The Imperial Alchemist

by A. H. Wang

  “What is more, the elixir cures only physical ailments, not emotional or spiritual ones. Without guidance, the fragile psyche of one simple human being cannot contain so many years of emotional baggage. For many, death becomes a welcome respite after a short lifetime with their own inner demons.

  “The elixir eventually drove Naaya’s people mad. They became a people who had lost their sense of purpose and their sense of God: for now that they were immortals, what could possibly be greater than themselves? Morality and decency became a thing of the past. People became unkind and cruel to each other. Their once thriving culture collapsed into chaos. Insanity and mayhem ensued. Within a matter of decades, her people all but disappeared, perishing at their own and each other’s hands. And for those who had taken the elixir, death only comes with extremely violent and painful means.

  “Naaya blamed herself, of course, for discovering the cave in the first place, and for introducing her people to the elixir. Her hair went from a beautiful jet black to grey with grief. So she sealed the entrance to the cave to make sure no one would ever stumble into it again. Then she left her homeland, banishing herself by living in exile. She travelled north, sailing from one island to another, never settling for too long at a time, and always living in isolation.

  “This semi-nomadic lifestyle suited her for a while, but it was also a very isolating existence. I know she was quite conflicted when she finally gave me the elixir to save my life. On one hand, she would be gaining a friend. On the other, she felt she was actually placing upon me a terrible burden.”

  “So she brought some with her when she left her home?” asks Georgia.

  “Yes. She wore a small vial of it around her neck, as a constant reminder of her sins.”

  “Wow,” Georgia breathes.

  “Yes, I know.” Charlie sighs. “I spent a long time trying to persuade her our condition could actually be a gift, that with this gift, we could do a lot of good for humanity. But Naaya became convinced the elixir was a curse when she saw the destruction it brought to her people, and I am not sure that she ever managed to find peace in what had happened.”

  He pauses as the car jolts and bounces over a section of unsealed road. Squinting into the inky night, he spots the little red mailbox ahead and makes a sharp left turn, taking the car up a steep driveway lined by trees. Up ahead, a large two-storey log cabin comes into view, illuminated by the Proton’s headlights. The windows remain dark as he pulls the vehicle up to the house. As he suspected, the place is unoccupied.

  He turns off the engine, but makes no move to get out of the car. The moonlight beams in through the windows, bathing everything in silver. Georgia also remains in her seat, seemingly expectant of his next revelation.

  “It took me a long time to figure out Naaya’s path,” he says. “After she left her home, she travelled from one land to the next over many years, finally landing in Wo, where she and I met.

  “Through her drawings, her writings, and the stories she told me, I compiled and sorted out a list of places she had been. None of them were called what they are now, of course. Some of the islands Naaya went to didn’t even have names. I noted each landmark of all the different locations she had travelled to on the way, trying to figure out exactly which islands she had been to, and which one she initially came from. I finally realised that Naaya had travelled up the Ryukyu Archipelago to eventually reach Japan. I believe that I have managed to track her path back to the origin.” He pauses.

  “And?” Georgia asks. “Where was she from?”

  Charlie looks at her, seeing fervent anticipation in her dark eyes. “She was from here, Georgia. Her people were a native tribe of Taiwan. That is one of the reasons why I am here.”

  41

  Georgia gasps as realisation washes over her.

  “You’re still looking for the cave?” she asks. “Why?”

  Charlie nods in confirmation. His gaze is distant as he looks out the windscreen. “Let us talk about this inside the house.”

  They exit the car and walk up the path towards the log cabin, Charlie’s knapsack slung over his shoulder. It is a balmy and humid night, the deafening sound of cicadas permeating the air. The house is located in a clearing and surrounded by trees, with dark mountains looming at the back. Charlie was right; the place is secluded. She hasn’t seen any artificial light on their way here for some time.

  Charlie unlocks the front door and flicks on a switch. Warm light floods the minimalist interior, and Georgia sees it is sparsely but elegantly decorated with sixties-style designer furniture. The walls are lined with bookcases filled with volumes, the floors are constructed of polished grey stone, and there is a large fireplace in the living room. There is an overall masculine warmth to the décor.

  “My friend calls this his man cave,” Charlie smiles, accurately describing her general impression of the place. “Somewhere to escape the daily grind. Unfortunately, he does not get much time to use it at all.”

  He guides her into the country-style kitchen next to the lounge, where everything is constructed of either polished wood or stone. There is a dining table of mammoth scale in the attached dining room, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the darkened forest beyond. Charlie pulls out a chair, motioning for her to sit while he walks to the sink to fill the kettle.

  “Cup of tea?”

  Georgia nods. “Yes, please.”

  Charlie rummages through the pantry, producing tea canisters and packets of crackers. “I will go and pick up some food from town in the morning. Until then, this is all we have if you are hungry. There may be some instant noodles somewhere too, if you are desperate.”

  Georgia shakes her head. Her stomach is still trying to unwind after the stressful day she’s had. “I think I’ll just settle for tea. I really don’t think I can eat anything right now.”

  She watches impatiently as Charlie prepares their drinks, then sits down at the table beside her.

