Tictacs never expire except when preyed upon by humans or they meet with a tragic accident. They are a cloned species that reproduces feverishly to maintain its population in balance with the scale of predation. For every one that dissolves deliciously on your tongue, or slips silently away, unloved and unmourned, to be crushed by your unfeeling boot heel, another is lovingly spat out by the mechanical wombs from which all tictacs come.

Individual tictacs carry the secret of immortality, with bodies created of a very strong semi-crystalline matrix impervious to the assault of bacteria. Any tictac will never die unless physically assaulted. It will continue in its youthful state, perhaps acquiring a patina of pocket lint and grime if it finds itself in insalubrious circumstances, or may remain pristine albeit with a few worn edges if it is fortunate enough to be allowed to remain in its plastic nest.