The Legacy

Pip?’
    He turned to Derek. ‘Have you not been torturing this man? Why is he still able to speak? Why is he still able to stand?’ He lurched forward and steadied himself, grabbing hold of the corner of his desk.
    ‘Pip is not my real name,’ Pip said. ‘But of course you knew that.’
    ‘I don’t care what your real name is,’ Richard said through gritted teeth. ‘I care only that you suffer. That you are tormented.’
    Jude looked down at his arms, which were covered in goosebumps. Peter was still wrapped around his family and Sheila was rocking gently backwards and forwards on the floor. But Jude felt like an electrical current had suddenly entered the room, a current only he could feel. He and Pip. He didn’t understand it. He just knew a storm was coming. He just knew that lightning was about to strike.
    ‘I have suffered,’ Pip said quietly. ‘I have suffered for many years. Too many.’
    ‘You have suffered?’ Hillary asked, her voice shrill. She walked over to Pip, surveyed him as though he were an animal being taken to market. ‘You murdered people. You are a terrorist of the worst kind. You are despicable. Richard is right – you deserve only to suffer, to feel pain.’
    Pip nodded slowly. ‘You are right,’ he said, his voice soft, hypnotic, ‘but not for the reason you think.’ He lifted his head and looked back at Richard. ‘The ring,’ he said. ‘It isn’t what you think it is. It isn’t the eternal circle of life. You have been chasing a chimera, chasing your tail. There is no formula to be found on it.’
    Richard’s eyes bulged with anger. ‘How dare you!’ he shouted. ‘How dare you talk to me! You know nothing. You are a criminal who knows nothing.’ He glared back at the scientists. ‘I thought I told you to keep looking!’ he shouted. ‘I thought I told you to –’
    ‘The eternal circle of life is the circle of life and death, Richard. That is what needs protecting. That is what I have been trying to protect all this time. The circle of life and death. I knew that Longevity would not work for ever. Nature can be interrupted by man – we can build dams, we can create drugs, we can erect houses, bridges. But it cannot be stopped forever. Nature finds a way through. Even through concrete, Richard, a weed will grow. The virus, the epidemic sweeping the world – it is not a result of Longevity being copied. It is a result of Nature finally finding a way in. Longevity has stayed the same while Nature’s army has morphed, mutated. It has won, Richard, as I always knew it would.’
    ‘Copied?’ Hillary asked, beady-eyed. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Longevity was not contaminated,’ Pip said gently. ‘It simply ran out of steam.’
    Richard stared at him. ‘How dare you!’ he seethed. ‘Who are you to tell me –’
    ‘You know who I am, Richard,’ Pip said, walking towards him. He glanced over at Jude, his blue mesmerising eyes communicating something important that Jude only seemed to understand subconsciously, filling him with a warmth, with the knowledge that he had not been betrayed. ‘You recognise my voice,’ Pip continued gently. ‘You are trying to come up with an explanation, trying to tell yourself that your memory is playing tricks on you. But you know it is me.’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a madman. You’re –’ Richard said, but Pip didn’t take any notice.
    ‘The ring never had the formula on it. It was a wild goose chase, Richard – something for you to focus on, something to absorb you as your world crumbled,’ he continued, still moving towards Richard, his voice soft, gentle. ‘And even if it had, the formula is not what you need. Longevity cannot fight the virus. Your reign is over.’
    Richard shook his head desperately. He was looking at Pip as though he’d never seen him before, as though it was a surprise to find him in the same room.
    ‘Scrutinise the ring again,’ Richard pleaded. ‘There must be something . . .’
    ‘It’s over, Richard,’ Pip said. ‘You know it’s over. You can’t lie any more. There’s nothing to lie for.’
    ‘What’s over?’ Hillary demanded, looking at Richard fearfully. ‘What is he talking about?’
    Richard didn’t appear to hear her. Instead he walked towards Pip uncertainly, real fear on his face. ‘The eyes,’ he said, his voice barely audible. ‘Your eyes.’
    ‘Surgeons can’t do much with eyes, I’m afraid,’ Pip said, smiling now.