Youth Serum

By Jakes Aubrey

Youth Serum takes a fresh look at the world we live in. It provides an unusual slant on current belief systems and populist history. With the astronomical advances taking place in genetic engineering, the technology and events described in this book might be just around the corner. One man’s utopia could be another’s Hades.

Based on the belief that the lure of a return to youthful vigor will be impossible to resist, Doctor Jones embarks on an ambitious project. He uses the phenomenon of a religious miracle as a vehicle to exploit his discovery. David recruits his old college roommate and friend, Marc Bower, to pose as an angel, divinely rejuvenated as God selects him to be His messenger. Marc’s cover story as an angel provides a plausible vindication for the rich and powerful to openly support his claims.

Once the process is underway, David continually adapts his strategy and develops a vision of a distinctly different utopian world. He intends to totally restructure the principles that drive the world. His simplified designs erode all the principles that the majority hold as sacrosanct. His plan for a homogenous world without any religion or cultural bias motivates him to implement a plan to massively reduce the world population. Could the power of the youth serum be enough to allow him to succeed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483543901

Book preview

52

PROLOGUE

Doctor David Jones, a retired research fellow in genetics, leant back in his chair and waited for the processing cycle of the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR test, to complete. He had ruined this experiment some days earlier and had been on the point of destroying the sample, when an anomaly aroused his curiosity.

When he scrutinized the results after the process was complete, his interest quickened. The chromatids were different to what he expected. The telomere caps were a lot longer and that should not be the case; not in this sample. His hands started to shake with excitement. He carefully added growth medium to several culture dishes, and evenly divided the suddenly precious sample between them. If this sample was going to do what he now suspected, his quest for the improbable might be over.

Finally satisfied that he had successfully isolated and extracted all the different cells from the original sample, he sighed with relief. He carefully performed additional tests on the remaining cells.

Late that night, extremely weary, he finally left the basement lab. In a few days, when the sample had multiplied sufficiently, he should be able to confirm his beliefs. The stem cells he had uncovered, cloned from his own DNA, were compatible with cells of an infant. This discovery would create a revolution in the scientific community. He ecstatically imagined the myriad possibilities his cloning process would open up.

Dolly, the famous cloned sheep, had an identical cellular age to the original. His discovery would enable him to create clones with the cellular age of an infant! The perfect clone, he hoped – finally.

He could become the most famous geneticist ever! Never mind geneticist, he would eclipse Einstein and Tesla, he thought to himself happily.

CHAPTER 1

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world. - Archimedes

Gainesville, Florida

David stared at his sturdy six-foot-two body in the full-length mirror. At sixty-nine, he still looked his age, but he sure as hell felt different. He considered himself average in every department except height and intellect. He carefully inspected his image in the mirror, checking for any anomalies as per his new morning ritual and, finding none, he dressed.

He could not delay any longer; he must find a way to exploit his discovery. Money, as always, was the biggest problem. Most of his personal wealth had been invested in his state of the art laboratory equipment. He was in a similar position as the turn-of-the-century prospector who had discovered a bonanza gold deposit. When news of the strike hit, everyone would want to jump in on the action.

David grimaced when he heard the knock on his door. When he opened the door, he was shocked to find several policemen standing there.

Doctor Jones? the man in the suit asked.

Yes?

Sir, we have a warrant to search these premises. The man pressed a piece of paper into his hands and brusquely pushed David out of the way to allow the other officers to enter.

What the hell is the meaning of this? David demanded as his heart started to pound in his chest. How the hell did they find out?

Sir, I am Supervisory Agent, William Clark of the DEA. These premises have been consuming excessive energy compatible with the usage of a drug lab. Are there any other people on the premises, and are they armed?

No, I am a genetic research scientist, for God’s sake. Don’t you people do your homework?

We do, Sir. We know you have all the skills required to supplement your income.

David nearly exploded with rage. Please, tell your men to behave with restraint. My laboratory contains expensive, sensitive equipment and experiments. I will expect them to leave the premises exactly as they found them, as your search will prove to be groundless. Please, treat my property with all due consideration. Remember, I remain innocent until proven guilty.

Agent Clark pursed his lips, nodded and instructed the men, Check the house for any additional people and report back. Don’t touch or disturb anything.

David forced himself to remain calm and quiet as he waited for the men to return. Agent Clark started to question him.

Sir, can you please inform us what kind of laboratory you are running?

If you had done your homework you would know that I am an emeritus professor in genetics. I also have a majority interest in a fertility clinic and I am conducting research into helping childless couples achieve their desire for a child. Human reproduction is by no means a simple subject. If your men are heavy-handed, they might just destroy the hopes of several such couples, and I will not hesitate to make the reason public.

Agent Clark was taken aback, and it immediately became obvious that his belief in the validity of his search had been drastically undermined. His men returned and one addressed him: No one here, Sir, but I can confirm that this does not look like a drug lab – looks more like a medical lab.

Very well, have the men return to the station. I will wrap up here.

David interrupted. Please, have your men inform my neighbors that you have made a mistake before you leave. I need to live in this neighborhood and you should take accountability for your impertinent actions.

Agent Clark, clearly irritated, nodded and addressed his partner, Please inform the nosy neighbors of the circumstances, agent Dean. He turned to David and asked, Sir, could I respectfully enquire if you could explain the abnormally high energy consumption?

With pleasure, agent Clark; I seldom have the opportunity to demonstrate my research, David replied apprehensively, feigning confidence as he escorted the agent around his laboratory.

Several hours later, after the DEA agents had left, David considered his awkward behavior. Freedom was merely an illusion; he had to prove that he was not running a drug lab before they would leave. Guilty until he could demonstrate his innocence. He realized that if they had arrived at a different time he might have been exposed of his self-experimentation.

