Portraits revealed through your current reading position.
Laconia's absolute ruler tests alien-engineered immortality on himself to build a stable empire no mortal heir can squander.
Winston Duarte led a breakaway Martian fleet through the Laconia Gate and spent nearly three decades building Laconia into a civilization designed for future expansion. He rules absolutely but without theatrical pomp, working from the massive, sober State Building of Laconia and inspiring such awe that subordinates refer to him simply as “Him.”
Duarte has made himself the first subject of Paolo Cortazár's protomolecule-derived longevity treatment. Newly designed organs are growing inside him; punctures heal before they bleed, and he has gone eleven days without sleep or fatigue. He accepts the danger and binds Cortazár's survival to his own, yet treats the scientist with warmth. His political theory is stark: only a single immortal ruler can prevent succession from turning a good empire into chaos, while sharing immortality would create an oligarchy and permanent inequality.
An adult man whose facial features and clothing are not yet described, outwardly healthy and energetic despite eleven sleepless days; a needle puncture in his forearm seals instantly without blood or scab.
Duarte is Laconia's high consul and the sole intended immortal at the center of its planned social order.
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