freeze me, chapter 4/?
freeze me, chapter 4/?
Title: Freeze Me
Author:
sgnt_caitsy
Rating: Eventually NC-17
Pairing: J2
Other Characters: Not sure yet - I'll work some in there somehow ;D
Disclaimer: Would I be here if this was real (yes I would)? But seriously none of this is true. Jared and Jensen are owned by themselves and probably don't do this on their time off. ALL FICTION
Summary:
Jensen works in cryogenics, his late night shifts in the lab filled with solitaire and self-pity, when suddenly his monotonous routine is shaken up by the mysterious destruction of Gabriel City and the subsequent discovery of an unknown cryo-tank. Left floundering in unfamiliar territory Jensen desperately tries to make the correct decision whilst the line between right and wrong begins to blur.
Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three
A/N: Okay chapter four! :D
yeeeeey~
Thanks to everyone who's left comments and given me the feedback that I craaaaave. CRAAAVE IT I TELLS YA.
Hope you enjoy it!
Jensen came around to the sound of his own dry reaching, throat clenching violently as his muted vision returning in speckly white dots. Apparently he’d blacked out in between screaming and throwing up, the sloppy dead face too much for him to handle.
Vomit was splattered over the blackened floor - some of it flecked on the bottom of his grey slacks. There was a drying wetness on his neck and upper chest, he didn’t want to think about where it came from - droopy eyes and flaccid lips flashed through his mind unbidden. He groaned throatily, pushed up on knobbly knees, falling back down after his legs gave out. He couldn’t stop shaking.
Footsteps to the left.
“Get up,” it was Miller - hauling him up bodily with hardened strength, “get up now, shit, you’re no good to anyone redecorating the walls.”
Jensen’s legs gave out again - leaving him slumped pathetically in a half crouch, Miller tried again, “Stay on your damn feet! I know there’s some pretty fucked up shit going on in here, but I need you to stand the fuck up!”
Miller was shouting at him, impatience ingrained in his psyche, arms pulling and shaking at him, making his head spin with the combined nausea.
Jensen was on his feet, swaying violently to the left and leaning heavily on the nearby wall, away from Miller, “I’m good now, I’m fine-just… just don’t touch me.”
Miller looked somewhat disbelievingly at Jensen’s clammy features. Fine lines of sweat gathering at the top of his temples, eyes wild and vaguely panicked. He was the picture perfect image of a mental breakdown. Poor bastard hadn’t even seen that much of the room yet.
“Alright, follow me then,” Miller didn’t wait for a reply - choosing instead to weave through the dismembered graveyard towards Jensen’s new objective. He could see it from his distance, the silver outline glinting innocently whilst it sent vibrations underfoot, tiny pieces of ashen concrete raining down from above like winter in hell. He could guess what Satan would be.
Jensen straightened, aware of the fact that he was being left behind, his eyes watering as his brain tried to catch up with the series of events that led him to this moment. He heard EVEE approach from the rear, bodies squashing and crunching thickly under her artificial feet. She’d never understand the significance of what she was doing right now. Thought and feelings limited to the software that she had installed.
“Jen-sen, are you ad-e-quate?” Her eyes spun rapidly behind the red LEDs - the mechanic whir reinforcing the innocence behind her act as she surveyed the scene for any possible threat against Jensen. She didn’t know what she’d just done.
Feeling bile scratch at the back of his throat he replied quickly, “Yes, Evee, c’mon they’re waiting for us.”
Stumbling he pushed away from the wall - this time wary of the vibrations pulsing against his step. He didn’t want another brain in the face episode - he couldn’t handle another one of those memories seared into his fragile brain thank you very much.
Miller stood about fifteen metres away, standing tall against his men who were huddled off to the side. The tension and fear in the room suffocating him like a tangible pillow. Small fragments of debris rained down and coated them all, Jensen’s eyelashes were thoroughly coated by the time he reached Miller.
“Here’s what you came here for, Jensen,” Miller spoke in a whisper, as if talking too loud would cause a collapse. Jensen looked down.
“Woah…”
Tremors shook the bones in his feet as he stared at the object on the ground. A cryotank - it was old - the metal skin pulsing audibly against the rubble stuffed under each side. Judging from the architectural design Jensen guessed that it was from the early days - the very beginning of cryogenics. Still it was strange that this one in particular had survived. It was older - clumsy and clunky in comparison to the newer designs. Like a weed in the rose garden.
