The Fountainhead of Youth – PART 3

Round 3 – Curtis Kai

As the micro black holes encircling Icarus make an orbital satellite defense system improbable, Curtis heads to the Monument to meet with Aurora for drinks. This is where they began their interrupted romance, but he’s focused on discussing the relocation of their defense systems. He has an idea…

Round 3 – Aurora Valenus

Aurora is half-drunk already when she arrives at the bar to meet Curtis. She jokes about the breaking reports of data showing a sudden boom in population.

“It seems to have started around the time we first met,” she slurs. “Did we make the whole world crazy with lust?”

Curtis is not amused. He orders stim drinks to sober her up and pitches his idea: “We move the defense systems to inside the Monument.”

Round 3 – Resolution

Curtis and Aurora combine their rolls: 1 success & 1 failure = success

The commission approves the idea with one caveat: Do not disturb the historic time capsules at the core of the monument. The records of the development of the Longevity Serum, it turns out, have been encapsulated within the Monument for posterity.

As the plan is set into motion, Curtis notices that Aurora has grown distant. Perhaps it was a mistake to end their relationship the way he did. Despite his success and his near-eternal youth, he has lately felt an emptiness inside. He had never even considered starting a family until recently. Maybe whatever is causing the population boom is hitting him, too?

Curtis considers that maybe the recent cracks in the perceived permanence of Icarus have made the people realize that nothing lasts forever. But that doesn’t even make any sense, he realizes as he calls Aurora to meet him for a drink. Why bring a child into a world with a limited future?

She doesn’t answer his call.

Round 4 – Aurora Valenus

Aurora shows up unannounced at Curtis’ door one night. She is dead sober. She takes him by the hand and leads him to the bedroom. She tells him she loves him as she kisses him tenderly. Later, as they lie together, Aurora says she has something important to tell him. But when he wakes up the next morning, she is gone.

In the days that follow, there is another protest begins at the Monument. But this time, it is much, much bigger, and the protestors use their numbers to take over the monolithic tower. Rumors spread about the time capsules hidden within the Monument… rumors that Curtis knows are true.

Round 4 – Curtis Kai

Curtis, who lives in housing near the Monument, takes it upon himself to monitor the situation. When he realizes that the protestors are trying to break into the insides of the Monument, he takes it upon himself to infiltrate the group to get a closer look. If he doesn’t do something, the group’s meddling could take down Icarus’ most important defenses against aggressors like the Triini Empire.

Then the news breaks…

Round 4 – Resolution

Aurora fails her roll. 

The story of the immortal Leaders feeding on brains is quickly quashed. The promised evidence never comes to light and the protestors are blamed for the ridiculous rumors. In fact, the news soon broadcasts the real truth: the protestors are being organized by covert operatives from the Triini Empire. The military descends on the protestors occupying the Monument.

Curtis fails his roll. 

THE TOWER FALLS

 

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Epilogue

What caused the tower to collapse?

Curtis found what was really inside the Monument. He found the (partially malfunctioning) machinery within, which was broadcasting the signal. It enlarged the pineal gland of the citizens of Icarus that had taken the serum. A side effect of the enlargement, which affected the nearby thalamus and hypothalamus, was decreased emotions and motivated behaviors like sexuality, thus the low birth rate among serumed citizens. This is why the damage to the Monument during the initial protest in the story led to a baby boom.

The Leaders had long ago discovered that the serum’s effects wore off eventually, but that a periodic “booster” shot made from enhanced serum molecules taken from a serumed person did seem to grant immortality. Those molecules could only be found in the pineal gland. In order to have enough, the Leaders needed a LOT of citizens. It was the sole reason Icarus was founded.

What happened to the characters in the aftermath?

Curtis pieced together the truth after he tracked down the evidence that had been stolen from the Leaders by Aurora. Aurora, however, was never seen again after the night she told Curtis she loved him.

Curtis never gave up the slim hope that she had escaped the planet and was maybe somewhere in the galaxy raising the child they had made that night. Deep down he knew the Leaders had silenced her permanently.

What became of the civilization after its fall?

Curtis was able to lower enough of the defenses of Icarus to allow the citizenry to be liberated by the Triini Empire. The Leaders had originally been part of a rouge group of Triini scientists that had developed the immortality serum. The Triini were actually peaceful, freedom-loving naturalists, and they gave control of Icarus to its people. Curtis became their first leader, and he renamed the planet-city Aurora, in her honor.