The Postmortal

John’s partner, Sonia, desires marriage after their four years together. They argue as John insists that he doesn’t have the gumption and foresight to commit to her for 500 years; the indefinite nature of their lives prevents him from making a legal commitment. Sonia reveals she is pregnant and emphasizes how good their life could be, but John fears responsibility. John thinks about a “cycle marriage,” a concept his boss developed in which a marriage is set for an amount of time and dissolves unless the couple seeks an extension. When he poses that option, she rejects it. He promises to be a good father, and she leaves.

John is invited to a “cure party” in Las Vegas, and his friend requires that he bring a grail-shaped cup to drink out of. He visits a grail shop and ultimately chooses one that reminds him of knighthood. At home, he drinks a toast to Katy out of it.

John arrives at the sprawling Fountain of Youth Resort and Casino in Vegas with his friend and the rest of their group. It is the largest hotel in the world. The trip from the airport to the hotel is long, as is the wait in the lobby. John is in awe of the celebratory nature of the cure at the hotel, where they administer the shots in public. The technology has also advanced, so now it only takes three days to synthesize the cure. John convinces his friend Scott to look at a small exhibit that details the lore of the fountain of youth. The group spends the weekend partying until a bomb threat is called at the hotel. Everyone’s nonchalance at the situation disturbs John.

Back at home, John reads a blog post from someone at the hotel that reports on an attack by a “troll” who threw lye in a newly cured woman’s eyes. Troll is a term used to describe cyber-anarchists who cause chaos through their technological skills. Over time, however, “terra troll” has come to encompass those who perform physical acts of chaos and violence as well. In a second news article, a terra troll named XMN describes the chaotic, sometimes violent acts he has performed to frighten people.

John reads a series of news headlines detailing increasing international violence, growing population sizes, crime rate increases, and religious sect developments.

John’s father expresses his displeasure at having gotten the cure. John tries to comfort him but ultimately gets him even more riled up.

John receives an urgent email from Chan, a Chinese man who worked for his firm for a year during an expansion endeavor. Chan returned to China when the nation closed its borders. The email details the recent birth of Chan’s son. Doctors took the son away while Chan was bathing him, and when he and his wife moved to the maternity ward, an armed guard was there. They waited four hours for their son to be returned to them, and when he was, he had been tattooed with his birth date. The nurse claimed it was a new policy from the “Department of Containment,” a department no one had heard of before.

After sharing the news with his wife, Chan was pulled aside to be tattooed. He reveals to John that both he and his wife got the cure in America, knowing that China outlawed it. His wife was similarly tattooed during their separation. Chan expresses their plan to escape, asking John to notify others about their experience. John talks to one of the firm superiors, hoping that they can get Chan and his family back to the United States, but in the day since he sent the email, Chan and his wife were arrested. John and the firm have no other options to help him.

John dreams he is traveling by ambulance with Sonia, but she has been replaced by the woman in the elevator. In the dream, she is branded by a policeman. At work, the Chinese official in contact with John’s firm cannot locate Chan or his family.

John reads more headlines about murdered doctors, bombings, government-sponsored executions, and policy changes following the cure’s legalization.

John is a minimalist, but his friends and clients have started to stockpile supplies. He visits a client on his compound, and the client proudly shows off his high-tech fallout shelter. The client insists that John should start stockpiling and getting weapons, then gives John a gun. John resolves to trade it for a food voucher.

John reads a news article about an eight-month-old baby girl whose mother gave her the cure to keep her forever infantile. The child’s mother insists that she wanted her daughter to remain innocent and safe forever, inspiring her choice to cure her. The mother is in jail awaiting prosecution for aggravated assault, and her sister takes care of the baby.

Sonia tells John that her labor has to be induced. He meets her and her fiancé, Nate, at the hospital. She is induced, but it takes hours for labor to progress; ultimately, she has an emergency c-section. John holds his son before passing him to Nate, who confirms the baby looks just like John. Nate looks non-maliciously jealous of having a child, and John feels similar envy as he realizes he wants to be part of something bigger than himself. When a nurse comes to take the baby’s blood, John reacts badly because he remembers Chan, then apologizes for his outburst. He is allowed to observe the procedures.