jimmy

A bald man stares glumly at a tablet. On the screen, a cheerful red-haired woman holds a bowl as a news voice announces, "...and today, Jimmy Gerbil celebrates his sixty-eighth birthday, thanks to science!" A caption reads: "The worst part about the discovery of immortality was saving your money for it while watching deathless celebrity Instagram pets." The joke: immortality exists but is so expensive that ordinary people scrimp for it while a famous pet gerbil already lives forever as social-media royalty. Votey: a wizened, long-faced gerbil with a weary expression proclaims, "My brothers and sisters are gone, but I alone shall outlive Jimmy!"—implying even the immortal celebrity pet's siblings died normally, and this lone survivor grimly expects to outlast Jimmy himself.