Until Life Do Us Part

In Short

Set in a future Chicago where humanity has achieved physical immortality, the story follows Webb Fellow, an ancient physician, as he navigates the sudden, overwhelming onset of possessive love. When the woman he and his friend Clifford share becomes pregnant, the social order of their "deathless world" begins to fracture. The narrative examines the psychological price of living forever, questioning whether human beings can truly shed their primal instincts in a landscape defined by clinical detachment, long-term stability, and the relentless, cold logic of predictive computation.

The Story

In a future where citizens are hundreds of years old and governed by strict emotional discipline, the concept of "love" is viewed as a dangerous, archaic impulse. Webb Fellow, a physician, is attending to Anne Tabor, a woman who has been chosen for the rare honor of motherhood. As he treats her, he experiences an unexpected and intense emotional surge, realizing with horror that he cares for her beyond the casual, socially sanctioned attachments of their society. He discovers that his old friend and rival, Clifford Ainsley, is also involved with Anne and is, in fact, the man she has chosen to father her child.

The revelation triggers a violent, irrational rage in Webb. Despite the centuries of semantic training he has undergone to ensure his own sanity, the prospect of losing Anne to Clifford for the duration of the pregnancy and beyond proves unbearable. Webb travels to Clifford’s apartment, driven by a desperate, adolescent urge to demand that his friend step aside. His behavior is an anomaly in their world—a regression to the volatile, passionate patterns of the past.

When he arrives, he finds Clifford cold, indifferent, and mocking. Clifford’s dismissive attitude toward Webb’s distress—and his suggestion that Webb simply find a new partner—eventually snaps the physician’s fragile control. In a blind fury, Webb attacks and kills the man. As the deed is done, the initial adrenaline fades, leaving Webb to confront the devastating reality that he has committed a murder, a crime so rare and severe that it necessitates his own execution.

However, the conclusion takes a sharp, technological turn. The man Webb just strangled was not the real Clifford, but a high-fidelity robot. The actual Clifford enters the room, revealing that he had used his advanced computers to predict Webb’s homicidal breakdown. By letting the encounter play out, Clifford claims to have "discharged" Webb’s dangerous impulses, neutralizing the threat. The story ends on a somber note of resignation; while Webb’s immediate murderous intent is gone, the existential void remains. Clifford confirms that he is the chosen father, and the two immortals are left to continue their lives, acknowledging that in a world without death, there is no finality—only an endless, repeating cycle of predictable, sterile choices.

How It Unfolds

The diagnosis Webb Fellow treats Anne Tabor for a life-threatening, mutant condition, only to find himself unexpectedly overwhelmed by affection for her. He realizes that his professional detachment has been replaced by a dangerous, possessive love that violates the core tenets of his immortal society.

The confrontation Driven by jealousy, Webb seeks out Clifford Ainsley, his long-time rival, to demand that he relinquish his claim to Anne. Clifford remains emotionally detached, treating the situation as a trivial inconvenience and refusing to accommodate Webb’s increasingly erratic demands.

The snapping point Clifford’s arrogant dismissals and a small, accidental sting from a tossed book shatter Webb’s psychological control. Feeling pushed beyond the limits of his "semantically adjusted" mind, Webb attacks and kills his friend in a fit of primitive rage.

The revelation Webb’s horror at having committed a murder is interrupted by the appearance of the real Clifford. He discovers that he has been manipulated by a robotic decoy, orchestrated to safely burn off his murderous potential through a calculated psychological experiment.

The open horizon Clifford reveals that the entire confrontation was the result of a probability computer, leaving Webb to grapple with the knowledge that his life—and his "love"—are mere data points. The story concludes with the unsettling realization that for immortals, there is no "total key" to life, only an infinite, repetitive existence.

The People

Webb Fellow is a seven-hundred-year-old physician whose identity is anchored in his professional competence. He wants to possess Anne, but his path is blocked by his own internal conditioning and the cold, rational structures of his society. By the end, he is humbled and stripped of his illusion of autonomy.

Anne Tabor is the catalyst for the conflict. She is a woman of immense desirability who, by virtue of being chosen for motherhood, forces the men in her life to confront their suppressed emotions. She remains mostly a passive, though highly prized, figure throughout the conflict.

Clifford Ainsley is a brilliant, detached engineer who has traded medicine for the study of robotics and human behavior. He views the world through the lens of cold computation. He successfully manipulates Webb’s crisis to protect himself, yet he seems almost as trapped by his own calculations as Webb is by his passions.

In Its Own Voice

It's a long life, when you're immortal. To retain sanity you've got to be unemotional.

Webb reflects on the social contract of his time, noting the stifling requirement to remain detached in order to preserve one's mental stability over centuries.

The course of a man's life could be considered a passage with infinite possibilities only if he were allowed to backtrack occasionally.

While traveling in a taxi through a rigid, grid-like city, Webb realizes how his own life has become as constrained and predictable as the traffic patterns he observes.

The faint sting was the detonator that exploded all the careful restraint of seven centuries.

A trivial accident serves as the catalyst for Webb’s descent into violence, revealing how thin the veneer of civilization is for those who live for an eternity.

What It's Really About

The central theme is the exhaustion of the human soul under the weight of artificial longevity. The book argues that immortality requires the total sacrifice of the very emotions that make life meaningful—passion, jealousy, and deep attachment. By reducing these profound human experiences to "psychological probabilities" and "semantic adjustments," the story suggests that 28th-century humanity has traded its vibrant, tragic humanity for a sterile, robot-like safety. It is a cynical look at a world where "nothing is important," because everything is transient and repeatable. The ultimate question is whether life is worth living if all obstacles are dismissed as temporary and all choices are pre-calculated by a computer.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy mid-century science fiction will appreciate the spare, clinical prose that defines this era of short fiction. The story feels like a "Twilight Zone" episode, focusing on the psychological trap of a high-tech dystopia rather than the technology itself. It is a brief read that stays with you, primarily because of its bleak, chilling conclusion about the nature of free will.

However, modern readers may find the gender dynamics dated. Anne Tabor is presented primarily as a prize to be won between two men, reflecting the period's conventions rather than a more modern, nuanced take on relationships. Additionally, the constant repetition of the phrase "It’s a long life" acts as both a mantra for the characters and a stylistic choice that some might find slightly heavy-handed. Despite these period limitations, the story succeeds as a thought experiment on the high cost of emotional "stability." It is best suited for those who enjoy character-driven speculative fiction that favors philosophical discomfort over space-faring adventure. If you appreciate narratives that peel back the layers of a utopia to reveal a hollow, desperate center, you will find this piece compellingly grim.