Release of Death
The year is 2073, and technology is finally able to extend human life and vitality indefinitely. Death is a choice, a simple matter of when you are ready. I am writing now because I have found that I need to die.
The mayfly lives for 24 hours before it dies. When the first specimen made it past day 365, humanity rejoiced. We had challenged our gods, and won. We beat death. We should have looked past our science and pride, however, to what it would do to our humanity.
When it first began 10 years ago, there was more death then ever. It started with great debates across religions. This devolved, and extremists quickly took over. It was unnatural, they said. We should have listened then. The wealthy supporters of this new technology were powerful, and through time and persistence, religion was subdued.
Around the same time of the death of religion, another problem started to emerge. This technology was not cheap, and those who could not afford it realized they would be forsaken. Mass protests and riots quickly spread across the major cities in the world. The wealthy started building larger walls as the less fortunate built bigger bombs. This was a time of fear and instability.
The world continued turning, and new developments made the technology cheaper. As more could afford it, violence died down. The income divide increased, and the bottom twenty either accepted reality or were exterminated. In some places, this was done preemptively. The world continued turning.
But in our dark times, there was light too. In a world where nobody died, climate change became number one priority. We started to realize the importance of the longevity of our planet. This was a good time, as humanity finally started to work together, and to seek to live together.
One may assume in our age without death that life is viewed as more precious than ever. At first, that was the case. Over time, however, we realized that without death, life was meaningless. There was no purpose, no drive- and humanity turned to fight its greatest foe. In efforts to keep out boredom, many turned to squeeze as much pleasure as possible out of life. Addiction, prostitution, all the greatest vices of the world took over.
Some of us nobler thinkers turned to wealth creation, while others took to greater and greater achievements. But while we could conquer the mountains, we could never conquer our dissatisfaction. Death is the only release.
The mayfly lived for 24 hours, and in those hours it really lived. If we had only bothered to look, we would see despair in those who lived longer. In one way, they would live forever. In another- they were dead long ago.
Tags: death, despair, die, living, mayfly, short story