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The shell of the plan had to be more attractive than the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaIOsYqnQU
truth.
This was not cynicism. It was marketing, which was cynicism107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIYTShRFpA
after it had been washed, perfumed, and invited to dinner.
Robin Shen required only three days to drop a very gentle107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXPUwWQPJ1
bomb into Britain’s plutocratic medical circles.
Degenerative tissue clearance.
Metabolic burden restructuring.
Non-invasive rejuvenation therapy.
By 3911, the Second Tier no longer feared poverty, war, or107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXmXU1zp3V
lower-tier rebellion with any real sincerity. Such inconveniences could be107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOvXeqiyGy
outsourced, postponed, or explained away in language clean enough to survive a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONAVKhuTXA
parliamentary breakfast.
What they feared was ageing.
Energy quotas could be inherited. Power could be inherited.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrfVK0A8X2
Names, estates, private air routes, medical foundations, silence, immunity —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8X5upinRlo
all these things could be passed down with signatures and unpleasantly107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99nGqAAlPH
expensive lawyers.
But the body remained stubbornly democratic.
Even with cellular repair chambers, gene-stabilising107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODv8RlHnYF
therapies, organ reconstruction, and private metabolic restoration, ageing107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡril8VgjLwj
still persisted like a quiet crack beneath tightened skin. The powerful had107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHtDld8THEt
spent centuries teaching the world that decay was a moral failing of the poor.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXqG5i9LYC
It irritated them enormously to discover that their own flesh had not read the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNrCrzNm00
policy.
Robin understood them perfectly.
He did not approach government officials first.
That would have been vulgar.
Instead, he sent invitations through private medical107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaMWevlQ3L
channels to several individuals who were extremely rich, extremely old,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcH9CQKpslu
extremely afraid of dying, and helpfully entangled with the British Royal107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7CGRPtF0Z
Energy Authority.
The invitation contained only one question:
If the body could turn its own decline into the energy107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvLv5RydvD
required for repair, how much would you pay?
Within seven hours, every reply had arrived.
The first volunteer was Lady Ilena Bask, mother-in-law to107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3evqV2peRU
Deputy Director Holden.
She was ninety-two years old, born into a Second Tier107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoWS1OKYkY
plutocratic family, owner of three medical foundations, one private air-harbour107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnCp9rJn7P
route, and two senior sons-in-law inside the British energy establishment — an107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2B8mc45BP
arrangement which proved that family planning, when properly funded, could107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUs61pGboLA
become a form of infrastructure.
Her body had endured fourteen organ renewals.
However, excessive longevity medication had left behind107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXq5iUeUtr
metabolic toxin accumulation, swollen tissue, nerve pain, and a general107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGKZ80u9SM
impression that immortality, though desirable in principle, could be poorly107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiU6narHFp
maintained in practice. Her private medical chambers had managed to suppress107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBr53CcWif8
the symptoms.
They had not managed to cure them.
When Lady Bask arrived at Tristan da Cunha, she brought107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOI7pPjWB0
twenty-seven bodyguards, six private physicians, three lawyers, and a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzikJhZAyFT
four-hundred-page liability waiver.
Zorina watched the procession disembark.
For the first time, she realised that even the fears of the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Sp578YXBl
powerful travelled in bulk.
The temporary treatment chamber had been established inside107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiS6k3E9xC
a supply warehouse on the eastern side of the volcanic island. The real107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMu0KGoScd
biological energy device, of course, remained hidden. The Abbas Archive had107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaHhFTltqe
generated a simplified interface, one with an appearance close enough to Earth107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscoABdG301
medical equipment to soothe human arrogance.
Zorina had activated it herself.
The core pattern was sealed inside an unbreakable107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbKJ2qctEg
transparent crystal nucleus. No external operator could disassemble it, scan107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNfVO6CdVu
it, copy it, or understand it by pretending to perform safety checks — which107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIH5WQ9rJKt
was unfortunate for several people present, since pretending to perform safety107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG0KAHuYvi
checks was apparently half their professional training.
Before lying down, Lady Bask stared at Zorina.
“You are very young.”
“Compared with you,” Zorina said, “yes.”
One of the lawyers looked mildly strangled.
Lady Bask laughed. It was a dry sound, but not an empty one.
“I like rude people,” she said. “At least they have not yet107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKcvmybJ9g
learned to tell lies as manners.”
She lifted one spotted hand.
“Let’s begin.”
When the device activated, every private physician leaned107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJfDxCWbfF
towards the monitors with the reverence of priests watching a more expensive107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4KWUoGEMu
religion begin.
Pale-blue filaments emerged from the crystal petals and107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AtJ8AT4un
settled slowly over Lady Bask’s skin. At first, she tightened her jaw, as107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dKpZQq6Zf
though preparing to scream. A few seconds later, her expression changed.