  “I told you before that Naaya had carried a last vial of the elixir around her neck,” he begins. “But she did not just save it as a reminder of what had happened to her people. She also kept it for another reason.”

  “She’d meant to give it to someone else?”

  “No. She believed it was her way out.”

  “Her way out?” Georgia raises her eyebrows. “Out of what?”

  “Out of the immortal life,” explains Charlie. “Naaya thought the spring water which gave her enduring youth was also the cure for its affliction. She believed taking the elixir again would reverse its effects. She had saved the vial for herself, to take it one day when she decided that she had lived out her sentence for causing the demise of her own people.”

  “That’s really screwed up.” The words are out of Georgia’s mouth before she can stop herself.

  “Yes. I know you may see it that way. But you have to understand Naaya’s people. They were idealist. They valued honour and loyalty above anything else, and they also held very romantic ideas about life in general. To Naaya, this was the only way she could redeem herself.”

  Charlie pauses to take a drink of his tea. “Unfortunately that last vial of water was used on me when she saved my life. I suppose her self-inflicted punishment ended when Wang Jian murdered her. In any case, the elixir was lost.”

  He reaches into his knapsack and brings out the notebook they retrieved from his home. Leather bound, with a string that wraps around its bulky volume, it is bursting with paper inserted through its pages.

  “When she was alive, Naaya liked to draw and write,” says Charlie. “She did it almost obsessively. She often told me she needed to put those images outside of her, instead of leaving them to fester within. It was her own way of releasing the deep guilt and sorrow she felt. The day she was killed, I took her writings and drawings with me when I left her hut.”

  He rubs his palm over the brown leather cover. “This notebook contains the translations of all of her writings. It also has everything I have compiled in my r
esearch. It has taken me all this time to narrow it down to Taiwan. I have been searching all over this island for many, many years, but I still cannot pinpoint where the cave is. I do not have enough anthropological or archaeological knowledge to do that.”

  Georgia nods, apprehension dawning. “This is why you came searching for me?”

  Charlie nods. “I want you to help me find the cave, where it all began.”

  She takes the book from his outstretched hand, noting its worn covers and its dog-eared pages, feeling the bulky weight of its contents in her hand.

  Within these pages are the secrets to eternity.

  She is almost breathless at the thought. Her next words come out as a whisper, “Mark Lambert said he has an army of scientists who can study the elixir. He said they could synthesise it for the whole world.”

  Charlie purses his lips, exhaling a long sigh. Shaking his head, he says, “Georgia, do you really believe that is what he will do?”

  “I’m not really sure.” She shrugs. “But honestly? I don’t think I ever gave it much thought, because I didn’t believe the elixir actually existed.”

  “In my experience, wealthy and powerful men like him are usually more interested in what they can gain out of a discovery like this. Judging by the mercenaries he sent, it looks like Lambert is willing to do anything to get what he wants. I am not convinced that he intends to share the findings with anyone else. Even if he does, it would most likely come at a price to all those who desire it. And putting the elixir in the hands of a powerful few would be a very dangerous thing, Georgia.

  “I know it is enticing, the idea of being able to save people from incurable diseases. It is a noble intention to have. But let me ask you this: do you really think eternal life would give people happiness? What befell Naaya’s people is only a small taste of what would happen to the entire human race if you were to give the elixir to the world. It has been two and a half thousand years since Naaya first discovered the gift of eternity, but human consciousness as a whole has not yet evolved or matured enough to carry the responsibilities of immortality. If anything, it has probably regressed since.”

  Charlie pauses, silently pensive. When he speaks again, his voice is so quiet that Georgia has to strain to hear him. “It has worried me for some time now that we are rapidly coming to the end of our times. In all of my life, I have never seen the kind of destruction our people are now bringing to the world. Over-population and over-consumption coupled with our wasteful culture means our natural world cannot provide for our habits much longer. People have become emotionally distant from each other, and more people now suffer from depression, anxiety, or some form of mental illness. If the elixir is given to humanity now, the results will be catastrophic. The problems would not be solved, they would only be amplified. We would destroy each other, and the world, too.”

  There is a long moment of silence, and for a while Georgia contemplates on the truth of Charlie’s words. Logically, she knows he is right. But the survival instinct in Georgia, and the mother within her who has experienced the death of her only child, repudiates his arguments. There is also a part of her, naïve as it may be, that believes in humanity’s capacity for change. Sure, there are a lot of things wrong with the world they have created, but in spite of all of that, she is still hopeful.

  Studying his profile, she finally says, “Can I ask you something?”

  Turning, he smiles at her. “Of course. Anything.”

  “How have you done it, living all these years? How is it that you’ve managed to do what Naaya’s people couldn’t?”

  Charlie takes a deep breath. “Well. It has not been without challenges, I can assure you. But I believe I have been given a gift, a precious opportunity that must not be squandered. In my lifetime, I have done my best to contribute to the human cause. And like I said before, I have tried to better myself through continued learning. I feel that I have lived a very enriching life.”

  At that moment, Georgia suddenly understands why Charlie is asking her to help him locate the cave. She frowns, looking up to meet his eyes. They seem to glow a dark aquamarine in the warm light.

