You are a lab assistant in Ethernos, a large pharmaceutical corporation.
Your lab works on creating the first-ever viable treatment for aging. If you succeed, it will enable people to live indefinitely long, staying young all the way!
No one but a few, even within the lab, know this real purpose. For all the rest, it’s just another study to better understand the processes of aging.
The work is led by Audrey de Gris, a world-renowned biomedical researcher and life extension activist. She has dreamed of overcoming human aging since her early years and put the whole of her inherited wealth into achieving this purpose. She knows lots about the causes of aging, and the ways in which the currently available treatments are flawed. And she is your boss. You admire her.
Because of all the secrecy, you hand your mobile phone in at the checkpoint every morning you come to work. In your lab, you only have an old-fashioned, landline phone without a dial pad. This line connects directly to the CEO’s office. You should inform him immediately [[when your work succeeds|2]].One day you manage to stop aging in mice.
The normal lifespan of this species is 12 months. Your lab mice are now 18 months old and they are robust and active, with no visible signs of aging. Their biological age indicators match those of 6-month-old mice.
Due to Audrey, you know it’s still too early to celebrate success. What works for mice will not necessarily work the same way for humans.
Smiling as she watches the mice, Audrey asks you to prepare a syringe with the new medicine.
“Professor!” you gasp. “Please don’t tell me you are going to…”
She turns to look at you. “I am,” she says with the same gentle smile. “We have to make sure. We can’t waste any more time. 100,000 human lives are lost to aging every day. By waiting for all the approvals to be obtained, we’ll be literally killing more and more people. Inject me with it.”
Utterly confused, you glance around, but no one here except for you and Audrey.
What she offers is against all the compliance, safety, and bioethics rules you have been taught. But, as you give it a second thought, it begins to make perfect sense.
You can [[help Audrey|3]] try to save millions of human lives, putting her own at stake. Or [[report|Rep]] an intended violation to the CEO.
“Professor,” you say. “If you need a human volunteer, let it be me. Your life is too precious…”
She waves it away. “No. Thank you for offering. I appreciate it much, but we need an old person to see the effects. You are just 27. I’m 65. So it’s me.”
Convinced, you fill the syringe and inject her. You hope you are not killing her by [[doing that|4]].Pretending you need to use the bathroom, you rush for the phone. Picking it up, you tell Yuri Miller, the owner and CEO, what you have accomplished and what Audrey is going to do.
He listens to you without interrupting. Then says: “I see. Thank you” and hangs up.
You avoid Audrey for the rest of the day, never staying with her in private. You don’t know if she has got another assistant to comply with her request.
The next day you come to work just to hear your whole lab has been shut down. You and most colleagues are laid off. You want to say goodbye to Audrey, but no one has seen her and her phone is unresponsive.
On the bright side, you get a really generous severance package. It’s about double of what you have expected. You wonder if that’s your reward for turning the professor in.
Finding another job shortly after, you never hear about Audrey or her life extension work again. She seems to have vanished into the blue. You keep wondering if you did the right thing, but can’t bring yourself to share this story with anyone to hear their opinion.
Both your parents die by aging. No commercially available treatment for it has been launched to the market by then. At the funeral, you ask yourself if you could have saved your parents and lots of other people by siding with Audrey. No way to know for sure at this point.
[[Try again|Start]]You see the first effects of the medicine in two weeks. The wrinkles on Audrey’s face become smaller, smoothing out gradually with every day. She walks around faster, in springy steps. Her voice now sounds youthful. The aging biomarkers you measure on the 14th day could have belonged to a 35-year-old.
“It’s time,” Audrey says.
“Yes.” You step aside to let her towards the phone.
“You do it,” she says. “Be the first person to hear his thanks. I leave it to you as my gratitude for being part of it.”
Deeply moved by her words, you pick up and tell Yuri Miller, the owner and CEO, what you have accomplished.
