Everlife: The World at Year 2400

Rebirth, and the lie.

It was 10 PM by the time I was finished my shift at the hospital. I got home and called my father. I didn't even think of the bizarre stranger I had met that day, and the sealed envelope he had given me, with the lion's emblem. I was going with Sarah on a camping trip that weekend, and that was all I could think about.

But somehow I felt I had to say something, and I told my father about the strange man and the envelope, expecting nothing unusual.

"Michael," he said, in a worrisome tone, "there's something you have to know."

"Sure, Dad, what's up?"

He paused. "You are young," he said. My father often said that. He's right, I'm only 72. In my last life, I was hit by a car. A freak accident.

In confidence, my father told me that in my past life, I was studying to be a surgeon; that being a doctor had been my lifelong dream, all dashed in terrible accident that nearly killed my entire family.

Nearly dead, my entire family had to go through rebirth, and so we were separated. According to the law, we can never meet. It's painful to know that, but I understand why...

It was around 2150 when death had become scientifically preventable for the human species. Artificial hearts were better than real hearts. Genetics allowed limbs to regrow. Almost every disease was eliminated. The most common approach was through nanobots- tiny robots the size of a human cell. Using either external magnets to move them throughout the body, or their own propulsion, these tiny robots could be programmed to attack bacteria, cancer cells, or operate on parts of the body that were otherwise impossible to reach.

However, immortality had its downsides. It was originally thought that eternity would be a great thing for humanity. That, given the awful finality of death, people would kill far less. However, the opposite happened.

Dictators and firebrand politicians could now live forever and afford "eternal" medical procedures. With their own eternity at stake, these power brokers were now far more willing to kill in order to save themselves.

The most radical politicians and religious leaders saw it as their personal mission to stay alive, (in their minds, to continue their mission to humanity) and there was no longer a natural cycling of ideas and power through death. By collecting donations from their followers and patrons to pay for expensive, life-saving procedures, the same leaders were able to earn invincibility.

There were decades of ideological war, where the elites, politicians and religious leaders of society pitted common folk against one another. Of course, these leaders were totally convinced of their own moral cause-- whether it was fanatical communists calling for murder in the name of "justice", radical religious groups planting bombs among civilians, or power brokers sending troops to fight in the name of democratic ideals. 

Common folk were dismembered in acts of war or terrorism-- where their bodies could never be revived-- while the leaders all lived. Finally, after a popular movement regulating immortality in the west gained traction, a solution to the "eternity" problem was instituted across North America.

The rule was simple: Every human being can only live 120 years. After that age, their memory must be totally and utterly wiped away. They need to go through "rebirth", and grow up through a new set of parents, with a totally new view on life. It is forbidden to know what life you lived before-- including your religion, your friends or your family.

Only with this rule, could we maintain a society that embraces fresh ideas, rather than one where old ideas linger. No one dies; each person maintains the same conscience. But your life is erased and you begin once again.

My father refused to say more over the phone. He insisted I speak to him in person, and that night, I went to his home. I had never seen my father so nervous.

"Michael, in your last life, you were a bad man. A leader of the Indari cult. A... Terrorist."

I didn't know what to say.

"Son, you are different now. We raised you to love, to heal."

"I killed people?"

"You killed no one. But in your past life, yes, your... Previous character killed many people."

Previous character was a poor choice of words. It's usually meant to encourage people to go back to the person they once were, to go back to your previous character..