Chapter 46: Strategic plans

As usual, asking any Potiora a question requires careful wording of the question. Imprecise questions are invariably met with misleading answers. Fortunately, Taika and Aihe are much better than me at asking the right questions on this topic.

I don’t understand all the technical jargon but it seems that every member of a Potiora race has been genetically modified so that a tiny additional gland next to our heart is created when we develop in our mother’s womb. That gland remains inactive until middle age, when something triggers the gland to release fluid into the heart. Once in the bloodstream, the fluid sets off a chain reaction causing the body’s organs to deteriorate over the space of a few weeks, simulating the effects of old age at high speed. We are designed to trigger our own euthanasia.

“I suggest we consider how we handle this discovery,” says Taika. “We could start a mass panic.”

“I’m not sure this is something that can be kept secret for long,” I say, although I understand Taika’s concern. “Can the gland be removed or disabled?”

“Removing the gland should be sufficient to revert the body to the normal ageing process,” says Aihe. “But we need medical equipment far more sophisticated than we have here. Even then, trying to remove the gland may have unpredictable consequences. Obviously, the gland could rupture during surgery and the patient die from the very cause we are trying to prevent. Even if we are successful, there could be unknown side effects. For all we know, the body could simply grow a replacement.”

“And we must consider the social consequences from success,” adds Taika. “Our ancestors designed us to have short lifespans. We readily reproduce to expand our population, but that can lead to over-population before long. They also wanted us to have better governance. The rulers of the old world were predominantly corrupt old men. They had been in power for decades, during which time they acquired too many vested interests to make difficult changes. Added to that, society was burdened with the difficulties of supporting large numbers of people who were no longer physically or mentally able to be productive members of society.”

While I understand Taika’s concerns, I think this is something our leadership should be given a chance to consider.

“What if we only remove the glands of those nearing middle age?” adds Taika after a few minutes thought.

“That would reduce the impact of failures during surgery,” concedes Aihe. “Providing people are prepared to wait with a ticking time-bomb in their bodies. In any case, we need far more advanced surgical facilities than we can produce here.”

I’ve no idea what a ‘ticking time-bomb’ is, but I’m becoming accustomed to the strange words these Atenex sometimes use. Whatever one is, the gland acquires the name ‘time-bomb gland’.

The arguments flow back and forth. How do we decide who is or isn’t productive? Should treatment be offered to everybody, or only a privileged few? If so, how do they get chosen? What effect does an extended life have on the Atenex’s natural defensive mechanisms? Do we share the knowledge with other Potiora races? All excellent questions without satisfactory answers.

“Is it possible to delay the start of the ageing process?” I ask, mainly to prove that I’m still in the room. “If we can delay the onset of ageing, then we all gain the opportunity for several more years of life without creating a commitment to provide open ended support that our society may not be able to deliver. If it can be done through a potion, then supplying it to everyone should be relatively easy.”

“I don’t know if we can develop a potion to do that,” says Aihe, “but it’s something worth exploring.”

I advise Taika that I must report our research to the council. They must make any decisions. Preparing them in advance will avoid chaos later. Even so, keeping this discovery secret is going to be a huge task.

Although I brief Cassandra that evening, she asks that Taika, Aihe and I meet with the full council as soon as a meeting can be arranged. A meeting is scheduled for the afternoon of the following day, which gives Taika, Aihe and me the morning to search for the answer to the question I posed.

“Dioxippe’s analysis concludes that an existing potion used to treat various ailments will have a thickening effect on the lining of the time-bomb gland,” says Aihe to the assembled council. “The potion is easy to produce, but it’s normally only used for short periods. We don’t know the long-term side effects. More importantly, we are only guessing that the thickness of the lining is what controls when the time-bomb is triggered. Dioxippe believes it is, but we have no supporting evidence. We also don’t know how much and how often to apply the treatment. We will need to scavenge a lot of equipment from the hibernation chambers to be able to run proper tests.”

“I think this is research worth pursuing,” says Makareta. “But we have many priorities and only limited resources. I suggest that Taika and Aihe continue this work for the time being. Scavenge what you need from the hibernation chambers. Alex, you and anyone else involved should return to your normal work.”

Cassandra and Ihapera agree with Makareta. The prospect of removing the time-bomb glands from all our people wasn’t greeted with much enthusiasm despite the potential benefits. The council rightly considered the risk of death during surgery to be too high without the necessary surgical facilities. Yet again, I curse our ancestors for tinkering with our bodies.

After a few weeks our daily life reverts to some form of normality. Defina35 and Defina36 both visit Cassandra and me in the evenings for sex. It’s almost like old times. Defina36 becomes pregnant again, but Defina35 continues to be unable to conceive from a union with a Thurnian man. I’m sure one of Taika’s scientist friends would be willing to have sex with Defina35, but she seems content to leave things as they are for now.

Small groups of refugees from Thurn still arrive each week. However, Aputa reports that the majority of those who have fled their homes are sheltering in Thurn’s southern forests with the wilderness elves. The civil war has reached an impasse. In the east, Thurn’s ‘western’ cities have secured the territory to the east of the Reakie river as far south has the High Ridge. In the west, the Chief Procurator and his allies hold Thurn city, and the wide fertile valley to its south as far as Stormguard. Their rampages into the elven forests have ceased after the wilderness elves kept inflicting difficult-to-replace casualties on the Chief Procurator’s men. The wide swathe of hilly farming land between the western bank of the Reakie River and the ridge to the east of Thurn city has been abandoned to local warlords, brigands and adventurers. Most of the refugees reaching Atene come from this farming region. News about Cassandra’s father and his remaining followers has reduced to infrequent rumour.

“We have no further news of AN332 or BN632,” says Aputa when she meets with Makareta, Cassandra, Ihapera and me. “The last I heard, they had successfully entered Thurn city. Unfortunately, getting news in an out of the city is very difficult for elves. After the Thurnian losses at the hands of the wilderness elves, every elf is suspected of disloyalty to the Chief Procurator.”