Eden's Serum: Eden Lost Series, #1

By Angelique S. Anderson

For fans of Minority Report and Twilight
Comes an unusual story of immortality and deception…

Adam Carpenter is the founder of Identicoin.
A tiny quarter-sized disk that stores a person's medical, financial, and criminal records and can be used on any compatible machine.

His invention lands him his own division of one of the most lucrative companies in the world and a financial compensation enough to purchase the final step needed for the perfect life.

Immortality. 

Adam is convinced he has it all until Evelyn Black breezes into his life, demanding his attention.
When the serum backfires and Adam finds out that his days are numbered, everything he believes will be false.  
Now, people are dropping dead like flies, and it will be up to Adam and Evelyn to uncover the mystery that is Eden's Serum.

A Cybertech thrill ride that takes you into a shocking future, Eden's Serum proves that immortality can be deadly…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angelique S. Anderson
• Release date: Jul 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393833079

Angelique S. Anderson

An Avid mover, adventurer and chaser of dreams. She began her journey in Kalispell, Montana. Singer and songwriter in hobby, she is the mother to four precocious little ones and lover of all animals. She hopes to encourage others with her journey and passion for life. She is currently off adventuring in Stockton, Ca with her high school sweetheart.

Book preview

Chapter 1

When It All Falls Down — June 2018

Since man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever. Genesis 3:22

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Adam roared down the freeway at a dangerous ninety miles per hour. Early morning commuters flashed angry glares at him as he weaved in and out of traffic, forcing several drivers to slam on their brakes. Nervously running his fingers through his tailored chestnut waves, his honey colored eyes acutely watching every vehicle he passed.

Don’t scratch the paint, moron, he thought to himself.

Even though wrecking his vehicle was almost an afterthought—nothing would matter, if he didn’t get to his office as quickly as possible.

I’m minutes away from losing everything I’ve spent the last three years creating. "Get the hell out of my way!" He yelled, blaring his horn, continuing to weave dangerously in and out of the vehicles on the road. Ironically, the technology that could have prevented this situation was what he was now rushing to save.

Identitech LLC, the technology conglomerate where Adam worked, had developed a super card capable of storing every detail of an individual’s life, including banking details and medical history.

Adam had rushed in at the thirteenth hour, questioning the security of such a device, and had guided his company on an encryption that would keep the disk, and its sensitive information from being stolen. Under his direction, the hardware bores at his company had brainstormed new ways to store data, while Adam worked tirelessly on the machines that would be capable of scanning the information disks.

The scanning machines that would be used in banks, supermarkets, and other locations a crossed the country.

His system was foolproof.

A Northwest MSU graduate with a master's degree in Nanoscale Science—his solution was brilliant.

Not that it mattered, if that bomb went off, it would blow his hard work into oblivion.

Adam’s adrenaline surged as he glanced at the clock on his dashboard. Ten minutes—it’s only been ten minutes and counting since I heard from Ms. Mooring.

He replayed the phone call over in his mind,

Adam, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news, Ms. Mooring’s aged voice held such a weight of despair, Adam wondered who had died.

Are you all right? he’d questioned.

Yes, Adam dear, but I’m afraid Identitech is not. Someone called in a bomb threat, we have emergency crews on scene, it’s confirmed and they’re trying to extract it.

A bomb? At Identitech? Where are you?

I’m out, I’m safe, but Adam—the bomb is in your office.

He didn’t remember much after that. He’d hurriedly slipped on his pricey gray blazer, left his steaming cup of coffee on the counter and jumped in his Mercedes for the twenty-minute drive to work.

His lead foot had cut the driving time in half, but it was still too long. Can everyone please drive faster? He evaded another vehicle.

Cursing under his breath, Adam berated himself for not backing up the code for his latest prototype onto a flash drive. Who could have possibly planted a bomb at my company’s headquarters? The prospect completely boggled his mind.

Someone crazy enough to threaten a major technology firm like Identitech and blow up a building occupied by several thousand innocent people, had to be a few screws short of a workbench.

Adam’s exit came into view, and he darted into the right line, narrowly missing the rear-end of an old Chevy that had been brought to a sudden stop due to backed up traffic.

The massive outline of the Identitech building towered against the barren hills and undeveloped property in the background.

He let up on the gas and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. His heart was pounding, and he felt like a trapped animal as he tried to cope with the stark reality that the crowning achievement of his short career was about to be blown sky high. He hit the brakes at a crosswalk and then made a right onto the two-lane avenue that wound its way to his company’s nine-story headquarters.

As soon as he turned onto the access road that led to the Identitech employee parking area, Adam encountered police barricades.

Dammit, he thought, running his fingers nervously through his hair again. Little beads of perspiration gathered on his forehead.

Pulling off the road and switching on the car radio to a local news station, the report of the bomb threat came over the air. All around the building, the scene was chaotic. Dozens of cars were parked along the street, and small clusters of Identitech employees looked on apprehensively.

Please let this be a dream, Adam mumbled as his car rolled to a stop on loose gravel. The police barricade blocked the irrigation ditch that ran parallel to the road, and he could see no way through. He jumped from his Mercedes, cautiously eyeing a cluster of patrol cars parked about fifty yards away.

