Noble Prize

During the medieval ages, a prince who was mentored by a Great noble who was a man of science, was allured by Nobe Alfred's potential despite his lower-class status.

As a result of the Great noble's scientific influence, the prince decided to give Alfred nobility as a result of his achievements.

It was akin to a King gifting a warrior a royal sword to give him a noble title and some territory as a reward for an achievement. This is called a fief and is how one would join the ranks of nobility from scratch.

When Ratuka became modernised, this tradition was reintroduced but no real noble title is given.

There are six Noble Prize awards. These are physics, chemistry, medicine, peace, economic sciences and literature. The reward was a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary award of 1 million Ratukan dollars. Although the gold medal was replaced with a plutonium medal this year.

There was one man who has regularly been returning to claim the Noble Prizes.

Aayala Galen Lazarus

After announcing the winners for economic sciences and literature, they called his name. Rows and rows of long pointy ears perked up as they paid attention when Lazarus walked in from the entrance of the hall down the red carpet and entered the stage from the side.

He claimed the remaining four Noble Prize awards. Throughout the entire history and future of the Reticulans, there was only one genius that could encompass all others.

There was a heated debate that one person should not claim all the rewards regardless of their achievements which have eclipsed others because it was a form of motivation for aspiring individuals but also because the Noble Prize's purpose isn't for that reason.

However, Ratuka had already been united by one true ruler, himself.

Among the many worlds, there would always be a specialised world champion. Whether this was in arts, in science, in Olympic ability (in sports or warriors) etc.

Hardly one could dominate other specialisations according to wooden barrel theory. In addition, one could simply not rule the world with one's abilities.

Yet, a monster was born. A being exceeding the peak of one's race, setting his standards that no historical figure or person born in the future could succeed him. No one can climb out of his shadow. His superiority was absolute.

Aayala Galen Lazarus broke all logic. Common sense could not be applied to him. He had built his corporation driven by scientific endeavours and employed competent executives who manage and built countless other corporations and businesses. There's an endless list of achievements he had acquired over the century.

His biggest and one of the first accomplishments was-

***

Immortality, pursued in history, literature, art and religion, is a human obsession and other sapient species for that matter. Immortality spurred Frankenstein on to make his creature, while in the Harry Potter series it fixates Lord Voldemort. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, sought the elixir of life, but he also failed.

In the last century, life spans have increased significantly, but living forever remains as far away as ever, although many scientists believe that people can slow down ageing and live healthier lives.

"The emphasis is no longer on extending life spans or making it last forever but on living a healthier life." One scientist has stated.

"DYING is an unavoidable part of life and, scientists have stated, there is no way humans will be able to survive biologically indefinitely." One news article reported.

"Scientists have constantly looked at aging and sought to cure it as though it were a disease." A news anchor opened up with an interesting spiel"

"Logically, theoretically, mathematically, there is no way out here."

'Laughable. They have all given up' he thought. 'Would you say the same thing about cancer? No, you wouldn't. Not when there's money in your pockets.'

People were more worried about what killed them earliest. That was a logical concern. However, when they have survived everything and were reaching the ends of their life, they have all accepted their fate that age would be the end of them without even questioning, "is it possible?".

Like sheep who thought getting a tertiary degree would lead to happy lives and was the only way to be successful and financially secure, they thought the same about death from aging.

They had simply given up and said that aging is part of the natural order (albeit some lifeforms don't age or have evolved mechanisms to mitigate aging like some hydra, jellyfish, lobster, turtles, flatworms, whales, some bacteria) and that there was nothing they can do about it but let it run its course.

'Then why don't you just lay down and die? Stop taking medications and surgeries.' Lazarus spat on them in his mind.

He knew that he might not succeed in his lifetime and may pass them onto the next generation but he would not regret dying in his research. He was ignored in the scientific community.

With his second-best skill, his ability to sale himself, he was able to get funding from rich typhoons. If they gave up on him, he would find another billionaire who feared their eventual demise.

As he got past 50 years old, the scientific community got sick of him and didn't hold back from trash talking.

"I thought that he was too young to be senile but now that he's middle-aged we can all confirm he has late-stage senility, unfortunately, the diagnosis was too late. My sincere condolences for not speaking out sooner."

"This is ridiculous. Even quack doctors aren't crazy."

"Dr Lazarus is evidence that even with four PhDs and M.D., that you could still be as dumb as a hawk."

"He should have starred in a beautiful mind."

"He's not crazy. He's conning all the magnates and typhoons of their money. He's a business genius."

Even his closest colleagues had told him that he should quit as there was no future for him there. They were all worried about him. However, he was headstrong and cut them off from his life. He didn't need to be around people who don't support his dreams.