He poured a cup of coffee and seated himself in the familiar contours of his comfortable chair in the study. He returned to his deliberations on how to solve his financial problems by exploiting his discovery.

Publishing his results would lead to disaster. He would go the way of Tesla and others, and would reap no benefits from his work. He considered the discovery – the veritable mythical fountain of youth. Patenting the solution would lead to pharmaceutical companies, beating a path to his door. He could make millions, but this discovery would have terrible consequences and might lead to his being prosecuted. David considered his prospects and wondered if he should care. His youth was being restored and if he could earn enough money he would be able to spend centuries in comfort.

His thoughts drifted off as he reminisced about the recent events that had brought about his current situation. After an entire career spent in human genetic research, his interest in telomeres – the part of the chromosomes that control cellular aging – had continued after retirement. He maintained an extensive lab in his basement and continued with his research to combat the boredom and loneliness of age. An accidental, breakthrough discovery of a miracle telomerase enzyme enabled him to perform targeted rejuvenation of organs. The discovery evolved from parallel research he had undertaken on cancer cells.

He stumbled upon the answer by pure accident while growing illegal human embryonic clones, using nuclei from his own cells. Embryonic cell research offered many possibilities to experiment with the chromosome replication. He used stem cells produced by creating cloned embryos of his own agèd DNA. Stem cells were the repair systems of the body. Those he derived from his own agèd clones enabled him to focus his research on finding a cure for the aging process.

During one such experiment, David’s hands began to shake severely. At his advanced age, it was a common occurrence. His trembling hands allowed some newly cloned stem cells to accidentally contaminate a tissue culture of benign melanoma and skin cells. He had earlier collected the melanoma cells from himself; and laced the culture with a protein concoction and a mixture of liposomes to attempt to regenerate the telomere complexes on the chromosome ends, taking advantage of the natural explosive growth properties of the melanoma cells.

Days later when he examined the culture of the experiment, which he assumed had been ruined, he found that the stem cells in the sample contained cells with fully restored chromosomes.

The most exciting part of the discovery was the fact that the sample contained both pluripotent and unipotent stem cells. Unipotent stem cells were those that produce one specific type of cell of their own tissue type. These cells were developed spontaneously from the pluripotent cells and were duplicating the skin cells attached to the melanoma of the original culture with profound traits.

The chromosomes contained in the skin cells were compatible with those of an infant, and subsequent investigation proved them to be eternal. Successive divisions did not shorten their telomeres at all. This discovery was a huge breakthrough in the current state of clone technology. Currently the age of the clone at birth would be identical to the DNA age of the person from whom it was collected. Using the discovery, he had been able to extract youthful nuclei and create the perfect youthful clone of himself.

However, the pluripotent stem cells he derived from the clone - contained amazing properties. Normally, when stem cells were introduced into living organ tissue, they tended to create teratomas or stem cell tumors. The derived cloned stem cells exhibited none of these properties; they replaced all other tissues stem cells and became the dominant stem cell line. This feature would make it possible to rejuvenate any living organ in the body. Additionally, once regenerated, they appeared eternal, as the cells did not age with successive divisions.

Late one night, whilst collating research for a paper he intended to write, documenting his amazing discovery, he realized that his research would never be acclaimed. The true results of his achievements would become restricted, and he would be vilified for his methods. He would never benefit from his own discovery. Due to his illegal use of cloned human embryonic cells, he realized that his cure for aging would be subjected to enormous scrutiny and censure; he might even lose his liberty. At age sixty-nine, with his own health deteriorating rapidly, David knew that his body was approaching the point of no return. It had become time to do or die; rejuvenation would not cure a disease such as cancer.

He accepted that the Youth Serum would never come to fruition if he followed accepted practices – he might eventually be credited after his death, but he would never be able to reap any of the true benefits. The idiocy of the bureaucracy would crush him. Rebelling against the perceived injustice, he made the decision to control his own destiny. David’s lab contained all the tools. No one had oversight over his work, which enabled him to experiment on his own body. After all, at his age he had nothing left to lose.

David analyzed his body and drew up a list of priorities that focused on specific organs to select for rejuvenation. At first the risks that he would be taking nearly paralyzed him with indecision. Should he give up his remaining years if everything went wrong, or should he attempt to become immortal?

David had considered other options, such as finding someone else to experiment on. He realized that the full transformation could take seven years to complete, as this would be the estimated period that the human body would take to replace nearly all its cells. This would leave someone else with the chance to live an extended life. Reducing the personal risk would consume more time than he estimated he had left.

He then considered the difficulties of keeping his discovery a secret if others became involved. He realized that the prospect of the cure he discovered becoming public knowledge, and some bureaucrat refusing him a chance for a new life, frightened him more than the possible negative results of his experiments.

David deliberated extensively over methods of introducing the Youth Serum into his body. Caution prompted him to start off with a simple test of injecting serum into the skin on his lower leg. He prepared a skin graft to use if the experiment went wrong, in which case he resolved to remove the affected skin area and replace it. However, after two weeks, a small patch of skin had rejuvenated without any problems.

His continued analysis of the behavior of the stem cells led him to the conclusion that he should introduce the Youth Serum into every large organ of his body simultaneously, thus enabling the concurrent rejuvenation of all the organs. The pluripotent stem cells did not spread to other organs in the body, but tended to quickly adapt to the environment they found themselves in and became the resident unipotent stem cells in the particular organ tissue.

