“That’s because we’re still trying to make sure we have one,” said Israel.
“Dr. Fontanelle,” said India, standing to address him formally. It was the first time someone had done so, and it got everyone’s attention. “The rumors have dogged us for months, and I must know for certain. Does ReBirth make you immortal?”
The room was quiet. Lyle swallowed, suddenly nervous.
“Only if you use multiple doses,” said Bangladesh. “Each dose sets you to a certain age, and then you age, and then a second dose would reset you back to the same age again.”
“That kind of power could be abused,” said Zambia.
“What do you think everyone’s fighting about?” asked Japan.
“I’m afraid that’s not entirely accurate,” said Lyle. He sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. “The first dose you take is technically the only one you ever need. Biological age, as we understand it, is an expression of your DNA at varying stages of its existence. Your genes as an infant were building your body in a very different way than your genes as a teenager, and so on. With ReBirth constantly resetting your genes to a target state, you will effectively never age. That’s not immunity from violent death or anything, but yes, people who have used it even once, even by accident, will never get older, and they will never die from natural causes.”
The delegate from India sat down, his face somber.
“I had hoped this aspect was just a rumor,” said Japan.
“The best we can hope for is ‘flawed extrapolation,’” said Lyle. “I suppose time will tell. But if everything works the way we think it works—and so far it has, flawlessly—then we’re looking at a sizable portion of the world population that is effectively immortal.”
“That,” said Mexico, “changes things.”
“Technically it is the opposite of change,” said Tanzania, “but I know what you mean.”
“Carry this through to its logical conclusion,” said Germany. “What are the estimates these days, fifty million ReBirth users worldwide? Sixty?”
“Counting accidental and unwilling cases,” said Kenya, “we’re probably closer to a hundred.”
“That’s not too bad,” said Nepal. “I mean, in comparison to the entire world population? We’re over seven billion now; that’s less than a tenth of a percent.”
“At least twenty million of those cases are me,” Lyle added, “just in case anyone wants to put a human face on the numbers.”
“Ha ha,” said Estonia drily.
“A tenth of a percent makes a hundred million people sound small,” said Mexico, “but consider that ReBirth is still around, and still infecting people, and unlikely to go anywhere. We’ve accrued a hundred million immortals in only five months—that’s higher than the world birth rate, and it ignores the death rate. If we do the same every five months—if we do even half of that every five months—we’re looking at an overpopulation problem we’ve never even imagined. Inside of, what, thirty-five years, it will have infected the entire world population, and the birth rate will keep adding people to the pool, and ReBirth will ensure that none of them ever leave.”
“So what are our options of curbing this?” asked Japan. “We’ve already talked about getting the ReBirth out of the water, and that won’t work. Maybe we could take the people away from the water—evacuate every contaminated area.”
“And try to fit a world’s worth of people in only half the world’s space,” said India, “resulting in the same overpopulation problem from a different angle.”
“But it wouldn’t fill up as quickly,” said Israel.
“We could reduce the birth rate,” said Zambia, “though I can think of very few humane ways to accomplish that.”
“So let’s talk about the inhumane ways,” said Estonia. “We could kill the immortals.”
“China will not be a party to institutionalized murder,” said China.
“That didn’t bother you fifty years ago,” said Germany.
“Look who’s talking,” said Israel.
“Nobody’s killing anybody,” said Tanzania. “We won’t even consider it.”
“Don’t be so naïve,” said Mexico. “Most of you aren’t part of the New Crusades—Latin America has already been at war for weeks, and most of the world is following.”
“Are you suggesting that the numbers will balance out?” asked Kenya. “Because I don’t want to pin our world’s future on the hope that we’ll all kill each other faster than we can make more people.”
“Will ReBirth really get to everybody?” asked France. “It’s in the water systems of some major cities, but that’s not going to affect the entire world. We’ll still have plenty of normal, mortal humans.”
“So we can solve our population problem by denying people immortality?” asked Samoa. “We’re not fools—we know that this would become a class issue. The rich would buy themselves eternal life, and the poor would die to keep the world from overflowing. None of us should be comfortable with that.”
“So now we’re obligated to give immortality to everyone?” asked Mexico. “I don’t like the idea of a caste system any more than you do, but a world where nobody dies is a world that will run out of space and resources. We’ll be packed so tightly we’ll have nothing to eat but each other—and eating the poor, in my mind, is far worse than oppressing them.”
“This is ridiculous,” said Chad. “We’re supposed to be talking about solutions, not … immortal cannibals.”
“We are talking about realities,” said France. “They’re not pleasant, but they’re not ridiculous, either. Given the nature of ReBirth, this is what will happen. This is where our world is headed. And because the problem is extreme, our solutions will have to be extreme, as well. We may have reached a point where oppression or even execution—as much as I despise them both—may be the only moral choices we can make.”
“So we embrace the lotion,” said Estonia. “Zambia asked for a humane way to reduce the birth rate, and we have one: ReBirth.”
“ReBirth doesn’t alter reproductive function,” said Lyle.
“Not by itself,” said Estonia, “but what happens if we turn everyone into a single gender?”
The room went deathly quiet.
“That’s preposterous,” said Germany.
“Is it?” asked Estonia.
