The Christian Bible, Hall of Ancient History.
Two steel doors opened. Amidst the clean, grey walls and tile floors, a few cages with lab rats existed, while several robots wandered around. Stepping through the small laboratory, the man, dressing a stylish labcoat, carried a dizzying short lady over his shoulders, who was very obviously doped. When he finally arrived next to a chair close to a surgical table, he carefully placed the lady over her own feet, and accomodated her over the chair, for she was obviously in no condition to stand. Then, the lights turned on.
"Hello, I am Doctor Julius Lovecraft, nice to meet you miss Aune," he shook her hand, which seemed totally relaxed, "I apologize for this surprise which might be very scary," the scientist said, smiling and waving the hair of the woman, "but I decided to choose you for witnessing the result of my five hundred years old research."
The woman just groaned, still barely understanding what he said. He then observed a laboratory robot picking up a rat from the cage and placing it over the table. Carefully, the man grabbed a small vial from his pocket, which seemed completely empty at first glance. He then grabbed a tiny gauss pistol, and explained the logic behind the experiment he took her to watch against her own will.
"Yes, of course the fact I outlived my research says enough, Aune, but there is a difference between having an indefinite lifespan and being truly immortal. Yes, I have an indefinite lifespan, but that does not mean I am going to live forever. I took precautions of course, and avoid taking unecessary risks, but in the end, statistically I ought to die some day, and then, there is the claim that quantum immortality exists, and even scientific evidences to that, but I would rather take my chances here. Schroedinger's cat and my rat may be gone for good right now." he spoke in a disturbing, maddening way, with his suggestions and behavior hinting at a mind which was obviously not completely in touch with sanity.
"What are you doing? Let me out of here!" the lady finally got to her senses as she desperatedly began to ran towards the door.
"Wait a minute, Aune!" the doors suddenly shut down, as she began beating on them desperatedly, to no avail. Then she grabbed a gun hidden in her wallet and began to fire against the madman. The bullets seemed to pass straight to him.
"Do you think I would have lived for six hundred years if I wasn't cautious?" he asked, laughing softly, "Interactive holograms are wonderful inventions, don't you think? Now, I didn't want to scare you that much, just stay calm, Aune, if I was a serial killer you would already be dead. I just want for someone to see it with their own eyes, and nothing more. I will let you leave after you watch my discovery, I promise."
Sighing, Aune then shouted, seemingly perceiving the obvious:
"If you wanted someone just to watch your insanity, you would have picked another human! You took me because you know almost nobody of importance would care about another minor increase in the percentage of humans among the population."
The doctor then laughed, "You are bringing your own prejudices!" he sighed, "not every man is a bigot preaching the extermination and subjugation of your kin, Aune Delacroix. In fact, I have gathered enough knowledge about your race to know how absurd such preaching is, specially considering how ten percent of your genetic code can be directly traced to the original human genome, Frenchwoman."
"What the hell?" Aune, completely taken by surprise with his claim, asked.
"There are cultural evidences as well. I mean, your native language, it is a mix of whatever elves speak with French. I find it peculiarly intriguing, and always wondered why. And besides, your music, your traditions, everything about your people shouts "I am French"! Just search for France in human history and you'll see it. I believe we are not the first humans to set foot on this planet."
"Preposterous! You are a lunatic raving mad theories and ideas, I won't give a grain of salt to anything you claim!" Aune shouted, clearly angered when he implied her entire people were essentially no different from humans in behaviors and culture.
"I suppose actions speak louder than words. Then, see this vial? Could you put your weapon down please?" the scientist asked, as he shook his head, "No! Don't do it! Shooting this vial would be quite stupid unless you are willing to volunteer as a test subject for this experiment."
Sighing, she lowered her pistol, and watched, "Show me!"
Carefully, he fired thirty shots against the rat, as its blood flowed, and its body became completely immobile, dead. Julius then uncorked the vial, and began to drop whatever was inside it over the deceased rodent.
"The disadvantage of macrocellular life forms is the interdependence of their bodies, and their lack of decentralized organs which would otherwise provide them with a much greater survivability. If we could transfer vital functions, and perhaps even consciousness to a decentralized set of nanites, we would be able to create something closer to true immortality, but still far from it, because even nanites can be destroyed, but when even one surviving nanite could preserve the self in adequate grounds for its multiplication, a great step to true immortality was taken."
"I see, but your rat is still dead. And couldn't this cause a grey goo?"
"Be patient Aune. Nanites don't multiply as fast in reality as they do in the vids. And grey goo?" a very loud laughter echoed, "come on elf, we have been born with nanites for centuries, if that happened then the 'racist xenocidal bastards' as you think all of us are would be gone. But don't have any ideas from that, lady. Nobody takes lightly those who try to exterminate their race."
"I see, doctor Lovecraft, and ironic as many of you seek to wipe out my people from our world."
"Now, the proccess begins by transforming the digestive tracts into an holographic and decentralized system, but it has a peculiar disadvantge I have yet to fix."
"Which is?"
"You'll see it soon."
A few minuts later, the rat began to have its wounds regenerated, but seemingly, its heart did not beat.
"Nanites can be very discrete. Although the body will obviously generate heat, vital functions are so decentralized that they are impercetible without specialized tools. It makes sense actually: have you ever heard the breathing of a bacteria? I don't think so. And the best of all, no stink."
"And what about the problem you mentioned?"
"Well," the doctor pondered, "my rat no longer has a stomach because most of his former organs, now devoid of function and used to feed the nanites, have atrophied. Of course this means transporting the nutrients to the nanites would be a bit tricky, until I find an idea on how to make any subject infused with the new life able to feed normally. It is essentially a mold for the nanites which now are its self. Something like the relation between a body and a spirit, but more scientific than spiritual. Part of the problem has been solved through solar power, but the capabilities to store photovoltaic energy from the sun are a bit limited."
"I see, now how does it feed from whatever solar power can't provide if it can't swallow food and digest it?" Aune asked, as she felt a shiver on her spine, a feeling that the answer would not be pleasant.
"You see, beautiful Aune," the doctor said, "the way the transformation happens would find several barriers amidst the idiocy of what humanity brought to this world: the Net Memes and cheap scaremongering mythology. It would in fact ruin everything, and condemn people to die and await an unknown and scientifically impredictable fate beyond this life. Obviously," he smiled, "I wouldn't take such state closer to immortality than before to myself, because I want to improve the lives of all my comrades. Many won't like it, at first, before they realize I truly did this to help them," he then stopped as he looked at her, and grabbed her chin:
"Afraid? Little Aune? I am not going to kill you. I want to stop people from dying, not the opposite. Just... no, you should not try to kill my pet rate. I love him. I made him immune to pain and suffering out of love, my dear. Don't kill him!" Aune raised her gauss pistol towards the rat, shoving the hologram. She pulled the trigger, the shot firing towards the rat direction, when suddenly a sharp pain came to her, as all went into blackness.
"Like I promised, lady Aune," the hologram smiled, "I would take you back home as soon as this experiment ended. You will be the harbinger for my new immortality, dear," he whispered in her ear, "and then, eventually nobody will notice it as they become closer to immortal. I just hope the problem with the increased energy demands of the new immortal can be fixed, but I will find a way." he began to caress the rat, as it finally released his grip over her jugular.
"Bah, what a bullshit!" he scowled at the rat, "I hope the scaremongers won't be comparing my design flaws with the old legends. After all, my dear, you will be able to get into the sun as fine as you did before, and you will continue looking perfectly normal and are still alive, only as a sum of independent living nanites rather than as a messy, weak mass of cells. And rest be assured," he laughed, "I'd kill you with fire if you sparkled, but you won't, because I know what I am doing and no emo goth teensy bull of eons ago will change that." and then, after laughing like a maniac, the mad doctor watched as a robot dragged her away from his secret laboratory.
"And ratmeat! How are you feeling today?" he asked, attempting to speak with his rat, "I need you to spread the next stage of our people's evolution for the coming days, so I hope you are ready? Do you want a cheese? Oh sorry," he laughed, "I forgot you can't eat cheese anymore. In before whatever retarded meme comes from my experiments once they surface!" he laughed again, as his hologram finally disappeared, and a previously hidden ventilation grate suddenly popped, as ratmeat began to climb it with the grace of a super-rat.
The madness, the price of immortality, was coming.