"Huh..." Naomi chuckled. "Here I thought you'd start with your birth story, but you're more interested in learning about your parents and Ethan's demise..."
Naomi eyed me curiously, inching closer. "The parents you're talking about, are they Phoebe’s folks?"
I frowned, offering no reply.
"Seriously, you actually think you're Phoebe?" Naomi pinched my chin, examining my face from side to side. "I bet, the organization will pull out all the stops to prove you're the reincarnated Phoebe... because those nuts are too eager to prove that souls can be reborn."
Suddenly, Naomi burst into laughter. "Once people get their hands on money and power, their desires just keep growing... All those tycoons, in their quest for immortality, have poured in tons of cash, employing the most advanced medical techniques and the costliest drugs, resorting to inhumane practices just to prolong life... because they can afford it."
"Sadly, nature's laws are immutable, and nature doesn't cater to these folks..." Naomi's voice grew somber. "When the time comes, death is inevitable, and many a wealthy person's greatest regret on their deathbed is not living to see the day when eternal life becomes a reality..."
I remained silent, my brow furrowed throughout.
"Your existence, however, has turned heads among those already crazed billionaires... Now, you're the most valuable among all test subjects." Naomi offered a wry smile. "As test subjects, you're all commodities in the hands of the organization, displayed for the tycoons' amusement and investment. They communicate their interests to the organization, which then selects candidates... for experiments."
Like cloning, organ transplants, umbilical cord blood... and so on.
"In recent years, with medical advancements hitting a plateau, life expectancy has been capped by genetics, environmental factors, and more, leaving the average lifespan of the wealthy peaking around ninety to a hundred years before declining. Gene editing, while a feather in the organization's cap, ultimately benefits future generations... The moguls, however, are more concerned with their own well-being."
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