History Unfrozen

Prologue

“Alright, before we begin, are you completely sure you want to go through with this?”

The man being asked the question closed his eyes and sighed. Opening them back up, he said,

“Yes, I’m sure. You have asked me that question seventeen times now, both on paper and verbally, and I’ve said the same thing every time.”

The man asking the question gave a grim smile and nodded. He gathered up all of the papers in front of his desk and put them into a folder. Standing up, he said,

“Sorry, but we just have to be extra sure. This process isn’t reversible, not with today’s technology. And, well, usually people who go through with this aren’t even awake. So, yeah, we have to be completely certain that the recipient knows exactly what they are getting into.” He motioned towards a door. “Go ahead and head through there, every thing is set up and all we need is you. There shouldn’t be anything else that you need, either.”

The man stood up and walked over to the door. Clasping the handle, he once again closed his eyes and sighed. This was a major event in his life, and there was the distinct possibility that it would be his last. He steeled his resolve, remembered his purpose, and opened the door and his eyes. The light inside of the painfully white room was blinding, enough that it made him close his eyes again.

Chapter 1

The monitor and its accompanying speakers came to life. Doctor Gerard Relfek checked to make sure each piece of equipment was in place. There was one thing out of place, and he pointed towards the wire and told his assistant to readjust it. He swiveled around in his chair and looked at the one-sided tinted window on the far side of the room. On the other side of the glass was a group of about twenty-five men and and women, all of them of various occupations. Noted scientists, government officials, historians, and a select number of journalists were on the other side watching the show. Gerard would have preferred to not be under the scrutiny of an audience, but his work held importance to far more people than just himself. At least he could not see them as they could see him. Seeing their faces and watching their expressions would have been unsettling for a man like him.

He began the usual filibuster, speaking clearly so that the audio recording device could hear him, “Today is number thirty-two for the Cryogenically Preserved Resuscitation Program, or the CPRP. To start the day off, we are first attempting to revive subject number 531. Malcus,” Gerard turned to his assistant, “list the subject’s information for the record.”

Malcus, Gerard’s assitant, opened up a brown folder with extremely yellowed paper on the inside and began to read from the first page, “Subject number 531. Sex, female. Date of preservation, October eighth, 2023. Age prior to preservation, seventy-three. Status of body prior to preservation, alive, but with chronic kidney, heart, and liver failure.”

“And state today’s date, please.”

“Date of attempted resuscitation, May seventeenth, 6306.”

Gerard swiveled back towards the monitor, “All bodily functions appear to be of normal status, with exception to the ailments mentioned earlier.”

He turned towards the center of the room, where a large tube of glass and metal was positioned. There were numerous hoses and wires attached to the tube, and the tube itself was filled with ice and what resembled a human figure.

“To counteract the inevitable rapid cell death and organ failure associated with the thawing process, solutions 0567, 0648, and 0848 have been prepared for injection into the subject. Solution 0567 will keep the body in stasis until completely thawed. Solution 0648, to be injected after the thawing process, will negate solution 0567 and allow the body to come out of suspension. Solution 0848 will keep the body in a relative state of healthy cell activity, at least until further medical treatment can be given as needed.” Gerard turned around one more time and faced the darkened window, “As of this attempt, no subject has been revived entirely. The revival attempt has succeeded with 37% success, but out of those 37%, all of the subjects were brain dead upon complete resuscitation. Also out of those 37%, 94% experienced total cell failure within five days. After extensive body scans, we estimate that subject 531 has an optimistic 73% chance of being resuscitated, but only a 13% chance of surviving until tomorrow. Malcus, begin the procedure.”

Malcus pressed a few buttons on the console of one of the machines attached to the glass tube. A slight heat could be felt coming from its direction after a few minutes. Gerard began to speak while waiting,

“The cryogenic procedure of subject 531 is among the older forms of cryopreservation, so the process of thawing should only take about ten minutes.”

* * *

Ten minutes passed without any extraordinary incident. By the end of the process, the ice had completely turned into water and slowly drained away. The elderly woman was not conscious, and lay still inside of the tube. Her clothing was not as pristine as it might have been when she put it on, but it was still intact.

“Subject 531 has completed the procedure without any deviations.” Gerard focused intently on the monitor and relayed the basic information to those listening, and for recording purposes, “Subject 531 is still unconscious, and most organs do not seem capable of sustaining the subject for longer than 24 hours, even with solution 0848 having been injected. Definite medical treatment is needed to keep the subject alive for longer than 24 hours.” He turned towards the tinted window, “Should subject 531 be given adequate medical care, there is a 94% chance she will survive long enough to be a viable candidate for the HBCP.”

