Scenario:A medicine company has recently released a new pill which could provide longevity to humans.
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A medicine company has recently released a new pill which could provide longevity to humans.
Chapter OnePrologueThe newscaster’s voice was breathless with excitement. “In a stunning breakthrough, the FDA today announced that the new longevity pill is completely safe and will be available to the general public starting this week. In a few years, doctors will be able to prescribe it for anyone over the age of twenty-one. This pill will give a minimum of two additional decades of good health to a typical lifespan.”Dr. Carter’s heart raced with a combination of excitement and fear. The news was coming on the heels of her own announcement about her breakthrough in reversing the aging process. But instead of coming to praise her for the most important medical discovery in decades, she’d been blackballed by the entire medical community—to say nothing of the government. If not for Mark Johnson’s article in the Sentinel, she’d have been ruined.She shivered as she remembered sitting in her office as the phone calls and emails came in, each one more abusive than the last. She was a brilliant scientist, but she’d made the mistake of thinking that her colleagues would be open to her ideas. Instead, they’d responded as if she’d suggested breaking one of the Ten Commandments.Her breakthrough had been too important to keep quiet, but she’d never expected the backlash that it had brought down on her.“Dr. Carter.” She looked up as David closed her office door behind him. “The president is on line one.”She felt a surge of relief. It had taken months, but at least it appeared that sanity had finally prevailed.“Mr. President.” She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “I’m sure that you’ve heard about my breakthrough.”“Yes, Dr. Carter.” His voice was kindly but firm. “I’m afraid that I’ve been forced to agree with your esteemed colleagues.”She dropped the receiver into its cradle as if it had burned her. Her knees were shaking so hard that she had to sit down.“David!” Her voice cracked as she called for her assistant.“Yes, Dr. Carter?” He opened the door and peered through it at her.“I don’t feel well.” Her voice shook.“I’ll call an ambulance.” He hurried away from the door.“No!” She pushed herself to her feet and staggered out of her office. “I don’t want anyone else to know that I’m sick.”David looked at her with concern. “Are you sure?”“Yes!” She was barely aware of what she said. “I want you to lock the door and not let anyone in until I say so.”She walked blindly toward the door.“Dr. Carter?” David’s voice was filled with alarm.“Lock it now!” She put a hand on the doorknob to support herself as he walked across the room and turned the key.He turned back to look at her, his face filled with anxiety. “What should I tell anyone who calls or comes by?”“Tell them…” She searched for words, any words.“Tell them that I’ve gone home sick.” She pushed open the door and walked out without looking back.Chapter TwoDr. Emily Carter got up from her desk and walked over to close her office door.“Dr. Carter?” She dropped back down into her chair as David opened the door and stuck his head inside it. “The president is on line one.”Her heart sank as she saw his expression.Yes, Dr. Carter.” His voice was kindly but firm. “I’m afraid that I’ve been forced to agree with your esteemed colleagues.”“Yes!” She barely got it out as she choked back tears.Chapter Three
Mark Johnson looked up as he saw Dr. Carter walking toward him.“Dr. Carter!” He walked over to meet her, his hand outstretched. “Thank you so much for meeting with me.”“You’re welcome.” She took his hand and shook it.“Would you like to sit down?” He gestured toward the outdoor table where he’d been waiting for her.“Yes, thank you.” They sat down, and she looked at him with interest. “What can I do for you?”“You’ve probably heard about the new longevity pill.” He saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes. “My sources at the FDA tell me that they were forced to approve it even though it’s not ready for general release.”“How did you find this out?” She looked at him with concern.“I’m a journalist.” He shrugged. “It’s my job to find these things out.”“I see.” Her face was expressionless.“My sources tell me that it’s been rushed through because the president is using it to manipulate the voting public.” He watched her closely for a reaction.“I haven’t heard anything about this.” Her voice was neutral.“That’s not surprising.” He leaned forward. “The important thing is that the pill isn’t ready for release yet.”“How do you know this?” She shook her head slowly. “I’ve heard that it was tested on over a hundred thousand people without any negative side effects.”“Yes, but what they didn’t tell you is that most of those people died within six months.” He saw her eyes widen in shock. “I spoke with one of the people who worked on the original trials, and he told me that they had to falsify the results to cover up the deaths.”
“I don’t believe this.” Her voice was low.“What if I could prove it to you?” He leaned forward. “What if I could show you that this pill actually kills people instead of making them live longer?”She didn’t answer.“Would you be willing to help me investigate this further?”She nodded slowly.“Good.” He smiled at her.Chapter FourDr. Emily Carter sat at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen.She’d just gotten off the phone with Mark Johnson, and she was more confused than ever.Could what he’d told her really be true?She’d done some digging into the company that made the pill, but so far, she hadn’t found anything incriminating.Her phone rang, making her jump.She picked it up, frowning as she saw David’s number on the display.“Yes?”she said warily.“I’m sorry to bother you, Dr. Carter,” David said, “but there’s a man here to see you.”“A man,” she echoed dully.“Yes.” There was a pause.“He says he’s a journalist.”“What does he want?”“I don’t know,” David said.“He wouldn’t tell me.”“All right.” She stood up.“Send him in.” She hung up the phone and took a deep breath.She was suddenly glad that she’d worn one of her favorite outfits today, a black pencil skirt with a bright red blouse.She’d gotten a lot of compliments on it when she’d worn it before.She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth it down.The door opened, and Mark Johnson walked in.“Dr. Carter.” He smiled at her.“Thank you for agreeing to see me again.”“Of course,” she said, trying not to stare at him.He was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a white shirt and a maroon tie that brought out the color of his eyes.
