Chapter 10:
Thomas poked at his lasagna. "Well, my turn to be sorry I guess."
"That's OK, you didn't know either. I've just seen how much my dad's invested into this project and I want to be sure you know what he's done for us."
"I understand. Now who is this Ervin guy? He doesn't ever seem to do anything. I think every time I've seen him, he's been asleep, except for maybe once or twice."
"He's my grandfather, actually--an absolute genius in math. You can present him with basically any problem and he'll figure it out. Of course, half the time he does sleep, what with being old and all. But many times I've asked him a question, he falls asleep, but then wakes up hours later and bursts out the answer. So any time Frank or Flo need help with a math problem, they can ask him."
"Speaking of Flo," Thomas quickly said, "who is she? Another family member?"
"No, she's not family, just a close friend. My dad used to work at the university with her. See, dad has his doctorate in biology, and she has one in chemistry. They had worked together a few times on different, smaller projects back when they were both at the university. They worked very well together, so once dad started this project, he asked to get her involved as soon as possible, and she agreed."
Thomas turned to Doug. "OK, so now I know the basics about all the other people involved. Where, exactly, do you fit into this puzzle?"
"Heh, well, there's not much to add before the point where Vera met me. I went to school majoring in computer science, but I decided to minor in chemistry. During my organic chem classes, I helped out Flo--she was my professor--with some computer related stuff and helped calibrate some of the instruments we used in lab sessions. Flo knew I was good with computers, so she offered me a job at Frank's lab to help get some of the equipment up and running. That's how I got involved."
"I'm still shocked you're into computers. Most people your size would be off playing basketball or something and majoring in General Studies."
Doug sighed, but was used to this. He went into his usual spiel. "My parents were both pretty tall, mom's 5'10", dad's 6'3", and I was a late bloomer. My sophomore year, I was 5'6" and pudgy. I wasn't always heavy, but we got a computer when I was really young. I was instantly hooked and outside became some strange and weird place. Why would I want to go out there when I can play Oregon Trail on my Apple II? So I gained weight pretty quick and took a lot of flack for it, but I became really skilled at coding in C, Java, and a few other languages by the time I was finished with high school, and I love it. By the time I was starting my sophomore year, I was sick of always being picked on, so I forced myself to work out. By the end of my sophomore year, I had dropped about thirty pounds and started a growth spurt, grew six inches in one summer. By the time I graduated, I was 6'5" and stronger than the majority of the athletes at school. They hated me for it, of course, but at least they didn’t pick on me anymore! I vowed to never let myself get fat again, so I keep working out to stay in shape. But I still keep up with computers and technology. Does that explain enough?"
"Yeah," Thomas said. "It makes a lot more sense now at least."
"Good. Now tell me your story," Doug said. "Why are you here?" Thomas thought for a moment and then laughed at how ridiculous it was all going to sound.
"Well, let me just start from the beginning. See, I was on my way to work one morning…" Thomas recounted in great detail the day he got fired, the morning at the realtor’s office, his journey to the library, the horrible Ms. Tharpe, and the dreadful hours spent researching new homes.
"No!" Vera said, stifling her laughter. "You spent an entire week doing nothing but reading up on new places to live?"
"Yes!"
"Come on now," Vera said, finding it unbelievable. "You must have done something else."
"I'm serious! I spent the entire week trying to find paradise!"
"It took you that long to realize that there is no perfect place to live?" She asked.
"Hey, I’ve spent my whole life in the city! How was I to know that everywhere else was basically the same?"
"I’m sorry Thomas," Vera said, giggling, "it’s just funny to me."
"It wasn't to me!" Thomas insisted, "I was sure there had to be somewhere better! When I realized that there wasn’t, I wasn’t exactly happy about it."
"I still can't believe you spent so much time on it," Doug said.
"Neither can I," Thomas said. "I’m mostly annoyed that it took me so long to realize the cold hard truth."
"Me too," Vera teased.
"Oh ha ha," Thomas said, grinning. He was actually enjoying this. The waiter came over and deposited the bill on the table. "After it was all said and done, I came to the conclusion that I had nothing to lose, and that I might as well see what the future has to offer. So I found Frank's card, made the call, and here I am."
They finished eating and began digging out their money to pay for the food. The waiter refused to split the bill, using the excuse that their computer program was only able to split it two ways. Doug muttered about this either being a lie or a really bad program, and offered to make them a new one. The waiter rolled his eyes at this and cleared away the dishes to let them debate about what they were going to do in his absence. Fortunately everyone had enough cash on them to pay their share of the bill, and after hunting down the waiter and shoving the money in his hand, they left.
Over the next week, Thomas, Vera, and Doug spent what seemed like every waking minute together, getting to know each other. Thomas had to admit, these were some pretty neat people. Their overall attitudes and personalities were fairly laid back, yet, they weren't likely to let others walk all over them. This was one thing Thomas always had a problem with personally. He was about as assertive as the directions on the shampoo bottle: he could sound strict and official if he wanted to, but no one would listen to what he had to say. So Thomas was happy to have some friends who would be firm when needed, but otherwise friendly.
And, as is the case in nearly every other situation involving friendships between men and women, Thomas found himself growing rather fond of Vera. Unfortunately for him, Doug was feeling the same way. Vera could tell this was happening, but at least these were decent guys compared to the normal group that would be falling all over her. She did the only reasonable thing she could: enjoy the attention while she had it.
During all of this, however, Thomas did have a few unanswered questions that flitted through his head. What would happen to his condo? What about the money in his savings account? How many years would they actually be frozen for? Fortunately for him, these questions would be answered, and soon. In the meantime, they ventured back to the lab for the unfreezing of the first human test subjects.