Chapter 235 - 235: 231:
The "Inverted Pyramid" in Gotham City is a new art installation built especially for Alritex Mobile, a division of Alritex Entertainment, a mobile game and app development company. This extraordinary architectural work, commissioned by the owner of Alritex Entertainment, has quickly become a landmark, drawing crowds of tourists eager to admire its unusual form. Guides proudly explain that it is a carefully thought-out design that allows for convenient use while taking up minimal space.
The building's shape, for example, prevents scorching sunlight from entering the windows, while its tapered base maximizes outdoor space. The glass used in its construction ensures essential natural lighting, and the specially assembled metal frame makes the structure resistant even to powerful gusts of wind. It is in this building that the games the world plays are conceived, designed, and brought to life.
While the next wave of tourists listened with undisguised interest to the tale of a masterful orator, I settled into the chair of my new office and immersed myself in the contents of an ancient manuscript. One stream of my mind focused on reading the tattered pages, which I tried to hold especially carefully in my hands, while the other replayed the vivid events of the previous day. Kavita Rao had completed the first batch of Lazarus Pit elixirs unexpectedly quickly, preparing a full twenty vials.
Yesterday, having taken on the duties of a courier, I personally delivered the medicine to every person with whom I had a close relationship. Rao's preparation not only added a hundred years to a person's life, but also more than tripled their natural regeneration. Furthermore, the elixir increased the body's physical stats—albeit ten times less than Erskine's serum—but even such a seemingly small improvement could still save a life.
So I distributed it to all my close friends and my beloved girlfriends, for whose safety I was extremely worried. An elderly couple I respected immensely, Madame Alexandra and Sir Maxwell, also received their share of the medicine. They had selflessly helped me when I was just beginning my journey, and even now they supported me like the son they lost many years ago. I, in turn, had come to regard them as the parents I never had—or perhaps simply never knew.
My memories of my family are hazy, and to this day I do not know who I was in my past life, what I did, or whom I loved. But now I do not think about it so much. Why disturb the past when I am busy creating a new future? The elixir from the Lazarus Pit can be called a universal medicine, since it has a strong and noticeable effect on the body only the first time it is taken, while the second and subsequent doses merely heal.
Here a logical question might arise: "Why not spread this medicine throughout the world, thereby saving thousands—no, millions—of lives?" Renee asked herself the same question. "Why not share this medicine with medical institutions?" she reasoned, convinced of the justice of her thoughts. "How many people are dying right now? Some have terminal cancer, some need an organ donation, and some are simply in a coma and may never wake up…"
"Some have Parkinson's disease, some suffer from Alzheimer's, and some are even infected with syphilis," I continued for her. "I know all this, Renee… This is the world—unfair and cruel."
"But now we have the opportunity to fix it!"
"You think so? Compassion and, without a doubt, a worthy desire to help the sick and dying deprive you of the ability to see and understand the bigger picture. You cannot even imagine what consequences such a rash action can lead to."
"What could the consequences be? That everyone will be healthy and happy? For me, that is an excellent outcome."
"The idealistic delusion of a naive dreamer. You forgot to take into account such important aspects of the elixir's effect, like lifespan and the regenerative factor."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"Everyone who takes the elixir will gain a one-hundred-year increase in lifespan. This means they will be able to live to one hundred and fifty, and some will even reach two hundred. Furthermore, they will practically stop getting sick or visiting hospitals, as their natural regeneration and immunity will more than triple. Even from a purely physiological standpoint, those who take the medicine will become significantly stronger than those who do not. How do you think people will feel about someone who is indecently healthy and long-lived?"
"If there is only one such long-lived person, they will likely notice envious glances, but that will be the extent of it. But what if there are suddenly many such 'indecently healthy' people, and with each accident and sudden illness, more and more appear? How do you think people who were so unfairly deprived of their illness will treat such 'lucky ones'?"
"This…" Renee was at a loss for words. I waited for her to continue.
"People are civilized, after all," she said finally, though her voice no longer sounded so confident.
"Do you truly believe that? After all the horrors you had to witness as a detective? You saw the inhumane acts a person is capable of, and what kind of creature a human being can be. As the dominant species on the planet, we, for the most part, do not tolerate those who are superior to us in any way. Envy, greed, vanity—these vices exist in each of us. Now imagine a situation where those who were sick yesterday suddenly become centers of attraction for these very vices."
"Ordinary people will want to become just like them."
"True. It will not happen right away, but the outcome will be the same. 'Why should I die at seventy, while others live to be a hundred? How am I any worse than them? It's unfair,' those who will have to die earlier than everyone else will think, simply because they never had the chance to become seriously ill. The irony! At first, people will try to obtain the cure legally. They will kiss a snake right in the hospital—or better yet, ten. They will put several bullets in their stomach so as not to die immediately. They will inject themselves with illegal substances, but in such a way that they can still be resuscitated. They will deliberately court death so they can return to life only through the drug from the Lazarus Pit."
"That's too exaggerated…"
"Perhaps. But that is how it will begin."
"Then there will be mass unrest and rallies for equal rights. They will not be anything like the usual programs organized on racial grounds; this time, people will be fighting for equal rights to life expectancy. But that is not all. Medical institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and medical equipment manufacturers—everything that contributes to healthcare in one way or another—will face stagnation, or at worst, bankruptcy. With such a universal cure, the need for medical equipment, doctors, and medications will become minimal and, eventually, disappear altogether. Billions of people will lose their jobs. Unemployment and crime will rise to unprecedented levels. Protest movements will sweep the world, inevitably escalating into rebellion and revolution. A civil war will break out that, believe me, the world will remember as the most brutal and bloody in its history."
"Imagine, hypothetically, that we decided to distribute the cure to everyone without exception. There are over twenty billion people on Earth, and although I have plenty of healing water, it will not be enough for everyone. This resource is not unlimited…"
"Perhaps you are right," Montoya sighed resignedly.
I hugged the girl but said nothing more. I knew why Renee was so worried about this phantom possibility of healing everyone. She had buried several comrades who could have been saved if the hospital had possessed such a cure. Moreover, one of her closest friends had died of cancer, which still weighed heavily on her heart.
I can distribute both the super-soldier serum and the Lazarus Pit elixir to everyone; I can, in doing so, help humanity evolve into a new, more perfect form. But as I already said, there will not be enough for everyone. Besides, I am no saint; selfishness is inherent in me as well.
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