But, Jensen thought, it is the weeds that are harder to get rid of.
“This is the only one? This is what’s sending the signal?” Jensen wanted to clarify - needed to clarify this fact. He felt dizzy.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure now?”
“What part of yes isn’t getting through, Jensen? This. Is. It.” Miller was getting irritated - anger rising with the body count. The tone in his voice going from begrudging respect to scratchy ire.
“Sorry - but - it’s just… why this one, y’know? Everyone else is dead and yet… this…?” Jensen gestured to the tank on the ground, sweat dripped coldly from the nape of his neck and slithered down his back.
Miller laughed, bitterly, “Everyone in this damn room has been dead a long time, son. It was just a difference of opinion keeping them alive.”
When Jensen looked up again Miller had turned away - sturdy back facing to him. He was looking out of the gaping hole where the east wall used to be. Plumes of ash and smoke flew past with the wind, painting thick black lines against the twilight sky. There was still the faint glow of fire outside - this city wouldn’t stop burning.
“So you can take it?” Miller asked, he sounded tired now - like he wanted to leave. Immediately.
Jensen could sympathize, “Yeah - yes, I can take it,” he turned to EVEE, “Eve, can you do a power hookup for immediate transport back to the heli-pod?”
Three consecutive beeps and the tank was in EVEE’s arms, thick cords running from the main power console in her chest to the capsule. With the strong hydraulics in her legs hissing and whirring under the new strain, she left the room. Jensen could hear the bodies popping with wet, sloshing noises.
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts.
“Well if that’s it, then it’s time to call out the clean-up crew then,” Miller left following the same path as EVEE - sans pops and slurps, his men trailing carefully behind him. Jensen stood there a while longer, looking at the sky to avoid looking at the mess of the floor. It wasn’t a much better change of scenery and it didn’t provide him with any answers, so he left, shaking hands in his pockets as he stared at a point near the door on the far side of the room. Anything not to look down.
Anything.
---
Gravel scuffed under his work shoes as he joined everyone outside. The wind had picked up, making the fallen city moan and groan with each strong breeze. If he could isolate one sound he’d never want to hear again in his life - it would be this. Jensen shivered - crossing his arms over his chest and rubbing his arms. Not just the cold chilling him to the bone.
He called out to Miller who was standing on the other side of the lot, “Need me for anything else?”
Miller gave him one second of attention followed by a quick ‘no’ before he was alone again. EVEE was in the back of the heli-pod, he could hear her battery system humming gently through the hull. Jensen took one last look at the destruction - at the death and decay - then got in his pod and left. Dread and disgust churning unhappily in his stomach with each rhythmic beat of the pods propellers.
---
EVEE settled the huge tank on the regeneration bay, a large metal plate in the centre of the room, four x-ray rods that stood guard around the circumference. Jensen turned back to EVEE, “Good job Evee, assume hibernation.”
She beeped loyally at him - walked over to the corner of the room with hulking steps and folded in on herself. Effectively turning herself into a large cube. He couldn’t help but notice that there was still chunks of someone smeared over the metal.
Jensen sat down at the main console - a large, sleek and white workstation that spanned nearly three metres in length. Tapping a few keys he waited patiently for the activation message. A female voice chimed from above, the computer’s voice, “Cryotank x-ray scan activated, time until completion - thirty seconds.”
The four rods on the platform began a slow rotation around the silver hulk - accelerating until Jensen couldn’t differentiate between one rod and the next. An image slowly began to build itself up above his workstation - a skeleton followed by muscle groups and finally skin. A 3D image of the person inside the tank - the image wasn’t very detailed though - it wasn’t really necessary to have any details.
It was a man - young, early twenties, Caucasian - seemingly healthy until, “Cancerous body detected,” chimed the computer. The image spun round, coming to rest on a zoomed image of the young man’s brain. A large tumour wrapped tightly around the base of his neck - encroaching on the spine. That could be tricky.
“Hard drive information acquired.”
Information flooded the screen - not so much information as it was random numbers and letters - either encrypted or scrambled. Surprised at the find, Jensen scrolled through and discovered one piece of information that proved useful.
‘Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - Core Five - ‘GAMMA’
Isolation Date: 14 September 2008
Compatibility: 99.99%
xxxxx - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx
xxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
Treatment to start immediately.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’
Jensen was instantly confused, “Treatment…?”
There was nothing else there to suggest what sort of treatment had been undertaken during the entire time period. It didn’t rest well with Jensen - if there had been any sort of treatment they would have woken the patient up afterwards. It was standard procedure - common knowledge even. Yet here was Patient ‘Gamma’ - asleep in a frozen tube with a tumor in his neck.
It didn’t make sense, but then again not much had so far in the mystery of the shuddering tank.
But nevertheless he had somewhat of a name to go off of. Maybe he could search through the old archives - every company’s cryogenic patient’s information was stored there. He jotted the information down quickly in his log - closing it down and burying it within his personal hard drive for future research.
The late night moonshine shone gently through the large observation window at the front of the room. A gentle creamy white hue cast over the shimmering capsule - like a cloud had floated in and settled itself on it. Jensen shivered again - the innocent analogy not doing much to dim the obscurity of his current situation.
There was a sudden loud banging from the front entrance of the lab, fast and impatient a voice followed, “Ackles?! I know you’re in there you bastard so why don’t -“
Jensen appeared quickly at the door, in front of his very angry lab supervisor. His name was Jeff - just shy of forty with distinct grey slopes carding through the hair near his temples.
“Uh-hi Jeff… you needed something?” Jensen knew why he was here, the thought screaming into his head when he’d heard the voice through the door. He hadn’t told Jeff yet - the biggest find of possibly the past decade and he hadn’t told Jeff.
“Don’t play coy with me now, boy - You know as well as I do exactly why I’m here. Open up,” Jeff pushed impatiently past, not even waiting for Jensen to fully open the door, shoving his lab ‘understudy’ into a rather uncomfortable position behind the door’s closing mechanism. Leaving Jensen to get hit in the face four times before he managed to get out, rushing over to where Jeff was standing at his console with a disoriented stumble.
“Jeff - Jeff! I swear to God I only just got back and I was just about to get Sally to call you up and-“
“Leave it Ackles, tell me the situation,” Jeff was staring intensely at Gamma’s tank - eyes trying to pierce the metal exterior. Scrabbling to decipher this entire situation without having to be told by a lower level techie.
“It was - well he was the only one left. In the whole city, Jeff - the only one left, can you believe it?” Jensen was looking at Jeff’s profile - watching as his words slid through one ear and out the other to splat rather unpleasantly on the opposite wall.
Jensen cleared his throat - bringing up the information the computer provided him with before, “Okay so we have a patient Gamma - isolated at the beginning of the 21st century, white, early twenties - brain tumour.”
Jensen tapped on the projected 3D hologram of Gamma causing it to swivel and expose the cancerous lump at the back of his neck.
“It’s usually the young ones, huh Jeff?”
Jeff grunted - taking Jensen’s comfy chair with his newly enforced dominance and tapping up a few commands on the CPU, the computer’s voice rang out pleasantly, “Nano-bots dispersed, estimated time till tumour elimination: Fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds.”
Jensen was slightly miffed, “Just so you know - Jeff uh sir, I was going to do that originally,” Jeff glanced him - the icy stare more than just unnerving, Jensen crumpled,” Yes- uh, just thought you should know and… uhm yes.”
Jeff swiveled round on the chair completely - facing Jensen with a parallel body - using his bigger physique for the usual intimidation technique, “Call Sally - tell her I want the entire floor of cryo-techs here for this. I don’t need them finding out about this the way I did - the news.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Jensen slumped over to the other side of the room where the communicator was positioned, whilst Jeff swung back around to continue ruining his life. Asking Sally to round up the other techs who were no doubt asleep at this time and probably hating Jensen within five minutes and counting, he flicked at a bit of paint on the wall. Oh joy, he loved his job.
Jeff was still tapping away at the keys when Jensen returned to his desk. So he leant back on a nearby tank forcibly content with just watching Jeff run the whole show - which was no doubt the reason why he had subconsciously forgot to tell him. It was always like this - whenever Jensen discovered something of even the smallest of merit Jeff was all over it like a middle aged leech. Sucking the whole thing dry before giving Jensen the chance to even poke a stick at it. It was no wonder Jensen was still stuck on night shift.
“-Jensen?”
He hadn’t been listening. Shit, time to improvise.
