NP | ZK translation: They were clinging to the surface

[Mike Jing]

P242.20-30   He said, “Who are they without their wars? These event have
become insistent clusters that touch and spread and bring us all into range
of a monodrama far larger, worldwide, than we’ve ever witnessed.”
       Zara was watching him now and I was watching her. They were clinging
to the surface, weren’t they, both of them? Earth in all its meanings,
third planet from the sun, realm of mortal existence, every definition in
between. I didn’t want to forget that she needed a surname. I owed her
this. Isn’t that why I was here, to subvert the dance of transcendence with
my tricks and games?

What does "They were clinging to the surface" mean here?
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