Good story, and especially this line: ” …but just an interaction of some kind.”

…an interaction. That is what life is. It’s a simple enough explanation that works. The “interaction” can be many things, not all of them have a label in our language, or probably any spoken language other than a sound that could represent it, as every interaction is a new event, and so would need to have it’s own description which may not be done justice by labeling it with a word that is already in use…other than an “interaction”.

a pen and a brush gather atoms
when a rush of matter fathoms
an interaction connects our souls
satisfaction corrects our strolls