Delivering the serum to all his organs on his own appeared impossible at first. In order to solve the problem without outside help, he designed and built a mechanical rig for assistance. He obtained full body MRI scans on various sagittal planes, as well as scans on coronal planes to assist him. The scans provided the missing information he was able to identify in a quantifiable and measurable manner – the injection sites. The MRI scans also enabled him to establish an accurate measurement for the depth of needle penetration required. The information he collected enabled him to accurately deliver the Youth Serum to the tissues of each individual organ.

Finally, by the time he had cultured a full batch of the Youth Serum, the results on his leg were astounding. It appeared as if a youthful skin had been grafted to his lower leg. This striking renewal effect continued to spread higher up his leg, and he realized that if he just left it, his whole skin would eventually become completely rejuvenated.

This created a time constraint. David realized the rejuvenation would eventually be noticed. The reaction did not stop, even after all the stem cells should have been exhausted. He originally theorized that with a limited amount of serum injected into his leg, it would consume itself rapidly. But this was not happening. The process continued. Eventually his youthful appearance would be noticed, and he had no idea how he would explain the phenomenon. Based on the initial test results, David decided to accelerate the process and continued with his plan. He injected the mixture throughout his whole body with the help of his rig which, though it looked like a torture device, performed flawlessly. This allowed micro-level control, especially once he had immobilized himself. Treating the long bone marrows was excruciatingly painful and difficult to manage, but he considered it a necessity for blood cell rejuvenation.

Once this treatment was complete, he became obsessed with the changes he observed in himself, convinced that something horrible might happen to his body. David felt frustrated at the limited time available for exploration of his discovery. He was afraid he would not be able to complete his studies in a scientific manner, unless he could find a way to explain his youthful appearance.

He was facing the same problems a mythical vampire would face: How do you hide prolonged youth? For a while, he pondered the vampire myth. He then wondered whether this would be only life extension or permanent youth. Eternity? What would that mean?

David’s work absorbed most of his free time throughout his adult life, which caused a singular focus. He had never cared about events around the world. Nothing really affected him. Why should he waste time pondering over crime – it happened everywhere – or the starving people in some lazy third world country, when he could contemplate the secrets of creation itself?

Reviewing the impact of what he had accomplished, he was certain that his Youth Serum had put an end to the aging process – the process that caused the telomeres on the chromosome ends to shorten, which eventually stopped cell division, eventually causing death.

He wondered whether the aging process would be permanently terminated, or merely suspended. Would the telomerase continue to regenerate the telomeres within the cells in perpetuity? Moreover, what did it mean? If he could avoid any traumatic event, would he live forever? What would happen if he procreated? Would it be passed on? The idea of immortality excited him as he contemplated what it could mean to him.

David’s thoughts turned full circle as he faced his current problems. He needed money, lots of it, if he wanted to fund an extended youthful existence, and continue his research in private. He considered his discovery; the Youth Serum should be a gold mine. There was a drawback, though. Selling something once, to a single generation, would mean that he wouldn’t be essential in the future. He was currently unique. He was the only human on the planet with a potentially perpetual existence. He could become a god!

He rolled the thought around his mind. Could one man change the world? The process would require unlimited power and unlimited funding. Why had none of the vampire myths ever raised this possibility? However, if his discovery became known, all his advantages would disappear like mist before the sun. What would happen if he created a Stalin or Hitler that could live forever? Frightening! What would happen to the world population should nobody ever die? In his imagination he foresaw the constant wars that would be waged for diminishing resources. No, he decided, this discovery was much worse than the atom bomb.

David shuddered as he glanced around in frustration. He noticed a picture of himself in his youth in Phuket, with the tropical ocean in the background. He remembered that visit to Phuket. It had been a tropical paradise with crystal clear water. He remembered snorkeling, with thousands of tropical fish gathering around him. That tropical paradise was all but gone now; the differences he had observed on his last visit had been stark. The world already contained too many people, causing enormous pollution. Abstractedly, he wondered how significant the problem was. Should he start paying attention to these environmental nuts?

David forced himself to concentrate on his financial problems. He needed a sponsor or a way to make money. He had a sudden idea! He could market a skin rejuvenation program and hide in plain sight – a new plastic surgery methodology with spectacular results. If he established a clinic in a Third World country with limited oversight, he could make a fortune. He was almost certain that he could ensure that the skin treatment would not spread to any other organs as long as he used unipotent stem cells. Unipotent skin cells would only act on the skin of the person treated. David thought about it and realized his current solution had one major drawback; a single treatment would keep a person looking young till the day they died. That would draw enormous attention and limit his income potential.

He carefully considered his test results. When the telomerase is introduced to aged cells, the telomere Complexes rapidly elongate. If he could stop the process at a specific point, the resultant cells would partially turn back the clock and then resume the aging process. A possible solution popped into his mind. He could elongate the chromosome telomere Complex to turn back the clock the equivalent of say ten years and then remove or make dormant the telomerase enzyme that caused the rejuvenation. The resultant serum should enable a workable solution.

The product development possibilities started to excite him. If he could sell a youth potion for the skin which only provided rejuvenation for a limited time, it would be a real gold mine.

His thoughts immediately turned to the expansion of his product line. What would someone be prepared to pay to have his complete body restored to a youthful state? If he could maintain absolute control over the process, this could mean power! Lots of power! Sell a youth treatment to some third world dictator for a fortune, and explain the actions required to obtain more of the treatment in the future. Such a person would do anything to ensure that he could get his hands on another rejuvenation treatment. That would keep him under your control, ensuring that he did the things you wanted him to do.

That should do it, David thought happily, and continued with his thought pattern.

What could you do with the power to control someone? Could you leverage control of politicians and business leaders to control a country? Could he implement solutions to global problems if he controlled all the world’s leaders? This thought made him pause. The world would look at this as a manifestation of Stalin or Hitler. No, if he could do it, the control must be managed from the shadows.

