Would you live forever?

[KhirasHY]

Another insight into this comes from books from David Eddings' "Belgariad" series and side stories. Several characters live more or less outside of time, explained by the fact that they simply need to exist as long as they do. In the side stories about the two most prominent, they explain in different words the suffering that they go through watching friends and family members be born, grow old, and die in front of them over and over through the centuries. One simply mentions that he distances himself from everyone as a precautionary measure, preferring to spend most of his time alone as opposed to going insane from loss.

Yeah, immortality is overrated.

Besides, I think we all know that there can be only one.

[Sakka]

I dunno, the hardwired instinctive responses that go with tree of life would make me hesitate. But then, I don't have any kids, so unless I could find a way to adopt the entire species I'd kind of be in trouble.

I have no kids, and little chance of them now. However, there are lots of cousins. I would have to adopt the whole species too, and by raising up the species, help what's left of my bloodline. Similar to how Brennan worked.

Also consider the havoc that would inevitably arise if you had more than one person who'd been given tree of life. They'd be at each other's throats in an effort to secure the best possible future for their own bloodline, and when pak go to war with each other, it tends to get a bit splashy.

Splashy. ... Now there's an understatement.
On the plus side, different family lines have worked together in the past. So long as the rights and responsibilities are firmly agreed upon, and there is no reason to intrude into where another is working, things should be relatively peaceful. (Projectile/light weapons instead of nukes, or nastier stuff. )

Not sure if it was canon or not, but it appears that human form protectors are better able to work with each other and regular humans much better then actual Pak protectors could.

Personally, the only way I can see it working for me with others infected with Tree of Life would be me getting off the planet asap and watching/working from afar.
If I could work without worrying, my plan is build the 'magic' autodoc and use it to periodically rewrite my genes either back to the pre-protector stage to move amongst humanity anonymously, or use it to keep myself updated with evolution. The real trick will be to do the rewrites without offing myself in the process.

Would I want to live forever? Probably not. But I'd take the immortality treatment, because I'm pretty sure I could find a way to enjoy having a few hundred extra years. And if things turned out to be entirely unfun, well, I can think of a few ways to end myself, immortality or no.

I would need more info about this before I could make a decision myself.
I'm still holding out for Tree of Life virus myself. If only to have those trying to figure out my devices afterwards wondering how was it made , what all does it do , etc.

And of course, to follow Brennan's example, there are the 'bored pranks' he did from time to time too.

[dalesys]

...and when pak go to war with each other, it tends to get a bit splashy.

On the gripping hand, you don't need immortality for that...