Elisa had not traveled outside of her home in the last thousand years. Meditating, sleeping and working out her body kept her mind busy. Time didn’t just seem or feel irrelevant to her, rather it simply was. Something inside Elisa was changing though.

Why had she spent her whole life in this home? This prison?

Why was she destined to leave her old friends behind?

Why, oh why did humans think of immortality as a gift?

These questions, these embers of a dying fire, seemed to reignite the flame that Elisa had watched burn out so long ago. Elisa walked toward her door. The cool, golden knob fit perfectly into her hand. The rusty lock grinded against the wood as she turned the knob with some force. She pushed the door open and stepped outside.

The warmth of the sun wrapped around Elisa’s body. She took a moment to look at the world around her. A small town surrounded her decaying house. It all seemed quite familiar to Elisa. Wooden homes, trees, grass roads of pavement connecting it all together. However, some parts seemed…off. Elisa didn’t recognize certain trees, building materials, and even the colors of the lines on the road were wrong. Only then did she notice that the town was surrounded by a large glass dome.

Elisa muttered to herself, “What the hell is going on here? Am I in some kind of terrarium?”

Elisa’s thoughts were cut short by an approaching group of people. At least that’s what Elisa thought they were. Their bodies seemed mostly normal from afar, but as they grew closer she could tell that the world had truly left her behind. Futuristic cybernetics, something that was a mere proof of concept to Elisa, were commonplace amongst the group of what seemed to be students with a teacher directing them. This dome was all that was left of her home, her Earth. It was nothing but a tourist attraction now. Elisa fell to her knees, screamed, and broke down into tears.

Elisa looked no older than she did the day she became immortal. The teacher rushed over hearing the commotion to comfort Elisa, “Are you okay? What happened? Your cybernetics haven’t malfunctioned have they?” The teacher scanned over Elisa’s body searching for something that could’ve gone wrong.

Elisa turned to face the teacher. She noticed the teacher’s face contorting in shock. Elisa forced herself up and spoke, “I’m fine Ms….” she waited for a response.

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The teacher seemed dazed for a moment and replied, “Call me Wynona Juniper. Your name?”

“Elisa White.”

In a serious tone Wynona replied, “What are you? Where’s your cybernetics?”

Elisa’s eyebrows rose and her eyes widened, “I’m a human. Like you?” The tattoo on Elisa’s hand lit up once again.

Wynona squinted at Elisa and then shifted her attention toward the tattoo, “Genetically enhanced? That’s pretty rare and I’ve never seen a tattoo used to signify that.”

Elisa wiped her face clear of the few tears that remained and gathered herself. She paused for several moments and took a deep breath before she continued the conversation, “Yes. Is there a problem with that?”

Wynona reached her hand up to her face and plucked out her right eye. She held it out on display for Elisa, “It’s common practice to give genetically enhanced humans a cybernetic eye.” Wynona walked over toward the road and dug her fingers into the pavement. Cracks rippled throughout it as she tore up a large chunk of pavement. The kids cheered in the background and Wynona turned toward them and smiled for a moment. She directed her attention back toward Elisa as she set the pavement back into place, “Long story short Ms. Elisa White, I don’t believe you.”

Elisa stood confident. Her green eyes, once devoid of emotion, now met Wynona’s with a new intensity. Elisa shrugged, “Do you wish for immortality Wynona?”

Wynona bluntly replied, “Basic history teaches that has been the driving force in our developments of New Society.”

“The closer we get however,” Elisa reached her hand up to her right eye and plucked it. Nerves severed, blood filled her eye socket, and a loud snap followed as it popped out. “The less practical cybernetics actually would become.” Although it was invisible to others around her, the ghostly snake arose from her tattoo. In a cyclical motion it wrapped around her head and a new eye formed in place of her old one. The eternal cycle of life and death, the snake, Ouroboros kept her body in a perfect form. She opened Wynona’s hand and placed her eye in it. She then pointed to her right eye that had reappeared in its spot, “Do you believe me now?”

Wynona’s expression softened and she smiled at Elisa, “I apologize. Standard procedures and all that. Why don’t we talk after school today?”

Elisa continued with her ruse, “Not a problem, but you should know that I’m not currently enrolled Ms. Juniper.”

“Follow my class for now. We can go over the specifics later. Oh, and please just call me Wynona.”

Elisa nodded, “Alright, Wynona.” The group of students kept Elisa at a distance. She joined them nonetheless for the rest of their trip. Elisa couldn’t have dreamed of what waited for her outside of the glass dome. Earth had truly changed forever.