The Bored Immortal

"What?! My building got seized by the government? What the fuck! How?" Viktor was on his phone after he suddenly got a call from an officer working in the tax department. He was relaxing in his own way when he suddenly got this call from nowhere.

This building was none other than the building he had rented to start his own 'practice' as a psychologist. But now, apparently, the building owner he had met before who had tried to extort from him had got arrested for tax evasion, and along with that, everything he owned was seized by the government, making Viktor feel disappointed since not everyone would be 'kind' like that building owner who let him pay a satisfactory rent.

"Ugh, what a day…" Viktor sighed as he cut the call and sat down on his chair, wondering whether he should go work in Taya's hospital and get to spend more time with her as well.

"Or…I should just wait for a better opportunity, hmm…" Viktor mumbled to himself. In the end he decided that he could think about it later since he was starting to enjoy the jobs he already had now.

Meanwhile, a few minutes ago, Tiana slowly walked back to her class while her mind was distracted by thinking about her interactions with her P.E teacher, Lucien. She couldn't help but wonder if she was having a crush on her teacher at first sight. Since this was all new to her, she couldn't help but feel confused about her own heart.

She now had a class on Bioinformatics, and when she reached the class, she was slightly surprised to see who the teacher was.

"Oh, Tiana, am I right? What happened? Why did you come later? Oh…did you get hurt?" Mark Prim asked after pausing his lecture as all the other students in the class, including Sayana, also looked towards Tiana, though they all knew the reason.

Tiana came back to her senses as she answered, "Uh..yeah…I hurt my knees and was busy getting it treated. So I got late coming here."

Mark gave a brief smile as he gestured to her to come in, "That's fine. Get in. I was just getting started with the first class in bioinformatics."

Tiana was surprised that they had the same teacher for this subject as well but then got inside the class.

She walked towards Sayana and sat beside her as she asked, "There was a subject like this? What is this about?"

Sayana, who was feeling quite eager about learning Bioinformatics, replied in quiet excitement, "It is about learning how to use certain tools to analyze biological data. It is quite interesting if you really get into it. Maybe you would like it."

Tiana waved her hand, "Nah. I am good. Wake me up when the class ends," Tiana lazily said before lying down on the desk, making Sayana sigh subtly.

"So, instead of starting off with the boring part, let me ask you guys an interesting question. Do you guys know about certain species we consider less evolved than us that have better physical capabilities or at least seem so on the outside? Can any one of you name any such species you know and tell how they are better than us physically since mentally we are the most intelligent species on the planet but limited by her body's capabilities," Mark asked as he corrected the frame of his spectacles

Sayana wanted to raise her hand since these subjects were most interesting to her, and she had also decided to be more participating in the class when her college starts. Still, her hesitation was holding back her hand.

"I know one! Chimps are stronger than us, aren't they, professor?" A boy with curly hair in the front answered quickly as he raised his hand, beating Sayana to it.

Mark smiled as he said, "Of course. And we can attribute that to how our evolutionary path is different from theirs, especially since they have been making use of their limb muscles for thousands of years while we have gotten used to a relatively comfortable and convenient lifestyle. So our muscle fibers are less dense than theirs. Does anyone else know any other animals or organisms with superior capabilities than us like our friend here mentioned?"

"What about turtles? They live way longer than us, don't they? I heard some even lived more than 400 years!" A girl in the same row answered excitedly right when Sayana wanted to raise her hand as well.

Mark pointed at her, "You are right. Turtles are indeed interesting, more than we realize, and the main reason they live longer than us is because of their slow metabolism, making them age way slower than us. Now, does anyone want to add one more to the list? What about you, young lady? I feel that you might have something for me?"

"Uh…me?" Sayana was startled when Mark suddenly pointed to her, and she saw all the other students looking at her.

She cleared her throat as she answered in a soft voice, "What about the immortal jellyfish? The way it implements transdifferentiation on itself is quite interesting. It is similar to turning back time."

Mark smiled as he clapped, "Very good. Sayana, right? You really know your stuff. Thank you for your answer. That is indeed the most underrated organism in this world. After all, who wouldn't like to be immortal? Imagine if we wanted to become young after reaching a ripe old age of 80. What if we had the ability to become a 5-year-old again just like the immortal jellyfish and live a whole new life again?"

"So, professor, are you saying it is the key to immortality? If not, why didn't those scientists already make a pill or something to make us immortal after studying those jellyfishes?" One of the students asked in a doubtful tone.

Mark chuckled as he smiled and said, "If things were that easy, we wouldn't be here, would we? But…even if we completely study the immortal jellyfish, it will still only serve as a part of the puzzle since our bodies are not as simple as a jellyfish, especially when we have a complex brain capable of forming intelligent thoughts and creating memories."

Most of the students let out a disappointed sigh even though they knew immortality was just a myth, at least to them.

He then paused and continued, "But…imagine using the power of bioinformatics to study the human genome and finding out a way to become immortal or evolve ourselves if, say, we are able to reinvigorate our cells periodically to 'freeze' our age through external factors which could be a whole less complicated than simply studying the organisms or animals we talked about earlier. Maybe immortality need not be just a far-fetched dream. Imagine becoming a better version of ourselves by researching more about these things.. Think about it and let this be a motivation to those who want to change yourself and the world one day," Mark Prim said with a smile as he put on a presentation slide and began his lecture while Sayana couldn't help but focus on the last two sentences he said.