The Immortal Society (Paperback)

American biogenetic firm XEG has made death irrelevant. Not just death--aging, physical flaws, disease. With their "Immortality Insurance," no one has to worry about anything. Clients hit by a bus find themselves restored into a perfect healthy clone the next day. People have always dreamed of eternal youth, and XEG delivers it to them, assuming they can make the monthly payments. XEG generates clones, backs up memories, and restores clients into a youthful version of their bodies. While it appears to be a dream come true, the half of America that can afford Immortality Insurance enjoys a far different existence than those who cannot. In an America gone bacchanalian, its dark underbelly is filled with citizens doing anything to achieve status as an "Immortal." Some compete in arena death-matches to win immortality. Underground clubs dedicate themselves to extreme genetic experimentation. Wealthy clients pay extra for restoration into clones of supermodels, who sell their genetic code as the latest fashion. Amrita Patel, a spy from India, attempts to steal XEG's technology since the U.S. protects it much as it did nuclear weapons. Amrita colludes with Richard Smithson, a disgruntled XEG security agent who despises the company for which he works. He views Immortality Insurance as a social corrosive, disturbed by the concept of a corporation reducing a human soul into data. Amrita convinces him the best way to destroy their stranglehold is to reveal their secrets to the world. While risking real death, since neither has Immortality Insurance, they discover an awful truth--XEG's patented "soul-catcher" device embedded in its clients is not quite what it appears to be. It is both more than XEG says, and, even more terribly, it is less.