Diaspora Ad Astra (6 page)

She giggled and once more David got to see the cutest pair of dimples on the planet. “Tell you what. I’ll pick up Sparky’s food after I drop off the
paintings. So you…” Shelley crouched down beside him and gave his tie a playful tug. “You can save your strength.”

“Mr. Lazaro?”

Mateo’s voice brought David back to soul-numbing reality.

“Here Mr. Lazaro,” he gave David a glass of cold water. “You’d better have a sip.”

David accepted the glass from Mateo, and nearly choked on a mouthful of water.

“There, there.” Mateo offered a clean white handkerchief.

David held up one hand to decline it, and wiped his mouth with another.

“I would have let the police inform you about this tragedy if I didn’t have good news.” Mateo’s face took on a look of complete empathy. “And you
certainly could use some good news.”

David looked at Mateo. His clothes were too expensive for him to be a cop. At the same time, he didn’t have the swagger of a lawyer or anyone from the media. What Mateo
had was a face people could trust. Combined with an assuring voice. And a firm, dry handshake.

Salesman
, David thought. And the heartless bastard was about to sell him something in his moment of grief.

“As I mentioned earlier, I
am
from Bio Regain.” Mateo gave David a data card.

Peter R. Mateo

Area Manager for Sales

Megapolis Manila District.

David stared at the company logo, a white phoenix emerging from white tongues of flame. Then he slid the card into his holophone’s memory slot to upload the data. In his
dazed state, he tried to comprehend why Mateo and where his paychecks came from should matter.

“You may have heard of our particular service,” purred Mateo.

David finally realized why the company name seemed familiar. Bio Regain was the international pharmaceutical corporation that had achieved, and patented, humanity’s
greatest medical triumph.

Resurrection.

With money amassed from military contracts, and a formidable pool of great scientific and medical minds, Bio Regain developed a process that could bring a dead person back to
life. And, according to the patents, no one else may duplicate said process for the next fifty years. In less than a decade after astounding the world with their achievement, Bio Regain Centers
were now found all over the planet. On the streets, its Mobile Support Units were more common than ambulances. Or hearses.

Bio Regain definitely got more than its share of intrigue after revealing it had the next best thing to immortality. A portion of the medical community considered Resurrection
a violation of the Hippocratic Oath, particularly the part about not playing God. Major religions proclaimed it as an abomination. Local fundamentalist groups called Resurrection the devil’s
handiwork. Local activist groups branded it as anti-poor.

Nonetheless, Bio Regain flourished. Thanks to the battalions of lawyers, lobbyists, and publicists on its payroll. And of course, to the rich and powerful who could afford to
extend their life spans. Bio Regain, formerly a little-known supplier of synthetic blood, was now richer than most countries.

Bio Regain set up aggressive sales teams to peddle its miracle. People like Mateo prowled the planet for clients who could literally pay the price of bringing loved ones back
from the dead. Funeral directors and undertakers bitterly called Mateo’s kind
Overtakers
due to the losses they suffered whenever Bio Regain managed to steal away moneyed potential
customers.

“I don’t think we can afford Resurrection,” David sobbed. The fact that he could still save Shelley, but didn’t have enough Credits to do so, squeezed
sharply at his heart.

Once more, David was ten. He and his father silently watched as men sealed up his mother’s tomb. Leukemia had taken her.

“But Mr. Lazaro, I did say I have good news!” The Overtaker beamed. “May I take a seat?”

David nodded.

Mateo positioned himself on the chair before David’s desk. “Your wife’s injury, though fatal, is not that difficult to mend. Major organ restorations are
really the more expensive sort. There’s another bit of luck, Mr. Lazaro. A Mobile Support Unit happened to be in the immediate vicinity of the accident. That can also cut costs compared to
having one sent over to retrieve the deceased.

“Your wife is in our expert care at this very moment. Our staff members were able to place her in cryostasis almost immediately after her death.” Mateo’s
hands made a manicured steeple. “I’m certain there’ll be none of the complicated brain damage operations that add to the expense.”

“What happens if I say no?”