What were the current global problems, he wondered? Pollution and overpopulation immediately came to mind. He wondered how you would go about solving those dilemmas. He smiled as he remembered the annual Darwin Awards. A natural selection based on stupidity. Now that had promise! If only he could find a way to make it a competitive sport.

A vague solution presented itself from his subconscious: induced pluripotent stem cells with shorter telomere strands. Of course – same method, same type of product, vastly different result. Rapid aging! Nobody would want it, though. Maybe he could keep them ignorant of the result by not treating the skin, which would keep them looking their normal age. Then he could have the dictators force it on them, he thought. Not enough dictators around the world for that to make a difference, he realized. He must find some way of making most ordinary people want a rapid aging serum.

David’s thoughts wandered to his pet aversion – politicians. He believed they were mostly people who did not produce anything, but rather tried to make the producers they rule share what they have earned with the stupid, lame and lazy – who normally formed the majority in a country. People should only be allowed to vote if they contribute above a certain amount of tax per year. That would stop the bloody politicians pandering to the wishes of the great unwashed.

David realized he needed help. His interest had for years been focused on a single scientific pursuit to the extent that he had ignored world events and problems. He stared at the picture of his wife and son. If a drunken driver had not taken them away, he would have had someone to turn to. He considered the injustice – he ran a fertility clinic, but had no children of his own to continue his legacy. The only surviving person he could still classify as a friend with whom he could share intimate experiences, was his old Oxford roommate.

David carefully considered Marc Bower. Marc could be helpful, but should he share the totality of his secret with the man? Once Marc had received rejuvenation, David could be stuck with him for a very long time. He considered his options and concluded that the information was too dangerous – people have killed for less. He needed a cover story before he approached Marc.

David contemplated his dilemma. How did the great leaders of the past get the morons in their population to do what they wanted? The IQ test was based on a median of one hundred, which meant that a fifty percentile of the world’s population had an IQ of less than that. He considered an IQ of a hundred as moronic, which meant that most of the world was populated by morons. His thoughts returned to leadership. Most of the successful leaders were great orators, but he could not consider himself one. He decided he did not like or want the limelight. When he obtained power, he would subscribe to the mushroom theory, keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit. He remembered reading about terrorists who blew themselves up for Jihad. How do you persuade someone to kill himself for a belief?

Religion! It felt as if the proverbial light bulb had been switched on. Organized religion had been used throughout the ages as a tool to control the ignorant to behave in a moral manner. Laws and military power did not always work, but the mystical was a good supplementary tool. Something you could use to achieve an objective in order to allow belief to suspend reason.

David considered mankind’s boundless ability to believe in something that could not be proven. Belief was a commonly accepted principle of laying the groundwork for ideas without proof. If the manifestation of proof does not take place, the problem is deemed to be with the attitude of the believer. Especially for the young and impressionable – he had to remember that in the long term. How could you get a grown man to change his religion? Would an intelligent man believe in something that could not be proven? How had they done it in the past? He only remembered some generalized Christian training he had had as a kid, when he had been forced to attend Sunday school. He decided to do some research on the web.

A couple of days later David reviewed his research notes and realized that organized religion could be used as a tool to persuade a populace to adopt a different solution. However, changing a person’s religion was problematic. Historically, the major current religions used stories of some horror awaiting them in an afterlife to make people afraid and change their lifestyle. He considered the Hegelian Dialectic. The basis of any Hegelian Dialectic is the process by which a crisis is created, anticipating in advance the reaction that the population will have to the given crisis, thus conditioning people that a change is needed. When the population has been properly conditioned, the desired outcome is presented and adopted as the best solution. Most of humanity had very little time for reason and to be honest, very little intellect to perform such a task. Therefore, when a plausible solution, that would resolve the unpleasant situation, is presented, it would normally be adopted rapidly. He became convinced that he could create a Hegelian Dialectic based on current religions that could provide a solution which appeared familiar, and thereby allow him to rapidly gain popular support from those seeking an excuse to participate in rejuvenation.

The religions with the most influence had a common basis in the Old Testament. So, could a Jewish-born prophet unite them? Will it ever be possible to unite three of the world’s major religions based on the same principle? What would happen when you showed the world a wise old man who had been touched by God, and was then turned into a messenger from God?

They could believe it to be a religious event, if the supposed messenger demonstrated proof of a modern day ‘miracle’, such as becoming a young man again. What would happen if this miracle were demonstrated on television before their very eyes? More than fifty percent of the world had an IQ of lower than a hundred, which should make them easy to manipulate.

Could a supposed messenger from God succeed in convincing the world that he was the new spiritual leader, appointed by God, to lead the worthy to a new world order? Could the leader then decree new religious laws to save the planet, thereby avoiding the wrath of God? How about promising and causing new plagues if his message was not heard and adhered to? If he could generate support for this premise from political and influential business leaders who wanted access to rejuvenation, it might be possible.

He relaxed and formulated a strategy. He concluded that if you knew which questions to ask, it would be easy to find the answer. The trick was to find the right questions and have access to the right lever to move the world.

CHAPTER 2

David relaxed with a beer after his dinner; then started to catalogue Marc’s personality traits as a potential candidate in the role of the messenger. Whilst he pondered possible scenarios, he realized that he would need to obtain some kind of control over Marc. In order for his scheme to work, he would add fifty or sixty years to Marc’s life span, to properly demonstrate the miracle.

Marc would achieve significant power, so he could become a very difficult person to control. What type of methods existed to control anyone? Bribery? Scandal? Hypnosis? He sifted through a mental list and discarded most ideas as they came up. No, he needed incontrovertible proof of a major crime, he decided. How would he get this? He would need to frame the candidate for a capital crime with no statute of limitations.

