I am with hundreds of other people on some sort of space station. A lot of the people are friends of mine, current & bygone. We are deciding which 60 people among us should be chosen to “live forever,” so that when our civilization collapses, the indestructible chosen ones will make up a gene pool diverse enough to safely repopulate a “new world.” The collapse of civilization is presumed to take place far in the future, but we are preparing for it now—in space.

Only 60 people are going to be chosen. It’s not clear who’s making the final decision, or what the criteria are, but each morning 10 people are announced over a PA system who then report to a laboratory to be injected with a large syringe full of serum-stuff that makes them live “forever.” There is only enough serum for 60 people. Only 20 have been picked so far, & all of them males, so there is a lot of talk right now about how we’ll need to start picking some women soon if we’re going to populate a whole world.

There are many debates on board over the pros & cons of living forever. Lots of people hope they don’t get chosen, saying that once everyone & everything else is gone one would inevitably just end up floating around space, alone, for infinity, which would be terrible. Others talk about the best places to live if one was immor tal. A library is mentioned as a choice. A tropical island is suggested. Then there is this random concern that the 60 people will eventually lose track of each other, get stranded on different planets or asteroids, & live forever on separately floating rocks.

Lastly, there is talk about how to properly start a civilization. Are 60 enough? If they are meant to procreate generation after generation, what are the logistics & guidelines to follow in order that one not mate with someone whose bloodline is too close to one’s own? Can we avoid birth defects, & so on...

I myself am undecided about living forever. A big part of me thinks it is probably a bad idea. I picture myself living with infinite time in a library, & the thought scares me.

There is also this subplot of the dream: Dan B. is one of the people on the space station with me, & he has a large golden cockroach, about the size of an empanada. The cockroach is alive & active (& ‘happy’), & really impor tant to Dan, like a pet & a cherished treasure at the same time. Actually, everyone on board is a little protective of it. But even then, it gets hur t. It’s too frail. I forget how it happens, but somehow its back wings get broken, & I am vaguely involved. It was an accident. I feel kind of sorry, but not super sorry, because I think the golden cockroach will be okay. But then later someone else accidentally steps on its back, only lightly, but enough to crunch it slightly. Now, with its two separate injuries, we worry that the thing will die. We collectively decide to ask the ‘authorities’ (still unclear who they are) to inject the roach with the special serum, which would heal its injuries & allow the cockroach immor tality. We think this is reasonable. Everybody does. At no point is it brought up that this would mean one less human who can live forever & contribute to the future gene pool.