Everyone knows the story of Life Infinite and NOVA. Now in the year 2525, death can now be a choice. Massive advances in the scientific field have led to the discovery of infinite life, and the product NOVA thanks to one scientist and one greedy bastard.

The NOVA boost, if you are so graciously selected from LifeInfiniteCorp, doubles your life span and gives you never-ending energy. NOVA was derived from plants. When the plants were attacked by fungi, they let off this chemical to keep the plant itself alive while killing off the fungi. A scientist by the name of Ivar Ström 2062 after years of research, he came to the conclusion that if a living organism was giving off this chemical, or receiving this chemical, it may expand the life of the organism.

He started off small, working on pygmy mice who's lifespan only lasted an approximate two years. Ström added a few drops of the chemical to the mouses water, also a few drops into the food. He'd watch the mouses daily for two years straight. His test subjects lived for a total of 6 years, nearly three times it's lifespan. He wanted to expand what he had started, moving to larger animals such as cats, to dogs, to monkeys, and to eventually a human subject. After years of dedicating his life to his research, he was determined to be recognized.

Ström's human subject was an elderly man on the brink of death. He was dying of terminal cancer, and he basically signed the last moments of his life over to Ström with a waiver. The man was injected with NOVA directly into his brain, where the cancer lied. Miraculously in under a week, the man's tumor dissipated and he had more energy than he's had in years.

Ström was thrilled with his experiment. Had documented everything, he headed to the FDA with his findings. He had hoped this discovery would cure diseases and help the human population. Ström went, only to have his experiments shut down permanently. Depression hit the Swedish scientist hard as he fell deep into a hole of self pity. He knew his discovery would change the world, and he wanted the world to see. So he broadcasted everything live on a daily basis, gaining an incredible amount of followers and attention, included the attention of a slimy business owner, Matthias DeLusce.

The two met, discussed prices and product, and started LIC, LifeInfiniteCorp. Ström got the recognition he finally deserved for his miraculous findings, and DeLusce got the money he wanted. Ström continued his work through his retirement, nearly 60 years after curing the patients cancer. He received a visit through LIC from the cancer patient, who had still been alive and energetic as ever. Ström was dumbfounded, the man was nearly 90 years old the last he saw of him. Delusive, Ström, and everyone else soon realized NOVA did more than just cure cancer or diseases, it lengthen human lifespan. DeLusce couldn't believe it; knowing he could forever run his company excited him more than it should have. So they set out more production of NOVA, testing it with the company for years before releasing it to the public.

The population reacted with such support, admiration, and excitement toward NOVA and were willing to pay top dollar to live their life longer and stay youthful longer. But with people demanding to live longer, LIC and DeLusce had to create a loophole. A balance, so to speak. Throughout the world, random people are chosen by LIC to attend a remote location for their own paradise. Hundreds of people daily are chosen or marked for their paradise, only to keep the balance in the population.

Of course, this is what they tell us. I had a friend who was chosen three years ago to be taken to this specific island - we all assume it's an island due to the "paradise" they promise to uphold. His name is Dirk and we're best friends, I still like to think. Everyone wants to go to paradise, everyone that can't afford to live forever, they at least want to spend the rest of their days in nirvana. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to receive a live message from Mr. DeLusce himself.

It was early in the morning when my bracelet began to beep. My eyes opened slowly, unable to adjust immediately to the sunlight peeking in through the window. It was almost 6 am when I heard 'One new message from Matthias DeLusce.' I nearly fell to my floor from how fast I jumped out of bed. I eagerly pressed the small blue button and took a deep breath, listening.

"Dear Mr. Aldrey Bo Granger. I wanted to personally send this message to you in regards to NOVA."

I could feel my stomach twist in knots. This was the call I was waiting for, to see if I was getting the boost. I stared at the blue hologram of DeLusce's head as the message continued to play.

"We lament to advise you that you didn't qualify to receive a boost of NOVA. As heartbroken as we were to send you this message, I need to actually connect with you and welcome you to Etinifni, place that is known for heaven. You have been picked with many others to go on this trip for whatever remains of your life. For any reason, should anything happen to you during your time in paradise, your family shall be awarded with penance of your enthusiastic cooperation. Us and myself here at Life Infinite need to thank you for the majority of your donations as well. Shortly, you will have LIC transport you. Have a wonderful paradise!"

I slumped over onto my bed, feeling my face turn red from anger. I dwelled into everything I owned, sending LIC nearly 30,000 units. As much as I wanted to rip the bracelet off of me, I couldn't rip apart screws. I sighed and ended the message, looking down at my feet. Before I could even really process what I heard, there was a pounding at my door. I slowly rose and walked through the archway, leading to my front door. There was another pounding on the door and before I could open it, soldiers came barreling inside. I didn't have time to react before I felt a stinging pain in my neck, then I saw blackness.

