The call that the student received was from his elderly uncle, a man he hardly knew.
He knew that he was extremely old, that he had been a university professor for most of his life, that he had lived like a hermit for a number of years after retirement and that he was now terminally ill. The call was made from the old man’s hospital sickbed, asking him to come as soon as possible.
No sooner had he arrived, after a nod and a brief handshake, the dying man came straight to the point.
“They tell me I have days, but it could be hours. That is why my summons was urgent. I have never been too fond of pleasantries, today, even more so. I know that you are about to gain your degree in medicine. Of course, I knew your father. We were quite close at one time. The fact is, you are not my only living relative. For reasons of my own you are my free choice, in the matter of what I have to say. When my will is read you’ll find that you are the sole beneficiary of my estate, such that it is.”
He wheezed and squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again before going on.
“A modest sum of money, the house, of course, and some small investments. There will be no mention of what you take away from here today.” He smiled. “I ask you to be patient. What I am about to tell you, as well as I am able, is a brief summary of my many years of research.”
He took a sip of water. “Yes. I need to tell you about my research, the fantastic nature of which will soon become apparent.” He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “As far as anyone knows it all started back in 1753 in a shop in London, owned by an apothecary. Nobody knows his name. It’s all lost in time now. This man of medicine had a friend who was a sailor, and returning from a voyage, he brought back several, small jellyfish in a jar. These came from Mediterranean waters; as a result of the ship taking in water to fill the ballast tanks. Anyway, what he brought with him was the legend that these little sea creatures lived forever!”
At this point he shook his head and grinned. “What we now know, of course, hundreds of years later is that these tiny creatures, were in fact Turritopsis dohrnii; tiny sea creatures that are often referred to as the immortal jellyfish. These amazing life forms manage to turn back the clock by reverting to an earlier stage of their otherwise quite natural life cycle. You could think of it along the lines of a butterfly nearing the end of its life, then changing back to a caterpillar, repeatedly, as I’ve said, forever!”
The old man seemed to wince with pain for a moment or two before going on. “The apothecary quite naturally began to experiment with what he’d been given. It seems that he was able to extract something from these jellyfish that allowed him to produce a potion. From reports at the time, it became apparent that after some twenty years the man’s physical appearance had not changed. At this point he left the city and took up residence in a small village in the country.”
He wriggled in his bed for a while, making himself more comfortable, before continuing.
“My extensive research has allowed me to follow this man, from country to country, around the world, over a great many years. All of this lengthy research shows me that today we have an immortal, living among us!” His eyes watered. “The truth is, I believe that my old age has made me weak both physically and mentally, and for this reason I have not acted on my findings.”
He reached for a paper tissue and dried his cheeks. He said, “All of this research… my papers, maps, recordings, and so on, are to be found in a large, steel trunk in the basement of my house. The clasp is secured by a robust padlock, the six digital combination of this is written on a piece of paper that I give to you now.”
He took a small slip of folded paper from under his pillow. He handed it to his visitor, saying, “My research has now become my legacy to you.”
With that, he leant across and pressed a button. He slowly laid back and closed his eyes. He began to breathe heavily as he drifted off to sleep.
A nurse appeared. She told him that visiting hours were over…