Forever Begins Without Me

At forty-eight, Finn has a wife, two children, and an ordinary life he has no intention of leaving. Humanity’s new continuity technology promises more than an end to ageing: even the destruction of a body need no longer mean the loss of the person.

But it cannot save him.

A rapidly progressing illness has made the standard transition impossible. An experimental programme offers a chance, and Finn takes it. He wants to be there for his daughter’s school afternoon. To see who his son becomes. To grow older with Mara—even in a world where growing old is becoming a choice.

He is glad they will live. He means it.

He had always believed that death meant a temporary separation. Whoever went first, they would meet again.

Now the people he loves may never follow.