The Resistance

flake of snow. As he followed his grandfather up one of the escalators, he tried his best not to be impressed by the scale of the place: walls that rose up a few hundred metres, huge screens displaying scientific diagrams, everything so white, so clean, so pure.
    ‘Quite a sight, isn’t it?’ his grandfather said dramatically. ‘This building’s been here nearly a hundred years and I still catch my breath sometimes.’
    Peter nodded, feigning enthusiasm, as his eyes darted around, looking for cameras, for anything important that Pip would find useful. He noted, archly, that there weren’t any pictures of Surplus Halls anywhere, nothing proudly displaying the darker side of Longevity; when his grandfather caught his eye and held it for a few seconds, Peter found himself wondering if Pincent Pharma’s surveillance system was so sophisticated that it could read his mind, but he knew that was impossible.
    ‘This way.’ They’d reached the top of the escalator and in front of them was a long corridor stretching to the right and left. His grandfather turned left and, after a few paces, turned right into another long corridor. ‘Easy to get lost, if you don’t know where you’re going,’ he said, leading Peter to a large viewing gallery that overlooked the reception atrium. Along it to the rear ran huge glass windows, through which rooms and laboratories were visible.
    ‘Through here,’ his grandfather said, walking briskly and pointing to his right, ‘is the main production area. Of course, you can’t see it. It’s so well protected it doesn’t have windows. What you can see is the finishing area where each tablet is pressed with the Pincent Pharma logo.’
    Peter turned to see machine after machine whirring, white tablets pouring out of them in their thousands. Around the machines men and women stood monitoring operations, checking quality, their faces creased in concentration. One looked up and saw Richard; immediately he looked away and began to examine the machine next to him as though his life depended on it.
    ‘Very important room that,’ Richard said, walking on. ‘The logo is how you know your drugs are genuine. Now, this area is one of our research labs.’
    He led Peter to a large laboratory full of people in white coats staring into microscopes, into screens, into test tubes.
    ‘What are they doing?’ Peter asked.
    Richard laughed. ‘Working on improvements, of course. The world doesn’t stand still, Peter. There’s always something better.’
    Peter nodded. ‘And how do you know they work? I mean, who do you test the drugs on?’
    He turned to look at his grandfather who stopped walking for a fraction of a second, then continued marching. ‘We have extensive testing programmes,’ he said dismissively. ‘People will do anything for money, you know.’
    ‘And you use stem cells, don’t you?’ Peter asked. ‘Where do you get them? You must need so many!’
    His grandfather stopped suddenly. ‘You have a lot of questions,’ he said.
    Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Had he asked too much too soon? Did his grandfather suspect something? ‘I want to learn,’ he said.
    Richard paused for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yes, yes, of course you do. Well, I have the very thing. Follow me.’
    Peter followed him, his eyes hungrily taking in every corridor, every door, every person they passed. Eventually, Richard opened a door and Peter followed him into a lecture theatre.
    ‘A bit of history,’ his grandfather said. ‘We used to have quite a big educational programme here – students coming round, learning about Renewal and Longevity. That was back when we still had universities, of course. Now we use this room for ReTraining programmes, Induction, foreign delegations, that sort of thing. We’ve got some educational packs, if you’d like one?’
    The question, Peter realised immediately, was a rhetorical one; a pack was thrust into his hands and, under his grandfather’s gaze, he felt compelled to open it. There were several pages of text outlining the history of Pincent Pharma, punctuated by boxes with trite information, which he scanned briefly.
    Did you know?
    • It takes two weeks to produce each and every Longevity tablet
    • Pincent Pharma employs over 5,000 of the world’s best scientists, all dedicated to improving your quality of life
    • For maximum benefits, your doctor should review your dosage every year
    Did you know?
    • Pincent Pharma