The next thing I remember is waking up in my room with Anthony and William sitting beside my bed like two guards who had been waiting there for hours.
For a moment I simply stared at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened. The last clear memory in my mind was them carrying me toward the café, laughing like idiots while I protested, and then… nothing. Just darkness.
My head felt heavy and my thoughts moved slowly, as if my brain had not fully returned yet.
They had set the room lights to morning mode, and the brightness stabbed straight into my eyes the moment I opened them.
"Make it evening, William," I muttered while covering my face with one hand, irritation already creeping into my voice.
"Liam, switch the lights to evening mode," William said calmly.
The lights dimmed immediately and my eyes finally relaxed.
Even the smallest bright object started irritating me, so I forced myself up from the bed and moved around the room turning off every lamp, light panel, and laser strip until the room felt comfortably dark.
Only then did I look toward William.
"I didn't know Liam was on," I said while sitting back down on the bed.
"Oh that's fine," William replied with a faint smile. "Your AI assistant seems to like me more."
I leaned back again, still trying to clear the fog inside my head.
"What exactly happened to me?" I asked.
Anthony scratched the back of his head while answering.
"All we know is that you were unconscious for about fifteen minutes."
Then he suddenly stood up and walked toward the small medical cabinet in my room before returning with a sleek handheld device.
"Justin, you should run a health scan," he said while handing the device to me. "Just to make sure this wasn't something serious."
The device was a VitaScan Unit, a portable diagnostic machine capable of generating a complete biological report in under a minute. It could detect deficiencies, diseases, internal damage, and almost every measurable condition inside the human body.
I took the device and walked into the next room. There was absolutely no way I was going to remove my clothes in front of them. The scan finished within seconds and the report appeared on the screen.
I looked at it once.
Then again.
For a moment I thought my eyes were still adjusting to the darkness in the room, because what I was seeing made absolutely no sense.
The report claimed that my biological lifespan had increased by forty years.
I stared at the number.
Plus forty years.
"That's impossible," I whispered to myself.
The machine must have malfunctioned,I thought, So I ran the scan again but the result did not change. My heart started beating faster as confusion replaced the lingering dizziness in my head.
I rushed back into the room where Anthony and William were sitting.
"Generate your reports," I said quickly.
Anthony looked confused but followed the instruction anyway, running the VitaScan across his body while the device processed his data. His report appeared and it was Normal.
Which meant the machine was working perfectly.
"Guys…" I said slowly while staring at the screen in disbelief. "My report says I have… forty more years to live."
Both of them stood up immediately and leaned closer. William grabbed the VitaScan and ran the test on himself just to confirm, yet his report appeared completely normal as well.
The machine was not lying.
"How is that even possible?" Anthony muttered.
"Anth, go to your house and bring another VitaScan," William said quickly.
"Why me?" Anthony protested.
I looked at William, waiting for his answer.
"Because your house is closer, idiot," William replied while pushing him toward the door. "Now go."
Anthony groaned but rushed out anyway. A few minutes later he returned with another device.
We tested it again.
And again.
And again.
Every result said the same thing no matter how many times we tested. Forty years wasn't a small amount, in terms of currency it was worth millions of dollars, enough to buy us 3 mansions and still live peacefully without work.
Forty additional years.
At that point none of us could deny it anymore, but one question still hung heavily in the air between us.
Why would someone donate forty years of their life to me ?