Immortality. The ability to live forever, to never die. To remain un-weathered by time. A goal that humanity has been striving to achieve since the beginning of their existence. Striving because of their very nature, by instinct that tells them to survive, damn the cost. So they continue to strive for their dream. Their dream, his nightmare, his curse.

His reality.

His name is Matthias Vero and he is twenty-two years old. The same age he was when his damnation began. The same age he has been for over eight hundred years. The same age he has stayed while family and friends have aged and died, until life became easier without them.

And so he was alone.

He has seen nations and empires rise, collapse and become forgotten wisps of the past. He has seen the invention of the light, the car, the computer. He has seen the invention of the gun, the tank and the bomb. He has seen the slow growth of science, and the slow decay of religion. He has seen how the world has evolved.

He has seen how humanity has not.

He was married once. Fifty something years after his parents had died, he found someone he loved. She was beautiful, intelligent, passionate. Every time he looked at her he was compelled to create something wonderful. In her presence he became great. But she aged. She aged and he didn’t. She aged and her hair faded and her face became lined and he still loved her and she still loved him and he wished he would age. But he didn’t.

She died and he didn’t.

He continued to live. His lungs continued to breathe in and out, and so he continued to live. His heart continued to beat, and so he continued to live. His throat continued to swallow food, and so he continued to live.

He continued to live, but he lacked life.

One night, he walked down the streets until there were no more streets. He walked past the houses, until there were no more houses. He walked past the fields until there were no more fields. Then there were only trees. Trees and a hill where his wife lay. And when the sun rose he placed the gun to his head and pulled.

He lay with his wife.

Immortality. The ability to live forever, to never die. To remain un-weathered by time. A goal that humanity has been striving to achieve since the beginning of their existence. Striving because of their very nature, by instinct that tells them to survive, damn the cost. So they continue to strive for their dream. Their dream, his nightmare, his curse.

His reality.

His destroyer.