“We just had an all-hands,” I say in response. “You know the company policy. Keep this up and you won’t have a way to feed yourself.”

Gene Extension is short for Gene Reforming Life-Extension Technology. By removing those gene segments that produce the aging clock, humanity’s typical life span can be extended to as long as three hundred years. This technology was first commercialized five years ago, and it quickly became a disaster that’s spread to every society and government in the world. Though it’s widely coveted, almost no one can afford it. Gene Extension for one person costs as much as a mansion, and the already widening gap between the rich and the poor suddenly feels even more insurmountable.

“I don’t care,” Hadron says. “I’m not going to live even a hundred years. What do I have to care about?”

Smoking is strictly prohibited in the office, but Hadron lights a cigarette now. Like he’s trying to show just how little he cares.

“Envy. Envy is hazardous to your health.” I wave away the smoke from my eyes. “The past also had lots of people who died too early because they couldn’t afford to pay the medical bills.”

“That’s not the same thing. Practically everyone can afford health care. Now, though, the ninety-nine percent look helplessly at the one percent who have all the money and will live to be three hundred. I’m not afraid to admit I’m envious. It’s envy that’s keeping society fair.” He leans in toward me from the table. “Are you so sure you’re not envious? Join us.”

Hadron’s gaze makes me shiver. For a moment, I wonder if he’s looking through me. Yes, I want to become who he envies. I want to become a Gene Extended person.

But the fact is, I don’t have much money. I’m in my thirties and still have an entry-level job. It’s in the finance department, though. Plenty of opportunities to embezzle funds. After years of planning, it’s all done. Now, I only have to click my mouse, and the five million I need for Gene Extension will go into my secret bank account. From there, it’ll be transferred to the Gene Extension Center’s account. I’ve installed layers upon layers of camouflage into the labyrinthian financial system. It’ll be at least half a year before they discover the money is missing. When they do, I’ll lose my job, I’ll be sentenced, I’ll lose everything I own, I’ll suffer the disapproving gazes of countless people …

But, by then, I’ll be someone who can live for three hundred years.

And yet I’m still hesitating.