He listens to you without interrupting. Then says: “Good job. Stay in the lab. I’ll come soon” and [[hangs up|5]].Miller arrives in 15 minutes and asks the two of you to follow him. Feeling uneasy, you obey. You have never seen the CEO so tensed, and his voice so harsh. Your stomach clenches with foreboding.
You leave the building by the fire escape, meeting no one. Waiting for you down there are three black, armored cars, apparently very expensive. The three of you get in one, and the cars dash off.
Miller’s face relaxes a bit. He starts to thank you ardently, calling what you did the greatest discovery in history. Then he says your work will be top secret from now on. Right now you are being moved to a safer place to live and work in because your discovery puts you in great danger. Technological immortality for humans is the thing wanted by everyone: global governments, corporations, mafias, and terrorist groups. They will stop at nothing to get the recipe of your medicine once they know about it.
“It’s to your best interest that they never know,” Miller says emotionally. “I will do my best to keep you and your creation safe.”
You are too stunned to reflect on whether you can trust him, or what he is going to make of your [[‘immortality pill’|6]].After a long ride, you reach an abandoned farm. Beneath it is a vast, luxurious nuclear bunker. Miller shows you the spare bedrooms to take, and the state-of-art lab equipped for you to keep producing the new medicine, as much of it as you possibly can. The more you make, the more lives can be won from death.
Tasking you with this, he parts, promising to come to visit you every two weeks to hear if you need anything to continue your work. Any extra equipment, materials, or lab hands – he will provide you with those as soon as possible.
You examine the bunker. It is a real underground mansion, but without any phones or web connection for you to use. You can see no doors out but the one you’ve got here through. It will not open, probably locked by Miller behind him.
[[There is no one in but you and Audrey|7]].“Looks like we are prisoners here,” you say.
She shrugs. “Let’s get to work.”
You doubt that any new medicine you produce will be just given away to those in need. You say that aloud, asking Audrey if she trusts him.
She looks away. Her face is sad and tired. For the first time ever, you saw your boss so lost and helpless. She is apparently unprepared to handle what has just come over you.
“At least there’s a chance he puts it to the right end,” she whispers. “But no chance for those poor people if we do nothing.”
You realize you don’t really have a choice here. You owe Audrey too much for all she did for you. Regardless of what you think of Miller and his intentions, you will just feel terrible loafing about while she toils in the lab alone.
However hard you think, you can’t come up with any arguments to convince her into sabotaging Miller together. She is far smarter than you, after all. [[Maybe she is right|8]].The next morning you find two suitcases in the hall. They contain your and Audrey’s personal belongings, neatly packed. All the things you are most attached to, except for your phones. You don’t get to see those who delivered them.
Two days later, Miller comes to visit in person. He looks triumphant and happy, his face shining.
Audrey asks if you can contact your families. You haven’t been able to do that in the past three days.
“No need,” Miller says. “Yesterday your car, Ms. de Gris, was found burned down with two bodies inside. The bodies presumably belonged to you and your assistant, although they were too badly damaged to tell for sure. Insurance has been paid to your families.”
You can’t believe what you hear. So… now everyone thinks of you as dead? And… and he killed those two fellows to pass them off as you?
Audrey is petrified by your side. She’s just as shocked as you are.
Will you [[speak up|Speak]] or [[stay silent|Silent]]?(set: $choice to 1)
“Did you kill them?” you shout at Miller.
He looks at you as if you were a complete idiot.
“Sure I didn’t,” he replies coldly. “Two dead bodies from the morgue, unidentified. We had to do that to keep you safe.”
“To keep us safe?” Audrey asks with a nervous laugh.
“Yes,” he says seriously. “You do understand what your discovery means, don’t you? Haven’t I told you who will be after it? And what they can do to get it?”
She says nothing, her face freezing like a mask.
“Who has the immortality technology,” Miller says significantly, “rules the world.”
“So that’s what you want?” Audrey screams. “To rule the world?”
“What I want is to save as many lives as possible. Starting with yours and mine. The work you are doing here is not for me. It is for everyone who will otherwise die of aging.”
“How can we trust you? How can we be sure you’re not just using us for even greater money and power?”
