The room beyond the great doors was unlike anything Manav or Priya had ever seen.
It was **pristine**, untouched by time, a stark contrast to the ruined laboratory outside. **Red lights pulsed softly** from machines that still hummed with unnatural life. Glass tubes lined the walls, filled with an eerie **golden liquid** that shimmered under the dim glow. The air was thick, heavy, as if it carried the weight of a thousand lost voices.
And in the center of the room stood **the machine**.
A massive, circular structure made of dark metal, with wires and pipes running through the walls like veins in a body. At its heart was **a small injector**, encased in glass, filled with a liquid that seemed to **defy reality itself**—glowing with a mixture of gold, red, and something deeper, something incomprehensible.
This was it.
This was **the secret of immortality**.
And Dr. Moraeu stood beside it, her golden eyes watching them with an unsettling intensity.
She didn't smile.
She didn't move.
For a long moment, there was only **silence**.
Then she spoke.
*"You are both fools."*
Priya **flinched**.
Manav didn't react.
Dr. Moraeu's gaze bore into them, her voice calm but cold, as if she were speaking to **children who didn't understand what they were asking for**.
*"You think you want immortality. But you don't."*
Priya clenched her fists. "*We came all this way—*"
*"Exactly,"* Moraeu interrupted. "*You came all this way, and yet you still do not understand what it is you seek.*"
She **stepped closer**, her movements slow, deliberate.
*"Tell me something, Manav."*
Manav's eyes narrowed.
*"What happens when you cannot die?"*
His jaw **tightened**. "*We live forever.*"
Moraeu laughed softly, shaking her head.
*"No. You exist forever."*
Her voice **lowered**, taking on a dangerous, almost mocking tone.
*"You see, the mistake people make when they dream of immortality is that they only imagine the good. They see themselves forever young, forever strong. They imagine centuries of adventure, of knowledge, of endless time to do whatever they desire."*
She **leaned forward**, whispering,
*"But they do not think about the cost."*
A strange tension **filled the room**.
Priya swallowed hard. "*What cost?*"
Moraeu turned her head slowly, her golden eyes flashing.
*"Let me show you something."*
She lifted her hand and pressed a button on the wall.
The **tubes along the walls hissed open**, and suddenly, the golden liquid inside began to drain.
And what remained inside…
**Were bodies.**
Priya **gasped**.
There were **dozens of them**, floating inside the glass chambers—**people**, or what used to be people. Their skin was **gray and stretched**, their eyes hollow, their faces twisted in an expression of **endless, silent suffering**.
Some of them were **still moving**.
Not alive.
Not dead.
Trapped.
Priya felt a wave of **horror** wash over her. "*What… what is this?*"
Dr. Moraeu's voice was **quiet**.
*"They were like you once. They came seeking immortality. They were injected with the very serum you wish to take. And now… they are neither living nor dead. Their bodies regenerate, but their minds have long since collapsed under the weight of eternity."*
She turned to Manav.
*"They cannot die. They cannot truly live. They are lost in a time that has no end. And when the centuries stretch too long… they forget who they are."*
She gestured to one of the figures in the glass.
*"This one… has been here for almost **a thousand years**. Do you think he remembers his name? His past? His loved ones?"*
Manav's expression didn't change.
But Priya could see something in his eyes.
A shadow.
A flicker of doubt.
*"You think yourself strong now,"* Moraeu continued. "*But tell me—how strong will you be when time erases everything you know? When you outlive everyone, everything? When the world moves on, but you remain?*"
Her voice was **cold**, like a blade pressing against their throats.
*"Can you endure that, Manav? Can you endure eternity when there is no one left to remember you?"*
A silence **settled** over the room.
Priya felt her heart racing.
She turned to Manav.
"Manav…" she whispered. "Maybe we should—"
*"Enough."*
His voice **cut through** the air like a knife.
Priya stopped.
Manav's expression was like **stone**.
*"I don't care."*
Moraeu raised an eyebrow.
Manav took a step closer.
*"I don't care how many of them failed."* He gestured toward the tubes. "*I don't care about the past, and I don't care about the cost.*"
Priya's stomach **tightened**.
He was serious.
He wasn't hesitating.
He never hesitated.
*"We came here for immortality. And we are going to take it."*
Moraeu stared at him.
Then, she let out a soft sigh.
*"I expected as much."*
She **turned away** and walked toward the machine.
*"Very well. But do not say I did not warn you."*
Priya felt her hands shaking.
This was **wrong**.
Everything inside her was screaming that this was **wrong**.
But she had come too far.
She had given up too much.
And so, despite the fear gnawing at the edges of her mind, she **followed**.
---
Dr. Moraeu stopped in front of the **immortality device** and turned back to face them.
*"This machine will inject the serum directly into your bloodstream."*
She pointed to two **metal chairs**, positioned side by side beneath the circular device.
*"Once activated, your bodies will undergo rapid cellular restoration, resetting your physical age from your late 80s to 25 and 27 years old, respectively."*
Priya took a deep breath.
This was it.
This was the **moment**.
Dr. Moraeu studied them one last time.
*"You are certain?"*
Manav sat down in the chair without hesitation.
Priya swallowed.
She looked at the machine.
Then at the **floating bodies** in the glass.
Then at Moraeu.
Then at Manav.
She wanted to say something.
She wanted to **stop this**.
But she couldn't.
Because deep down, she wanted it, too.
Even if it was **wrong**.
Even if it would **cost them everything**.
So she sat down beside him.
Moraeu's expression was unreadable.
Then, without another word…
She reached for the **controls**.
And activated the machine.
---