“Yeah, sure I’ll get right on that Jeff.”
“What?
“Didn’t you ask me to go and uh - y’know, do that thing you just asked me to do. I’ll just be going now.”
“I asked you a simple question, Ackles. Please respond in kind.”
“… What was the question again?”
Jeff sighed - irritated, “I asked if you could start the reanimation process after the tumour is removed. I’m going to need to make a press statement to give us a little more time to figure this shit out.” Unimpressed by Jensen’s stunned silence he dropped the politeness,” Think you can handle this for once, Ackles? Or should I get Sally to call you a damn babysitter?”
Jensen spluttered,” No Jeff, thank you for your offer - but I can manage. I have been doing this job for four years now, without raise or promotion, can you believe?” he’d felt a little brave at the last part - pushing the fact that he was above and beyond such menial tasks. Don’t get him wrong - Jensen never thought that bringing someone back from a frozen stasis was boring - just that maybe he needed to get a little more recognition and/or money for it. That was all.
Jeff eyed him carefully, the hard-arse I can fire you for this gaze summoned perfectly, “Be grateful that I even gave you this Jensen - you fucked up this time,” Jeff stood, Jensen heard his knee joints crack, leaning forward till their noses nearly touched and growled, “next time you’ll be scraping the shit out of the toilets on the ground floor.”
Jeff then proceeded to walk swiftly to the door, tossing an, “I’ll be back before the reanimation process had been completed,” over his shoulder. The door closing shut with a final quiet whoosh-click.
“Prick,” feeling the need to wash his chair with liquid hot magma before he sulked into the tainted material - feeling the warmth Jeff left behind soaking into the fabric of his pants. The computer chimed out overhead, “Cancerous tumour eliminated - nano-bots retracted after fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds,”
---
The rest of the staff arrived within the next few minutes. Chattering loudly or just gazing off into the distance in a sleepy haze. There hadn’t been any aggression shown towards Jensen yet which he felt extremely grateful for, but the new noise in his lab was disconcerting - distracting. He’d waited for the rest of the staff to arrive before he started the reanimation process, so now that the majority of them were here he tapped to final key.
“Re-animation process initiated, beginning submersed temperature correction.”
The metal pad that Gamma’s tank was on suddenly segregating into four pieces - three triangular parts that folded back and into the floor leaving the tank on the fourth round lowering platform. Red shimmered out from the opening on the floor - casting the room’s inhabitants in a ruby hue. Jensen felt the warmth from the opening graze gently over his hands; he hadn’t realized that they were cold.
Gamma was lowered slowly into the pit, triangular sections folding back over the top with a clanking whir - sealing off the warming gel whilst Gamma’s internal organs were brought within the correct range of temperature for function.
All of a sudden Josie from five doors down the hall was at his side - elbow uncomfortably resting on his back, “So, this is the mystery man, huh?” She pointed to the hologram above her, Jensen nodded distractedly - more interested with watching the internal core temperature rise on the screen to his left - 12.5, 12.63, 12.9. She giggled, “I bet he’s cute,” rubbing her elbow suggestively into his back. It was such an obvious bait for his attention that he ignored it, she’d had a thing for him since March last year - no need to encourage her.
So Jensen watched, 13.24, 13.5, 13.72, until she got the hint and left, joining Bette and Leanne from reception in a womanly huff. He could hear them talking quietly from their spot not five metres away. It was unnerving. Like having vultures watch you from their crackly peaks - eying and discussing which part of you they’d like to eat first.
Jensen was staring distractedly off into space again when the computer rang out, “Core temperature restored, vital organs functional.”
The easy bit was over, the rough of the woods began to bear its bark after this part. The heart had to be restarted first - not so difficult with modern science - but the next part was more like stabbing in the dark. Restoring awareness was fine - but there was no way they could tell if the patient would return the same as when they were frozen or if there was any sort of memory loss or brain damage.
Most of the time the patient would make a full recovery within the few weeks. Remembering basically everything before their time in the deep freeze… but sometimes they didn’t. Big Jim’s case came to mind - Jensen never wanted to witness anything like that again. Ever.
The sound of the door opening drew Jensen’s attention, it was Jeff. Dressed in the same grey pants and shirt combo as everyone else but making it look like he had the right to wear it, like everyone else was shit. He focused on Jensen briefly, trying to scald Jensen’s brain with the heat in his eyes, before focusing on the empty space where the tank was.
