Soulless: The Immortal Gene

BOOK ONE:

Immortality. What was once a magnificent dream has now become our grim reality. Man no longer fears death; he yearns for it.

In 2016, children began to have dreams of people they once were. Past friends, family, events... they could remember it all with accurate detail. By 2200, entire generations experienced the same, marking that year as the Return, and it was then we realised that reincarnation was more than a belief. Our souls could never leave this earth, and with every return, our minds began to crowd with memories that no longer belonged to us.

Every century that passed, the insanity deepened and drove humanity to the verge of extinction. Countless wars devastated society, leaving the planet and civilization in ruins. The advancement humanity once made came to a halt as the will to better the world became the will just to survive it. A decade after the world wars, a powerful group calling themselves the Elite stepped in to rebuild our depleting race.

During this time, researchers discovered that every soul left a unique mark on the iris, which was carried through

with the soul's next body. To bring back order, a new technology capable of tracking the soul imprint was

created, allowing our government to tag, track and control us. For the Elite, the system was perfect. Regardless of where they were reborn, they were returned to their former glory and entitlements. For those who broke the law, death was no longer an escape and they were branded as blacklisted and sent to decades of imprisonment.

To slow the insanity, scientists created a serum called the D400 that repressed the memories and personalities of all previous lives.

Most of the population survived off small ounces, just enough to suppress violent and paranoid behaviours. Those of the lower classes were left to crumble beneath the disease, becoming crazed husks called drifters. The Elite thought they had cracked the code to our reincarnation problem and a new norm emerged among us. That is, of course, until I was born.

You see, I was bornwithout a soul imprint. A defect that has restarted century-old wars, but thistime nothing can stop the madness from destroying us all.