Ames chases after.
- Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue: Because the two characters are both Energy Beings capable of rearranging local matter, the only physical thing that could be described is the clay head they sculpt together. There's actually slightly more description than is usual, to emphasize their nature as pure energy.
- The Fog of Ages: In this story, humanity has transformed themselves into Energy Beings, gaining Immortality in the process. However, they have trouble remembering things from more than a few hundred billion years ago and they transcended their physical forms over a trillion years ago.
- Minimalist Cast: The only characters in this story are Ames and Brock, and they're not even physical people. Together, they sculpt a human head with tears.
- Only One Name: Both Ames and Brock are referred to only by those names, implied to be translations/memories of their human names because now they're known by "wavelength combination" instead.
- Running Away to Cry: As Brock recalls their existence as a human being, they add tears to the recent sculpture and run away, because an Energy Being can't cry.
- The Singularity: This story takes place about a trillion years after humanity has figured out how to remake themselves into immortal Energy Beings.
- Title Drop: The title is said by Brock, who is referring to the ability to cry, which she doesn't have any more since she's now an Energy Being.
- Transhuman: The two characters of the story are humans who have been friends ever since they transcended their physical forms over a trillion years ago. Now Ames and Brock are energy vortexes and they can barely recall their human forms. Brock's memories are painful enough that she runs away and Ames chases after.
- What Have I Become?: Seeing the clay head sculpted by Ames brings back memories of soft skin, tender looks, and kissable lips. Her heartbreak at losing these sensations when transformed into an Energy Being has her running off, and Ames smashes the sculpture before chasing after her.The head of Matter did that which the energy-beings could do no longer and it wept for all humanity, and for the fragile beauty of the bodies they had once given up, a trillion years ago.