Gerard turned back towards the monitor. Malcus began the process of disconnecting all of the attachments on the tube, and once he had finished two men came in took the tube out of the room. A short while later, another tube was brought in for the procedure, this time carrying a new subject.

Gesturing for Malcus to go about connecting everything, Gerard opened up the dingy folder on the new subject and skimmed over its contents. He was slightly intrigued when he saw that this subject had voluntarily chosen to preserve their body at a relatively young age. Gerard could only imagine what their reasons for doing so were, but he could not daydream for long. In fact, as he read on he started to feel optimistic about the next subject. However, upon reading some grim news among the files, that optimism crumbled away into nothingness.

After the glass tube had been reconnected to the various devices around the room, Gerard set the folder aside and yet again turned to face the window. Repeating the process from before, he began speaking,

“Next on the list is subject number 532. Malcus, list the information.”

“Subject number 532. Sex, male. Date of preservation, November twenty-ninth, 2026. Age prior to preservation, thirty-one. Status of body prior to preservation, alive and in…” Malcus’ eyes widened just as Gerard’s had, “perfect health, with no physiological ailments to speak of. Date of attempted resuscitation, May seventeenth, 6306. ”

Gerard spoke mechanically the words he had said 531 times already, “To counteract the inevitable rapid cell death and organ failure associated with the thawing process, solutions 0567, 0648, and 0848 have been prepared for injection into the subject. Solution 0567 will keep the body in stasis until completely thawed. Solution 0648, to be injected after the thawing process, will negate solution 0567 and allow the body to come out of suspension. Solution 0848 will keep the body in a relative state of healthy cell activity, at least until further medical treatment can be given as needed.” Gerard rebelled in a small way by turning back towards the monitor, “As of this attempt, no subject has been revived entirely. The revival attempt has succeeded with a newly achieved success rate of 38%, but out of those 38%, all of the subjects were brain dead upon complete resuscitation. Also out of those 37%, 94% experienced complete cell failure within five days. After extensive body scans, and despite his immaculate condition prior to preservation, we estimate that subject 532 has an unfortunate 30% chance of being resuscitated, and only a 5% chance of surviving until tomorrow. It would seem that the subject’s choice of cryo-bank was damaged at some point, and his cryopreservational unit had been partially compromised. We shall continue with the procedure regardless.”

Malcus took that as his cue and manipulated the console as before. Before long the same heat as before began radiating from the tube. Gerard began to speak again in rote,

“Due to the compromised nature of the subject’s preservation, the thawing process for subject 532 will probably take longer than subject 531. An estimated time of procedural completion is currently at twenty-five minutes. Of course, the structural integrity of the ice will–”

Gerard was cut short by an unexpected sound coming from the glass tube. He turned around to see what was happening, and was shocked by what he saw.

The figure inside of the tube was moving. Not just moving, but seemingly pushing against the ice. As a few minutes passed and the ice melted further, the figure had enough room too move its limbs. It began to furiously pound against the ice and was causing it to crack. No, not just the ice was cracking, but he glass itself.

Gerard was both marveled and paralyzed with fear. After so many failed attempts that had better chances, this subject was not only surviving but seemed to be conscious. But that was something else; this person was supposed to be asleep. How could they be awake and trying to get out?

By now the spectacle was obvious to even the watchers from the other room, and there seemed to be some kind commotion. Gerard began to stand up for some reason. He felt as if whatever was encased in ice was something to be feared. Apparently Malcus, a typically strong and level-headed man, seemed to be captive to the fear as well, as he too was beginning to back away with terror in his eyes. Gerard was not sure what he should do. It was obvious that whoever was in there was going to be coming out, and there was nothing inside of the room that could be used as a sedative.

The commotion inside of the other room became even louder as the figure in the ice began to make further progress. From what Gerard could tell, they seemed to be more excited than afraid. That was understandable. After all, they were in the other room, what did they have to fear?

Everything, from Gerard and Malcus’ retreat to the commotion of the other people, came to stop as the figure stopped moving. Glancing at the monitor, Gerard could tell that it wasn’t dead. He assumed that the subject must have tired out, though the fact that the subject could move at all after 4,000 years of being encased in ice was astounding by any standards. He couldn’t quite see the entirety of the subject’s body, as there was still quite a bit of crushed and broken ice left inside of the tube. Not only that, but since there was still heat being generated inside of the tube, there was an excessive amount of condensation on the glass. From what he could see, though, the figure was still breathing and was moving slightly, as if trying for a more tactical method of escape.

