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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
John takes a photo of himself and surveys the pictures he has taken every day for the last 10 years to verify that he has not aged. He thinks about a friend whose intense weight fluctuations show the passage of time. It is the 10th anniversary of John’s cure.
John’s partner, Sonia, desires marriage after their four years together. They argue as John insists that he doesn’t have the gumption and foresight to commit to her for 500 years; the indefinite nature of their lives prevents him from making a legal commitment. Sonia reveals she is pregnant and emphasizes how good their life could be, but John fears responsibility. John thinks about a “cycle marriage,” a concept his boss developed in which a marriage is set for an amount of time and dissolves unless the couple seeks an extension. When he poses that option, she rejects it. He promises to be a good father, and she leaves.
John is invited to a “cure party” in Las Vegas, and his friend requires that he bring a grail-shaped cup to drink out of. He visits a grail shop and ultimately chooses one that reminds him of knighthood. At home, he drinks a toast to Katy out of it.