The Problem With Immortality Ch. 21

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"Hello there, you. You're probably wondering why you decided to do this. To wipe out all your adult memories, over 311 years worth. It sounds very radical. You probably think you, or I, was completely out of our minds. You'd be right about that."

"There was a man we were married to, a wonderful, brilliant man named Anson Ford. And he left us. And we couldn't stop thinking about him. It broke our heart every time we thought about him. We couldn't go on with our lives, even after we met a nice man named Carl, who you will discover loves you very, very much."

"I realize it will be disorienting for a while, having no memory. You're also going to quickly discover that you're pregnant. Trust me, you're going to have a wonderful life. You'll have a beautiful baby, Carl will help you raise it, and the three of you will be very happy together. You might say, I'm doing this for the three of you," said Jennifer, and tears were streaming down her cheeks as she said it.

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"We're almost finished with the mapping, Ms. Spaulding. We'll be able to start treatment in just a moment or two," said Doctor Hauser, checking a reading.

"Shall I start the reactor, Quade?" said another voice.

"In just a moment," said Doctor Hauser, checking his holographic instrument panel.

Jennifer, her eyes full of tears, simply continued to lie there, oblivious to it all, lost in her own thoughts. Now, at the very end, in the last seconds of her own existence, she could admit the truth to herself.

She loved Anson with all her heart.

She loved Anson ten times more than she loved Carl.

A hundred times more. A thousand times. A million times more.

She tried to tell herself how good Carl made her feel, how wonderful sex was with his mighty genetically engineered penis and giant testicles, but in the end she couldn't deny the truth.

No man had ever made her feel like Anson did. No one had ever made her feel so whole, so complete, so thoroughly loved.

And that was why she had to erase him utterly from her life.

In her final moments of memory, she was nagged by the "What if's". What if Anson had been sincere? What if Anson would never leave her again? What if Anson's love for her was so strong, that he could never leave her again?

Then she would go back to him in a heartbeat. She knew it.

But there was no way she could be certain of it. And her love for him was so strong, that if he left her a second time, she would die. She would kill herself. She was sure of it.

If only there were a way to find out how strong Anson's love was. If there were only a way she could look into his heart, and know for certain how much he loved her. If she could only measure his love, if she could only feel the strength of it with an exact certainty, to know that the he would never, ever leave her again, then... and only then...

"Ms Spaulding? Ms. Spaulding?"

Doctor Hauser had been trying to get her attention.

"We're ready, Ms. Spaulding. Are you ready?" he said.

She was about to lose herself. She would lose everything she was, everything she had become in 300 years. In a way, it was like a form of suicide.

But in another way, it would be like a rebirth.

"Ms. Spaulding?"

"Yes," said Jennifer, her eyes filled with tears. "I'm ready."

"In a few moments, you'll start to feel sleepy. Don't fight it," Doctor Hauser said. The hum of the machine grew louder, and slowly started to blot out all her thoughts.....

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"Where... where am I?" said Anson. He looked around. He was in some kind of examining room.

"You're here, in the Institute," said Isaac Mercola. Jessica stood to his side, looking worried. "You passed out, when.... "

"Jennifer!" said Anson, jumping off the couch. "I have to stop her!"

Isaac barred his way. "Mr. Ford, you can't!"

"I have to! Get out of my way!" Anson cried. He started to wrestle with Isaac.

"Mr. Ford, she's already in treatment!" said Isaac.

Anson struggled with Isaac.

"Anson, stop it!" Jessica yelled. "You're too late! It's already done!"

Anson went limp. "You mean... already?"

Isaac nodded. "I'm so sorry. I just learned that she was your... your ex-wife. She entered treatment 30 minutes ago. The erasure has already been proceeding for some time."

Anson slumped to the ground and started to cry.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," said Isaac.

"Why? Why Jennifer, Why?" he cried out.

"This is betraying a client's confidence, but... she said she had to forget you," said Isaac. "She said you were the kindest, loving, most wonderful man she had ever met. And she had to forget you, to be able to go on with her life."

"Jennifer!" Anson cried. He got up, and started to vigorously pace in the small room, back and forth, back and forth, like a rat stuck in a small box. His heart was pounding. His pulse was racing. Hhe headed for the door.

"Anson! Where are you going?" said Jessica.

"Anywhere. Everywhere," said Anson.

His mind felt like it was on fire as he entered the parking lot. He paid no attention to the fact that he was stranding Jessica at the Institute. That was the least of his thoughts.

He got into the air car and started driving. He had no idea where he was going. All he saw ahead of him were mountains. Tall mountains. That was fine.

Anson cried as he drove. "Why, Jennifer, why!" he screamed, into the crisp mountain air.

He drove to the outskirts of Interlaken. Then he was heading into the mountains, past a small village named Wilderswil. Then he came to a medium sized town named Lauterbrunnen. He was in a long, narrow valley surrounded by mountains on both sides.

As Anson drove on, he found himself in open farmland. Cows munched grass in fields around him. The wind whipped at his face as he drove faster and faster, trying to escape from the reality of life, trying to escape from the pain. Anson saw the snow capped Alps, ahead of him. He saw icy streams filled with blue water, almost as blue as her eyes. Anson kept driving. He was rapidly coming to the end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. He reached a small village at the end of the valley called Stechelberg. It was very beautiful, with an inn and a restaurant overlooking the valley, but Anson didn't notice. He just kept driving.

The road was dirt now, and going uphill, at an increasingly steep rate as the valley disappeared behind him. The turns in the road kept getting sharper and sharper and the road kept getting narrower and narrower. Up and up and up he went, still gunning the engine at breakneck speeds.

"Jennifer! Why, Jennifer, Why!" he screamed again.

And then Anson came to a curve, and a sign he passed much too quickly, and then all of a sudden he ran out of road, as the road became a footpath, right past a tight left turn. There was no way Anson could stop in time. He tried to spin the car around, but at the speed he was going, he simply drove over the edge of the cliff.

And then everything went black.