What will become of the Gregori Children?

This article is archived, and is no longer part of Vekllei canon.

Did you know — many Gregori children do not form calluses on their skin, because of the intensity of their epidermic regeneration process!

Hello all,

The question on the mind of folks around the world is that of Gregori Children. What are they? What does it mean, to be a “Gregori Baby”?

Gregori Regenerative Syndrome is a developmental phenomenon that afflicts children and young teen-agers. It holds them in a prepubescent state, and so they do not grow old like you and I.

Of the thousands of Gregori children now living in our world today, over 90 per cent of them are girls. They develop normally until an unknown point between thelarche (the beginning of puberty and the development of breasts) and menarche (a girl’s first period). In boys, this timeline is technically different but chronologically similar — and always before sexual maturation. Girls in Vekllei might expect menarche as late as fourteen-sixteen (a fact that continues to emphasise the myth of Vekllei virgin purity), whereas boys will likely cease development a few years earlier, usually twelve-fourteen.

Gregori girls can often take the appearance of young teen-agers; they may develop breasts and grow body hair, although these phenomena are not universal among the afflicted. Nonetheless, they have not actually entered puberty proper — estrogen is not shaping their bodies, and they will remain sterile for the rest of their lives. Boys are similar, although are usually shorter and more childlike in appearance at the onset of the Gregori process.

So what does being Gregori actually mean?

It means the natural biological development of these children and teen-agers has ceased and their bodies have entered an unnatural cellular cycle, which halts the ageing process and renders them immortal, at least in theory. Technically, they are still growing — nonregenerative tissue and organs are still growing, like the brain — but they are captured in this state forever. Doctors put the blame on a faulty genetic regenerative process, hidden somewhere in their DNA, but the exact cause is unknown.

Do they have superpowers?

Nothing of the sort, unfortunately! Existential questions aside, the syndrome can be as much a burden as a miracle. For example, although all Gregori children are immune to cancers and similar cellular malfunction, around 80 per cent of them suffer broad anaphylaxis, meaning that almost all foreign matter triggers an overzealous autoimmune response. This can be fatal, and the ratio of children born with Gregori anaphylaxis has only risen in recent years.

Are there any dangers to being Gregori?

Gregori teen-agers and children have a high turnover of cells, and some bones do not properly fuse. This renders many of the afflicted delicate and fragile — especially children halted at a younger age. The condition is not known to affect emotional or psychological traits of the afflicted.

The future implications of Gregori syndrome are limitless — ignoring the secret of immortality, the ability to regenerate vital brain, spinal, and optical tissues would revolutionise medicine. Today, there are many thousands of Gregori children in the world, and so the question of their own future remains — are they a genetic abnormality, or the next wave of human evolution?