I asked, “How do you decide when someone starts the treatment?”
“Members of our club, who get in messes, scandals, or terminal illnesses, will officially commit suicide or die of some complication, and are brought here to begin treatments. For example, Ken officially died just before his sentencing. He threatened us actually. He didn’t want to go to prison. In the end, we decided there was too much risk of exposure to our interests. He was already a member and entitled to treatments. He did not need to threaten us. Normally we would have dismissed a member who threatens us, but many of our members profited greatly from Enron and Ken warned us before it’s collapse, so our assets were protected and we had time to construct a plausible explanation.”
“What happens when a member is dismissed?”, I asked.
“They usually die shortly after in some accident. We can’t leave disgruntled ex members to cause problems. Part of joining the club is the understanding that we can’t back out once the offer is made.”
“What if a member has a terminal illness?”, I asked.
“Members who have cancer or are near death come here before they die from their illness. The treatments can save them, but they rejuvenate, so they can’t be seen in public. We can not take that chance. Steve was dying of cancer. He was not ready to retire, but there were no other options. When he became too weak to continue, we brought him here and announced his death.”
“What about emergencies? What if someone is in an accident?”, I asked.
“We have facilities all over the world which can initiate the treatment. We contract with emergencies and extraction teams that specialize in life saving procedures for our people. If the emergency isn’t immediately life threatening, we have an emergency number to call, with a phrase that verifies our identity. We explain that we need to be picked up, and arrangements are made. If a member is already unconscious, and can’t make the call, another process is triggered when they are entered into the system by emergency services. In either case, a scout is sent to the person, who judges the situation and calls in the necessary extraction team. The team is tailored to clean up whatever mess may have caused the emergency. It’s all very professional.”
“Sometimes a member has had enough and just wants to retire, no questions asked. In any case, a plausible cause of their death is arranged, and a believable story is released to the public. Usually, through lawyers. The member is brought to a treatment facility. Once there, the member will spend a few days under observation to make sure the treatment is working. After that we are transported to this island or one of the other hidden sanctuaries.“
“Then you become young again?”, I asked.
“Once the treatment begins, we become young again within a few months. As you have seen, we rejuvenate to the equivalent of our late twenties. We get a booster every 10 years. Without the booster, we will begin to age normally, however, I believe we are close to finding a more permanent process.”
“How do you mean?”, I asked.
“We think, that we have found a way to implement what the treatment does for us into our DNA so our bodies will restore our cells and stop the aging process. A lot of testing must take place first. It has to work perfectly. We have time to work it out.”
Projects: