The Daily Struggles of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  There were some who might think I was a masochist if they found out, but I honestly didn’t enjoy the activity. Rather, I was just preparing myself for the inevitable days when I might experience a horrifying disaster only to survive it.

  In a world where basically everyone had a superpower, disasters created by villains were more common than not. Thankfully, most superpowered criminals hell-bent on wide-spread destruction didn’t have powerful abilities, but even the weaker ones found ways to be menacing.

  Just two years ago, one of the ice supers responsible for maintaining the ice caps on the north pole was attacked and killed by a villain, in an attempt to end the world. Honestly, I thought it was a stupid idea because it would take years for the ice to re-melt and flood the oceans. Plenty of time to find another ice super for the job.

  Maybe it would have worked if the villain had been in league with a fire-super like Lily. But, as far as I knew, she was the only one of her kind. There were a few supers who could control fire, but none who could create it. Which was crazy to think about.

  A world full of supers and Lily was one of a kind. Given some of the anime and old comics I entertained myself with, I would have thought pyrogenesis would be a common ability, but in reality it was one of the rarest. My regeneration ability was actually more common, although those who could regenerate could usually still die if enough of their body was destroyed. As far as I knew, I was the only super known to be immortal.

  Ultimately, the ice melting disaster didn’t affect me personally, but events like that were somewhat common. Just a month ago, another villain tried to use one of the environmental ionizing machines, responsible for cloud-whitening in a nearby city, to spread their own nerve toxin. Thankfully, I had not been involved in that incident either, but that was exactly the kind of situation I was preparing for. Because I had found myself in the middle of disasters like that before.

  Which was why I had been willing to step into a nuclear reactor to retrieve my friend’s stupid bistin that he so carelessly allowed to fall in the ventilation system. Granted, even though it helped with my pain tolerance, I still might not have done it given different circumstances. Really, the only reason I was willing to help was because I was the only one who could.

  The newer model resonators couldn’t be turned off like the old ones – a small sacrifice for significantly greater efficiency. Whatever got inside them was as good as gone. And if the high-tech meters that were used to check for radiation leaks weren’t fire-resistant themselves, then Nick’s bistin would have literally been gone – nothing left.

  At least being inside the reactor didn’t hurt once the majority of my nerves fried.

  But still, even after all these years, I had never managed to become completely immune to pain. And I wasn’t looking forward to doing it again.

  Which was super ironic.

  Because I was surprisingly looking forward to being burned alive by Lily later that evening, despite my better judgment. I must seriously be crazy to be considering this, but she was so attractive that all I could think about was what it would be like when it was my turn to have some fun.

  I couldn’t focus on my work as I let my mind wander for the first time in forever, reevaluating my memory of her physical appearance in a new light.

  If I was being honest, even if the sex part didn’t work out, I might still consider trying to date her. It’s not like I hadn’t already gone without sex for ages, and I could be perfectly happy just staring into her smoldering eyes forever. It really was like gazing at bright orange coals in the middle of a fire – something I used to be able to do for hours long ago, finding complete peace in the simple activity.

  Two eclipsed suns, swirling like molten rock.

  Dammit, I’m stupid, I chastised myself. I had never been so indecisive in my life.

  Was burning alive for half an hour really worth it?

  I mean, she was damn sexy, but did I really want to put up with that? And would she settle for a relationship without sex if it didn’t work out?

  Even though she said she liked me, I still wondered if she was just saying what she thought I wanted to hear, so that she could have her sex and move on. Part of me was not looking forward to her rejection if it didn’t work out, revealing that she didn’t really have a serious interest in me.

  But what if she was interested in me? I had to admit that it at least seemed like she had shown legitimate interest in me before she found out I was immortal. But then again, she flirted with everyone so maybe I was just imagining it. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d had a girl make me feel like she was treating me special, only to find out she treated all men like that.

  At least I knew she’d never cheat on me, since she couldn’t sleep with anyone else.

  Or could she? Did she have options?

  Continuing to procrastinate my work, I decided to waste an hour searching the public registry for supers who might be able to handle her flames.

  Just because she was the only true fire-super didn’t mean there might not be other abilities like mine that could potentially be compatible. I reasoned that I was doing her a favor by seeing if she had options, but I found myself almost hoping she didn’t.

  And sure enough, after an hour of searching, it was clear there really weren’t.

  All the amazing abilities imaginable, and not a single person indestructible or resistant to fire. I tried to do searches on more creative abilities too, but there was still nothing. I was literally the last man on Earth for her.

  Why did that make me feel so relieved?

  Technically, I wouldn’t have shown up as an option either, since my publicly listed ability was not immortality. I had filed a shit-ton of paperwork to get that worked out, because people finding out about my immortality caused a shit-ton of problems for me. But the money and effort had been worth it.

  My true ability was now classified as special-case sensitive information, even hidden to law enforcement officers unless they sought out special permission under legal grounds. And even then, they had to jump through some red tape to actually gain access.

