?��ky T?��: Ja?��y 2008

We?day, Jan? 16, 2008

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I? a d?hy o? two hundredth birthday I found??ouldn't be able to die.
The last piece of information in the ?ary of C?ess had been filed away, recateg?ed a?e-entered in??yste?ch more efficiently.?teen dec? in ??k chambe?he only light coming from the hi?indows a?he c?ter screens. It was done. I ected on my success. Two hundred years, and I wa?ill here, and the job was done.
I'd been one ?he f? to get the immortality treatment, a?m of gene th?y that a?ted ?th, ?ented di?e, and enabl?egen?ion in case of massive i?y. A??ear-old ?arian, I had been tasked?h the feat of reorganizi?he e?e Li?y of Con???t of a d?un f?he i?tali?rocess.
Just ? others had been?en eternal life. In ?e days, ?e was a ?ailing concern a? the effect of i?tality on th?man psyche, on human soc?. If?ee out of the five o? proved successful, the process would become widely available. In case of fa??here? a m? of reversing th??s, anoth?hera?ic i??ion ???? the clo?icking again? />
I hadn't le?he library in all th?ime, though.?ers of f? and con?ration cultivated through reading an?zzles had ma??orld fal?ay, ?ing ? the?ntain of information ahead of me, ready to be set right,??oom for ?th. I dimly regi???assage of time, but ?e was work, alwa?ork to be done. ? by looking ??ime on a computer screen had I notic?he decades falling away.

Now. Everything was finished. The screenfront of me regi?ed a polite blan?s, a single line asking for a term. ?ythi??here. The pi? of pape?he chunks of??he m?? of books, e?thing I'd labored on, searched for, read?ough, re?sified, loved--all ready, all available? the?? see

??ime to leave? />

The ? tha? went unrepaired, that not a human body had appeared in ? a c?ry and a half, had failed to register. L? bulbs had d one by one, the long-lived ?act fluorescent balls of light a?ting defeat ?he face ?ime. The only light ? remained was the weak, vanishing light off the ????, powere??mall nuc? pro??ucke?ay in some forgotten cha??ond the bookshelves. Sti?he m? of ?opy had ? no ?s in my ry, obliterated ?he cold light of the?een.

Finally, I came ?he large?ble ?s, my nose feeling clogged from the ? I h???p. Grabbing the arab?ed door levers, ?lled the?en.
Nothing happened. The doo?ere stuck fast. Not a single inch of?e, not a millimeter of motion. It wa? if ? had?ned ?? of stone, ancient and i?able by ?al h?? />

I ? back in?he main chamber ?he library. I noticed the hi?indows, set ?he dome ?he chamber, tall andn slits of failing l??st-e?sted. The third-level bookshelves reached to?hin five?ers ?he l? win??, and the walls were?ered?h el?ate ?ter mold?. I had done some rock-climbing in my youth, so decided ?ould? be too difficult a task? />
Climbing the windin?air, I notic??ath I had worn into the floor on the balconies e?cling the en?ing dome, da???ough fading ?et and e?ouding dust. Only the bookshelves seemed clean, the product of a hundred and??? of use. Reaching the third level, I looked down. The chamber seemed?sive, an eno?s empty e that had been ?orld? the?ervening years.
I picked a wi????ely ?y degree?ound the dom??here I had a?ed on the third level, mostly be?? seemed the brig?t. The l??eami???as odd, dark-tinged, shifting in color. ?eminded me of a night in? Vegas, ?uries past. ?e mibe more acti? up ?e.

Shaking my head, I re??o climb. It was time? a n?ky, new air,? light. Standing? on the top ?he bookcase, I looke? at the window above me, and grew diagain. Only a foot of clearance,?t long enough--n??--to accommodate the length of my foot. My aware? of the ?ance below me did nothing to help, and I?ched?ward as ? as I was able, clinging to the arching ferns sc?ed into the ?ter ??all. Up ?????as cream, al? beige, ?ate. The grime h?each?p here, too, and had?ered the?ure ???er. How had I missed the change in c?, the change in ?ure?

Still, I pressed on. Anchoring my left foot ?he head of a cherub, I grabbed hold of a?ig of holly, and?led myse?p on?he b?ts of what c?e been Lady Liberty, Holy Columbia, or any o??hical abstraction clothe??oman?ill I climbed, a??indowsil?ew closer.

I finally grabbed hold of the sill?immed in an expe?e wood coated in cheap l????, an?lled?elf up onto it, usin?scles I had forgotten about ? a c?ry, but whic?ill worked as well as the day they had formed. I?tality has its benefits.

?ood on a?r-in?ide ledg?tari???he grime. Night had fallen, and the light had changed, but i?ill had ??ange, rainbowing qua??ippi??? of the wind?rim ??ly I?ld feel my kles drain of blood, ?tted my head?ward qui?, shattering the window and covering my forehead in blood and glass.?ery ?ly lost ???s, a?oppled forward out of the wi?? />
Almost imme?ely, I met a wall, hard, coated with a kind ?teel. I ?ed at the im?, rolled around, and???tomatically. My ? dangled over the wi?sill as I faced insi?he library, my head leaning back aga? the?ange ste?all. Glass fell down the sides o? fac? my skin?hed it out a?ippe? again. The dang?s haze i? head began to c?, and I could feel my though??ening again.?seconds,?as back ?o par, a?ealized ??as looking at.

My library had been buri??wo c?? I h?? in ?e, and it had been--would have been-?omb. I had been forgotten.

We?day, Jan? 16, 2008

brave??ld

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