Uniformed officers stood in the middle of the street huddled in discussion and didn’t notice Adam as he climbed over the barrier and sprinted towards the Identitech building.

Barreling through the unfinished terrain and plethora of emergency vehicles, Adam had made it halfway across the large employee parking lot before a gruff voice yelled, Hey you, stop right there!

Adam ignored the command, and as he reached the cavalcade of fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and bomb squad vehicles, he broke into a run towards the building entrance. Suddenly, a strong, muscled figure tackled him from behind and knocked him to the ground. As Adam hit the pavement, he heard a ripping sound as a seam on his suit tore open.

"I said stop! You can’t go in there!" admonished the voice that had ordered him to halt a couple of minutes earlier. Adam struggled against the weight of the officer.

Okay, okay, I won’t go in, get off of me.

The weight lifted but was replaced by the steel tipped metal of the officer’s gun pressed hard into his back, sending an icy chill up Adam’s spine.

Please, just let me run to my office! My life’s work is in there! The pressure of the gun left his back, and a hand locked on his arm, yanking him to his feet.

Whatever you got in there, it’s not worth it, son. The officer paused for a moment, looking from Adam, to the entrance, then shaking his head, resigning himself to the fact, You can’t go in that building—you’ve entered a crime scene. I’ll need to see your identification. The officer’s tone had softened a bit, but the creases around his eyes just told Adam that he was tired.

Fine, Adam said hand reaching towards his pocket.

Two other uniformed officers had joined the burly cop, and both had drawn their service revolvers. Stop right there, one of them yelled.

Adam froze, raising his hands.

The other officer snarled, Don’t move, punk, and emptied Adam’s coat pockets, pulling out his car keys, wallet, and an employee badge.

Run this guy and see what comes up, said the burly cop, who had held the gun to Adam’s back. He noticed the gold chain around Adam’s neck with the coin-like object dangling from it and frowned. What is that? the officer asked suspiciously.

Part of my research that’s about to be destroyed in that building, Adam muttered.

The burly cop, that appeared to be in charge, put a meaty hand on Adam’s shoulder and pivoted him around. Until we check you out, I’ve got to handcuff you, he said. Nickels, put him in the back of my car until we run his ID.

Yes, sir, replied Nickels. Let’s move it! the officer gave him a half-shove and ushered him to a squad car. Opening the back door, he used his gun to motion for Adam to crawl inside. Adam nodded, irritated at the entire situation and mentally making a checklist of every person he was going to sue when this whole debacle was over.

After what felt like eternity, Nickels returned and opened the door, saying, "Sorry, Mr. Carpenter, but we had to check your story. You’re free to go. Gonna have to ask you to move back behind the police line, though. No one’s allowed in the building. That bomb goes off, and it’ll level the entire thing.

Damn it, three years of my life is in that place, Adam protested. His eyes locked on the wide glass doors at the front entrance, and he mentally calculated how long it would take to run in, grab his computer, and run back out.

I’m not gonna ask again, Nickels warned. Move back behind the police line or I’ll arrest you and send you off to the station. You are not going in there.

Adam took a begrudging step back and muttered, All right, all right. He caught a look of genuine concern in the patrolman’s eyes, and it was enough to make him submit.

Looking over the officer’s shoulder he saw a black armored truck move closer to the structure. The back opened, and a robot on treads rolled out. A tech using a handheld remote maneuvered it to the building entrance. Behind the robot walked two uniformed men in bulky, olive green bomb suits. They opened the doors and cautiously moved into the Identitech headquarters.

Mr. Carpenter, move back behind that barricade…now! Nickels yelled, his face turning red as he waved his gun with an exaggerated gesture. Don’t make me shoot you.

Adam’s face burned red with rage, as he walked back towards the designated area. Bastards have no idea who I am.

News helicopters hovered overhead, and Adam flipped on his phone to watch the live broadcasts. As he reached the police barricade, he veered off towards the north edge of the parking lot, he turned around and prepared to watch his work go up in flames.

Why didn’t I have a backup put in a lock box, or somewhere safe? He reprimanded himself.

Even from Adam’s vantage point two hundred yards away, the Identitech building was huge. It was designed to be an island of technology, and his work had been all about protecting that island.

Adam and his boss, Levi Davis, or Mister D, were just weeks away from completing the state-of-the-art identity system dubbed Identicoin. The very same device that hung from his neck, that had garnered attention from the officers just moments ago.

The name derived from the device’s easy-to-wear design—it was small, round, and as slim as a quarter.

Adam looked down and fingered the slim design in his tanned fingers. He’d been so proud of it. So proud of the perfect microchip he’d created to be embedded in the coin-like outer shell. He’d been so proud of the fine-tuned parent system, the Identidisk machine that read the data stored on the coin. It was to have been rolled out and installed at businesses across the country by the end of the year, providing infallible identity protection for all Americans.

Now, Adam stood helplessly at the edge of Identitech property, waiting for his work to be destroyed in a senseless act of domestic terrorism. He checked his phone for the time, as he waited for the building to be reduced to rubble.