  Now, the stupid unsolicited requests had all but stopped for the most part. Which was a nice change of pace, since I used to have total strangers and obscure companies contacting me all the time to do stupid things. Granted, I was perfectly fine with taking on a job that was feasible and well paid, but most of the proposals were ridiculous and shady.

  Like that one space exploration company.

  “But you’re the only one who can tell us how it feels to suffocate in space!” They had asked me once. “We need to know if there are techniques that can allow our astronauts to survive longer. Like exhaling, so their blood doesn’t flood with oxygen bubbles.”

  Nope, I wasn’t about to be a scientific experiment for them, no matter how much they wanted to pay me.

  “But you’re the only one who can give us an actual visual of Venus! We need to know if there are aliens living there, because we’ve gotten some weird readings from the surface! The survival of the world could depend on it!”

  Nope, not going there either. It was a cool seven-hundred degrees year-round. Not about to touch that.

  But that was only the big guys. Everyone and their mother would start pestering me for favors when they found out I was immortal. And they used to do exactly that a long time ago, before I got my registry information changed.

  “But my mom can’t reach behind her transistor to clean it properly. Can’t you break your arm and clean it for her?”

  No, absolutely not. Break your own arm.

  “My twenty-year-old niece needs help with her pet Rashix. It got loose in the house and ate the dog. The pest control will report the poor thing if we call them! Please! My niece adores her Rashix!”

  Hell no! You shouldn’t have a damn Rashix in the first place. Those carnivores are the most bloodthirsty beasts on the planet!

  The Rashix was a creature produced from a genetic experiment gone horri
bly wrong. They were a combination of a lion and a Komodo dragon, creating a violent hairless monster that was impossible to completely eradicate from a region once it had invaded it – much like other reptiles. And I wasn’t about to find myself regenerating inside the stomach of one.

  Really, Lily’s request for sex wasn’t much different than all the others, but at least I was getting something in return for once – something I sincerely wanted.

  I had never intended for Lily to discover my secret in the first place, but it had slipped out of Dave’s stupid mouth during a pitch-in I put together for Nick’s birthday. A minor incident involving a knife had prompted my robust coworker to feel the need to overshare in order to calm down a worried Lily.

  Granted, keeping any secret contained in the office was nearly impossible anyway. It was just too easy to overhear conversations, like Lily overhearing my conversation with Nick earlier.

  I leaned back in my chair and took a deep breath, still unable to stop thinking about this new development.

  I needed to take her out to dinner or something first. I felt bad just showing up for sex. Plus, if it did work out and become a regular thing, then I was going to treat her like a real girlfriend instead of just some random coworker I slept with.

  I sighed heavily again, staring at my computer screen blankly.

  Stupid reports.

  I already knew she loved Italian. And there was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant only about five miles from her house that she'd probably love. Hopefully, she didn't already know about it, so I could surprise her.

  Actually, now that I thought about it, I realized I knew a lot about her. I knew where she lived, what kind of food she preferred, and even her favorite colors – red and black, with purple being a close contender. I wasn’t even sure how I had figured out her favorite colors, because she rarely wore them. In fact, she wore just about every other color except her favorite colors – at least at work. I had no idea what she wore outside the office.

  But it made me wonder…

  Had I been wanting this all along and just not realized it? Is that why I had absentmindedly collected information on her?

  Maybe I was dense.

  3: Dinner with a Hottie

  It was a good thing Lily was already home when I called to ask her out for dinner. At least, if the sudden static on the other end of the line was any indication. She got so excited that she immediately burst into flames. Her phone was fireproof though, so after a few seconds she eagerly agreed…only for her to burst into flames again when I recommended the Italian place, knowing it was her favorite.

  I wasn’t trying to be overly romantic. Honestly.

  But damn, I’d never gotten a girl so excited in my entire life. And that was saying something, considering how long I’d been alive.

  I hoped she had already changed out of her work clothes, because otherwise they would have been toasted. I’d asked her about it once causally – what she did about her clothing – only to find out that most of it was a special fire-resistant material that was similar in appearance as latex or vinyl. She called it FRIL, which stood for fire retardant something latex. I couldn’t remember what the “I” was for.

  It had limited uses because while the material was impervious to high temperatures, it couldn’t be used by itself as an insulator to protect against heat. Lily explained it to me as making a balloon out of it and filling it with water – the water was still going to boil even if the flames weren’t able to eat through the FRIL.

  After telling me about her special clothing, she then proceeded to unbutton the top of her blouse to show me part of her latex-like bra underneath. Her work clothes were flammable of course, since latex wasn’t exactly appropriate work attire.

  Lily also used the opportunity to inform me that she didn’t sweat, having nearly complete internal control of her body temperature, although she lacked control over producing flames. In hindsight, I realized I must have been pretty stupid to not realize that I was the only person she showed, but it’s not like I knew what she did with the other guys when I wasn’t around.

