Time and space could be described as emergent properties of a 2d physics model. Gravity, I think, is also an emergent property of space and time. I don’t think it is a force itself. There is a deeper force at play that causes the effect of gravity that we see. Gravity is really just a way of explaining time and space being twisted together or bunched up.

The Krundarians were a race who looked remarkably like upright slabs of mottled green concrete. They staunchly believed that gravity wasn't some mystical "force", but rather the manifestation of the fabric of space-time being all hunched over by the presence of matter and energy.

To the Krundarians, the fact that most other meat bag species failed to grasp this elegantly simple explanation was a constant vexation. They'd gaze skyward at the stars, their rough hewn faces contorted into expressions of vague indigestion, and grumble "Why is it so hard for the rest of you leaky meat bags to understand? It's just all hunched over, that's all!"

This persistent annoyance was only compounded by the Malorpians - sentient artificial life forms whose sole purpose was unraveling the fundamental nature of existence itself. The Malorpians established embassies on hundreds of worlds before word got around just how adept they were at irritating...well, everyone really.

Never before had the churches and scientists of a planet agreed on anything quite like their mutual disdain for the pedantic line of questioning posed by the Malorpian ambassadors. This bizarre situation made both groups deeply uncomfortable, leaving them with only one option - merge their disciplines together into a new field of "existential ontological theology". These worlds then experienced unprecedented eras of peace and cooperation, much to the horror of other planets who couldn't stomach the thought of the opposition's ideas gaining ground. And so the Malorpian quest for knowledge of existence was, at the very least, slowed considerably. This is why the common galactic phrase for doing something utterly baffling became "Like talking to a Malorpian."