"Dad?" A girl's voice brought him back. He looked up. It was his eldest daughter, Emma.
"Hey! My Angel. Why aren't you in your bed?" Mathew spread his arms. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on his cheek. Emma was wearing red shorts and red shirt. She looked taller and a bit more mature for her age. She sat on the arm of the chair leaning against her father.
"I just got up to have some water." She obviously lied.
"What are you doing up so late? You look a bit worried." Emma looked at him curiously.
"How could a president sleep when his people are in imminent danger." President Mathew smiled. Mathew avoided the question
"How are you going to serve people if you will not be healthy yourself, Mr. President." Emma imitated her mother. Mathew laughed wholeheartedly.
"Okay. Big girl. It's time for you to go to sleep. Come on." He patted on her shoulder.
They both got up and Mathew grabbed Emma's hand.
"Emma! Be extra careful. In times like this, you need to be very vigilant for your own safety. Okay?" Mathew said every word dipped in fatherly love and care as they walked towards Emma's room.
"Don't worry dad. I am a big girl. I will beat the hell outta everyone, who bothers our family." She kicked in the air. Mathew laughed.
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Dr. Nathan Graham was sitting in the waiting lounge of Food and Drug Administration (FDA). His meeting was scheduled with Institutional Review Board (IRB) at 11:00 AM. He had arrived 10 minutes early. He had submitted all the documents required to get the approval for research, earlier. Today, he was called in to present his case.
He looked at his watch, it was 10:55 AM.
Dr. Nathan was 70 years old Native American. He was slim and tall. He looked healthy and fit for his age. Dr. Nathan was a revolutionary geneticist, who won Nobel prize 5 years ago for discovering the sequence of DNA, encoding life span and health of a human. He proved that by decoding sequence of DNA, Man could estimate the time of Natural death of a human being. He also theorized that with the help of a little more research, he could increase the life expectancy of a human being as well as slow down the decay of vital organs.
At that time, he applied to get approval from FDA for human experimentation. However, President Mathew and his team specifically discouraged the idea citing it was inhumane. Dr. After being rejected, Dr. Nathan joined Saans as Director of Saans genetics and a prime researcher on Animals' and Plants' artificial cloning to cope with the imminent international food crisis. The project showed real great results after Dr. Nathan took over.
Dr. Nathan found silver lining in the darkness of news of Armageddon. He decided to restart the project. He believed that this was the best time for humans to venture into the realms of immortality.
"Dr. Nathan?" A voice broke the sequence of his thoughts.
"Yeah? That would be me." He got startled.
"Sir! Board is ready for your presentation." The man said.
"Okay." He sighed, drank a mouthful or two from his bottle and stood up.
Man started walking in one direction and Dr. Nathan followed. He felt nervous.
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Asad Ali Sheikh, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was being escorted to PM House. He had just returned after attending a meeting with Daniel, CEO of Saans in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. All the leaders of developing and under-developed countries from Asia and Africa were invited to attend this conference. Daniel offered all the countries to join the "Peoples' Association" or "Association".
He proposed that any country willing to join the Association will have to meet three criteria:
1_ All the joining countries will become the Colony of "Peoples' Association". Becoming Colony would mean that the country will make all the resources available for the development and population of the "Mother Earth 1". All Colonies will be free to maintain their legal, defense and justice systems.
2_ The country that chooses to become the Colony will adapt Republican style of governance. Governments will control all the assets and will be responsible to provide necessities to its citizens.
3_ All the countries must accept the offer within one year of the meeting. Any country that decides to become part of the Association after one year will have to become a subsidiary of Saans. Becoming a subsidiary would mean that the country will be governed by Saans and the country will have to renounce its defense and justice systems.
Other details were to be disclosed to the member countries or Colonies in the meeting to be held on same day, next year.
As soon as meeting with Daniel concluded, PM Asad called for an All Parties Conference (APC). All the political leaders were requested to attend the meeting. PM Asad was smart and intelligent individual. He understood the gravity of the situation. Considering the Financial, Intellectual, and technological resources of Pakistan, it appeared to be a great offer. He was going to recommend taking this opportunity to APC.
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