Eternal life should be a blessing. For Ed Scupper, it turns out to be a curse. There’s a way out of it, though—only it’s illegal.

For Edward T. Scupper, life has been one long, lonely road. Born in the late eighteen-hundreds, for reasons unknown, he stops aging at eighteen. At first, it’s exciting to live through the various decades while others succumb to time, but after a number of years, he finds that immortality is boring.

Science proves to be the answer, or so he thinks. Edward—Ed—journeys from one city to another in the US in order to find an answer to his predicament. He doesn’t wish for death. He only wishes to have a normal lifespan, like everyone else.   

After numerous searches, he winds up in Portland, Oregon, where he meets Doctor Farhan, a molecular biologist and geneticist who is working on using gene therapy to improve or cure various ailments, including blindness in his daughter, Diana.

Ed tells Farhan of his desire to achieve mortality. Farhan promises to help him in return for the scientific knowledge, and a bargain of sorts is achieved.

Initially, Ed and Diana don’t get along, but they find themselves drawn to each other, as each of them seeks a cure for their problem, and only Doctor Farhan can provide it.

Before long, though, the young couple finds themselves under attack, Doctor Farhan is killed, and the two teens are pursued by hitmen from Fester Norton, an elderly tycoon who wants what Ed has got—the secret of immortality—and will stop at nothing to get it!