AGING IN A TIMELESS WORLD

Chapter seven. THE EVIDENCE UNFOLD

Renfield entered the room, a holographic tablet in hand. His face was lined with exhaustion, but his eyes held a glimmer of urgency. "We’ve started decrypting the files," he said, placing the tablet on the table. "It’s worse than we thought."

Carmen sat up straight. "How much worse?"

"The satellites don’t just monitor the stasis process," Renfield began, swiping through the data. "They actively control it. Every citizen is tagged and tracked. The system can adjust their aging rates remotely."

Tina’s stomach turned. "You mean they can make someone age faster? Like a punishment?"

Renfield nodded grimly. "Or an experiment. There are logs here of subjects being accelerated to test the limits of stasis reversal."

"How many?" Carmen asked, her voice tight.

"Hundreds," Renfield replied. "Maybe thousands. All listed as anomalies."

Tina’s hands balled into fists. "They’re using people as guinea pigs."

Carmen’s jaw clenched. "This changes everything. If we can get this information to the public..."

"The public isn’t ready," Renfield interrupted. "If we release this without a plan, it’ll cause mass panic. We need to find a way to dismantle the satellites and the core simultaneously. Otherwise, the system will adapt."

Tina stood abruptly, pacing the room. "So what do we do? Wait while more people are tortured? While more lives are drained?"

Renfield’s voice softened. "We plan. We find the weaknesses in their infrastructure. And we prepare for the moment when we can strike decisively."

The next morning, the resistance gathered around a holographic map of the city, highlighting key satellite hub locations. Carmen pointed to one near the outskirts.

"This is our next target," she said. "Smaller security presence, but heavily monitored. If we take it down, we’ll disrupt stasis control in this entire sector."

Tina leaned forward, her resolve hardening. "What’s the plan?"

Carmen smiled. "You’re learning. Let’s get to work."