[ WP ] At the age of 18 , everyone picks an unlikely life event . They will be reborn at 18 every time they die until that event happens . After that , death is permanent .

I remember feeling a bit smug, listening to all my friends spilling out their grand ideas for living forever. 
 
 * Until I win the lottery... two days in a row. 
 * Until everyone I know is hit by lightning in the same year. 
 * Until we finally elect an honest politician. 
 * Until Hell freezes over... oh yeah, and Hell is found to be a real place. 
 * Until we finally learn all there is to know about the universe. 
 * Until God ca n't keep a straight face anymore and reveals that science was actually just a practical joke on humanity. 
 * Until we finally achieve world peace. 
 
 Some of them were clever. Some were cynical. Some were hilarious. And all of them ( at least so I thought ) were *entirely* missing the freaking point. 
 
 Eventually, they noticed I was n't joining in the discussion and they asked me, but I just shook my head and would n't answer. I'm not sure why. I do n't *think* it's a rule that no two people can choose the same Event, but I was n't going to risk it. Instead, I just waited until it was my turn. 
 
 Then there I am. I sit down in the hard metal chair. I wait while they technicians strap on the EEG headgear that will link me into the apparatus that we are told will sync up our brainwaves, sample our DNA, and somehow use quantum entanglement to produce this miracle of modern science that gives everyone a shot at immortality -- - or at least very long life. 
 
 Then the row of scanner lights come on, and the technician points to me as if to say, `` You're on.'' And as clearly I can, I enunciate my Event: 
 
 `` Until I'm tired of living.'' 
 
 
 