David pondered the problems he faced; his mind could not leave the topic alone. He left the up market restaurant where he normally enjoyed his late Sunday afternoon dinners. He paused at the door; he had a fleeting thought about finding some female companion. The rejuvenation treatment seems to have reignited his sex drive. Eventually he decided that he was not really in the mood for company. What woman in her right mind would look at a doddering old man, anyway? He strolled to his car whilst mentally returning to the struggle of finding solutions to his plan for a long and comfortable life.

He realized that any candidate he selected as his agent ought to have several characteristics to be suitable. He considered and discarded most of his current crop of friends and colleagues. David’s only option remained his old Oxford classmate who emanated from a very respectable background. Currently, he was one of the regular specialist talking heads on the box in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, he was not Jewish, but he was already mildly famous for his sober environmental activism. He had ended up as a highly respectable knighted member of the British aristocracy. In his youth, Marc had been a bit of a ladies’ man.

One sure thing about regaining your youth, he concluded, is that the libido returned with a vengeance, once the body rejuvenated. He could maybe use that. Yes, he decided if he could use that, Marc Bower became a definite possibility.

When David arrived home, he fished his cell phone from his pocket and searched for Marc’s contact details. Damn, he only had an old e-mail address for him. He looked at his watch and realized that it was late night in London. He booted up his computer and started the Voice-over-Internet-Protocol communication program.

The call was answered nearly immediately.

Bower.

Hi, Marc; sorry to be calling so late. We haven’t spoken in a while.

David, how are you, old friend? Amazingly, I wanted to call you earlier in the week. I thought we should get together this summer. Don’t you want to pop over the pond for a visit? Marc queried.

Marc, that sounds marvelous. It is exactly why I am calling. I wanted to ask whether I could have some of your time to discuss matters that are of mutual importance. I will be in London in two days’ time, and would appreciate a meeting with you. Would the time frame be suitable? David asked.

Oh, nowadays I have lots of spare time, especially since my retirement. It is only the conservation movement that keeps me occupied. Sure, I will eagerly await your call. When you arrive, we can have lunch at my club and spend the afternoon in the members’ bar, discussing matters and reminiscing about the good old days.

Thank you, Marc. I will call when I arrive in London.

Hear from you soon. Goodbye, David.

Goodbye, Marc, David concluded the video call. He returned to his browser and completed the flight and hotel bookings, leaving him with nearly three full days in London.

Over the Atlantic

When David had finally settled into his seat on the final leg of his London flight, he mentally prepared himself for his meeting with Marc. He had spent his remaining time before the flight reviewing his finances and 401K-retirement plan. He realized that he only possessed a total of three hundred thousand US dollars that could readily be converted into cash.

Should he sell his majority share in the infertility clinic, he still would not have enough money to fund this project. He needed to complete the research on his Youth Serum and find a way to hide his rejuvenation from his neighbors and colleagues. He knew that Marc was a wealthy man; he had turned his inherited family fortune into a substantial investment portfolio. He made a mental note to explore the possibility of funding with Marc, if they established some common ground.

On his arrival at Heathrow, having stayed awake on the plane, he was very tired. He decided to splurge on a taxi.

Sofitel Hotel on Waterloo Place, please, he informed the taxi operator.

The driver sullenly stuck his luggage on the passenger seat next to David in the car, and delivered him some considerable time later at the hotel. After having completed the hotel registration and obtaining his room key, he flopped down on his bed and fell asleep, barely managing to remove his shoes.

When he woke up it was still dark outside. He looked at his watch. It was only five in the morning, but he felt refreshed. He reckoned that the sun should be up by six, as it was already late April. He had plenty of time to sort out his luggage, perform his morning ablutions and to enjoy a proper English breakfast. He decided to go for a stroll in the park after breakfast, from where he would call Marc to finalize the meeting at the Oxford and Cambridge club.

It was nearly eleven o’clock when he strolled down past St James Palace on his way to ‘The Club’. As he entered ‘The Club’, he spotted Marc waiting for him. Marc was the epitome of the elder British aristocrat, conservatively dressed in impeccably tailored clothing and Italian shoes. He looked like everyone’s favorite amiable grandfather with a little potbelly and male pattern baldness.

Welcome back, stranger. You are looking spry, Marc remarked as he shook David’s hand. I thought we should join ‘The Club’ table for a lunch, but meanwhile let’s get reacquainted in the drawing room.

Lead the way, Doctor Bower, or should I address you as Sir, Marc? You must have encountered only light traffic to have made it here so quickly after my call.

Marc shrugged his shoulders. Oh, I arrived last night and took a room at ‘The Club’, he said. I am only waiting for a reasonable hour to have a tipple, and please, let’s not play Doctor-Doctor again. Titles are so boring.

Okay; maybe we should rather go to the smoking room or members’ bar, replied David with a smile.

You must have forgotten that I like elevenses; I love my tea and scones. Since I’ve become older, I do not mind the idea of being frowned upon anymore. However, having drinks before lunch, does not improve my health, or my mood at all anymore. I have to guard against becoming a morose old man.

David smiled, as he followed Marc into the Drawing Room. He looked up at the elaborately gilded ceiling in admiration and said, Still, it is a beautiful old place, this.

Marc nodded in agreement. Yes, they keep standards up pretty well.

After they had settled into their chairs and their orders had been taken, Marc looked expectantly at David and asked, What is this matter of mutual importance that had you come all the way to London, to discuss with me?

David leaned forward, gathered his thoughts, and replied: I have been watching a bit of the idiot box these last few weeks, and one thing struck me above all else. Pollution is now noticeable everywhere you go. It appears that the planet is heading for disaster. I thought about your conservation efforts and wanted to ask your opinion regarding several issues.

