Perhaps an overly technical question or one you’re not willing to answer for story purposes, but: Since Lawrence is functionally immortal, what’s going to happen to him at the end of his natural lifespan? He’s clearly still aging from when he first saw the river, so I was curious as to what’ll happen when he dies sans violence or overdosing, or if anything extraordinary would even happen at all and his interesting situation with death would finally be sorted.

gurobob:

If Lawrence came back only the once, he’d likely be properly ‘sorted’ at the end of his natural lifespan.

Unfortunately, he’s got an obsession with going back. He keeps drugging himself and ‘visiting’, going further and deeper than the first time. He wanders far in, seeing how close he can stand to end of the river. The practice is making him even more resistant to the current.

On top of this, every time he ‘leaves’ his body IS rotting. A bit like necrotizing fasciitis, except it’s coming from inside him and bacteria isn’t causing it.

Eventually, if he keeps it up, he’ll resemble something more like a revenant or lich.