Relife Inc.

Animal testing showed that if the DNA was taken from cattle at age 10 and it died naturally at age 15. Then when the clone is grown in the womb and came out. It would grow to age 5 and then die. The lifespan remains the same from the DNA sample because the telomeres were the same length.

Then Lazarus' clone should have the same lifespan and appearance as the DNA of a 120-year-old man. Otherwise, if the clone was made through the conventional way, the fertilised egg would be dead in the womb a day later. Besides, if it did work, you wouldn't have any memories of your previous life. It wouldn't be a continuation of your conscious existence.

These were the expert opinion of the technician.

Bardan had a sneaking suspicion. What spell he was under before was broken by one of his men.

"Tell us who you really are! Actually, take his DNA sample and we'll see." Bardan ordered.

One of the men switched the functionality of the walkie-talkie-shaped sample analyser. It was a multi-function tool. Rather than come up to the man to take a sample, he targeted him with the analyser and sent a tiny drone. It hovered to his arm, pricked him and then returned to a slot in the device.

It was important to identify people so that they could deal with them accordingly. If he was a rich bloke, they could take advantage of his identity to steal all his money or use his connections.

The device found a match and brought up Lazarus' profile.

"Si-sirr, it says that the DNA matches!"

"Huh! Are you sure!"

"Hold on... the microsatellites between the two DNA are an exact match but there are tiny differences in other parts of the genome."

"Which can all be accounted for considering the damage age does to the DNA. My DNA on the other hand is 37 years old." The nude man replied.

The scientific jargon coming out from this naked man sounded surreal to the technician.

"What are you talking about! What does it mean!" Bardan demanded an answer.

"I freeze the DNA samples that I take every year. I tried extending the telomeres... replacing them... But nothing seemed to work. Or at least our scientific techniques weren't up to par. However, it was much easier making a new body with the stored DNA. Hahahaha! I can't believe I didn't think of that. I really was old."

Rather than inserting a piece of code into a running system and encounter a domino effect of errors, it was much easier to use a backup copy. Lazarus essentially created system restore points when he froze his tissue samples in the lab refrigerator.

"What it means Bardan, is that as long as you have billions of dollars and a copy of your DNA, you could live forever hypothetically. How much money do you think we can make from this?" Lazarus asked.

Bardan's mind that has 40 years of accounting with the largest projects in the world worked at full speed. He could see years... decades into the future. Billions, trillions of credits. One could completely control the world if they monopolized the most prized service of all. Immortality. Cloning, relife Inc. He could already imagine the corporation.

Being the first, they'd be able to sell clones AKA extra lives to the elites of the world. Even money-driven people would give up most or all of their capital and property for the chance to live again.

Of course, eventually, the underground and nation-level organisations will try to reverse engineer the process or steal one of the capsules. The black market might sell it at a cheaper price and that's when they'll lower the cost.

However, having the headstart is what's important. Everyone else will be behind and there's more trust in the original. For example, even though Windows is a good operating system, there are other better brands but Windows still has a leg in the markets.

As Windows earn more money, they also have the monetary power to progress in software development and keep themselves relevant.

He'll hire the best researchers to continually improve the service. Perhaps they can dominate the insurance world with clone backups of even healthy entrepreneurs. Accidents and crime weren't an irregularity on Ratuka.

Maybe they can lead their customers into other products like cyborg augmentations or biological upgrades or alter their aesthetics.

Perhaps they could do loans on the clones and debt collection when customers couldn't pay the loan in time.

From this perspective, it would be good to keep Lazarus alive...

Chained up in a lab underground.

"So, it is you!" Bardan proclaimed.

Lazarus spotted something on the floor and picked it up. He stared back at a mummified face. His smile remained the same and he even looked amused.

Whereas Bardan's smile faded away and his eyes narrowed. A question surfaced in his mind.

'Would he really let it go?'

In the world of politics and bureaucracy, "scheming and always scheming". Even the kindest act was a move made with a purpose. Bardan wasn't a fool. Lazarus was a man of pride.

"So, what do you say? I need an accountant like you." His voice trailed off as he stroked his previously bald head which began to crumble.

This act made the men feel wary of him.

"How should we do this? 50-50?" Said Lazarus as he began picking at his ear - the dead one.

Bardan wondered if the cloning process made a screw go loose.

Bardan was preoccupied with the strange sight in front of him and so didn't answer.

The ear lobe crumbled off and he pulled something covered in white slime from it. He flicked the liquid ooze at the ground and then put in his ear.

'Hearing aids?'

"So, what do you say?" Lazarus said still having the same smile up till now.

Bardan smiled back. He left his hand hanging in the air. A beat later, a pistol was placed in his hand. He cocked it and pulled the safety. Then pointed it at Lazarus.

Bardan's smile grew. This was his answer.