For instance?

David paused for a second and decided to plunge right in. If a government or organization had enough power to change the world for the benefit of all humanity, what could be done about it, and how would you do it?

I assume that you would like a hypothetical answer.

David nodded.

Their order arrived, and Marc appeared preoccupied while fussing with the tea, playing mother.

David remained silent.

"Funny you should ask that! I have been contemplating this issue for some time now. Our biggest problem is overpopulation; we are heading towards a global disaster. However, there is nothing much we can do about that. So I will stick to the areas where I believe something can still be done.

The first thing to do is to place a ban on the manufacturing, distribution and use of any artificial, non-reusable, and recyclable packaging. I am talking about packaging manufactured from plastic or Styrofoam, like bags, bottles and containers that are nondurable. Our throwaway society is killing the planet. We should return to recyclable packaging such as glass, cardboard, paper and tin, or design new ones. I could elaborate on this later. Let me first highlight all my major actions.

David confirmed. I agree. Please continue.

The second thing to do is stop the rape of the oceans. All factory fishing trawlers, as well as any trawlers with refrigeration capacities, should be banned. All fishing by any machine assisted fishing nets must become highly controlled within territorial waters. Everyone has learned long ago that certain animals on land can be domesticated, and the rest should be placed in protective reserves. Companies cannot hire hunting teams to gather anything they want on land. Why then should we allow it in the oceans? The oceans should be divided like any other surface area and it should fall under the control of the various governments, with certain areas classified as world heritage sites.

The spread of jellyfish is a case in point: turtles, one of their only natural predators, are being hunted to extinction. Within a short time, the world’s oceans will be infested with jellyfish. The fishing companies should invest in finding a way to domesticate and farm certain preferred species of fish, and leave the rest of the oceans to recover.

Marc paused to drink some of his tea. He then looked at David and continued: "The third thing to do is to ensure that it becomes illegal to allow any untreated sewage, or effluent to reach the oceans. With the way that the world population is growing, the oceans cannot handle the volume of sewage and industrial effluents flowing into it. As the volume of suspended particles in the oceans becomes higher, it is blocking the sunlight from penetrating into the oceans. If you combine that with the rising global temperature, and the continual increase of dead spots in the oceans, nothing will be able to survive in the oceans for much longer.

The fourth item on my list is a ban on all nonessential business and personal travel. The world is already connected via the internet. Video and voice communications have never been easier. However, only one-third of the world’s working population needs to be at a workplace to produce a product physically. The rest sits around in offices for no reason, other than a traditional method of ensuring that the worker bees produce. Payment should be for output, not presence at some workplace. This would drastically reduce private fuel consumption throughout the developed world. Why must we transport children to a school if they can get the same education by way of television and Internet? Schools were an invention of the industrial age to release more workers to the factories. Just look at all the resources being consumed. Is it really still relevant to gather them together?

Marc paused, looked at David, and continued, The final item on my list is controversial, but I believe absolutely necessary. The third world contains more than half of the world population, and of that, nearly two-thirds of those exist below the poverty line. The UN should decree that every person, anywhere on the planet, who has an existence below the poverty line, must submit to voluntary sterilization. Even that may be too little, too late.

David nodded and replied, "I remember reading a book called Freakonomics some time ago whilst traveling. The author drew a correlation between the drop in the anticipated crime rate and the advent of legalizing abortion in the US. Since reading it, I am for compulsive sterilization of persons who are without prospects and who are unable to afford children. It made me wonder, what has the UN become? It does not seem to be a vehicle to ensure that nations harmonize their actions for the benefit of all, anymore. They only exist in order to solve petty little squabbles between idiotic politicians.

The biggest fallacy on the planet must be the current concept of human rights, which are based on existence, and not on contribution. Some bleeding heart liberal morons have persuaded the world to ignore one of the most basic laws of the universe. The only way that a species can survive is to allow only the fittest to survive. For the human race, that should mean the ability to contribute to society by producing more than you consume.

David looked at Marc, trying to judge his response, and was pleased to see a huge smile forming on his face.

"Ah, David, apparently we have remained kindred spirits. The one thing which irritates me in recent times is this Third World notion of: ‘I consume; therefore I am. Gimme. Gimme.’ Marc chuckled at his own witty version of Descartes’ philosophical statement.

David smiled, leant forward and asked: If you had the ability and means to implement these ideas of yours, how far would you go to achieve your goals?

Marc frowned, looking down at his hands and replied, "If I had been able to foresee the world as it is today, I suppose I would have dedicated my life to ensuring that the current state of affairs never happened. However, I am too old to do anything about it now. I do not have the energy left for this impossible struggle. Luckily I don’t have any offspring to worry about. So, I can leave my money where it will do some good. Not that it would, the bureaucrats will waste it on their administrative bullshit. This is about all I can do anymore.

To answer your question in a hypothetical manner, I suppose I will do almost anything, which is required – not that I am a rabid activist; they are counterproductive. I consider saving this planet to be worth the effort.

David looked at Marc and considered his options: he could dance around the subject for days or he could jump in with both feet. He glanced around to see whether anyone was nearby and then started to speak softly.

Marc, I need to inform you, I represent a consortium of geneticists, who want to remain anonymous, that discovered a cure for aging. The potential financial benefits are enormous, but the downside of this technology is catastrophic. Imagine a world where everyone doubles his or her age. We realize that absolute secrecy is a necessity. Living an extended lifetime on this planet, considering where it is currently heading, is not an attractive option. Nevertheless, if we have a possible way for you to implement your conservation ideas, will you be up for it?

David could see the amazement on Mark’s face.