“Update?” it was a command more than a question. Like asking a bank teller to ‘please, give me all the money’ whilst pointing a gun at her head.
“All vital systems are up and running - we just need a coronary reboot and then we can wake him up.”
“Good, let’s get to it then,” Jeff stood close to his side like he wanted Jensen to move - so he didn’t. He stretched in his seat and tapped out the command to the CPU.
“Yes, let’s get to it.”
The computer sung out, “Coronary reboot initiated,” a small display popping up on the screen next to the 3D simulation - a heart monitor. The line was currently flat, green against the black background. Jensen sat on edge as he heard the audible whir of the charge being powered up. The line jolted before it fell flat - the room was quiet now. Josie wasn’t talking anymore.
Another charge whirred in the silence - the line jumped a second time, falling flat against its black counterpart. A line of sweat trickled from behind Jensen’s ear. There was a three reboot limit that came in with the cryogenic law of 2052 - anymore and it was like necrophilia. Playing with a dead body. It was discovered that the heart began to deteriorate against the massive shock of electricity that was delivered to it after the first three jolts. It was useless if it started after the third charge - the heart would fail within hours. Organ transplant was out of the question, the donor list branching out into the millions with the teeming population.
Jensen stared anxiously at the monitor - the third and last charge seeming to take a life time to reach full capacity. The line jolted - blipped once, twice and died. Flat, lifeless, dead. All that for nothing.
Gamma was dead.
Jeff was the first to break the now tense thick silence, “Alright then, a false alarm, let’s pack it up. We’ll send this one to the crematorium tomorrow morning,” he even sounded upset - which was strange because Jeff had never sounded upset. Ever. Even when he came to work the day after his brother had been in a car accident. He was just angry. Never upset, never letting his attitude slip below anything that was constant irritation.
Jensen could hear the rest of the staff filter out quietly through the door - back to their warm beds now that the excitement was over. Jensen’s bed would be cold.
Jeff stood for a few more minutes - just staring at the spot on the floor - seemingly unaware of Jensen’s presence. Just watching the floor. Jensen watched it too - mildly disappointed with the outcome of such a promising beginning. He could feel the sweat turn cold on his neck whilst he came down from the excitement high.
“Prepare the body for transportation tomorrow, Ackles,” Jeff spoke to the quiet room more than to Jensen, spoke to Gamma more than to Jensen. And that was saying something - since the poor guy was dead and Jensen well - wasn’t. The material of Jeff’s slacks swished audibly as he exited the room, leaving Jensen alone with the silence. The now lonely silence.
Feeling strangely detached Jensen activated the platform raising sequence. Listening more than watching as the floor folded open - the red hue back on the room - and the tank floated back into view. It looked different now. Now that there was someone dead inside it. Jensen stood, strode over to the capsule with a half hearted step and just stared. Stared until his eyes hurt when he looked away - silver springing to life when he closed his eyes.
Muttering a silent apology Jensen bent down - fastening a firm grip around the lifeline cords jutting out the back of the tank like an awkward umbilical cord and gave a sharp pull. The cords didn’t budge - slipping wetly out of his hands - making him trip backwards with the force of his haul.
The ground under his feet vibrated gently - softly - almost undetectable.
Jensen felt it, “What the-?”
He was cut off by a shuddering heave - the very ground trembling in fear under his feet. The tank thundered explosively. The walls trembled. Jensen slipped - falling onto the shaking floor - covering his head with his hands. The sound was unbearable - making him blind as his vision encroached on itself. An unending vibration echoing up and around the walls - around and around until Jensen thought his head would explode all over the cool floor.
Then it stopped. Just as suddenly as it had started.
Jensen gently lifted his head - prodded his shaking fingertips softly to his ears to check for bleeding. No blood - he was fine. His eardrums tingled unpleasantly in his head, they felt too big - swollen.
Expecting someone to have heard the commotion he laid his forehead back to the cool ground and waited. And waited. And waited until he was pretty sure that no one was coming to help him - which was kind of unfortunate because he couldn’t really feel his legs right now.
He groaned - pushing up on his wobbly arms - then his numb legs and stood against the vibrations in his head. Eyes swimming with watery tears.