He seems prepared for this question. “I have a list of people who will receive the medicine first. Those who are the oldest, and who create the greatest value for the whole humanity. Researchers. Engineers. Inventors. You will meet each of them. And see I’m telling the truth.”
Saying that, he wheels around and [[leaves|9]].
(set: $choice to 2)
You are too scared of the almighty CEO to speak up. He might kill you too just like those poor fellows. You are not as valuable an employee as Audrey is.
“Did you kill them?” Audrey blurts.
Miller frowns slightly. “Sure I didn’t. Two dead bodies from the morgue, unidentified. We had to do that to keep you safe.”
“To keep us safe?” Audrey lets out a nervous laugh.
“Yes,” he says seriously. “You do understand what your discovery means, don’t you? Haven’t I told you who will be after it? And what they can do to get it?”
She says nothing, her face freezing like a mask.
“Who has the immortality technology,” Miller says significantly, “rules the world.”
“So that’s what you want?” Audrey screams. “To rule the world?”
“What I want is to save as many lives as possible. Starting with yours and mine. The work you are doing here is not for me. It is for everyone who will otherwise die of aging.”
“How can we trust you? How can we be sure you’re not just using us for even greater money and power?”
He seems prepared for this question. “I have a list of people who will receive the medicine first. Those who are the oldest, and who create the greatest value for the whole humanity. Researchers. Engineers. Inventors. You will meet each of them. And see I’m telling the truth.”
Saying that, he wheels around and [[leaves|9]].
“Do you believe him?” you ask Audrey.
She looks embarrassed and lost. “We don’t seem to have much choice, anyway.”
“We must find a way out! Report to the police!”
She shakes her head. Her face looks older than it has been over the past two weeks, although still way too young for the age of 65.
“What way out of here? Can you see it?”
You can’t. You have examined the whole bunker closely over the past few days. Their security seems to be flawless. But you still have hope. Maybe you and Audrey can [[brainstorm a solution|10]]?“There must be a way,” you say confidently.
She smiles. “I like your attitude. Actually, I have something you need to see.”
She removes the locket from her neck. She’s always had it on since you first met her. The item is rather shabby and plain-looking, probably dear to her as a memory.
Inside is a photo of two kids. Once torn in halves, it has been fixed with a Scotch tape.
Audrey removes the tape. You gasp at seeing the rough edge.
What looked like a small piece of photo paper is an incredibly thin, flexible memory storage in disguise, with a tiny USB port.
Audrey smiles at your astonishment. “I have some pretty valuable info here, including Miller’s full DNA decoded. I got it from one of the past projects. We can use it to synthesize his eye in the lab, and open the eye scanner lock in the door.”
You stare at your mentor. Finding a solution where none seemed to be possible, she has commanded all of your respect.
Her plan sounds great, but pretty dangerous as well. For you. Audrey is hugely unlikely to get killed even if caught at the attempt to escape, but you doubt if that goes for yourself too.
You can [[help Audrey|Help]] with her plan. Or [[stay clear and safe|Safe]].You volunteer to help Audrey. In your state-of-art lab, you grow Miller’s eye. It works to open the door.
With your heart sinking, you step into the small, semi-dark hall. Audrey follows you.
From both sides, armed security guards start to come, blocking your way.
“Please go back in,” the senior one says. “You can’t leave the bunker. That’s Mr. Miller’s order.”
So you are prisoners.
There are eight of them. Strong men and women, with clubs and firearms. No ghost of a chance to fight your way through them.
You and Audrey try to talk your way out instead, but the guards seem to have pretty clear and rigorous instructions. They urge you to return inside. You have no choice but [[to obey|11]].Giving it a second thought, you change your mind on helping Audrey. You’d rather not get killed when trying to escape, and even less so when you know that you can live forever, with the brand-new immortality pill.
“Sorry, Professor,” you say. “I’m not doing this.”
