(𝗘𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲)
I opened my eyes, in a hospital ward and on a neat and clean bed. There was a card on a side table near my bed with the name, Emma Brown - Psychiatrist written and back 'St. Genevieve's Psychiatric Ward' in all Noto black bold letters. I got up, feeling a bit tired and sore, but much better than my previous condition. "What is this place? The last thing I remember is... drowning...? There was a tube, and it was... filled with some... something. I-I was very sick!" There was a door next to mine where inside, a man just stood there beside a wall all scribbled with some kind of drawings like those in pre-historic caves seen in books. There was a lava lamp, also on the floor providing a little warmth and lighting to the room. As soon as he saw me, he began to shiver murmur...
"No way to escape it. No way out. No way out. No way out". "I'm... Sorry, what?" "End of days. Scourge and sickness. The full cleansing of the Earth. The overlords, they tricked us. They conspired, against us. They made us bring the poison back into the nest. Like good little ants" I asked to him about who did this but he shook his head in fear and despair and continued, "Too late. What's done is now done. No backsies now. But...WE MUST TRY! Do you hear me?! Bring help. Don't get caught. Get the girl!" "I-I... Sure". I got out of the room still partially confused of what I heard, and made my way in the corridor. "Hey, what's that?" It looked like a computer but quite small and very light also. As I was looking through it, a young woman, maybe in her thirties came out of a room. "Uhm, miss? Nurse?" "Oh... Oh, hi there. Goodness, *chuckles* You startled me. And it's 'Doctor', actually. Doctor Emma Brown. I'm a little embarrassed to say, but we don't have any files on you, so I don't know your name". "I... It's Joe, ma'am". "Oh, call me Emma. We're not so formal here. It's nice to meet you, Joe". "I'm sorry, Doctor Brown, I don't even know how to say this, but... You -everyone here- is in serious danger. I'm very sick and it's very important you call the authorities and -" "Whoah-whoah... Take it easy. Deep breaths. There's nothing to be afraid of. How do you feel?" "I... Ok, I guess. A little weak and sore". "See? You're fine. And the soreness is to be expected. You've undergone muscle therapy. You've been asleep for at least three decades, after all, maybe even more". The thing I just heard, made me shocked. It was unbelievable. I was in...2011!
"What?! But wh... Where am I?" "Easy Joe, I know it's a lot to take in. It'd be a shock to anyone, having been under for as you have. It's 2007, and this is the psychiatric ward of St. Genevieve's hospital. You were brought out of that hibernation five weeks ago. Like the others, you were placed in an artificial coma for regenerative muscle therapy and brought here for evaluation and rehab after everything checked out". "Oh, God. Those tubes... You have to listen to me, Doctor. I'm dangerously sick. I was carrying something wh-when I got in... I..." "Ohhh, that? *chuckles* Well, that's true - you did all have some kind of flu. Actually, the resident physician did find it peculiar how you had all contracted a type of avian flu that only did first appeared in the late nineties - and a new strain, at that. In any case, the pathogen was largely dormant due to the extended hibernation. We run very thorough medical checks on all of our cryo-clients so we have you all a shot of our regular cocktail and cleared it right before you even came to know"
"...So it's... gone? But what about Archon..." "Oh, I'm afraid I don't know much about all of that. All I know is that the company in which you were found frozen went bankrupt after losing a lawsuit against someone in the early seventies. Anyhow, the remaining assets were sold off, and the newly formed CryoForm company brought the cryogenics technology. As per ethical requirements, that included all of you who were frozen inside.We've been helping rahabitilate CryoForm's clients for the past five years or so. Mostly folks suffering from previously incurable terminal illness - and some heavy wallets, *chuckles* But you didn't hear that from me, hm? Unfortunately, cryogenics was a little... experimental when you went under. So while the company's been freezing and reviving clients for quite some time, you had to stay confined to original equipment. Then, apparently a lot of Archon's original documentation was destroyed or lost, as it was rumoured, so CryoForm had practically
no information on any of you. That's the another reason it took so long to figure out how to revive you".
"Sadly, the others haven't been quite as... coherent. They share certain delusions, you know, end of world - that sort of thing. An unfortunate side-effect of cryogenics, primitive state at that time, I suspect..."
"So I...I'm not sick? You're sure?" " Yes, Joe *chuckles* quite sure. In fact, I see now no reason to keep you here. We have here an excellent rehabilitation team who'll get you settled into your new life in no time. Just let me know when you're ready!"
"I... I'm ready, Dr. Brown!" "Good! Head up to the second floor and wall into the room with a Dove doorknob. See you later, Joe!"
I walked to my room, silently seeing in my way a man coverings his ear, probably due to the sound by a new type of television hanging on the wall. I changed to a formal wear clothes and following Dr. Brown's instructions headed up to the Room 25. The room was well furnished with a desk, a shelf and a chair in front of me with a man sitting there, drinking a cup of tea.
"Good day, Joe! Have a seat, please make yourself comfortable!" "D-Dr. Lambert, Sir, you here? God, am I happy to see you?..."
"I know that Joe. I know exactly what are you feeling. It's been 35 years since I sent you on this doomed mission hoping you'll make everything all right and we'll drink a glass of wine together *chuckles*. But I was wrong, and I knew by then I had lost you. I contacted my earlier team and filed a lawsuit against Archon. After some convincing evidence and our baffling facts, authorities started their investigation and found inside those cryotubes with humans inside, one of them being you. Archon's earlier benefactors also pulled their hands back and the company went bankrupt! It's been a long time Joe and everything's changed so don't worry. I know it may be a bit overwhelming now, but trust me it's a whole new lease on life!" I stood up from the chair and he came beside me, tears in his eyes and brought his hands forward.
I don't know how but I just went ahead to hug him. "You'll love it here in 2007, Joe!"
He exclaimed while patting my back.
What then... I started to work in this new company just established two years back, Arrayfire. Guess, life's not too hard now. There are metros and subways. Many fast food chains and funky rockstar posters everywhere around. And talk about technology, there are all kinds of gadgets - phones, headsets, TV's, iPods and you name it. I soon became introduced to and kinda attached to this Silent Age. People here might know me as a new software engineer, but what they probably don't is -
𝗜'𝗠 𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