“Being a carrier?”

“Getting an infusion.”

Ellie shrugged. “Don’t really see the point.”

“You can say that ’cause you’re young and good-looking. How old are you, again? Twenty-four?”

“Twenty-six, which is a whole two decades younger than you, Gramps.”

“Yeah, wait until you hit middle age. Your body starts changing without your permission. Everything begins to wrinkle and sag, and everything hurts. It’s depressing as hell.” Danny sighed. “You do know this is one massive government conspiracy, right?”

Ellie drew a slow, deep breath through her nose as she shifted in her seat.

“No,” he said. “No, don’t give me that look. I’m not some conspiracy nut. Carrier blood is a real thing. It’s a fact. It’s got that circulating protein there, that enzyme called eNAMPT that makes cells produce these unbelievable amounts of energy, which is why carriers look like they don’t age, why they seem to be able to fight off disease. I mean, that’s a legitimate medical thing, right?”

Ellie sighed. “Yes.”

“Okay, and we also know a full-body transfusion of carrier blood alone doesn’t erase wrinkles and burn belly fat and increase muscle tone and all that other wonderful stuff—which is why, back in the day, scientists and biohackers started experimenting with carrier blood mixed with other medications. They found one that worked, that chemo pill that’s now off the market because it’s supposedly carcinogenic, Vira-something.”

“Viramab.”

Danny snapped his fingers. “That’s the one. So, all these megawealthy one-percenter types start flocking to these holistic centers that are springing up like warts all over the East and West coasts, and they’re paying mucho dinero to get these carrier transfusions mixed with Viramab, and, voilà, the shit actually works.”

Everything Danny had said so far was 100 percent true. Now here comes the crazy curveball.

“This goes on for about a year,” Danny said, “and then suddenly the government shuts everything down because people getting these transfusions allegedly die from them.”

“Allegedly?” Ellie chuckled, saw that he was dead serious. “Danny, people actually died. They were on the front pages of major news sites. Their immune systems eventually broke down—”

“That’s what the government wants you to believe.”

“You’re saying that all those well-known actors and actresses and titans of industry and rich folks from all over the world who died from these blood transfusions were targeted by the CIA or some such bullshit? Please don’t tell me you believe that.”

“I’m talking about the Illuminati.”

“Okay, we’re done here.”

“You read that article last week in the Times, the one about Senator Baker from Ohio? Guy was showing early signs of dementia, right? People were urging him to retire. Now the dementia’s gone—”

“According to an anonymous source,” Ellie said. “There’s no direct proof—”

“Oh, please. Pull up the side-by-side pictures. There’s no doubt he’s using carrier blood. And that’s my point. Wealthy people, people in power—you know they’re getting carrier blood from someone who has perfected the recipe. Could be an underground supplier, could be big pharma. Who knows? Point I’m trying to make here is that the law and rules of society only apply to common folk like you and me. The wealthy and the elite—these are the people who can get their hands on this stuff. These are the people who will continue to live and reproduce, and in time they’ll create a new world order.”