Her smile fades. Casting a disappointed look at you, she silently removes the storage into the locket, puts it back on, and [[leaves you alone|110]]The first new immortal to join you in the shelter is a 94-year-old academician who created the most advanced artificial bee concept up to date. He was dying in his bed when Miller’s men sneaked into the house to inject him with the drug that made him strong and vigorous again.
The academician completes his artificial bee project. The tiny insects, produced and managed by Ethernos, take the place of their failing natural counterparts in the fields all around the globe, saving humanity from the deadliest famine in history.
More people are brought in, getting the immortality treatment. They can’t leave the bunker – for their own safety as Miller puts it – but they live and work here, making new breakthrough discoveries and creating amazing things.
You start to believe that Miller is not that bad. A cold, unpleasant type he may be, but not a villain.
You can’t blame him for his choice of individuals to be rescued from death. They are exactly the ones whom you’d have selected yourself. But the very idea of one rich dude deciding who lives and who dies doesn’t sit right with you. That just feels wrong. Undemocratic. Violating the people’s right to know truth… and to access immortality on an equal basis.
(if: $choice is 1)[You can drive these thoughts away and [[stay loyal|Happy]] to Miller. Or [[try to escape|12]] and tell the truth to the world.]
(if: $choice is 2)[You are [[too much afraid|Happy]] of Miller to try to do something about that, anyway.]The first new immortal to join you in the shelter is a 94-year-old academician who created the most advanced artificial bee concept up to date. He was dying in his bed when Miller’s men sneaked into the house to inject him with the drug that made him strong and vigorous again.
The academician completes his artificial bee project. The tiny insects, produced and managed by Ethernos, take the place of their failing natural counterparts in the fields all around the globe, saving humanity from the deadliest famine in history.
More people are brought in, getting the immortality treatment. They can’t leave the bunker – for their own safety as Miller puts it – but they live and work here, making new breakthrough discoveries and creating amazing things.
You start to believe that Miller is not that bad. A cold, unpleasant type he may be, but not a villain.
You can’t blame him for his choice of individuals to be rescued from death. They are exactly the ones whom you’d have selected yourself. But the very idea of one rich dude deciding who lives and who dies doesn’t sit right with you. That just feels wrong. Undemocratic. Violating the people’s right to know truth… and to access immortality on an equal basis.
(if: $choice is 1)[You can drive these thoughts away and [[stay loyal|Happy]] to Miller. Or [[try to escape|Help1]] and tell the truth to the world.]
(if: $choice is 2)[You are [[too much afraid|Happy]] of Miller to try to do something about that, anyway.]Working for Miller, you see more and more new immortals arrive to your underground shelter. When the place starts to feel a bit too crowded, you all move to the underwater city he’s built for you. It looks somewhat like Rapture in Bioshock, but brand-new and shiny.
The immortality drug is launched to the market in due time, when the company has the facilities to produce it in great quantities and at extremely low cost.
People are disbelieving at first. Then staggered. Then crazy to get the pill at any costs. But since there is enough for all, and selling quite affordably, no violence happens but for a few minor incidents.
You and Audrey become global celebrities, bathing in the spotlight. With no more need to keep your breakthrough work in secret, Audrey gets promoted to the Chief Research Officer, while you become one of the Directors under her.
(if: $choice is 1)[Reaping your rewards, you thank the past version of yourself for making the wisest choice. Although it did not look quite that back then, you were smart enough to avoid being duped by the Evil Corp cliché and to see the true worth of Miller’s plan.
Congratulations on unlocking the perfect ending!]
(if: $choice is 2)[Reaping your rewards, you still can’t stop thinking if you could’ve done better otherwise. The current situation didn’t essentially come from your choices; you just were too intimidated to act. It’s pure luck that it turned out so great at the end.]
[[Try again|Start]]For some reason, the guards don’t take the eye away from you. You use it to come out into the hall at times, and talk to those on duty. Some guards are hostile, barking at you and driving you back in right away. But others, too kind or too bored to do the same, keep the small talk up.
You get to know them and make friends with one, a young girl. Her name is Pamela. You never stay in private; the other guards watch that you don’t, but you furtively exchange written notes.
