蛇夫座流星雨降临的那一夜，世界仿佛被撕裂成千万道银蓝色的光痕。
人类历史上最壮观的一场流星雨如约而至，每分钟数千颗流星划过夜空，拖曳出璀璨炽烈的尾焰，仿佛是宇宙倾洒在人间的星辰瀑布。全球媒体争相报道这一奇观，将其誉为"阿斯克勒庇俄斯的恩赐"——这位蛇夫座所象征的古希腊医神，以光辉洒向大地，带来生命的福祉。天文学家和宗教学者纷纷宣称，这场千载难逢的天文现象，预示着人类文明即将迈入崭新的黄金时代。
“蛇夫降临了。”
人们仰望星空，目光中满是敬畏与希望，沉浸在这场浩瀚奇观之中，然而，没有人意识到，他们所见证的并非新生的奇迹，而是文明终章的序曲。
短短几天后，异样悄然浮现。
最初，只是零星的未知病症：极少数患者的血液在强光下泛着诡异的荧光，骨骼组织也呈现出前所未有的高密度晶化，皮肤在黑暗中隐约透出淡淡的银蓝色光泽。
症状零散、毫无规律，仿佛一种未被发现的基因突变。媒体对此的态度从最初的猎奇，很快转向漠然——直到第一例确诊死亡。
日本国立癌症中心发布声明：“患者体内缺乏某种未知的关键物质，导致器官逐步失去活性，衰竭速度无法逆转。”医生在发布会上语气凝重得仿佛在宣告某种死刑。
就像一块沉默已久的巨石终于坠入湖面，恐慌以指数级扩散开来。类似病例在全球范围内激增，短短数周内，各国医院被涌入的患者塞满，各国政府和世卫组织不得不启动最高级别的卫生紧急状态。科学家们彻夜研究，试图寻找病症背后的根源，最终，他们在所有病例的血样与组织切片中分离了一种从未出现在元素周期表上的物质——Vitalium。
Vitalium，是生命的馈赠，亦是枷锁。银蓝色，呈高活性离子态，能够嵌入DNA链条，直接影响细胞代谢，成为维系生命的关键因子。
科学家们震惊地发现，Vitalium不仅影响个体生命，还深刻改变了人类的生殖过程——胎儿必须依赖母体提供额外的Vitalium，否则无法存活。
它的特性很快被揭示：
- 青春期前，Vitalium随骨骼生长而增殖，但在骺板闭合后停止生成。
- 成年后，Vitalium仅存于骨骼、血液和脑组织，不再自我增殖。
- 老年时，Vitalium随骨质流失而减少，最终导致机体衰竭。
- 孕育胎儿时，母体必须消耗自身储存的Vitalium，否则胚胎无法发育。
- 如果老年人持续补充Vitalium，则可延缓甚至完全停止衰老。
Vitalium已成为人类存活的必要元素，但问题在于——它并不存在于地球的生态系统中。
Vitalium的唯一来源，只有人类自身。
这是一场无声的灭绝。
最初，各国政府试图寻找替代品。实验室夜以继日地提取植物、动物、微生物，甚至试图用人工合成方式复现Vitalium，但无一成功。
Vitalium的活性仅能在人类体内保持稳定，任何非人类生物都无法代谢并储存它。
更致命的是，Vitalium并非源自蛇夫座流星雨本身，而是因陨石中的放射性元素，触发了地球上某些稳定元素的衰变反应。如今，那些陨石的放射物已经衰减，Vitalium的自然生成已彻底终止。
“阿斯克勒庇俄斯的恩赐”，成了“阿斯克勒庇俄斯的诅咒”。于是，“回收”成为唯一的出路。
全球陷入恐慌，政府紧急冻结医疗资源，生物资产管理体系（Vitalium Bio-Asset Management System, VBMS）迅速建立。由于 Vitalium 在个体体内富集而非自动消耗，国家开始实行强制生命登记制度，确保所有个体的 Vitalium 存量被精准测算和监管。然而，随着社会对 Vitalium 需求的爆炸式增长，市场法则接管了世界，新的经济体系诞生了——各国政府一致同意废除现行信用货币制度与完全浮动汇率体系，确立 Vitalium 本位制（Vitalium Standard）。
在纽约人类联合政府广场，巨大的全息投影屏幕实时更新着全球各国法币与 Vitalium 的市场汇兑价格。个体的预计经济贡献值（PEV） 直接决定生命信用评级（LCS），影响 Vitalium 贷款额度与生存权。富人通过资产管理确保自身 LCS 评级稳固，囤积 Vitalium 以换取更长寿命，而贫困人口则被迫抵押自己的“生命存量”以换取短暂的生存权。
一旦 LCS 降至破产线，个体将被降级为“不可持续单位”，失去医疗支持，甚至被系统执行“生命回收程序”。 这一体系标志着人类正式进入生命债务时代。
在这个新世界， Vitalium才是唯一的生存资本。
“爸爸，为什么我们要存钱？”小女孩仰起头，疑惑地望着父亲。
“亲爱的，”父亲轻轻抚摸着她的头发，目光沉沉，声音轻得像叹息，“我们不是在存钱，我们在为未来存储生命。”
远处，全息屏幕上的汇兑指数无声更新跳动，数字冰冷、波动起伏。巍峨耸立的人类联合政府大楼——那座吞噬未来的黑色高塔，正冷漠地俯视着整个世界。
在 Vitalium 经济的统治下，人类不再属于自己，而是市场的一部分——一个等待估值的生命单位。
On the night of the Ophiuchid meteor storm, the sky was torn apart by thousands silver-blue scars.
