Ooorah's Smackdown 2016

Immortal (Part Two)

Jon gaped at him.

Jeri bit down on a surge of impatience. Had he hired the wrong man here? Couldn't Jon take a joke? He shrugged and continued.

"I want to hear the latest on the nanotech project. Sales tells me that Youth Drops are doing well, better than the Anti Aging Spray. Probably to do with the marketing, as they are basically the same product," he smiled wryly, "but I'd better talk to Doctor Hawkins myself. Maybe we should rebrand the mature age product as an 'Elixir.' And since I'm here, I'd like a word with Jenner in the Bio Lab. Has he had any success with the Turritopsis trials yet?"

"No, sir. Not to the best of my knowledge, but I'm certain Dr Jenner will be able to provide you with an update. Who would you like to see first, Mr Stek? Doctor Hawkins or Doctor Jenner?"

"I'll have a word with Doctor Hawkins if she's free."

Despite the phrasing, Jon knew it wasn't a request. He sent Doctor Hawkins an urgent message via his wristcom and then sent a second message to Doctor Jenner.

Doctor Hawkins was waiting for them when they reached her laboratory. "Mr Stek," she said, peeling off a plastic glove to shake hands. "How are you, sir?"

"I'm good, Doctor. How is the anti-aging project coming along?"

"Making progress, sir. We want to live forever, and we're getting there. Our trials of the latest batch of modified nanobytes, version NB12, are showing very positive results, so far." Doctor Hawkins ventured a small smile.

"As you know, our current commercial products allow the average person to extend their lifespan up to 110 years. The next batch—if it continues to trial successfully—should bring that up to 120! And most of those years will be at the equivalent of the pre-nanobyte age of fifty. I have a small team working on improving that further. If we can maintain a level of health comparative to forty instead of fifty for the last sixty to seventy years of life... just imagine the extra benefits that would bring. More energy for one!"

Doctor Hawkins' grey eyes were bright with excitement. At age forty-seven, she had a vested interest in the success of the new product.

"That's excellent news, Doctor. What time frame are we looking at here?"

A cautious expression crossed the doctor's face. "If all goes well, we should be able to begin clinical trials within the year. After that... we'll have to wait and see. I don't like to pre-empt the results, but I will say it's looking promising. Very promising."

"Excellent," Jeri repeated. He shook her hand again. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Right, let's see what news Doctor Jenner has for me," he continued, turning to address Jon.

"Yes, sir, if you'll follow me." Jon led the way through the corridors and down the ramp to the floor below. Both men entered the airlock which separated the Bio Lab from the rest of the facility and then stood still as the decontamination chamber performed its function, ensuring they didn't bring contaminating substances into the lab, whether by accident or not.

Doctor Jenner greeted them in person, his fluffy white hair and protuberant blue eyes giving him the image of the typical mad scientist beloved by holovids. Jon found himself wondering all too frequently how far that was from the actual truth. There were certainly some containers in the storage lab that he didn't want to study too closely and there were rumours that the Doctor didn't always wait quite long enough before testing his inventions on humans.

"Ah! Mr Stek!" exclaimed Doctor Jenner, eagerly. "There you are. I'm afraid we're having only limited success with my jellyfish—the Turritopsis—research. I've had some promising results with other species of Cnidaria, but those results don't transfer well to creatures with a skeleton."