One hour turned to two and then stretched to three, and he felt a pang of hope. Maybe the bomb squad had found and deactivated the explosive.

Maybe my work will be spared, he thought hopefully.

Adam watched the news feed on his phone and saw law enforcement personnel milling in and out of the building. After nearly two hours, several men emerged from the structure and pumped their fists in the air, which Adam interpreted as a gesture of jubilation.

He hurried back to his car, feeling a slight draft on his leg. Glancing down, he noticed for the large rip in his perfectly creased slacks, and it left him feeling self-conscious and annoyed. As he climbed into his roadster, he also realized his knees were scraped raw from contact with the pavement when he was tackled.

Adam glued his eyes to his phone and watched as the crowd of people moved away from the main entrance. Off to the side, circled by police and FBI agents, he saw a man with a familiar head of raven-black hair. His head was bowed, his shoulders stooped, and his arms bent behind him in the typical stance of a handcuffed prisoner. A camera zoomed in on the man’s face. Adam looked down at his phone to watch the live footage, What the hell? Mister D?

As if the man had heard Adam call his name, he looked up and directly into the camera on the news helicopter circling overhead. Adam stared at the televised face of his boss in disbelief, and then the man was shoved into a waiting police car and whisked away.

Unbelievable, Adam mumbled, shaking his head. His mind reeling. Levi Davis—likable Mister D—my friend? A domestic terrorist? It doesn’t seem possible.

The burly officer who had tackled Adam earlier was on his way over, and Adam jumped out of his car, worried he was about to be arrested. The officer’s hand rested on the standard-issue firearm holstered on his hip. His expression was stern, but the news he came to deliver was upbeat as he declared, It looks like your work is safe, my friend. A judge will throw that guy in jail and flush the key down the toilet.

Clear the way! Move, people! chirped a voice from the cop’s radio. Adam looked down at his phone to check the live news feed.

One of the overhead helicopters showed the bomb robot rolling out from Identitech building carrying a steel drum, followed by two bomb techs. They proceeded to the explosive’s disposal truck parked nearby. A platform lined with thick layers of foam slid out from the vehicle, and the robot placed the drum into the foam padding. The tech holding the remote control pushed a button, and the platform retracted into the armored vehicle.

Adam exhaled a sigh of relief. He was eager to get back into his office to rescue his precious research. Only he didn’t realize it would be days before the FBI and local police would allow anyone to enter the Identitech building.

— ҉ —

That night, Levi Davis sat in a concrete cell, staring at the heavy iron bars that contained him. He wondered how long he would be held in the county jail before he was moved to a federal prison. Not that it mattered—he knew he would be convicted and sent away for a long time. All he had hoped to accomplish in his life would be reduced to a single word on a jury verdict slip—guilty—and a brief mention of his tarnished name in the local newspapers.

Davis wondered what would happen to his golden-haired Emily. His daughter was lost to him; he would never see her again. Would federal agents interrogate her? Would she be placed in foster care or an institution? Would she eventually be told what her father had done? Would she hate him for abandoning her?

Davis buried his head in his hands and broke down sobbing. He should have been more careful. He had no one to blame but himself. A part of him hoped that he would get the death penalty. Anything would be better than wasting away in a concrete hole.

I’m sorry, Emily, he whispered to no one.

---

Chapter 2

Identitech, LLC — November 2020-Two years Later

Standing outside Garden’s End Hospital, Adam looked toward the entrance with a nagging sense of anxiety. He still had time to turn back, but he knew with certainty that he would walk through the sliding double doors. Five years of hard work with everything going for him, and it was finally time to take the plunge.

Adam approached the Identidisk machine, and his hand brushed the top of the device like it was a beloved pet. With his other hand, he reached in his shirt and pulled out his Identicoin. The cool metal still felt foreign to his touch after all this time.

Adam still recalled the day he had nearly lost all of his research in an explosion that would have ended his career with Identitech. But things had worked out for the best, and he was grateful for that. Now, he and millions of others across America could know and track every important detail of their lives by flashing a quarter-sized disk under the cool, blue scanning light of a compatible reader. The concept still boggled him. This is my creation, he thought with a smirk.

Adam glanced at his watch to check the time before running his Identicoin through the scanner. It was 2:37 p.m. He had eight minutes to decide or walk away. A young woman came out of the hospital. She had cascading red hair and a black, slim-fitting pantsuit that hugged every curve. Her lips turned up in a radiant smile, and Adam couldn’t help but stare. He caught her sapphire stare and held her gaze for a long moment. Her cheeks reddened, and she hurried away. He wondered if she had taken the serum herself. Not that it would influence his own decision, but the prospect of keeping his looks and not aging was very appealing.

Adam’s next thought was of the Identidisk machine, as he recalled the sketches he had drawn before its development. He was proud of its hip-height design, from the serpent-like curvature of the top to the circular window on the head.

Only, the real magic was the laser technology inside the machine that could flawlessly read Identicoin tokens and transfer the data stored on them to networked servers anywhere in the world. Adam had always believed laser technology