Contributor: Chad Bolling
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Most people in my time are ageless and live forever without fear of a natural death. It was not through science that this was achieved. It was through myth, the supernatural, and the like that ageless immortality was given to the human race. Not to say that science hadn't achieved many wondrous advancements.
In my time, “humans” have traveled to galaxies far past our own. Because of our advancement in lifespan, distant space exploration was made possible. We can spend many decades in cryo-sleep, traveling through deep space, and those at home don’t age a day while they wait for their explorer to return home. We have colonies on Mars and many reside in space-station cities that house millions of “souls”.
The other problem the human race had was disease. Cancer more specifically, but the path to immortality and agelessness proved to be one in the same with our quest to become healthy and disease free. Cancer, and many other deadly diseases were no longer a problem once humans “agreed” to become immortal.
Wars are still fought, unfortunately. Sometimes even nuclear war. However, the immortality “treatment” not only stopped disease, but renders humans immune to the effects of radiation. Despite the immunities to radiation from the bombs, the intense light flash which occurs after detonation harms immortals severely.
It is a simple (well not too simple) decision one must make, whether or not they want to live forever. However unbelievably good this agelessness and immortality “treatment” may seem, there are some drawbacks. Like any medicine it has side-effects, and as you can imagine, the side effects for a treatment that cures death and aging must be quite severe. However, I can assure you that they are easy to get used to after a few decades.
The first and most severe side-effect is that you cannot be in the presence of direct sunlight or any type of UV ray. This is perhaps the most unappealing effect the “treatment” has and perhaps even, the main reason many decide not to do it.
The next-side effect is very minor, unless you love garlic. I must admit, being the lover of Italian food that I am, for me personally it took longer to get used to eating pasta sauce without garlic than never being able to see the sun again. The second side-effect being of course, a painful and deadly allergy to garlic.
Oh, I almost forgot the most severe side effect. After the “treatment”, you have an insane thrust for fresh, warm blood from a still beating heart. This part must have slipped my mind, as it is thought by some to be the worst side-effect, I myself find the thrust quite delightful. That is, of course, once it has been quenched.
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Chad lives in Long Beach, California and loves to read and write science fiction when he is not enjoying the cinema or a fine cheeseburger. He has been published in Farther Stars Than These.
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Most people in my time are ageless and live forever without fear of a natural death. It was not through science that this was achieved. It was through myth, the supernatural, and the like that ageless immortality was given to the human race. Not to say that science hadn't achieved many wondrous advancements.
In my time, “humans” have traveled to galaxies far past our own. Because of our advancement in lifespan, distant space exploration was made possible. We can spend many decades in cryo-sleep, traveling through deep space, and those at home don’t age a day while they wait for their explorer to return home. We have colonies on Mars and many reside in space-station cities that house millions of “souls”.
The other problem the human race had was disease. Cancer more specifically, but the path to immortality and agelessness proved to be one in the same with our quest to become healthy and disease free. Cancer, and many other deadly diseases were no longer a problem once humans “agreed” to become immortal.
Wars are still fought, unfortunately. Sometimes even nuclear war. However, the immortality “treatment” not only stopped disease, but renders humans immune to the effects of radiation. Despite the immunities to radiation from the bombs, the intense light flash which occurs after detonation harms immortals severely.
It is a simple (well not too simple) decision one must make, whether or not they want to live forever. However unbelievably good this agelessness and immortality “treatment” may seem, there are some drawbacks. Like any medicine it has side-effects, and as you can imagine, the side effects for a treatment that cures death and aging must be quite severe. However, I can assure you that they are easy to get used to after a few decades.
The first and most severe side-effect is that you cannot be in the presence of direct sunlight or any type of UV ray. This is perhaps the most unappealing effect the “treatment” has and perhaps even, the main reason many decide not to do it.
The next-side effect is very minor, unless you love garlic. I must admit, being the lover of Italian food that I am, for me personally it took longer to get used to eating pasta sauce without garlic than never being able to see the sun again. The second side-effect being of course, a painful and deadly allergy to garlic.
Oh, I almost forgot the most severe side effect. After the “treatment”, you have an insane thrust for fresh, warm blood from a still beating heart. This part must have slipped my mind, as it is thought by some to be the worst side-effect, I myself find the thrust quite delightful. That is, of course, once it has been quenched.
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Chad lives in Long Beach, California and loves to read and write science fiction when he is not enjoying the cinema or a fine cheeseburger. He has been published in Farther Stars Than These.
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Author:
Chad Bolling