  As much as I was sure our boss, John, would love to see her wearing her normal latex clothing around the office, we all knew nothing would ever get done then. She was distracting enough as it was. It wasn’t a secret that many of the men took the time to stop what they were doing when she walked by. And she wasn’t even dressed sexy at work.

  I also didn’t understand how she could be so toned and yet have such a large chest, since running seemed like it would be nearly impossible for her. And I knew they were real, because I had felt them myself on a few occasions accidentally, such as earlier that day when she was holding me from behind. While visually plump like implants, they were soft and squishy, instead of firm.

  When I picked her up at her house in my midnight Lamborghini – a perk of being immortal was having had plenty of lucrative jobs over the years to stockpile a small fortune – I tried not to gawk at her as she sashayed out of her house dressed in latex pants, a latex top, and a latex mini-jacket. There was a slight crinkling noise as she walked. The only thing that was modest were her shoes, which were a simple open-toe pair of black sling-backs with a two-inch heel.

  She was definitely dressed for the slightly chilly weather, being towards the beginning of October, but I doubted she actually had any problems with feeling cold even if it was snowing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could be comfortable playing in the snow in a bikini – a sight I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing.

  The latex top looked more like a corset, with dark red accents. The only part that wasn’t like a corset was her chest area, where the material stretched across tight like a tube shirt. I would have thought she was wearing two articles of clothing over her torso if it weren’t for the fact the two pieces were connected just below her chest, secured tightly against her body with a small vinyl belt. The bottom only went down to her navel, her milky stomach appearing soft despite it being toned.

  This was the first time I had ever seen her wear her favorite colors. Her gold hair and orange eyes were a sharp contrast against her mostly black outfit. It was difficult to recover from the sight.

  “Damn,” Lily said in surprise, looking at my car. “Sam, how did I not realize you had this?”

  Ironically, I was thinking the same thing about her. Damn. How did I not realize this is what you wore outside of work?

  I shrugged, trying to act causal despite the growing need in the pit of stomach. She was like the embodiment of lust. Everything sexy I could imagine somehow manifested into a real person. Why had I not tried dating her sooner? I cleared my throat. “I don’t usually drive this to work. Considering what my job pays, people would probably think I was secretly a crime lord or something.”

  Lily laughed nervously. “You’re not, right?”

  I grinned at her as I walked to her side of the car to open the door. “Hmm, would that interest you?” I teased.

  She laughed again, seeming to evaluate if I was being serious, before committing to getting inside.

  My grin widened. “I’m just kidding Lily. I used to take on some really dangerous jobs a few decades ago. Many of them paid in a day what I get paid in a year now.”

  “Wow,” she exclaimed, finally climbing in.

  I hurried to the other side and got in too. The car could technically drive itself, but where was the fun in that? I put it into gear, switching it from autopilot, to automatic, to manual and then backed up out of her driveway using the on-dash video feed from the wide-lens cameras installed, rather than bothering to look back.

  After a moment, Lily broke the silence. “I’d ask,” she said hesitantly, “more about your wealth, but I don’t want you to think I’m after your money.” She turned towards me slightly to get my attention, her expression serious. She continued once I glanced at her. “I’m not. Honestly, I didn’t even know you might be well off financially.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. Of course she wouldn’t have known, b
ut I still wasn’t expecting her to say that. And when she did say it, she seemed a little uncomfortable, almost like…well, almost like she really wanted this to work out between us.

  Was it just wishful thinking? I hoped not.

  I wanted this date to be special, so I slipped the hostess a fifty to sit us in an isolated area. However, being in the middle of the week, the Italian restaurant wasn’t busy at all, which meant we probably would have been alone even if I hadn’t made the extra effort. Granted, just because the place was empty now didn’t mean it would be in half an hour.

  At the very least, I suspected that I had scored some points with Lily, probably because I was nonverbally telling her I wanted it to be special. I could see that she was trying really hard to be good though. She probably didn’t want to ruin our dinner by lighting the place on fire.

  “So Lily,” I asked while we waited for our drinks. “Why do you work at the office anyway? I mean, surely your ability could be useful as a superhero or something more interesting?”

  She scoffed, seeming suddenly annoyed, but not specifically at me. “And what? Burn up the people that need saving?” She focused on her menu, her orange eyes glowing slightly in the dim atmosphere.

  Damn, her eyes were so mesmerizing.

  I found myself staring helplessly. I then glanced down at her chest. She had her menu at just the right angle so that I could see that too. I was instantly so distracted by the light playing off her breasts that I wasn’t even embarrassed by it.

  After a second, I realized she was smirking at me, likewise not bothered by the attention. She wanted it – that much was clear, especially if what we were planning for dessert was any indication.

  Nevertheless, I looked at her apologetically and cleared my throat. “So, umm…” I had already forgotten what we had been talking about. I decided to go with my next train of thought. “Hey, Lily…Can I ask you a super inappropriate question?”

  She smirked. “Sam, we’re going to try sleeping together in a little while. You can ask me anything you want.”