"Yes, sir? I apologize, but Mr. Jack is currently away on business," I was informed at Genesis Corp. Even though I was not a major shareholder.

"Could I have his phone number, then?"

"I'm sorry, but that is confidential information. We can't disclose Mr. Jack's private information, as it would violate his privacy."

"...I have stocks in this company. I am the 25th largest shareholder," I argued, but it fell on deaf ears.

"I guess you will have to attend the shareholder meetings from now on. I am just a lowly clerk, so I don't know. But if you are ranked twenty-fifth, as you said, you should have the privilege to attend those meetings, and maybe you will meet Mr. Jack on your own."

"But the meeting is in a month! I don't have time!" I raised my voice, startling him. I immediately apologized. "I am sorry. That was not my intention. Sorry. I guess I have to go home and come back next month."

"Please tell Mr. Jack that I received a confidential message from his medical bots. It says something about the immortality project."

"Yes, sir."

After extricating myself from the embarrassing situation earlier, I went home. Nobody was home except for some maids and a butler, who were all surprised when I came home for the second time in a row in the afternoon. Due to my busy workday, I admittedly had never been home. Working for money was the true goal of life, after all.

"Ah, you are home, darling. Where is Mom? How's your college?" I asked my sweet daughter, Jennifer, who was currently 20 years old.

"Papa! My college is fine!"

"Hmm? Where is your report? Did you make progress?" I looked at my daughter's report card. It was not the brightest; all of her subjects barely passed.

"Yeah, as long as I graduate, right?"

"Yeah. You are right. You will continue with my company anyway. Work hard, okay."

"Ah, why do I have to work anyway? It's such a hassle. Papa already has a lot of money, right? Let me enjoy life!"

"You know, my dear, working for money feels good. When you earn money, it feels great. Working to earn money to buy things you want is for plebeians. Not working yet getting money and being able to fulfill all that you want are called parasites. Your mother is an example of that. We, true billionaires, work so we can earn money because it is fun!" I preached the wonder of working for money and how it's enjoyable to have money at our fingertips. However, my daughter didn't seem to share my passion. I could see some of her mother's parasitic DNA on her.

A month later, I attended the shareholder meeting. This meeting was such a pain because I had to cancel four other meetings where more money could be gained. Nevertheless, if immortality could be achieved, it would be priceless.

"Greetings, Mr. Jack. I am John. Your medical bots that I bought two years ago said that there was a way to prolong my life. It mentioned something about an immortality project."

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"There is no way humans can be immortal. It is a myth. We have delved into the realm of medicine and cures for so long, yet we have found no such thing. We could prolong life by two or three hundred years, but that requires you to stay in a sterile tube since birth," Mr. Jack denied thoroughly.

"But your bots said it," I insisted.

"Where are the logs? Could you bring them here, to my office?" Mr. Jack said.

"All right. Only the CPU, right?"

"No. The core logs machine too. Here is my card and the note." I groaned at another day wasted, but I brought the bots to him as promised. While the entire machine was as big as a room, its CPU was only the size of a laptop. I had no idea what a core logs machine was, so, not wanting to waste time, I brought the entire machine to him the very next day. Mr. Jack was surprised to see I was so passionate, but then he delivered the bad news.

"So, as I mentioned earlier, I can't grant you immortality. This bot utilizes the most advanced AI available, reading through your intentions and attempting to fulfill them. In this case, your intention was to attend your daughter's wedding, correct?"

"Yes. I didn't desire immortality. But I only have 10 or 9 months left. My daughter still has at least 3 more years until graduation."

"I see. In that case, we could fulfill your wish. Let me introduce you to the Immortality Project." I was dubious of his claim. Achieving immortality for humans is impossible; our genes do not allow it. Each time we breathe, each time our heart beats, and each time we consume food, our DNA undergoes division, growing shorter and shorter, akin to a memory disk or battery lifespan. The only time we can defy this process is if we clone ourselves. However, memories from our brains cannot be transferred, given the unique sets of billions of neurons each person's brain possesses. I knew this from my high school biology curriculum and had never invested or researched in immortality as a result.

"When our cells split, our genes also split, leading to a shorter lifespan. You're already familiar with this from the high school curriculum. However, I wanted to know if we could halt cell division itself." He then led me to his laboratory, where several tubes with aluminum plating reached the ceiling.

"I understand. But wouldn't halting cell division mean we can't function as human beings?" I had a suspicion about the purpose of these tubes. I wondered if I could manage my company from within them. "Are these, cryo chambers? However, freezing a part of our body and expecting the rest to function seems implausible, right?"

"Yes. It was similar to tools: you use them, you break them. Then the answer is simple, don't use them and they will live longer. Using a bioreactor cryo system, we could halt all aging and illness. However, we can't simply freeze a part of your body. Therefore, you have to stay here, inanimate, until your daughter's graduation."

"But my company?"

"Well, that is the Immortality Project. The name doesn't lie. You could technically live a hundred or even a thousand years in the future."

"Has this been tested?"

"We have tested this on 400 chimpanzees, monkeys, and orangutans. 90% of those animals survived the freezing for a year. After that, we searched for a person willing to do this, and so far, twelve people have entered. Out of six of them who came out, one failed the resuscitation process. If the cryo tank is damaged in any way, the person will die. Some crew must have made a mistake during the maintenance process."

"I see," I frowned. "How did you get permission to do this? How did you get past the Ethics Committee? 'any research that could potentially kill or bring harm to humans was illegal.' that's their motto. How much did you bribe them?"

"We didn't. That's why there were only six people here. We didn't exactly advertise, and our bots will only look for rich and desperate people to do this. That's what the medical bots are for." My ears perked up when he said he was looking for rich people. He knew I was desperate. How much will he squeeze out of me?

"How much?"

"About 1 million dollars for entering and exiting, and a hundred thousand dollars each year."

"I see. Deal. That's cheaper than I thought," I replied while sighing in relief. Thank goodness he wasn't so scummy. I was a bit disappointed because it didn't really grant immortality, but as long as I can watch my daughter grow, I am satisfied.

"Hahaha!! I am unlike you, Mr. Jack. My goal is not money! I do all of this for Science!" He laughed.