No, it was obvious from where Gerard was standing that the figure was not done trying to get out. This time, it was simply trying do so with more than brute force. The irrational fear from before began to grip Gerard again as he began to think that, not only did this figure somehow still have control of its muscles immediately after waking up, it had control over its mind. He began his steady retreat again. He was more than halfway to the door by now. He could get their sooner if he turned and ran, but he did not want to turn around. Whatever the men and women in the other room were doing before had quieted down. Clearly they did not see the figure’s small movements.

That was it. Gerard did not get to finish his retreat. The figure began smashing against the tube walls again and again, until finally it broke through.

A man sat up in the ice and steam, gasping horribly for breath. The sounds coming from him as he clutched his chest and coughed and sputtered sounded extremely painful to Gerard’s ears. Despite the coughing, the man began to climb out of the tube. The sounds of the man’s breathing began to steady, but clearly he was still in pain. His hands, arms, and legs bloodied and bruised, and his stance was extremely unsteady.

Seeing the sight of blood caused Gerard’s instincts as a doctor to kick in. He immediately rushed over to the man and had him sit in the chair in front of the monitor. He ripped the man’s shredded clothes off to assess the wounds, and saw that they were not fatal. Still, he ordered Malcus to go get a stretcher. They needed to get him to a proper facility where he could be cared for more extensively.

The gravity of what had just happened was not lost on Gerard, and it definitely was not lost on the group of people on the other side of the window. By now there was shouting and yelling, and Gerard for a brief moment remembered that this man was almost certainly going to be put under a lot of stress for the foreseeable future.

Gerard removed his lab coat and placed it around the man, placed him on the floor, then he wrapped his own body around the man. He needed to keep the man from going into hypothermia until the situation could be handled. After drawing near, the man, still breathing roughly, grabbed the doctor’s shirt, and began to whisper something that he couldn’t understand. He repeated what the man had said to him out loud.

A very loud shout came from the other room, and then all of the people talking at once seemed to stop talking. Gerard realized that what he had said probably went through the microphone into the other room. No doubt one of the historians in the other room heard what he said and understood, and yelled for everyone in the room to be quiet so he could hear it again. Gerard decided to say it again, this time louder. Silence. There was nothing that indicated movement or chatter on the other side, until a door slammed.

After a few minutes, Malcus and the two men from before brought a stretcher with them. However, they were accompanied by a fourth man. Gerard did not recognize him, but he could assume who he was. He was an older man, and he was dressed formally, though it was obvious he was not used to dressing that way. He had an air of excitement about him as he began to speak,

“You! Doctor Relfek! Were you repeating this man’s words?”

“Yes, I was. Why? Can you understand him?”

“What? ‘Understand him?’ Are you kidding? I’m probably one of the few people in the world who is fluent in his language. It is, after all, a 4,000 year old language.”

The historian focused his attention on the man from the tube, who by now had begun to breathe normally. Just as he was about to open his mouth, another large group came in through the door. Gerard recognized most of them as being the government officials from the other room. They came in and some began talking to the man, others talking to the historian. Gerard turned to look at the man in his arms.

Ice. Though he was not frozen anymore, the man’s stare was icy, and the glare he was giving both the doctor and everyone else in the room sent chills down Gerard’s spine. He remembered the fear he felt earlier, and it seemed to be rising up to the surface again.

The noise between all of the people in the room was getting to be quite loud, and Gerard’s doctor instincts began to kick in again. He stood up, leaving the man on the floor, and he began to speak,

“Alright, this is neither the time nor place for this! This man needs serious medical treatment. Not only that, but it would seem most of you are unaware of the fact that he can’t even understand you. Please, leave now. All of this unneeded stress may kill him in the end. Go! Go!” He began to push the first person in front of him out the room.

Everyone calmed down and left the room. Malcus and the two men with the stretcher carried the man from the tube out of the room before long, and Gerard was left inside of the room alone. He walked unsteadily over to his chair, and nearly fell into it. With all of the drama out of the way, the true weight of what had just happened began to dawn on him. After hundreds of failed attempts, they finally managed to bring a cryogenically preserved human being back to life completely. It had been his life’s work developing the solutions and the procedures needed to accomplish the task, and it felt great knowing he was the first man to do so.

However, as Gerard’s eyes began to wonder over the devices, he noticed something strange. Standing up, he went over and investigated the console where Malcus was standing. There he saw, much to his shock, none of the solutions had ever been injected.

The life’s work of Doctor Gerard H. Relfek had not played a single part in the complete revival of a cryogenically preserved human being.

Chapter 2

Freedom.