I jumped awake, looking at my surroundings. I was moving, as I saw the outside scenery passing by me. I began to look around me and saw others doing the same thing I had been. They looked dazed and confused as I had been. I noticed we were moving in a shuttle, with two or three in front of us, holding numerous passengers. It took a minute for it to click, but we were the chosen ones. We were on our way to paradise. 'It's real...' I thought to myself, slightly smiling. I looked down at my hands, noticing a second metal bracelet on my right wrist. Engraved into it was 'Etinifni, #1831.' I raised an eyebrow and started to inspect the bracelet; it completely matched my other ID bracelet, but seem to have less technological advances in it.

"What the hell..." I heard a female voice behind me mumble, breaking my concentration. I looked to my left between the crack of the seat and the side of the shuttle at the female. I smiled from ear to ear, seeing Emberlise. I sat up fully in my seat, looking over the back of it at her.

"Lise?" She looked up and smiled just as wide as I did, reaching for my hand.

"Bo? We both were chosen! Together!" She chuckled and wiped a few stray tears from her cheek. I squeezed her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it.

"We did... amazing isn't it?" I couldn't stop smiling as I stared into her deep blue eyes, but the passengers of the shuttle began to stir. I looked around and squinted my eyes a little, noticing that these people were all from my neighborhood. I slowly stood up and moved to sit beside Lise, still examining everything around us.

"Hey.. isn't that Delmi?" Lise pointed to a petite brunette sitting a few rows up, looking a bit frightened. I nodded and pointed toward the back of the shuttle. "Yeah that's Dirk's sister.. and that's his cousin back there. Huh.." I grew a bit more skeptical. According to LIC's promise, they award your family with units for the rest of their days if you're chosen. I sat back in the seat with Lise's hand intertwined with mine for the remainder of the trip.

Hours seem to pass before the shuttle stopped for the first time. We sat for a good twenty minutes before watching passengers from one of the shuttles in front of us step outside. They were all rushed to the left side of the road and down a hill it seemed. Soldiers pushed and shoved the passengers, knocking a few to the ground. For some reason, they didn't seem to care what happened to them; if they were hurt, don't they realize their family gets paid?

I nudged Lise and pointed at the window. Pretty soon the entire shuttle was watching close to 100 passengers hurry over this hill, and that's all we saw of them. The soldiers stayed up on the top of the hill, looking down. I tilted my head to the side and studied the LIC logo on the back of their uniforms. The movement of the shuttle brought back my attention, as did Lise squeezing my hand.

I smiled at her, her smile nearly made me weak in my knees. "Promise me you'll find me after we settle in Bo." Softly, I rubbed my thumb against her hand and leaned into press my lips against hers.

"Of course I will. I've always wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Now I can in paradise." We both chuckled and she laid her head against my shoulder for the duration of the shuttle ride.

I must've fell back asleep, because I opened my eyes to the sound of screaming. I immediately grabbed Lise's hand and looked around at the surroundings. We were still in the shuttle, but the only other visible landmark was a tall, laboratory-type building. There were giant metal walls with what seemed to be a laser fence on top of it. I felt knots in my throat and squeezed Lise's hand. Something wasn't sitting right with me, and I could feel the tension rising on the shuttle. My suspicions became my fears as we pulled around to the front of the building.

There was a large metal gate with no sign of where we were anywhere. I could feel my mouth go dry when we began to drive behind another shuttle into the gates. I looked behind our own shuttle and watched as two more followed us in. I looked at Lise, her look of horror matching mine. The shuttle parked and we all watched as the driver slowly stood up, taking a look at all of us. He looked down and shook his head as he exited the shuttle. A few moments passed as Lise, the passengers, and myself all exchanged worried glances. A line of soldiers began marching their way toward all of the shuttles, stopping inside, and literally dragging them out. Lise squeezed my arm, trying to reassure me of anything at this point. I looked at her with fearful eyes and took a deep breath as the entered our shuttle.

"Everybody get out." The firm voice spoke, he looked to be someone of high importance, and that didn't take shit from anyone. A couple people shuffled around but nearly none of us moved, frozen in fear. He chuckled and pulled a pistol from his holster, cocking it, and firing a shot into the top of the shuttle. Everyone screamed and ducked down as he began to yell. "I said get your pathetic asses out NOW!" At this point everyone struggled to move, but we all pushed and shoved our way out into the open. They separated the men and the women into two lines. I looked around in a panic for Lise. I saw her standing behind Delmi. She immediately spotted me and chewed her lip. I wanted to run back to her, and as I was about to make a bold move of doing so, my wrists snapped together. I panicked and try to rip them apart, but it was too strong for me. I felt as if i pulled any harder, my wrists would snap in half.

It wasn't too long when I noticed everyone else's wrists snapped together as well, but all of our attention turned to Delmi who began screaming frantically.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, "This is what happens! Sie töten uns!! Sie töten uns!! Wir werden sterben!" She wouldn't stop screaming, and the fear began to rise in everyone else. The solider on the bus who shot the round in the air came toward Delmi, and without a second thought, he put a bullet between her eyes. That's when the realization hit me.

The smell of death lingered in the air as we were marched inside of the building.

There was no paradise.

This was the loophole.

To keep one person alive, the other must die.

They needed to keep a balance. 

(Word count: 2263)