Chapter One

The Diagnosis

The city glittered beneath him, a sea of lights rippling across the glass horizon. Jonathan Chambers stood alone at the window of his penthouse, scotch in hand, the quiet hum of the building a rare kind of silence. On nights like this, he felt untouchable. Immortal.

His phone vibrated.

Julian Dashing
Call me. Urgent.

He frowned. Julian never texted.

Moments later, Jonathan was in the back of his Bentley, the streets of London flashing by in streaks of light and noise. Wayne drove without speaking. He always did when it was serious.

---

Dr. Julian Dashing didn’t look up as Jonathan entered his Harley Street office. Instead, he turned to the screen behind him, where a scan hovered—white, spidery shadows creeping through a brain.

Jonathan’s brain.

“It’s a tumour,” Julian said quietly. “Aggressive. Temporal lobe. Pressing against the pineal gland.”

Time slowed.

“Terminal?”

Julian hesitated. “We don’t know yet. But if we don’t act fast…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

---

Two hours later, Jonathan was staring at the Ankh Institute brochure under fluorescent light. A minimalist gold pyramid. A tagline: Redefining Human Potential.

They were flying him in tonight.

Something about it felt… off. But then again, dying had a way of making everything feel strange.

---

To live forever, he had to die first.