Chapter 12:
The alarm went off and Thomas jolted up in bed.
"Today's the day!" he announced to no one in particular. He hopped out of bed, took a shower, shaved, and ran back to his room. He decided what to wear and packed the remaining outfits he liked into a few select suitcases. After this was done, he set the suitcases by the door, went back to his bedroom and started making his bed. He laughed as he realized the futility of the effort, but finished making the bed anyhow. Once he downed a bowl of sugary diabetic death knell cereal, he rinsed and threw the dishes into the sink and ran out the door carrying his two suitcases. As he traversed the subway system, Doug just happened to enter the train at one of the stops along the line.
"Oh, hey!" he waved to Thomas and sat down next to him. "Funny timing."
"Yeah, pretty nifty!" Thomas was in a ridiculously good mood. "So, ready for the big trip?"
"Ready as I'll ever be! I am pretty psyched about it though, overall. It'll be interesting regardless, and even if it doesn't work or we're revived early, we've got nothing to lose."
"Yup, that's the way I see it." Thomas said in a sickeningly happy tone.
It wasn't long before they reached their stop. They got off and lugged their bags along as they made their way to the lab. Thomas walked up the stairs to the front stoop, rang the bell, and was surprised to see that it was Frank and not Doug opening the door. Then, he remembered that Doug was right beside him, and laughed.
"Come in, come in, yes it's the big day, alright now are you ready? Good, good," Frank answered for them, "I can't even begin to tell you how thrilling this is!" They walked down the stairwell, Frank bubbling over with excitement all the way. "We're pioneers for science! For the future! For a better life! Yes, well, let's get moving, we're going to keep your personal effects in this closet here, so you can put your bags down right there." He opened the door and they set their bags down on the floor next to what Thomas guessed were Vera's bags. "Alright, good, well, here we are." They stood in front of the chambers. Thomas felt a chill go down his spine and was unsure of what it signified… He decided that he must just be nervous.
"Well, here we are," said Vera as they approached, smiling broadly.
"Yup!" said Thomas, "and I'm ready to go!" Doug nodded in agreement. "OH!" shouted Thomas, suddenly remembering something he meant to ask long ago. "What am I going to do with my condo? I meant to ask before and forgot!"
"I can take care of it," Flo volunteered. "Since you've got it all paid off, we can just maintain it, so long as that building exists anyhow. If, by some miracle, the building isn't destroyed by the time you're unfrozen, you'll all have a nice place to live!"
"I guess that’ll work." Thomas stepped forward and handed Flo the key, then returned back to the neat and orderly line he, Doug, and Vera had formed.
"OK, here we are... here we are..." Frank surveyed them, much the same way he had surveyed the three initial test subjects. "You all know what comes first." Frank grabbed the syringes and gave them each an injection of the substance that still remained a mystery to Thomas. He expected to feel some sort of mystical tingling sensation or perhaps some nausea. To his surprise, he didn’t notice anything unusual happen at all.
"Into the chambers now, let's go!" Frank suddenly seemed more like a drill sergeant, but at least he was a happy drill sergeant. Thomas, Doug, and Vera looked up into the chambers nearly simultaneously as they entered them, inspecting their surroundings. Everything seemed sterile, and all visible surfaces were smooth. Aside from at the top of the chamber, no wires, pipes, or anything else could be seen.
Flo came and attached the sensors and tubes to each of them one by one. Thomas once again began to wonder what exactly each of these sensors was for, but now was certainly not the time to ask. Frank sealed the doors behind Flo and went back to his station at the controls. Thomas was in the third and final chamber and watched what Frank was doing through the clear front. Frank was looking off to the right, probably staring directly at Doug in the first tube. He pushed some buttons and then looked relieved. From this viewpoint, Thomas mused, everything was more human and less scientific. Now that they weren’t standing behind Frank as casual observers, you could actually see his emotions, his thinking process as he did his work. Suddenly, Thomas realized that Frank was making eye contact with him--and all went black.