RESURGENCE

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

May 5, 2034

Inside a popular news channel studio, Jamie Bennet was about to go live on air. Ten minutes ago, she was painfully nervous, and maybe even a touch excited—understandably so, considering she was about to present a breaking story to millions. It took her years of hard work, researching stories, being in the field, and doing interviews to get the evening news anchor position, and this was going to be her first major story since being promoted a month ago.

“Good afternoon. About half an hour ago, a horrific terrorist act took place at Times Square in New York City. Benjamin Myers, a retired U.S. Army Major General opened fire with a semi-automatic assault rifle and killed sixty-three people and injured more than a hundred. The death toll is unconfirmed and could reach above one hundred as medical professionals are trying their best to save lives as we speak. The NYPD has confirmed that hand grenades were used in the attack. The lone attacker showed no signs of surrendering or stopping and was shot dead by the police.”

“Benjamin Myers was born on April 9, 1971 in Hawkinsville, Illinois. He was enlisted in the U.S. Army as a soldier and saw action in Afghanistan and Iraq. He retired from the military with a rank of major general. He had no known children and had been divorced for more than ten years. During the last five or so years, he led a reclusive lifestyle, and the only social activity he did was playing poker at casinos. A fellow player at the Lexington Casino in Pennsylvania described him as an odd fellow who always talked about power corrupting the human race and the downfall of Rome.” 

“Phoenix has confirmed that Benjamin Myers underwent a Life-Reversal procedure at the company’s New Jersey center a month ago. There is a strong possibility that the right-winged government will investigate the role played by Phoenix’s Life-Reversal procedure in affecting the attacker’s psychological condition. We have with us in the studio Doctor William Green to talk about this.”

“Welcome Doctor Green,” she said with a smile. The camera zoomed out, and a middle-aged balding man came into the frame and smiled back at her.

“Please explain us how ‘going young’ might have made Benjamin Myers commit such a heinous crime?”

“Let’s understand the concept of ‘going young’ in depth before we discuss the massacre,” said Doctor Green. “Phoenix claims that even though the procedure rejuvenates the brains’s memory cells, it has no impact on human memory. Imagine if I was to ‘go young’ today and become a thirty year old. Ideally my memory should get reset to what it was when I was thirty. That’s not what actually happens. All of my life’s memories stay with me after the procedure. Nobody knows why. It’s one of those scientific exceptions that simply exists.”

The doctor shifted in his chair, and a seriousness replaced the smile on his face.

“In my opinion,” he said. “The memory exception rule doesn’t hold true every time. In some cases, a person’s memory does get reset. In the case of Benjamin Myers, that’s exactly what I think happened. He was a decorated war veteran and had been living his old age happily the way he wanted. One fine day, he decided to ‘go young.’ He underwent the Age-Reversal procedure and came out with his mind and memory exactly as it was when he was thirty. It’s been confirmed that he served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and he had to take a leave of six months from service to deal with post-traumatic stress. So here he was suffering from trauma again. He had no recollection of his entire life after the war. Thirty years of his memories were washed away in a flash. He was delusional and very dangerous. He committed the massacre, but was definitely insane when he did so.”

“So let me ask you this,” said Jamie Bennet. “Who is responsible for the loss of innocent lives?”

“It’s tough to say what made Benjamin Myers do such a heinous act,” said the doctor. “I think he is partly responsible and so is Phoenix. The company should have a proper screening process to make sure that the people—who undergo Age-Reversal—are mentally sane to be let back into the society.”

“Thank you, Doctor Green,” she said. The camera panned to the left and zoomed on her. The doctor was no longer in the frame.

“A press release issued by Phoenix states that a psychological analysis of Benjamin Myers was performed before and after the Age-Reversal procedure, and he was found to be normal and sane. In a related story, the suspected role of Phoenix has added fuel to the already simmering right-wing states. People are protesting, and rumor of a nationwide protest on Sunday has been making the rounds on social media networks. The controversial pastor, Terry Stanford, has called for all Phoenix Life centers to be closed until an independent investigation is completed.”