A cold shadow passed over Mateo’s countenance. “Then we shall endorse your wife’s body to the morgue of your choice.”

David simply stared at Mateo in disbelief, unable to speak.

“But there’s no need for that, Mr. Lazaro!” The shadow left and Mateo was once more salvation and reassurance in the flesh. “What I’m trying to
say is this. I can give you a very special offer.”

He paused for effect, and then graciously handed over a portable Debit Pad.

Gingerly, David took it. He peered at the numbers on the luminous screen.

“Now, you may not be familiar with the cost of Resurrection.” Mateo’s voice was so oily that he could cause ecological disasters simply by talking near an
ocean. “You have my assurance that you’re getting almost 40% off the regular price.”

The cost was greater than the current value of their house and the remaining car.

David tried to shake off the initial shock. “Why are you giving me a discount?”

“Because it’s not all about the Credits. True, Bio Regain’s clientele is composed mostly of the affluent. Politicians. Tycoons. Movie stars. But now,
we’d like more people to enjoy a second chance. We’re even providing financing options. Bio Regain is not the greedy monster certain misguided individuals claim it to be. We are about
saving human life.”

Mateo leaned back and spoke a little slower. “And besides, I don’t think it’s fair that a healthy, lovely woman of 26 should die. No sir.”

David guessed that finding a new client meant Mateo would earn another fat commission. But he did know how to drive in a point.

Without Shelley, nothing—not the car, not the house, not his life—would matter.

“I’m not sure if your insurance policy would cover the expense. However, you can sue the car manufacturer. So, additional Credits should be coming your
way.”

David was about to ask how Mateo knew about their insurance. Then, he realized the Overtaker had probably accessed every financial record they had before he even bothered to
come over.

“Think about it, Mr. Lazaro. 40% off for a Resurrection.” Mateo allowed himself a small smile. “You can aptly call it the offer of a lifetime.”

How much was Shelley’s life worth?

Thanks to Mateo and Bio Regain, David actually knew.

“Easy, Honey.” David held the car door open and helped Shelley out. She took his hand and slowly stepped out of the passenger seat and onto the concrete-paved
driveway. Shelly turned to watch as the gate automatically slid shut with an electric hum and, finally, a clang.

“I missed this place.” She smiled at their home, a three-bedroom bungalow built in Quezon City before the turn of the century. It had belonged to David’s
parents.

For a week, Shelley stayed at the sleek Bio Regain Center in Makati. She was brought there minutes after David sealed the deal with his security code and thumbprint on
Mateo’s Debit Pad. Staff members took her out of cryostasis, reconstructed her damaged vertebrae and treated other injuries sustained in the accident. Then, they pumped her with Bio
Regain’s claim to fame, a classified formula that, as David understood it, jumpstarted the mitochondria.

Technically, it rebooted the body’s energy generation system, which in turn served as the catalyst for cellular revival. Once this trick is achieved, the revitalization
of all the body’s systems was simple enough.

“It’s a good thing your wife is young,” said Doctor Victorino. The Bio Regain physician looked fresh out of medical school. He checked data as Shelley slept.
“Older patients can take months of treatment.”

“How long does she have to stay here?” David’s eyes followed the IV tube snaking up from Shelley’s arm towards the plastic packet of clear fluid
suspended by the bed.

Doctor Victorino glanced at the data once more. “Her vitals are good. I’m confident of her Resurrection’s success. She’ll just have to go through a
five-day observation and rehabilitation period here at the Center. Nothing to worry about. Bio Regain regulations, that’s all. Then, she can go home. Also, by that time she’ll be on LXR
instead of intravenous feeding.”

“LXR?”

“Short for
Life Extension Regimen
. Her diet will have to consist purely of LXR for the next nine months.” Doctor Victorino sounded like he had delivered
the little lecture dozens of times. “This would make it easier for her body to absorb energy-giving nutrients. After that time, she may begin eating regular food. However, LXR still needs to
be taken once a day for maintenance.”

Shelley was now dependent on Bio Regain. For life.

David nearly groaned. He managed to sigh instead. “What’s in it, Doc?”

