I hate to turn to others for my story but I need help. I'm writing a sci-fi story that takes place on earth and a small group of humans are immortal. They've been around since ancient times but I have yet figured out a decent explanation for how they became immortal. The only one I have I've sort of worked on is based upon the legend of the fountain of youth but that sounds kinda dumb in the long run. So if anyone can pitch a better idea than magic water, can you help? EDIT: The type of immortality I have in mind is that they don't age, and they're not invulnerable but they can take a lot more punishment than ordinary people and heal much quicker. Since the immortals are essential a small cult in this world, immortality will also have to replicated or at least transferred to newer members. That should help narrow it down. I've been thinking on this matter as well and am thinking along the lines of a naturally occurring substance but breakdowns overtime. Maybe a by-product of modern life? No Magic Fruit.
Boy can I ever! The idea comes from Hitchhiker's "Most of those who are born immortal instinctively know how to cope with it, but Wowbagger was not one of them. Indeed, he had come to hate them, the load of serene bastards. He had his immortaility inadvertantly thrust upon him by an unfortunate accident with an irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch, and a pair of rubber bands. The precise details are not important because no one has ever managed to duplicate the exact circumstances under which it happened, and many people have ended up looking very silly, or dead, or both, trying." The HHG Project - Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged
Hmmm... well it depends on their type of immortality (immune to aging, invincible, etc...) If their immortaility is simply the immune to aging, you could go off of this tangent. A small group was affected by a virus that stops parts of the body from producing a protein that triggers cell death (actually a legit protein, i forget its name, but it was a nobel prize in this past decade...). This virus was only transferrable by insect, specifically a certain type of mosquito, for various reasons like other effects that this virus has that doesn't affect humans yet kills insects, it just so happened that the species of mosquito was immune, yet this mosquito has long been extinct. This virus is fo' life bro, which means its forever... This explanation can lead to many storylines...