The most spectacular celestial event in human history unfolded as promised. Thousands of meteors streaked across the heavens each minute, their glowing tails weaving a tapestry of brilliance—a cosmic waterfall pouring down to Earth. Global media hailed it as Asclepius' Gift, named after the ancient Greek god of healing, whose constellation, Ophiuchus, now bathed the world in its radiance. Astronomers and theologians alike proclaimed that this once-in-a-millennium phenomenon heralded the dawn of a new golden age for humanity.
"Asclepius has arrived."
People whispered and gazed up. Their eyes alight filled with awe and hope, lost in the spectacle.
None of them realized that what they were witnessing was not the birth of a miracle.
It was the beginning of the end.
Strange symptoms appeared only days later.
At first, they seemed insignificant—isolated cases of unexplained symptoms. Some people’s blood shimmered under bright light. Some had unnaturally dense bones. A few even reported that in total darkness, their skin gave off a faint silver-blue glow.
The media reports it as genetic curiosities—until the first confirmed death.
At a press conference, the National Cancer Center of Japan issued a chilling statement:
"The patient’s body is missing a critical, unidentified substance. Without it, organ function deteriorates irreversibly. The process is rapid. It cannot be stopped."
At first, the world hesitated. Then, like a rock thrown into still waters, the fear spread.
Cases surged at an exponential rate. Within weeks, hospitals overflowed. Governments declared the highest levels of emergency. Scientists worked without rest, testing every available tissue sample, every drop of blood—until at last, they found the answer.
A new element.
Something that had never existed before.
Vitalium.
Vitalium was a blessing.
Vitalium was a curse.
A silver-blue element, hyper-reactive in its ionic state, capable of integrating directly into DNA strands and altering cellular metabolism, controlling the body’s ability to survive. The key to life itself.
The discoveries that followed changed everything.
• Before puberty, Vitalium proliferated naturally, growing with the bones—but ceased once the growth plates fused.
• In adulthood, it remained locked within the bones, bloodstream, and neural tissue. It could no longer regenerate.
• In old age, it diminished alongside bone loss, accelerating physical aging and, eventually, death.
• In pregnancy, the mother’s body had to supply additional Vitalium—or the fetus would not survive.
• For the elderly, continuous Vitalium supplementation could slow, even halt, the aging process entirely.
Human survival was now bound to an element that did not—and never had—belonged to Earth.
There was only one known source of Vitalium.
Humans.
Extinction had arrived—not with fire, nor with war, but in silence.
This wasn’t an outbreak.
This was extinction in slow motion.
At first, governments scrambled for alternatives—labs engineered microbes, extracted compounds from plants, even modified synthetic proteins.
Every attempt failed.
Vitalium could not be created in a lab.
Vitalium could not exist outside the human body.
What is the worst part?
The meteors hadn’t actually brought Vitalium to Earth. Instead, they carried radiation that triggered a reaction in Earth’s natural elements, mutating them into this new, essential substance. But the meteors’ radiation had faded. The transformation was over. No more Vitalium would ever be created.
Asclepius' Gift had become Asclepius' Curse.
So, humanity turned to the only solution left.
Recycling.
Governments froze all medical resources. The Vitalium Bio-Asset Management System (VBMS) was established, enforcing strict life registration protocols. Every citizen’s Vitalium reserves were recorded, monitored, and controlled. But demand surged beyond control, and state authority collapsed under the weight of scarcity.
A new economy was born.
In United Human Federation Plaza, New York, holographic billboards pulsed with real-time exchange rates—every currency now pegged to Vitalium.
Your Projected Economic Value (PEV) dictated your Life Credit Score (LCS). A high score meant Vitalium loans, medical access, and a future. A low score meant none.
The rich secured infinite time.
The poor sold what little they had left—their own remaining years.
Drop too low, and the system marked you: Non-Sustainable Unit (NSU).
No healthcare. No appeals. Just liquidation.
This was the Era of Life Debt.
"Daddy, why do we save money?" The little girl looked up, her eyes full of innocent curiosity.
Her father brushed a gentle hand through her hair with unreadable expression. His voice was almost a whisper.
"We’re not saving money, sweetheart."
"We’re saving life."
In the distance, exchange indices flickered, numbers shifting in cold, relentless precision.
Towering above the city, the monolithic United Human Federation Building stood like a silent overseer, its dark facade absorbing the last vestiges of twilight.
Under the rule of Vitalium, humanity no longer belonged to itself.
It had become the market.
A commodity.
A life awaiting valuation.