"Possibly. Does a shade need to be dead? The tether brings in the equivalent of the soul into the void - your being, essence, who you represent. It is you in every way - your abilities, your capabilities, but also your limitations, your needs. So, if you were on a planet that allowed it, you could pass on life there - you can do as you can do. This is the tethering system that is used - physical bodies, the physical anchor of a person, can't yet travel the void."

A beat.

"Safely, anyway. Or maybe it perishes beyond existence? Into nothing. I never checked. But that's the tethering system widely used."