The search was coming to an end. Ever since his friend, whose name he had long forgotten, realized he wasn't aging, the Unaffected was searching.

​

Even his own given name had long eluded him. Instead he chose to go by different names as the centuries, as well as friends, foes and families passed by him like a neverending river, taking everything he had with him, but leaving him behind, as the rock in the surf, slowly being eroded by all the losses he had to suffer.

​

When he desperately explained his situation to the Seer, the only man with the power to "see" powers being used, he was surprised to find out that there was indeed a power affecting him constantly, however they had to trace the source first.

​

Through the Seers efforts, it had long ago been established that everybody was affected by one and the same, unreachable source of power deep within the core of Earth, which was granting the abilities to the superpeople on Earth.

However, astronauts and superhumans with the ability to fly, daring as they were unlucky, had found out that these powers only extended to the exosphere of Earth.

​

But his source of power was of a different kind, hidden in a unseeming suburb in Central Europe. A one-family house with a patched lawn in a awfully silent neighborhood.

​

"Thank you for your assistance," the Unaffected told the Seer coldly, as he had long gone past the point of building relationships, no matter how much time was spent together "but I have to do this by myself". The Seer nodded reluctantly. He was intrigued about this source of power, but he understood the grief, which the Unaffected had to go through and wanted to defeat, so he left.

​

When the Unaffected approached the front door he felt something for the first time in decades, he felt as if he could finally be freed from his curse, that had driven him nearly mad.

​

He thought of all the lives he had lost, especially of his first wife. All memories that remained of her were her auburn hair, her green eyes and that beautiful special smile, which was reserved for him and his children alone.

Even as she lay on her death-bed, slowly fading away, she smiled, while her husband, whose appearance never changed since the day they had met, held her hand, crying.

​

He thought of his first son, and the day when he realized that he himself looked more like the son, than the father. He thought of his greatest regret, when he had run away, not wanting to watch his son wither away, while he stayed ever the same.

​

He rang the rusty doorbell and the ringing replaced his memories with a sense of dread. What if this wouldn't be the solution? What if he couldn't relieve his curse?

​

A young woman, about the same age as the Unaffected, opened the door."Can I help you?" The Unaffected mustered her, her blonde hair and blue eyes, her colorful sweater and black yoga pants, and asked:

"Who are you?"

Visibly confused the woman answered "You're the one who rang my doorbell, who are you?".

"I don't know."

"Sir, should I call the Medical Services?"

"You know why I'm here, tell me about your powers!"

The womans demeanor changed from confused to intrigued.

Fearlessly she asked "Why don't you come inside?".

​

As he stepped inside, the Unaffected studied the interior of the rooms they were passing. She led him through a hallway, past a kitchen with a refrigerator decorated with childrens paintings, into a spacious living room, the walls adorned with pictures of a happy family, her, her husband and two children.

As she sat down and offered a seat to him she asked:

"So, why are you interested in my powers?"

​

He explained his curse to her, his neverending search for the reason and that she seemed to be the cause for it."I-I-" she began to stammer, "What I tell you next may never leave this room."

​

"My power is immortality through absorption. Believe it or not, I have lived for millenia. I can direct or avert the life force from any living thing and use it, to keep myself and my family alive and well.

Because I rarely want or need to use it solely on a single person, I chose to hide it, and instead absorb a tiny piece of life force from everybody and everything on this planet at all times to support my family.

I'm- I'm so so sorry, I truly didn't know there could be unaffected people."

​

The Unaffected at first surprisingly, felt relief.

It was not him who had caused all this pain to himself and his loved ones.

Slowly however, rage started to build up.

"So you take lives to enjoy your life?" he asked, "what makes you think you can take from everybody just to...". Words failed him.

​

"I don't take lives, I grant death.

Tell me, what would humanity be without death?

With nothing to lose, with no pressure given through the fragility of life, what could humanity hope to achieve but a hedonistic state of constant satisfaction, with no need of progress? How could the Earth support mankind without death? Mankind needs progress, to go beyond, and once we reach this, I can finally rest.

Earth is like a cup of water, overflowing constantly, leaking. Unless we find a way to make more cups, we are all doomed.".

​

"All but us" the Unaffected replied grimly, "life itself wouldn't end, just humanity."

"In another life or time we might've made the perfect couple" he added sadly, once again thinking about all he had lost.

"There is only one life, it's up to us to make it worth remembering, to leave our mark, to be the change we want to see in the world." she responded.

​ As the Unaffected stood up to take his leave he muttered "Worth remembering you say...we shall meet again." and not paying attention to what else the woman, whose name he didn't even learn, had to say.

​

The Unaffected spent the next few decades reminiscing about lives past, about the joys and pains he had unwillingly caused and about his loved ones, whose faces stayed blurred in his mind, but for single features, as the fiery red hair of his third wife or the crooked nose of his sixth. He had done his part for mankind, the progress was up to those, who had the urgency.

​

When the time finally arrived, he found the now old Seer, to help him search for an old acquaintance. With two seperate spacefaring tickets and ships awaiting their arrival, he found her once again and she didn't hesitate to come with him, even as he explained his plan.

​

As the now not so unaffected Unaffected left Earths exosphere, with the womans spacecraft following a few thousand kilometres behind, he remembered his first wifes smile one more time.

As he remembered the rest of her face, even he smiled, one last time.