[ WP ] Death spared your life and made you immortal . Over hundreds of years , you have become friends . He 's been very busy with work and you miss seeing your buddy . You spend centuries attempting to create world peace , stop war and cure diseases so you can spend some quality time with your only friend .

The centrifuge began to turn, slowly at first with the occasional sound of a click in time with each rotation. The multicolored vials turned on their sides as the rhythmic clicking picked up pace to mix the contents of each vial. The clicking slowed after a moment, the vials changing color with the chemical reaction held within each glass as the centrifuge came to a halt. The once bright colors of each tube now turned a thick and viscous black. *Another failed experiment* I thought as I lifted each tube carefully and slid them down the chemical disposal chute. 
 
 The day had been long and unfruitful, as countless others had also proven to be. If not for the incessant movement of the atomic clocks digital face counting away the seconds and keeping track of the dates, I may have stopped counting myself. With each passing day that contained no new answers I felt more and more like a failure. 
 
 “ Another rough day at the office, John? ” The deep voice suddenly sprung up behind me, inciting a slight bout of tachycardia and a flooding of adrenaline into my system. I pivoted on the balls of my feet to find its source, which was a tall figure with a slight frame that went beyond slender. His skin clung to his bone structure like papier-mâché to a wireframe that still hadn ’ t cured. His pallid complexion was as unnatural as he himself was. His gaze was unyielding due to his eyes being black irises resting upon a black sclera. 
 
 “ Geez, ” I said in exasperation, “ I ’ d say you almost scared me to death, but… ” 
 
 “ But you can ’ t die. ” 
 
 “ Doesn ’ t mean you can just appear out of thin air like that whenever you damn well please! ” 
 
 “ I didn ’ t mean to frighten you, but you know as well as I do how little time I get to come see how your work progresses. My work, as you know, continues without end. ” 
 
 “ Wasn ’ t that true even before all this? ” 
 
 He paused a beat before responding “ I keep you alive for a reason. Your species ’ eradication would mean the end of my existence as well. ” 
 
 “ So even Death himself has to die someday. Who shows up when that happens? ” The dark eyes gleamed slightly as he held himself in a momentary repose in response. 
 
 “ Have you figured out what causes this plague at least? ” He replied. 
 
 “ Well it seems to thrive in a multitude of conditions. It ’ s seeped into much of the soil and water, hell it can even remain active as a gas, stuff might just be hanging in the air outside quarantines waiting for someone to breathe deep. Whoever bioengineered this death trap made it specific to human DNA and on top of which made it damn near invisible to any type of early detection system we had before the outbreak. If we had time to create some new tech before being herded into quarantine zones, sealed into airtight little bubbles, we might have had a better chance. I ’ m just a hematologist, I can try to cure the symptoms, but in over 300 years I haven ’ t been able to figure out what causes this mass cell division to the point of breaking down the entire system. The infected die hemorrhaging from every orifice, they develop anemia and a whole other slew of crap I can ’ t go into detail about for the thousandth time. The treatments I ’ ve come up with are less than Band-Aid ’ s now that this disease has grown immune to what little I could do. I ’ m seriously wondering if there ’ s any reason for me to keep trying. I think you backed the wrong horse on this one, Death. ” 
 
 He stood passively allowing the information to wash over him, staring unblinkingly right at me. This used to freak me out something awful, but you ’ d be surprised what you get used to after enough time. A few moments had passed before he decided to once again speak. 
 
 “ I chose you for a reason, John. Do you remember what I said when I first met you on that river bank? ” 
 
 A long sigh escaped my lungs as I thought back to that day. “ Most men don ’ t forget the day they died. Or in my case the day I was *supposed* to die. ” He seemed to like to bring this story up whenever he thought I might just quit looking for a cure. 
 
 “ I told you that it was rare to find a man willing to sacrifice everything he is just to save one life. ” 
 
 “ And I told you that any man worth a damn wouldn ’ t have been able to just stand there and let that boy drown. Just like right now I ’ m telling you that I don ’ t think I can fix this. Besides, my 37 years of actual life was a small sacrifice to make. That ’ s just a drop in the bucket compared to what I ’ ve got now, and you should know that even without having to worry about aging, I ’ m still tired as all hell. ” 
 
 “ There ’ s always more to lose, and we haven ’ t got much time. According to my estimates, there are roughly 30,000 people that remain. Still enough to restart civilization should you succeed. ” 
 
 “ You mean you don ’ t have much time, I ’ m already in debt. ” 
 
 “ I ’ ve had the pleasure of meeting every member of your species that has passed. Some go without question. Others plead. They beg for just one more day. After many ages I find myself pleading one of you to help me see a few more days of my own. It ’ s ironic. ” Despite what sounded like a side-step from the usual absence of emotions he displayed, he remained expressionless. He turned to walk towards the door, which I knew he only did for my benefit. 
 
 “ Just what is waiting for us on the other side? Will you be there with all the rest of us when we finally go there? ” My question stopped him in his tracks. He stood still a moment and then cocked his head back to reply. 
 
 “ I ’ ve never known where it is you all go. I just know that I ’ m supposed to guide you there. ” He said with a voice pitched just above a whisper. “ I don ’ t know what will happen to me either. ” 
 
 I chuckled in response. “ Well I guess that means you ’ re just as human as we are in the end, huh? ” 
 
 “ Just focus on trying to give us as many days as you can, John. ” His head turned forward and he continued to walk towards the door. His image seeped into the shadows of the room and just as quietly as he had come he was gone. 