  “You want me to help you find the cave,” she says, “because you want to see if Naaya is right. You want to see if taking the elixir again will reverse its effects. You want to stop living.”

  Charlie nods slowly, giving her a small smile. Suddenly he looks exhausted and worn, decades beyond the apparent age of his body.

  “I feel it is time, Georgia.”

  42

  “I don’t understand. What happened to contributing to the human cause? What about helping us in a time when we need it the most?” Georgia asks, now visibly upset.

  Charlie gives her a wry smile. “If you lived for as long as I have, Georgia, you would discover that despite everything you do, the world has a way of doing its own thing. The only thing you really have the power to change is yourself. The conditions of our society have gained a certain momentum. It is hurtling along a path that will end in devastating consequences. Or—who knows—it is also possible a drastic event may happen in time to turn things around. That certainly has happened before. One way or another, a dramatic change is imminent. But all of this, Georgia, is just the ebb and flow of life. In the bigger scheme of things, life goes on. The planet will go on, and the universe will certainly survive—with or without humans.”

  She shakes her head, unwilling to accept this. “How can you be so nonchalant about it all? We’re talking about millions of years of evolution, and over seven thousand years of civilisation—”

  He reaches over, putting a hand on hers, and he can almost feel the exasperation seeping out of her. “I know, Georgia,” he says. “It is difficult for you to understand my wish. But I have lived for two thousand, two hundred and seventy years. That is more than anyone can ever ask for, and to be frank, my soul has grown weary. An average human consciousness can only cope with eighty, ninety, and—at a stretch—maybe a century of life on earth. It is time for my soul to rest.”

  “But you have so much to teach. You have seen so much, learnt so much… how can we just throw all that away?” She trails off, looking defeated when he does not respond.

  He gives her some time to process this, the tea growing lukewarm in their cups. After a few moments, he decides to raise the issue that has been plaguing his mind since their conversation at the Grand Hotel.

  “You know, now that Lambert knows I am still alive, neither of us is safe. I have a feeling he will not give up until his scientists have a chance to study and experiment on me. I cannot allow that to happen. It is imperative that I protect the elixir.

  “I have anticipated something like this would happen soon. With the internet, surveillance, and technologies of the modern world, it has becoming more and more difficult for me to cover my tracks, to remain untraceable. It was only a matter of time, and I fear I will not be able to keep this secret for much longer.

  “Even if Lambert never finds us, there will still be other men—maybe even more dangerous ones—who will eventually come after me. But if I am able to reverse the effects, if I become mortal again, Lambert will have nothing left to study, and nothing to synthesise. That also puts you out of danger.”

  Georgia thinks this over, then shakes her head, looking unconvinced. “It just doesn’t make any scientific sense. I can accept the possibility that there was something in that water which caused a radical change in the physiology of your body, and that because of this, your cells heal the way they do now. But how would drinking the water again reverse its effects?”

  “That, I do not know, Georgia,” he says. “All I know is Naaya was convinced of it. I am a man of medicine, and I have spent many years studying my own body to understand the how the elixir works. I know from comparing my blood with others that there has been a fundamental DNA change in me because of the elixir. It works almost like a virus, infecting the host and taking over cells to insert its genetic material into the host’s genes. But the
re is a missing link to understanding this transformation, and the way to reverse it. I am hoping, that even if drinking the water again does not reverse its effects, at least I can study it, to—”

  “To find an antidote?” Georgia finishes his sentence for him.

  He shrugs. “Yes, I guess you can call it that.”

  “Why not just kill yourself?”

  Charlie snickers. “Oh, I have thought about it, believe me. But as much as I tried, I still could not go through with it in the end. It may seem a minute distinction to you, but fundamentally there is a colossal difference between wishing to die a natural death, and committing suicide. The intentions are a world apart. And, like I said before, for someone like me, death only comes via very painful and violent means.”

  Charlie watches as Georgia opens her mouth to further argue a point, but instead she closes it again as she reconsiders everything. After a long time, with resigned acceptance, she finally says, “How do you need me to help you?”

  He smiles. “You are one of the most brilliant archaeologists in the world, Georgia, and you know this island well. I have been following your work for a while now, and it is no surprise Lambert also chose you for this expedition. I was studying you, trying to gauge if I could trust you with this secret. Imagine my surprise when you started searching for me.”

  He gestures to his notebook. “I know every page of this book by heart, but I cannot seem to come up with anything new. I really need a fresh pair of eyes. Your eyes. Will you look it over for me?”

  43

  Georgia lies on the king-size bed, feeling the silkiness of its luxurious sheets. Charlie has given the master bedroom to her and is sleeping in the smaller room down the hallway. The moon outside the window hangs low in the sky, telling her it is late—or, rather, getting close to early morning—yet sleep evades her.

  She tosses and turns, unable to rest despite her exhaustion. Then, giving up altogether, she turns on the bedside light, eying Charlie’s notebook on the table. Curiosity taking over, she reaches for it, unwinding the leather string around the volume. Flipping through the pages, she sees it is filled with notes, drawings, maps, and photographs. Charlie has obviously spent years studying these; everything is meticulously ordered and translated into modern text.