“The pain,” she murmured. “It is reducing.”
The monitors answered before anyone else could.
Inflammation markers dropped.
Blood toxins separated.
Necrotic cell residue was isolated.
Excess fat tissue began to break down at an extraordinarily107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3gsl5bJ7E
slow and controlled rate, without trauma. Viral remnants were dismantled into107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Mm8eAG9UY
convertible micro-energy states. The swelling in her fingers receded. Her107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYDuBxmDm2
breathing deepened. A little blood-colour returned to her skin, not youth107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRKFKAvzeh
exactly, but the memory of circulation.
Thirty minutes later, Lady Bask sat up.
She did not look like a girl.
Zorina had no interest in that sort of cheap miracle. Cheap107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKLtj7C3HK
miracles were for advertisements, cults, and political campaigns, all three107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXZHskDnNx
being closely related species.
She remembered what Robin had said:
“Benefits must be released slowly. That is how one extracts107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0M5N0MPmus
the maximum profit from impatience.”
Lady Bask merely looked alive again.
Properly alive.
Not preserved.
Not polished.
Restored.
Her private physicians stood in complete silence.
At the base of the device, three pale-blue energy crystals107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjMahNqUqt
had condensed.
Far larger than the tiny first crystal Zorina had produced107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipjko2w2Mu
from her own injured body.
Behind the observation glass, Robin Shen lowered his voice.
“One ninety-two-year-old plutocrat. Thirty minutes. Three107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XCMQnkvjW
crystals. Three hundred thousand pounds.”
“Still low power,” Zorina said.
“If the Second Tier queues?”
“Enough to activate a second device.”
“If the First Tier fails to resist?”
“Enough to build the first energy centre.”
Robin looked at her.
“You truly intend to sell this to them?”
“The service,” Zorina said. “Not the core.”
“They will try to seize it.”
“That is why Britain must first be made to sit at the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqq5FRdAdE
table.” Her eyes remained on the three crystals. “Their greed can protect me107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87HIgdwBLr
before their fear decides to kill me.”
Robin’s smile faded slightly.
“Zori,” he said, “you are beginning to sound like a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HxMmXCozA
founder.”
She looked at the energy crystals lying beneath the device.
“I only want the Fifth Tier to have water.”
Twelve hours after Lady Bask’s trial, the British Royal107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiK8ebdtDo
Energy Authority requested a closed negotiation.
It was faster than even Robin had expected.
The invitation was elegant.
The content was naked.
Britain was prepared to recognise Zorina’s temporary107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfw3fOIvyOb
scientific autonomy on Tristan da Cunha for the purposes of biological107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrPLsBVKIV
repair energy research. In exchange, she would provide Britain with107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7eBDOqiOJ
technical explanation, commercial priority, medical application quotas, and107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVh2nU69k2
facility monitoring rights on the island.
Robin read the document once and laughed.
“They want the entire cake.”
Zorina pushed the document back towards him.
“Not surprising. Let them choke on it.”
“How do you want to amend it?”
She began listing the terms.
“First. Scientific autonomy on the island is not temporary.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXs0IleAEXO
It is ninety-nine years.”
Robin’s eyebrows rose.
“Second. All subterranean facilities are excluded from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJCEpIi3WQ
external monitoring on grounds of safety and unknown geological risk.”
“Beautiful.”
“Third. Britain receives priority agency rights for107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQxLmBzPZ1N
first-stage commercial medical products. It receives no core technology107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpYvKePPNJ
transfer.”
“Less beautiful, from their perspective.”
“Fourth. Britain formally recognises that all technical107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQKj5eOpZw
equipment requires my authorisation to activate.”
“They will hate that.”
“Fifth. Britain recognises the island as a Special Energy107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT41LenmdP
Development Zone. Internal administration, personnel admission, infrastructure107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59XnJuAh56
planning, and emergency policy are to be led by us. We hold high autonomy.”
Robin gave a soft whistle.
“New Hong Kong, is it? You are one sentence away from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXVUrTIVI3
declaring independence.”
Zorina lifted her eyes.
“Not yet.”
Outside the window, the South Atlantic moved under a grey107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dysOSadtp
sky.
Beyond the sea, the world remained dark.
But on that volcanic island, the first crystals formed from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DWjmQr3wi
the elegant decay of the privileged were glowing quietly.
The old world had paid for vanity.
Zorina intended to spend it on dawn.
**Thank you for reading my novel. If you enjoyed the story, please give it a like and leave a comment — your support really encourages me to keep writing and sharing more chapters.**107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4ZteZbaur
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoiV3cHCkH
and then Add to home screen.