“Aside from Bio Regain’s active ingredients, LXR contains proteins, oxygen, vitamins and minerals, glucose, and electrolytes in a saline solution.” The doctor
shrugged. “These are all naturally present in the human body. Bio Regain simply refined and enhanced them for a more efficient delivery system.”

On the day of Shelley’s release, David proceeded to the LXR Outlet. The only place in the country where LXR could be purchased was at the Center’s ground floor.

An audio visual presentation played on the large holographic projector in a corner. Customers, or rather house help, messengers, and personal assistants sent by customers, sat
on comfortable chairs as they waited for their turn. Beyond them was a long counter manned by white-clad Bio Regain staff. A large screen above the counter displayed the white phoenix and flames,
as well as the company slogan:

Bio Regain

Your new lease on life.

A security guard gave David a number. He made his way to a seat near the projector. With nothing else to do he watched the 3D images of Caucasians professing their satisfaction
at being Resurrectees.

“My life was crumbling away day by day from the cancer. I’d lost all hope of ever seeing my kids grow up.” The speaker was a male realtor with salt-and-pepper
hair. “After my Resurrection, I can hardly wait to meet my grandkids.”

“I was seriously injured in the Havana Conflict. I would have died if it weren’t for Bio Regain’s synthetic plasma,” confessed a female colonel.
“Then, I ended up in a sniper’s crosshairs in Jerusalem. That’s twice that Bio Regain saved my backside.”

“When I felt the pain in my chest, I was thinking… this is it! I’m a goner!” The businessman with the Santa Claus beard and a Texan accent beamed.
“Now, I’ve never felt so alive!”

As he stared blankly at the projection, David touched his wristwatch.

Once more, David was 20. His father had just about succeeded in killing himself with alcohol.

In the ambulance, he took David’s hand, and squeezed as hard as he could. “The house. Take care of it when I’m gone.”

“Dad. Don’t say that. Please.”

“And the watch. The one they gave me at the office. It’s yours.”

“No. Dad. Please.”

“Sorry, Davey. I should have done more for you. For your mother.”

The old man never came home from the hospital.

David heard his number called. He walked up to the counter and gave Shelley’s account information to a girl. Her plastic nameplate identified her as Vivian.

Vivian checked the records. “Welcome to the LXR Outlet, Mr. Lazaro. I see this is your first order. Will that be a month’s supply?”

David asked how many Credits that would cost. She told him.

He grabbed at the counter to steady himself.

90 vials of LXR meant almost all that he made in a month. During the emotional roller coaster ride of the past few days, finding out how much the formula cost never occurred to
David. And that bastard Mateo had conveniently kept silent about it.

“Sir?” Vivian looked from David’s hand on the counter to his face.

“I had no idea it was this expensive.”

“Producing LXR is a costly process to begin with, sir. Plus we have to import it from Bio Regain Hangzhou. That’s where all the LXR for South East Asia is made at
the moment. There will be a Bulacan laboratory in three years, so the prices should be brought down a bit,” Vivian added.

“I’ll take a week’s worth.”

“But Sir, a month’s worth is what we recommend.”

“One week,” David said more firmly than he’d intended to.

Vivian nodded and walked to a supply room. She returned with Shelley’s LXR in an insulated case. “Sir, please remember to keep the vials refrigerated.”

David loaded the LXR into the back seat of the car. Then he checked Shelley out of the Center.

“I remember having an accident.” Shelley said softly as the passenger safety harness automatically slid around her. “Good thing I had these things
on.”

Her car was totaled. The safety belt had saved her somehow. But the impact of the crash created the violent whiplash that snapped her neck.

“Yes, Honey,” was all David could say.

“I don’t remember seeing any blood. I would have fainted.” Shelley giggled.

On her grandmother’s farm, there had been a friendly goat that the young Shelley had thought of as a pet. Accidentally seeing it slaughtered and being sprayed with warm
goat blood permanently ruined any chance of Shelley ever considering going to medical school.

David steered the car out of the parking lot and through Bio Regain Center’s gates. They drove past the Center’s perimeter walls. Sprayed on the white-painted
reinforced concrete were the words: