There was a young couple kissing on the balcony of a huge mansion.
- Suddenly who will see? - The girl protested.
- I don't care, the official part is over...
The couple kissed each other again.
- Congratulations! - The girl immediately began to shake off when she heard a strange voice.
- Were there not enough bottles or what? - Bruce was outraged.
- No.... Just wanted to congratulate...
- Congratulations... - Bruce grinned. - Mary, could you please leave us alone?
- Yes, of course.
- Few people believed, but you got what you wanted," the man pulled out the little capsules from his jacket. - Thanks to these bottles, people will be able to live almost forever.
- Without practically.
- Here I bet...
- I know Andrew Bates has always been jealous of me... But coming here and ruining my party... Why?
- I just came to ask you one question: What next?
- I mean, what's next?
- People's lives will change dramatically now. Are they ready for this? Who will guide them?
- Somehow they will manage.
- Good. - Andrew grinned. - I didn't expect to hear a reasonable response from you... Your invention is not immortality, it's just an extension of life. I will give people the immortality they dream of.
- Get out before the guards call!
- I'm leaving now. Have a nice day!
The girl returned to the balcony.
- What did he want?
- The bastard is just jealous that they chose my project, not his... Says he will make a real immortality! Surely he would say that he would invent a time machine!
After 2 years.
The convertible was wagging down the road from a high hill. Bruce was driving and Mary was in the passenger seat.
- You're too drunk..." the girl grumbled. - You should have called a taxi...
- Shut up
- Bruce! - Mary was outraged. - Stop now!
- Shut up, I said!
- Stop now! - Mary grabbed the wheel and turned it to the left.
When she ran into the oncoming truck, the car overturned and, having made a lot of cubits, collapsed from a high cliff.
Bruce woke up in the medical ward.
- Where am I?
Andrew entered the room.
- You? surprised Bruce. - What am I doing here?
- I saved your life, by the way.
- Saved your life? Wait, I'm starting to remember... I was going with my wife... What about her?
- She was already dead when we arrived.
- Dead? But... Shit... It was all because of me...
- We all make mistakes...
- The funeral... Bruce tried to get out of bed. - Has she already been buried?
- You've been in a coma for decades.
- What? You were buried in a coma for decades.
- I couldn't let you die. I wanted you to see my triumph... Now people are going to be truly immortal thanks to a single supercomputer. All you have to do is scan your mind and load it into your computer's memory. In the event of death, we simply upload consciousness into anybody and everything!
Bruce did not say anything.
- That's not the kind of reaction I wanted to see... Nothing to say?
- When I invented that elixir, like all creators, I did not think much about the consequences of my invention. It only made people even more divided. The poor, jealous of the rich and immortal, had opened up a hunt for them. However, the government quickly solved the problem by fencing off the poor from the fence. It was as if we had turned back history, we had a class society again. My invention only disappointed me... And so... I lost Mary because of it...
- Touching speech...
- You got you... Congratulations..." Bruce pushed himself out. - I don't want to live in this world anymore and I dare ask you one favor...
- Andrew erased your memory, but he couldn't leave you alone. He made you his security chief to make fun of you. But that's not all...
Nina came up to Bruce.
- Mary is alive...
- What? How?
- He loved her too, but she chose you and he couldn't deal with it. He put her consciousness on the net, erasing her memory beforehand...
The conversation was interrupted by a siren.
- What is this? - Bruce asked.
- We were discovered! Leave through the back door!
- And you?
- We will fight to the last...
- But I have nowhere to go!
- There is one place...
Bruce ran out the back door and ran into his partner Tony. He pointed a gun at him.
- I'm sorry, but the worst thing is yet to come... - As soon as he could say it, as he was immediately hit by a car.
The car door opened.
- Hurry! - At the wheel was the same robot that saved Bruce in the subway.
Not thinking for long, he jumped into the car, and the one with a roar snapped out of place.
It was shining outside when the car stopped somewhere in the mountains near the cave. The car was surrounded by several people at once. They were kicking on wheels, demanding that uninvited guests clean up immediately.
- The base was attacked. Nina is dead... - The robot said.