He scanned David’s face closely and asked, Is that why you look so wholesome? Did you take this cure? Are you pulling my leg? Is this real? He took a deep breath and held it while looking at David expectantly.

Very real, and yes, I have taken the cure, and it does work. It currently has only one drawback, but we are working hard at rectifying it. It appears that it would rejuvenate the body to a physical age of maturity. Very soon I would appear to be only twenty-five years old. This creates a problem for us and an opportunity for you that I would like to discuss if you are willing to agree to our terms of absolute secrecy.

An investment opportunity? Marc asked, puzzled.

No; more along the lines of saving the world. I cannot say a lot more without you agreeing to our terms, David responded.

Marc appeared reluctant. I cannot agree to any arbitrary set of terms, but I would sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Marc, this goes way beyond a non-disclosure agreement. This is your one and only chance at a full restoration of your youth. You have no family members to speak of, and you are ideal for the purposes we have in mind. However, with great opportunity comes great responsibility. Please take your time to consider the offer. We can speak of it again later.

Marc brought his hands into a steeple in front of him, while he studied David’s face. He sighed, nodded his head vigorously, and said: Yes! Yes! I would agree to your terms. He looked expectantly at David.

David nodded slowly and watched as the smile spread on his companion’s face, then said: I would suggest, however, that we go and enjoy lunch, and then find a secluded spot where we can discuss the plan in detail.

Agreed, let’s go. Marc jumped up. He was as excited as a kid in a candy store.

David laughed and motioned for him to sit down. Marc, we have not even finished our tea and scones yet. Let us finish that and discuss where we will go after lunch for our confidential conversation. It is still only slightly after eleven. Lunch is some way off. Let us use the time to catch up.

When Marc sat down, he started to squirm in his seat, clearly excited and then he blurted out: Wait! ‘The Club’ could prepare a picnic lunch to go. We can then have lunch at my cottage. It is in Palace Road near Hampton Court. We can pick up your things, and you can stay with me. It is much closer to the airport, and we will not be disrupted or overheard. What do you say?

David said, That sounds like a good idea to me. I just have to fetch my things at the hotel, and then we can be off.

Great! Let me complete the arrangements over here. I will pick you up at your hotel and we can be on our way, Marc replied.

David strolled back to his hotel, packed and settled his account. When he exited the hotel, he found Marc waiting for him in a stunning blue Bentley Continental.

CHAPTER 3

London, United Kingdom

During their trip, David kept the conversation to the generalities of the research that still needed to be done to come up with a viable product for their plan. He also answered the numerous questions Marc asked about being rejuvenated and what it felt like. He regaled Marc with a few tidbits about his returning sex drive and other generalities of disappearing aches and pains. He deflected all Marc’s questions about his upcoming role, by intimating that he needed his undivided attention to his plan, when they could discuss it.

Marc suddenly asked pointedly, David, how does this rejuvenation process of theirs work?

They have been working on telomeres, which are situated at the ends of the chromosomes where there are repetitive nucleotide sequences.

What do they do?

They protect the ends of the chromosomes from deterioration and prevent fusion with neighboring chromosomes, but they are slowly consumed during cell replication, and that leads to aging. The telomerase enzyme replenishes the telomeres, but even so the telomeres eventually get worn out. The telomeres act as disposable buffers to ensure that chromosome information is not lost.

So when telomere strands wear out, the cell dies?

Yes, that is exactly what happens. The group has found a way to use TERTs, or Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase, which restore the telomere nucleotides, making it longer again. This in effect rejuvenates the cell. Do you follow so far?

Marc nodded and asked, Okay, if you have these rejuvenated chromosomes with longer telomeres, how do you then use them to regenerate the body?

We extract the nuclei of cells that have been regenerated as I’ve described, and then use a nucleus inside an induced pluripotent stem cell. This creates a somatic stem cell clone of the person, after some proprietary magic. We then obtain pluripotent stem cells, with very special properties. Pluripotent means cells which can produce any kind of stem cell. Once they are introduced into any organ tissue, they adapt to unipotent stem cells which mean they will only divide into stem cells matching the organ tissue. These stem cells then become dominant and will eventually regenerate the entire organ.

So you have to introduce these cells into every organ?

Correct, and each organ regenerates at a different rate, with the skin having the fastest regeneration rate, David answered.

What is this induced pluripotent stem cell you’re talking about?

That is an artificial method of creating stem cells that approximate embryonic clones without having to use actual human ova. Because pluripotent stem cells can adapt or change to form any type of stem cell, it makes them ideal to use as a serum. The proprietary magic also prevents tumors from forming, David concluded as they arrived at Marc’s home. He used this explanation because he was afraid of what Marc’s reaction would be if he learned that the process required actual cloned human embryos.

Once the two of them were settled in with large cognacs in Marc’s library, Marc opened their discussion by saying: David, I think I already have the solution to your group’s funding problem. My investments over the years have been shrewd. I invested in up-and-comers over the years like Microsoft, Apple and Google. I moved from property and stock market-related investments to gold just before the last financial crisis. My investment portfolio was recently valued at nearly one hundred million quid. Of that, nearly forty million pounds can be made available in a very short time. I would propose an investment in your enterprise to that value. I could place the funds in a shared Swiss account and ensure that your group could transfer the funds to wherever you wish. In return I would like a substantial share of the projected profits.

David felt relieved. The funds Marc could make available were much higher than he had ever envisioned. It was higher by a factor of twenty than what he had hoped.

He looked at Marc and said: Sorry, Marc, if you care to listen to my plan, you will realize that that will not be possible. We cannot have a link between yourself, and the group that can be traced in any way. They do need start-up capital. However, there can be no ownership on your part of any of their business interests. You should look at it, not as an investment in a venture, but as payment for the service they will render to you, in providing you with a return to your youth.

