What would you do if you were immortal (and other, unrelated topics)

Right, I was trying to do some writing the other day, working on my new pet project (a series of short stories that might grow into something more, working title 'Gifted') and I'm having some problems, which need to be adressed before I really can start writing. Since the question > answer format Jade used for her male/female-topic seemed to work, I thought I'd use that (since she didn't copyright it! Muhahaha )

Imagine; you are in your late thirties. You lead a relatively unsignificant life, but you think you are happy. Along comes Mr. Car. Mr. Car is in a bad mood and decides to trample you under his wheels. The person that was driving Mr. Car decides that it's not worth stopping or calling the hospital and let's you lie next to the road. You slowely bleed out, but moments before you die, you start to get warm. And warmer. And then, you burst into flames (ouch, you feel the flames). You finally die, burned alive... Except you don't die. A few hours later, you wake up again, your mind intact, memories intact, body intact. Only your body is now like it was when you were eleven years old. What do you do?

Imagine (major spoiler alert); you are an involuntary guest, held 'save' by a group of people you don't know. One of them takes you to a room and shows you how a group of scientists are aplying elektro shocks to a small girl. You don't know this girl. What do you do?

Imagine; you are surrounded by people with a special gift of some sort. You seem to be the only one without such a gift, you don't believe you have a gift, but the gifted ones are sure you have a gift. How do you feel?

A few hours later, you wake up again, your mind intact, memories intact, body intact. Only your body is now like it was when you were eleven years old. What do you do?

Hmm.. go home I suppose and try to explain what the hell had happened to my parents.


You are an involuntary guest, held 'save' by a group of people you don't know. One of them takes you to a room and shows you how a group of scientists are aplying elektro shocks to a small girl. You don't know this girl. What do you do?

I would ask the people why they were electrocuting the girl. It would depend on circumstances/what had already happened or what I knew about the people. If the girl was screaming and obviously being tortured then I would try to intervene. I probably would not run in and start a fight as that would just get me electrocuted too. If the captors were trying to keep me safe then I'd probably assume that I had something they wanted and try to use that to get them to leave the girl alone.

However I'd probably also consider that the shocks are part of some treatment as the people appear to be scientists. So yeah, I'd ask why.

Imagine; you are surrounded by people with a special gift of some sort. You seem to be the only one without such a gift, you don't believe you have a gift, but the gifted ones are sure you have a gift. How do you feel?

Rather annoyed. I would probably be jealous of the other people with the special abilities and feel quite left out. Also, I would think that they were just trying to make me feel better by saying that I had a gift.

Interesting scenarios, but I think I'd need a little more information before I could formulate a response to some of these.
Let's see....

CommonGoods wrote:

Imagine; you are in your late thirties. You lead a relatively unsignificant life, but you think you are happy. Along comes Mr. Car. Mr. Car is in a bad mood and decides to trample you under his wheels. The person that was driving Mr. Car decides that it's not worth stopping or calling the hospital and let's you lie next to the road. You slowely bleed out, but moments before you die, you start to get warm. And warmer. And then, you burst into flames (ouch, you feel the flames). You finally die, burned alive... Except you don't die. A few hours later, you wake up again, your mind intact, memories intact, body intact. Only your body is now like it was when you were eleven years old. What do you do?

What sort of jerk goes around running people over and speeding off? I'd probably seek retribution against this "Mr. Car" fellow, not out of revenge, but because he's a threat to society. As an 11 year old, there really isn't much the law could do to me if I got caught beating the **** out of this guy, but that age also places a lot of obstacles between me and this guy (parental supervision, lack of resources, etc), so the chances of me ever finding him are slim.

Chances are, I'd just go about my life, living as a normal eleven year old, albeit an angry one. And I'd probably have to check into an orphanage, because my birth parents would no longer recognize me. Sucks. Also, I have no way of knowing if this "immortality" thing will work again or if it was a one-time deal. I mean, what happens if I get hit by a car again? Do I rot in the grave, get set back another 19 years, (fetus? sperm? ghost?), or is it totally random? If my life gets bad enough, I may just roll the dice and see what comes up.

CommonGoods wrote:

Imagine (major spoiler alert); you are an involuntary guest, held 'save' by a group of people you don't know. One of them takes you to a room and shows you how a group of scientists are aplying elektro shocks to a small girl. You don't know this girl. What do you do?

I would need way more information than this. How badly are they treating me (i.e. would they kill me if I tried to rebel)? What are the chances of me overpowering them (i.e. if I helped this girl, would we even be able to escape)? Where the hell am I (I mean, if they dragged me here in a blindfold, what good will escaping do any of us)? Are they willing to barter/negotiate and what "goodies" do I have to offer (my life for hers)? But none if this matters until you answer the greatest question of all: is she hot?

CommonGoods wrote:

Imagine; you are surrounded by people with a special gift of some sort. You seem to be the only one without such a gift, you don't believe you have a gift, but the gifted ones are sure you have a gift. How do you feel?

I have a gift? Prove it. And if you can't, leave me the hell alone. It's as simple as that.

Ok, about the 'torture the girl'-scenario;

They have not beaten you, only 'insisted' you do nothing stupid, as in, 'insisted while keeping a hand on his gun'. You have no real idea what you are doing there, and when you ask "Who are you people?", he takes you to the scene of the girl being tortured. Yes, she is screaming, yes, she is obviously in pain. Is she hot? She's eleven.

CommonGoods wrote:

Ok, about the 'torture the girl'-scenario;

They have not beaten you, only 'insisted' you do nothing stupid, as in, 'insisted while keeping a hand on his gun'. You have no real idea what you are doing there, and when you ask "Who are you people?", he takes you to the scene of the girl being tortured. Yes, she is screaming, yes, she is obviously in pain.

Sounds like there isn't much I can do but go along with what they say. But torture is better than electrocution; she'll probably live and the opportunity to help her may come again later. I think if I saw her being torutured again later, I'd definitely have to jump in and do something. In the meantime, I'd have all sorts of questions for these "scientists." Mainly, what do they expect to gain from torturing little girls?

CommonGoods wrote:

Is she hot? She's eleven.

A pity. I could've used the motivation.