In another note, you write about the work you do and ask her if she thinks it is fair that one person is deciding who deserves immortality and who doesn’t. The next time you come, Pamela is unusually quiet and hardly says a word. She’s apparently stunned by the truth and needs some time to take it in.
She gives you no note that time. But her next one reads: “NO. The world must know. I’ll get you out, but need some [[sleeping pills|13]].”You remind Audrey of her eye plan. It doesn't take long to persuade her to try it.
In your state-of-art lab, you grow Miller’s eye. It works to open the door.
With your heart sinking, you step into the small, semi-dark hall. Audrey follows you.
From both sides, armed security guards start to come, blocking your way.
“Please go back in,” the senior one says. “You can’t leave the bunker. That’s Mr. Miller’s order.”
So you are prisoners.
There are eight of them. Strong men and women, with clubs and firearms. No ghost of a chance to fight your way through them.
You and Audrey try to talk your way out instead, but the guards seem to have pretty clear and rigorous instructions. They urge you to return inside. You have no choice but [[to obey|12]].Well, here goes nothing.
You come out to Pamela being the only guard awake. The rest are snoring, with their heads on the table. You’ve produced an undetectable sleeping potion in your lab, and Pamela secretly put it in their glasses.
You change into a guard’s uniform, pulling the cap over your eyes, and follow Pamela along the semi-dark passages.
You reach an elevator; a different one, not that you used when coming there with Miller. Pamela gives her gun to you.
“Hit me on the head,” she asks. “Please. Let it look like I was attacked. A better chance to keep my job.”
You remember Pamela is the sole provider for her family of four: a severely disabled mother and two young siblings. It will probably be hard for her to get another job that pays as well as the one with Ethernos.
You understand her reasons, but hitting her is so much against you. You have never hit anyone before as you hate the very concept of physical violence.
Will you [[hit Pamela|Hit]] or [[stay true to your values|NoHit]]?You hit Pamela on the head with the gun. She collapses to the floor. You see blood trickling from her temple.
You feel freezing at thinking that you might have killed her. You have an urge to check if she is alive, but you also know you must get out as fast as possible to disclose the secret of immortality to the world. If you linger and get caught, her sacrifice will be in vain.
[[Run|Run]] or [[try to help her|Check]]?“Sorry,” you mumble, feeling guilty. “I… I just can’t.”
Pamela clenches her fists. Her face shows barely contained anger. She probably sees you as an ungrateful pig who won’t do even that little for her. Maybe she even regrets helping you.
Before she changes her mind and calls the other guards, you burst into the elevator and press [[the up button|Choice]].You put the greater good above your friend and enter the elevator. You press [[the up button|Choice]], hoping all you have done will pay off at the end.As you squat to examine Pamela, another security guard comes from around the corner. Aiming his gun at you, he shouts: “Hands up!”
You obey. He picks up the gun you’ve dropped, and escorts you back to the bunker.
Pamela turns out to be all right, spending just a couple of days in the hospital. Another good thing is that she does not betray you. But you are now guarded more closely and [[never|Happy]] get another chance to escape.It is the dead of the night outside. You walk in the dark along the empty highway for several hours until a truck driver stops by, offering to give you a lift. You agree gladly and thank the man for his kindness, but you don’t tell him about your mission or the immortality pill. You don’t know if he can be trusted.
Getting off in the dawning city, you consider the available options. First of all, you can [[go to the police|Police]]. But will they believe in a story like yours? Will they arrest a powerful tycoon, one of the Forbes-20, and hold him accountable? You have strong doubts on both.
Next, the [[Transhumanist Party|Trans]]. As a longevity geek and Audrey’s mentee, you know they are those very guys who want everyone to live forever. You don’t have any reasons to doubt their commitment.
And, finally, [[WikiLeaks|Wiki]]. You are 99% sure they will love to hear about Miller’s secret doings. You have Audrey’s locket with all the info, including the actual formula of the immortality pill, and Pamela took care to put a cheap smartphone in the uniform’s pocket. Using it and the free public Wi-Fi, you can reach out to them.