David noticed the slight look of petulance that flashed across Marc’s face, and hastened to continue: Before we get bogged down in extraneous detail, let me present you with the basics. As the plan unfolds, you will see that there are myriad ways to generate income for yourself, without having a slice of their pie. We postulated that if we could get an educated and well-known man, like yourself, to present himself to the world as having been touched by God, and who invites the whole world to witness God’s miracle unfold before their own eyes, we believe that such a man could unify three of the world’s religions around himself with support from politicians and community leaders. My question to you is: Do you think that you could be that man?

Marc was stunned. He gulped down his cognac and got up to pour himself another. As he sat down, he stammered, I ... uh ... I am not a religious man. I don’t take to organized religion at all. I think it is an opiate for the masses as someone has once said.

... a quote from Karl Marx, a supposed intellectual, whose ideas on socialism were used by megalomaniacs, such as Stalin and Mao Tse Tung. Lenin and Mao created Communist States, based on Marxist ideology, which today can be considered the biggest failed experiments of the twentieth century.

David noticed that Marc appeared distracted, so he prattled on.

"Communism was designed to strip power from all leaders and regain absolute control over the population. They also used the process to steal the hereditary treasures of the nobility, thereby removing their power. They eliminated the spiritual leaders who had assisted the monarchy in maintaining control over the population. Stalin demonstrated the way for State sponsored eradication of population groups, to rid the state of undesirables such as religious, economic and intellectual leaders. This same concept is now used in Africa, once the blacks gain political power.

"Socialism is an idiotic economic idea, the premise of which is to gain unearned rewards based on the efforts of others. From an economic parasitical point of view, its use – to create a centralized ideological state – is a brilliant idea. It clearly illustrates that any peasant majority understands and agrees with a concept of obtaining something for nothing. Even in America today, Socialism is rife with trillions of dollars spent on parasites, under a morality of compassion.

"Finally, in our current world order, the corrupt have found a way to suck the lifeblood out of a community, which they have learned from the failures of their comrades. They are hiding in plain sight under a guise of morality and are called politicians – the only career where qualifications and competence are not a requirement for success. A politician’s success in the world today depends on the amount of promises he makes to the undeserving. They always promise to give the lazy, peasant majority something for nothing, mostly coupled with incentives to breed in order to obtain government subsidies and avoid working, placing additional tax burdens on the taxpayers.

"However, Socialist centralization, by its very nature, removes a human’s competitive spirit, and quickly leads to loss of production incentives. Looking at it now, we all know it is designed to fail, but we are again seeing its revival due to the uncontrolled proliferation of parasites, making them a significant voting bloc.

Nevertheless ... I am sorry, I digress. I just get carried away when I think about politicians. To answer your question, I do not think that you should worry about the fact that you are not religious. The question you should be asking yourself is: Can I use religion as a tool to save the world? You could look at it in much the same way as Lenin and his cronies did. They tried to create world domination by removing religion. Without religion to condemn or restrict their actions, a new paradigm could rapidly be established. David blathered on a bit to provide Marc with a respite to contemplate his proposal.

Marc took a deep breath and replied: Yes, I think I am beginning to see what you are driving at. You are asking whether I can sell a lot of hogwash with absolute conviction to the religious majorities. I think I can, as I believe that the end justifies the means. However, I fail to see how I can unite the various religious groups. He sounded doubtful.

"Think of it this way, you proclaim yourself to be chosen by God, and that God had assigned you the task of ensuring that His message will be heard once and for all. You explain that God had sent different messengers over the years, and yet special interest groups subverted all those messages to promote their own agendas.

"The Jews started by being exclusive, the Christian clergy continued by supporting the ruling classes, the Islamic clergy adapted the message by adding a set of laws to control the faithful. You must contend that all of these actions subverted the original message. God wanted the world united and living peacefully side-by-side, not through an intermediary who insists on everyone following a specific recipe, and who collects a fee, while presiding over some ritual.

"You should argue that the world should show its commitment to God’s original message by following the Commandments that God handed down to the world. You contend that this had been the only instance where God personally interceded to provide us with the framework of a civilization. You must state that God is becoming angry that successive messages have been subverted, and that some of His later attempts to reach our hearts and minds have been ignored as the ramblings of a madman.

You argue that in our current world order the clergy created false rules to stop anyone from ever bringing a message that could dispute their teachings. You then contend that God has decided to physically intervene for the final time, before we ruin the world beyond repair; and that He has promised to touch those who come to believe in His message, in a personal and lasting way, David went on to convince Marc.

Marc looked at David and said, Jeez, when you put it like that, you’ve nearly succeeded in making a believer out of me. You surely would have put one over on me, if I did not know the background.

David replied: I am relieved. It will make your work easier. However, within this framework, do you think you can fully develop this idea in the next couple of months, while we try to complete the Youth Serum, and prepare the serum for your elevation to angel or messenger of God?

Yes, I suppose I can. Will I be able to meet with the group to discuss these matters? Marc asked.

Marc, the reason I met with you, is that I am a relatively junior member within the group. Although I am the eldest of the group, you can look at me as the guinea pig of the group. You have to understand, the group feels that if what they have accomplished ever becomes known, and who they are, that there would be nowhere on earth that they would be safe. This is why they have also come up with a way for you to attempt to keep yourself safe. You should look at me as the only contact with the group, as I can be explained away as an old friend.

Marc nodded his understanding after David had finished his explanation. Then he enquired: So how do you plan to keep me safe?

"Well, Marc, we have realized that all the zealots will be coming after you. This will be closely followed by the clerics and politicians from all sides, protecting their turf. Therefore, we have thought that you should take them on directly on