**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.**57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgyfRUiiq0
The shell of the plan had to be more attractive than the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2syKnTMAXJ
truth.
This was not cynicism. It was marketing, which was cynicism57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzubBcGMRLz
after it had been washed, perfumed, and invited to dinner.
Robin Shen required only three days to drop a very gentle57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONv3JbblXZ
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, or57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vPQpV44pc
lower-tier rebellion with any real sincerity. Such inconveniences could be57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZHVVL2bkF
outsourced, postponed, or explained away in language clean enough to survive a57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3f9YVgao3a
parliamentary breakfast.
What they feared was ageing.
Energy quotas could be inherited. Power could be inherited.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF9SfwG45B
Names, estates, private air routes, medical foundations, silence, immunity —57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyOEH5n5DA
all these things could be passed down with signatures and unpleasantly57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp00qErH8ez
expensive lawyers.
But the body remained stubbornly democratic.
Even with cellular repair chambers, gene-stabilising57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNLtJ68E0b
therapies, organ reconstruction, and private metabolic restoration, ageing57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzPZcVOfAV
still persisted like a quiet crack beneath tightened skin. The powerful had57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDOkhK6PYn
spent centuries teaching the world that decay was a moral failing of the poor.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLr40BWtMc2
It irritated them enormously to discover that their own flesh had not read the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZwZRe3AlS
policy.
Robin understood them perfectly.
He did not approach government officials first.
That would have been vulgar.
Instead, he sent invitations through private medical57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7toRxqC3x
channels to several individuals who were extremely rich, extremely old,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUb2by1ictx
extremely afraid of dying, and helpfully entangled with the British Royal57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzx1tJtu4f
Energy Authority.
The invitation contained only one question:
If the body could turn its own decline into the energy57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR6LeSCgq0
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 to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHsm0lry7Co
Deputy Director Holden.
She was ninety-two years old, born into a Second Tier57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9MPGOdnlj
plutocratic family, owner of three medical foundations, one private air-harbour57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntc6jKoVK1
route, and two senior sons-in-law inside the British energy establishment — an57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIC02N4f1MC
arrangement which proved that family planning, when properly funded, could57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wI410tGOl
become a form of infrastructure.
Her body had endured fourteen organ renewals.
However, excessive longevity medication had left behind57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFtymEd8rR
metabolic toxin accumulation, swollen tissue, nerve pain, and a general57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8NhsF3jMc
impression that immortality, though desirable in principle, could be poorly57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9U930rtoQ
maintained in practice. Her private medical chambers had managed to suppress57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYMnwocbSK
the symptoms.
They had not managed to cure them.
When Lady Bask arrived at Tristan da Cunha, she brought57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmVeMMbsTE
twenty-seven bodyguards, six private physicians, three lawyers, and a57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTbKj8zV8g
four-hundred-page liability waiver.
Zorina watched the procession disembark.
For the first time, she realised that even the fears of the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZKGEBL0vB
powerful travelled in bulk.
The temporary treatment chamber had been established inside57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhhP2VaIU7
a supply warehouse on the eastern side of the volcanic island. The real57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfCeUrFlNQ
biological energy device, of course, remained hidden. The Abbas Archive had57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPnnSaaB6i
generated a simplified interface, one with an appearance close enough to Earth57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmU6vteHmVP
medical equipment to soothe human arrogance.
Zorina had activated it herself.
The core pattern was sealed inside an unbreakable57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbC0KgQ8bhQ
transparent crystal nucleus. No external operator could disassemble it, scan57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKq0pldhdNp
it, copy it, or understand it by pretending to perform safety checks — which57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0JlqM8Ffz
was unfortunate for several people present, since pretending to perform safety57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiRLPrpN9K
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 yet57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqod7Ijr41
learned to tell lies as manners.”
She lifted one spotted hand.
“Let’s begin.”
When the device activated, every private physician leaned57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Aq8jWXUA8
towards the monitors with the reverence of priests watching a more expensive57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXcE0R40QB
religion begin.
Pale-blue filaments emerged from the crystal petals and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOHxnvn0ay
settled slowly over Lady Bask’s skin. At first, she tightened her jaw, as57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2VQLlkOdo
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 extraordinarily57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVANPNeR7v
slow and controlled rate, without trauma. Viral remnants were dismantled into57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2AzTTR0pL
convertible micro-energy states. The swelling in her fingers receded. Her57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7X8Am2XV7M
breathing deepened. A little blood-colour returned to her skin, not youth57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbfd1poRtK
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. Cheap57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81qw2XKlXX
miracles were for advertisements, cults, and political campaigns, all three57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAw1JEVRWzT
being closely related species.
She remembered what Robin had said:
“Benefits must be released slowly. That is how one extracts57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60DjrzC1FS
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 crystals57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyD9f4LMTCE
had condensed.
Far larger than the tiny first crystal Zorina had produced57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCI4ZDPGgF
from her own injured body.
Behind the observation glass, Robin Shen lowered his voice.
“One ninety-two-year-old plutocrat. Thirty minutes. Three57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0IJmb3IomD
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 the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8Te3SVzRD
table.” Her eyes remained on the three crystals. “Their greed can protect me57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Bb86a28Ej
before their fear decides to kill me.”
Robin’s smile faded slightly.
“Zori,” he said, “you are beginning to sound like a57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCP8uDaFvL
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 Royal57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfs3psVeZa
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 temporary57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BULYgMfm1
scientific autonomy on Tristan da Cunha for the purposes of biological57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmyLou2zya
repair energy research. In exchange, she would provide Britain with57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZh3NqBOAP
technical explanation, commercial priority, medical application quotas, and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDexla8oQC
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmglxk788K
It is ninety-nine years.”
Robin’s eyebrows rose.
“Second. All subterranean facilities are excluded from57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCZshXn4RU
external monitoring on grounds of safety and unknown geological risk.”
“Beautiful.”
“Third. Britain receives priority agency rights for57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDNTBHuOdK
first-stage commercial medical products. It receives no core technology57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnLaEQKKva
transfer.”
“Less beautiful, from their perspective.”
“Fourth. Britain formally recognises that all technical57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZSmHrX32bW
equipment requires my authorisation to activate.”
“They will hate that.”
“Fifth. Britain recognises the island as a Special Energy57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmKYHlre4j
Development Zone. Internal administration, personnel admission, infrastructure57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbmR2LHP27
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 from57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCl0u3cZMy
declaring independence.”
Zorina lifted her eyes.
“Not yet.”
Outside the window, the South Atlantic moved under a grey57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOugURHuAmH
sky.
Beyond the sea, the world remained dark.
But on that volcanic island, the first crystals formed from57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfmwfCrJbE
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.**57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsSl4e40yA
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyTaI0wwmHR
and then Add to home screen.