You feel that this choice is really important, and spend a decent amount of time thinking it over.You go to the police. As the duty officer hears your story, his face changes from disbelieving to angry. He probably thinks you are just another crazy dude talking nonsense.
You hand him the locket. He gives a whistle at discovering a state-of-art storage inside a sentimental photo. Taking it to his senior, he agrees to send a squad with you to the alleged crime spot.
When you descend into the bunker, you are beyond shocked to see what awaits you inside.
This place looks like it has been abandoned for years. A thick layer of dust on the floor and remaining furniture. Scattered trash. And no traces of the state-of-art laboratory you left less than 12 hours ago!
You get fined for purposeful deception.
All charges against Miller are dropped through lack of proof. When you demand your locket back, everyone in the police denies they have ever seen an item like that, let alone take it.
You realize Miller probably has spies in the police department. They warned him about the coming squad so he re-located the lab, and now they make you look a crazy fanatic in everyone’s eyes.
No longer having the locket, you can’t prove anything. Your case is lost.
[[Try again|Start]]You visit the local office of the Transhumanist Party. As the receptionist hears your story, her face becomes more and more bored. They probably see lots of crazy ones coming here to tell they have invented the immortality pill. Your baggy, oversized uniform, and a sleepless night on your face do little to assist your credibility.
Desperate to convince her, you hand her the locket. She takes it carelessly and walks away.
You spend half an hour waiting before the girl comes back, with a tray of coffee and snacks and her sweetest smile on. Addressing you very politely, she treats you and invites you to come to meet her boss at 9 a. m. next morning to discuss the best ways of leading humanity to its immortal future.
Delighted, you use the rest of the day to ‘rise from the dead’, restoring your identity and access to your bank account that has some savings.
Spending the night in a hotel, you come back in the morning just to find the Transhumanist Party’s office completely empty; even their signboard is no longer there. From the street trader standing at the corner with his tray, you learn they moved out yesterday evening, in a great hurry.
You realize you’ve been tricked as a kid. You don’t even know where they went; no chances to get your locket back.
Living an ordinary life, you never again hear about Miller, Audrey, or the Transhumanist Party’s local leader who tricked you.
In a few years, you hear rumors about the secret Order of Immortals owning the technology that stops aging. They provide this treatment to no one but their members, and the rich and powerful pay billions to join.
You see more and more celebrities and politicians in their 70s who look no older than 30. None of them admits receiving anti-aging therapy, claiming it’s just genes and cosmetic surgery.
At some point civil unrest breaks out. Thousands of people come out to the streets, demanding truth on whether technological immortality has been achieved.
Joining the protest movement, you get killed in one of the first clashes with the robot and drone army controlled by the newly-immortal power elites, missing an opportunity to know which side ultimately prevails.
[[Try again|Start]]WikiLeaks, then.
You send them all you have. The stuff gets published shortly after. Everyone can now access the immortality pill formula for free, just as you and Audrey wanted.
Biohackers start to make the anti-aging medicine in their garages and try it.
In a few months, it becomes evident that the formula works. Lots of cases when it was administered to old people, making them young again in just a few weeks.
And it begins.
People are furious at the governments concealing the immortality formula. Thousands come out to the streets, demanding the corrupt politicians to step down.
There is violence in some places. Private hospitals and Big Pharma’s properties get attacked by angry mobs who ravage them in search of the immortality pills stocked inside.
Biohackers get kidnapped, tortured, and killed for the life-extending drugs they have.
Tens of thousands of lives are lost before peace is restored.
Over the next few years, millions more die of cancer provoked by low-quality treatments. The necessary degree of purity is hard to achieve in garage labs. And the improperly made medicine gives a crazy growth boost to cancer cells.
You can’t stop feeling guilty of all these deaths. You wonder if you could have prevented this bloody mess by going to the police or the Transhumanist Party back then.
[[Try again|Start]]