The people were quiet. One of them demanded that both get out of the car.
As soon as the robot and Bruce complied with the order, they were attacked by several people at once. They tied their hands and feet and put masks on their heads. Then they took them somewhere.
- Why are you here? - they took the mask off Bruce, and he saw that he was inside the cave. A strange old man was sitting in front of him.
- I remembered who I was. I want to help.
- I wonder what?
- We can take over the network...
- Why would we do that? - The old man interrupted him.
- Those who survive can digitize...
- And become immortal...
- Yeah, um... (sighs)
- Come on, I'll show you something.
The old man led Bruce deep into the cave. It was pretty big, there were about a hundred people living here, no more. Men and women, and it was quite unusual to see so many children here. They were particularly curious to see a stranger walking through their properties.
Next to the cave Bruce saw a small lake, and behind it stood a vast forest. In short, it was an amazing place.
- We live here in perfect harmony with nature. We are happy here. Why should we risk becoming immortal for the sake of a ghostly goal? You can stay with us or you can continue the fight, but don't count on us...
Bruce chose the first one, and what choice was that? Rather, the second option resembled a death sentence signed by himself.
In the afternoon Bruce helped the locals with their various problems, and in the evening he sat down on the shore of the lake and fished. He did this not because he was an avid fisherman, not at all. It's just that every night Ellina, the old man's daughter, played with the children near the fire.
Bruce immediately liked this young girl. So much so that he thought almost all the time that she was the only reason he did not choose the second option.
Hellina constantly asked Bruce to tell her more about his fantastic world, in which he lived before. He was happy to fulfill her request.
Spending all his free time with her in this place, it seemed to him as if he was in some magical world, some fairy tale. A fairy tale he didn't want to get out of.
But after spending a couple of weeks here, Bruce couldn't help noticing one strange thing. All the kids here were no older than five years old. No one was older than that age, nor were there any teenagers or young people here.
- Why aren't there... "older children"? - Bruce Ellina once asked.
- It happened..." she said, looking away.
But Bruce still managed to look into these eyes, and he saw fear in them.
- What happened? Tell me! - Bruce demanded it, but the girl ran away without answering.
Later, Bruce tried to talk to her about it again, but she made it clear that she did not want to discuss it.
So Bruce lived here for about three months until one night he heard children screaming. When he ran out of the cabin, he saw robots. They were dragging several children out of the village. People tried to take them away, but they couldn't do it. Bruce, not thinking long, grabbed the spear he had in his cabin and threw it rights into the robot's head. Sparks fell out of the kidnapper's head, and he fell to the ground.
The rescued boy ran to his mother and drowned in her joyful embrace. People followed Bruce's example and were able to repel all the children and destroy the robots.
Everyone rejoiced at the victory, and Bruce was thrown in his arms as a hero.
- What are you happy about? - the general euphoria stopped as soon as the crowd saw the old man.
- What do you mean? - Bruce was outraged at such a question. - We saved everyone!
- For several years we have lived here in quiet thanks to the treaty.
- A treaty?
- In exchange for a quiet and peaceful life, they periodically took our children away from us...
- What? Are you kidding me?
- Bruce looked at all those present, all of them as one had lowered their heads.
- Did you all know? Everything? Oh, my God! But why did they need children?
- An undeveloped child's brain is perfect for robots.
- They took your kids for the stuff, and you didn't do anything?
- You don't understand! You ruined everything! Now they will come here and kill us all!
Bruce looked again at the crowd. They humbly obeyed the old man's will.
- Okay... You can give me away and tell me that I set it all up. Then they won't touch you... And you'll heal again "happily ever after.
- Father! - Ellina approached the old man. - We can't go on living like this. We must fight!
- Stupid! You do not understand! As long as I am the master here, everything will be as I said!
- So we have to change the power... - the girl brought a dagger to the old man's throat.
He suddenly started laughing hysterically. His eyes became red. Something started to sting inside him. Ellina bounced back from him at the last moment, before he scattered into small pieces of plastic and metal.
- Damn it..." Ellina whispered. - It was a robot...
- We don't have much time! - turned to Bruce's crowd. - We must attack first!