“Thirty-five.”
“Could you imagine staying thirty-five for the next hundred years or even turning back the clock? Return your body to what it was at twenty. Keep it there, maybe even make it better.”
“That’s not the way it works.” Nor should it.
“You say that now, but what about in another ten years when your hair grays, your joints ache? Or in twenty when you begin losing your sight and constitution? When you’re forced to trade in those high-heels you like so much for cushioned flats. When you’re old. When you’re useless. When you’re lying on your deathbed struggling to breathe?”
“The unfortunate side effect of being human.”
Laura had no desire to live long enough for time to grow into a wall, blinding her to the lives beyond her own. Shackled to her culture because everyone else’s vanished before she knew they existed. To see the sun rise and set so many times it was meaningless. To live long enough to take for granted how important friends and family were and forget them when they were gone.
No, Laura didn’t envy the longevity the Fenrir gifted the Varu. If anything, she pitied them for all the things they would no longer appreciate.
“Well, there are many who would rather not be unfortunate. With enough time and study, I’m sure we can accomplish that goal. No more cancer, no more Alzheimer’s, no more birth defects, and the ability to heal wounds, fatal wounds. Immortality and protection. Practically heaven on earth.”
“World domination and the fountain of youth. That’s very ambitious.”
“Everyone would benefit.”
“You mean everyone who could afford it.”
“Everyone whodeservesit.”
Money and loyalty—the price to pay for the chance at immortality. Leaving the rest of the world in poverty and premature death.
“I’m guessing the curs we tracked moving south through Georgia were one of your test runs,” Laura said.
“Not just a test run, thefinaltest run. We needed to ensure the long-distance stability of the implant connections. And I must say, nine hundred miles before a relay fracture was far beyond anything we could have wished for.”
“Do you make these curs in a test tube?”
He shook his head. “We made them the same way as the Grey creates the Sarvari.”
“The VrK doesn’t work on humans.” Without the Mah genetics, there was nothing for the serum to catalyze.
“It wasn’tdesignedto be used on humans, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be modified. We had a few setbacks, but thanks to a generous donation last month, the formula is flawless.”
It didn’t take much imagination to think of all the ways that could go wrong.
“And when you don’t need them anymore?” Curs were animals in all aspects except for their lack of reproductive organs.
“The implant can deliver an electrical current strong enough to burn out the cur’s neurons. Think of it like a kill switch.”
“They die because you tell them to. Like they go from point A to point B because you command it.”
“Exactly.”
“Where do you find volunteers?” Because an ad in the paper wouldn’t do it.
“There are currently over two million people incarcerated in the United States. I’d say that’s a good start.”
“Removing a burden to society while making the world a safer place.”
“Now you understand.”
She sat back in her seat. “I do.”
“Wonderful. I’ll make a few calls and—”