“I have something I want to show you.” He pulled out a chair and sat down.She watched as he pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase and arranged them neatly on her desk.Then he slid them across the desk toward her.“These are the death certificates of everyone who died after taking that pill I told you about,” he said quietly.She stared at him in shock.“How did you get these?”she asked finally.He shrugged.“I have my sources.” His voice was casual, but she could see the tension in his shoulders as he waited for her reaction.“This is incredible,” she said, “but we can’t be sure that it’s really because of—”He cut her off with a shake of his head.“The timing is too perfect for it to be a coincidence,” he said.She stared at the papers, trying to think of a way to refute his argument, but she couldn’t come up with anything. He was right. The deaths had occurred within days of the victims taking the pill, and there were no other obvious causes listed on the death certificates.“So what do we do now?”she asked finally, looking up at him.“We need more evidence,” he said. “We need someone on the inside who knows what’s really going on.”She frowned. “What do you mean?”“I mean that we need someone who can get us access to the company’s records. Someone who can tell us if the tests were faked, and who ordered them to be faked.”“But how are we going to do that?”
“That’s where you come in,” he said, leaning forward and fixing her with an intense stare. “You’re going to find out everything you can about the people in charge of this project. You’re going to talk to their employees, their friends, their families. You’re going to find out who’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep the truth from getting out, and why.” He paused, letting his words sink in. “And then I’m going to break the story.”“You’re insane.” Emily could barely get the words out. “I can’t do that. I have a job, a life… I can’t just throw it all away on some harebrained scheme.”“I thought you were determined to get to the truth,” Mark said.“Are you saying that I’m wrong?That all of this is just some sort of a joke?Because I can assure you that it’s not.”Emily’s stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of going up against a corrupt pharmaceutical company with nothing but her brains and a degree from a second-rate university, but she knew that Mark was right.
She had spent half of her life on this project, and she was not about to let all of that work go to waste just because it would be easier to look the other way. Emily straightened in her chair and met Mark’s eyes with a determined stare of her own.“It’s not a joke,” she said quietly.“I’m in.”Chapter ThreeDr.Emily Carter had never been much of a rebel, and she had certainly never been one to take risks.Her father had always told her to keep her head down and do as she was told, and for the most part, she had followed his advice without question.But as she stared at the papers scattered across the table in front of her, she knew that something had changed.It wasn’t just that Mark’s visit had sparked in her a deep-seated need to delve deeper into the mystery behind the deadly pill.It was more than that.There was something different about Emily herself.She felt a strange sense of clarity, as though everything in the world had suddenly become crystal clear to her.She had never been particularly brave or bold, but now that she knew what was at stake, she couldn’t turn back.
Her whole life had been dedicated to this project, to this discovery, and she wasn’t about to let all of that work go to waste just because it would be easier to look the other way.She was a brilliant young scientist, with a lifetime of experience in the lab and a genius-level IQ.She had spent half of her life on this project, working tirelessly to make a name for herself and prove her worth in a male-dominated field.And now, after years of hard work and dedication, she was on the verge of making the biggest discovery in the history of modern medicine.It had been her dream since she was a little girl to make a difference in the world, to be remembered for something important.And now, thanks to Mark Johnson, she finally had the opportunity to do just that.Emily had always been a bit of a perfectionist, and she was not about to let this opportunity slip through her fingers.She had spent the last few years of her life on this project, but this new angle was still uncharted territory for her.She’d never been much of a people person, and the prospect of venturing out into the world to track down sources and leads was more than a little daunting.Her father had always told her that it didn’t matter how smart she was or how many degrees she had earned—the only things that would ever truly matter were her looks and her ability to charm people.But Emily wasn’t about to let some well-meaning but outdated advice from her father stand in the way of her success.
She was intelligent, talented, and highly educated, with two doctorates to her name and countless accolades for her groundbreaking work in genetic research.She was going to need to pull out all the stops to get to the bottom of this case before anyone else did, and that meant doing whatever it took to get people to open up to her, even if that meant playing dumb or using her looks to manipulate people into giving her information.She was more than capable of handling herself, even in situations that could potentially be dangerous, and she had no doubt that she would be able to uncover the truth behind this case, no matter what it took.With a newfound determination, Emily squared her shoulders and set to work.There was no time to waste—the longer she waited, the more likely it was that someone else would beat her to the punch.
She spent hours each day researching leads, interviewing people remotely, and piecing together the evidence she needed to break the story wide open.She spent hours each day researching leads, interviewing people remotely, and piecing together the evidence she needed to break the story wide open.It was slow going at first—most people were hesitant to talk over the phone or via email, especially with someone they didn't know—but Emily was persistent, and eventually, she was able to put together enough information to start filling in some of the gaps in the story.The more she uncovered, the more horrified she became.The company's CEO had been using her pill as a tool for manipulation and control all along, subtly altering its formula over time to give her complete control over who lived and who died.Emily knew that the woman's actions were beyond unethical and illegal—they were downright monstrous.She couldn't believe that anyone could be so callous and cold-hearted, especially when the lives of millions of people were at stake.But the evidence didn't lie, and Emily knew that it was her responsibility to bring the truth to light, no matter the personal cost.As she delved deeper into her investigation, Emily became increasingly convinced that the CEO must have had help from someone on the inside to pull off such a massive scheme without getting caught.But every time she tried to track down a potential accomplice, they seemed to disappear without a trace.It was as if there was a shadowy figure lurking just out of reach, always one step ahead of her.