[ WP ] Your immortality serum had a hidden downside . Your body stops aging , but sleep erases all memories since taking the serum . To combat this , you film a video diary and spend time cutting the whole thing into a 2 hour highlight reel to watch when you wake up . Narrate said reel 120 years later .

The squealing siren pierces through my head like a dagger. It was the only alarm that had ever reliably gotten me out of bed. Normally I'd snooze it but today was the day! The new batch was ready for trials. 
 
 As I was brushing my teeth after breakfast, I saw an old used DVD case sitting on my bathroom counter. I could n't recall ever seeing he blank case before. I open the scared black plastic and saw the shiny silver circle inside with `` WATCH ME!'' written in my own pathetic screw. 
 
 I had to get to the office but I figured it must be something important. I did n't drink last night so why did n't I remember this thing. 
 
 `` Hi, you're not going to believe this.'' It was me. I was talking into the camera. I had recorded a message to myself and did n't remember doing it. Was this some kind of trick? 
 
 `` First off, it worked. Series 24-173A was a success. The nanobots repaired every damage on the test subjects. Cuts, burns, bruises - hell, even cancer. The results were beyond my - well, our - wildest dreams. So you injected yourself. You tried to lie to yourself and say it was an accident - that one of the mice had squirmed when you were dosing him. But it was n't. It took you a long time to figure that out. 
 
 `` It turns out, there was a problem though. One we did n't test for. See, the nanobots are amazingly productive and dumb as a box of hammers. I - You - programmed them to repair damage. The thing is, they do n't really know the difference between damage and not damage. Is a birthmark damage or just a unique feature? What about a ten-year-old scar?'' 
 
 I instinctively put my hand to my stomach, thinking back on the crash and the rehab. Even years later, I still had nightmares now and then. 
 
 `` They use a combination of textbook info and the baseline scan they do when first injected. Alberta put that in, remember?'' 
 
 I nodded at the screen and felt like an idiot. 
 
 `` Yeah, I know you're nodding. I did too. Anyway, the problem is memories. Your brain changes'shape,' ever so slightly, every day as you make memories. The nanobots do n't know if its damage or not, so they'repair' it every night while you sleep.'' 
 
 My mind raced. I dosed myself with nanobots, made me all but immortal, and wiped out any new memories? If this was a prank, it was the most tasteless one I'd ever heard of. If it was real, I was in a Hell of my own design. 
 
 `` It gets better,'' the me on the screen continued. `` You've tried many things to get out of this situation. You tried staying up for days on end. The memories you made persisted. Right up until you feel asleep. Then it was back to square one. 
 
 `` You tried removing the nanobots but, well, that did n't work at all. You ca n't even leave one behind or it will replicate and you're right back here. Though it did buy you almost a week of new memories. 
 
 `` You've even tried committing suicide a couple of times. Let's just say it is incredibly painful for an immortal to try to kill themselves. Do n't do that anymore. 
 
 `` So you're stuck learning how to reprogram these things. But you have to be careful. Alberta tried to help you but the nanobots had some kind of protection routine. Albers...'' The me on the screen trailed off and stared at the ground for a moment. `` Albers was attacked by the nanobots and dissolved.'' 
 
 `` If you're not sitting, you should be.'' I was so I did n't move. `` It's been about 120 years since the'accident'. You've made several DVDs and kept many notebooks. The index notebook is in the study. The highlighted dates are important. Today is a date you'll want to highlight as well. 
 
 `` Today, well, today for me, yesterday for you - Today, I found out the nanobots are about to spread. Their programming was supposed to be adaptive so that they could take out new diseases before we had an epidemic. Something got corrupted along the way. The nanobots in your body are preparing to launch themselves around the world. You'll be patient zero in the plague that wipes out mankind. 
 
 `` The calculations are in the notebook by the bed. Today is the last day. If you ca n't finally crack the coding scheme, you'll have to figure out how to destroy them. They are only meant to survive inside a host so any extreme environment should be sufficient to terminate them. Jumping into a vat of acid or a live volcano should do the trick. 
 
 `` Before you get too wrapped up in your own situation, you should also realize what 120 years means. Brittany is long gone. She stood by you through all this. But she aged and died. Josh and Debbie are gone too. Your great-grandkids are old. You cut ties with the family long ago. It was too painful to relive their deaths every day. You're all alone in this world and if you do n't solve the puzzle before you sleep, you will bring about the extinction of mankind. 
 
 `` On the other hand, we do love a challenge.''