Jensen wobbled his way back to his chair - he wasn’t going to try and approach the tank for another good hour or so. Or maybe never, never sounded good right now. The plush cushioning forgiving on his legs as he flopped bonelessly onto it, letting his head flop back on the head rest. He closed his eyes, letting his hands tap out the shakes in a soft rhythm on the arm rest as he breathed against the silence. Ah, the lovely silence.
He reclined for a good ten minutes before he gingerly cracked on eyelid open against the light outside his mind, the second following suit rather quickly. His mind promptly died on him.
The green line on the monitor jumped to a soft one,two beat. A heart beat.
Gamma was alive.
End Chapter four
A/N 2: Heeeey, so there you have it - hope you liked it
:D :D :D :D
I hope the length of it makes up for the time I took to post it (even though its not really all that long D':)
THANKS FOR READING :33
Oh yeah - Jared's in the next chapter I swears
comments appreciated :D!
Title: Freeze Me
Author:
sgnt_caitsy
Rating: Eventually NC-17
Pairing: J2
Other Characters: Not sure yet - I'll work some in there somehow ;D
Disclaimer: Would I be here if this was real (yes I would)? But seriously none of this is true. Jared and Jensen are owned by themselves and probably don't do this on their time off. ALL FICTION
Summary:
Jensen works in cryogenics, his late night shifts in the lab filled with solitaire and self-pity, when suddenly his monotonous routine is shaken up by the mysterious destruction of Gabriel City and the subsequent discovery of an unknown cryo-tank. Left floundering in unfamiliar territory Jensen desperately tries to make the correct decision whilst the line between right and wrong begins to blur.
Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three
A/N: Okay chapter four! :D
yeeeeey~
Thanks to everyone who's left comments and given me the feedback that I craaaaave. CRAAAVE IT I TELLS YA.
Hope you enjoy it!
Jensen came around to the sound of his own dry reaching, throat clenching violently as his muted vision returning in speckly white dots. Apparently he’d blacked out in between screaming and throwing up, the sloppy dead face too much for him to handle.
Vomit was splattered over the blackened floor - some of it flecked on the bottom of his grey slacks. There was a drying wetness on his neck and upper chest, he didn’t want to think about where it came from - droopy eyes and flaccid lips flashed through his mind unbidden. He groaned throatily, pushed up on knobbly knees, falling back down after his legs gave out. He couldn’t stop shaking.
Footsteps to the left.
“Get up,” it was Miller - hauling him up bodily with hardened strength, “get up now, shit, you’re no good to anyone redecorating the walls.”
Jensen’s legs gave out again - leaving him slumped pathetically in a half crouch, Miller tried again, “Stay on your damn feet! I know there’s some pretty fucked up shit going on in here, but I need you to stand the fuck up!”
Miller was shouting at him, impatience ingrained in his psyche, arms pulling and shaking at him, making his head spin with the combined nausea.
Jensen was on his feet, swaying violently to the left and leaning heavily on the nearby wall, away from Miller, “I’m good now, I’m fine-just… just don’t touch me.”
Miller looked somewhat disbelievingly at Jensen’s clammy features. Fine lines of sweat gathering at the top of his temples, eyes wild and vaguely panicked. He was the picture perfect image of a mental breakdown. Poor bastard hadn’t even seen that much of the room yet.
“Alright, follow me then,” Miller didn’t wait for a reply - choosing instead to weave through the dismembered graveyard towards Jensen’s new objective. He could see it from his distance, the silver outline glinting innocently whilst it sent vibrations underfoot, tiny pieces of ashen concrete raining down from above like winter in hell. He could guess what Satan would be.
Jensen straightened, aware of the fact that he was being left behind, his eyes watering as his brain tried to catch up with the series of events that led him to this moment. He heard EVEE approach from the rear, bodies squashing and crunching thickly under her artificial feet. She’d never understand the significance of what she was doing right now. Thought and feelings limited to the software that she had installed.
“Jen-sen, are you ad-e-quate?” Her eyes spun rapidly behind the red LEDs - the mechanic whir reinforcing the innocence behind her act as she surveyed the scene for any possible threat against Jensen. She didn’t know what she’d just done.
Feeling bile scratch at the back of his throat he replied quickly, “Yes, Evee, c’mon they’re waiting for us.”
Stumbling he pushed away from the wall - this time wary of the vibrations pulsing against his step. He didn’t want another brain in the face episode - he couldn’t handle another one of those memories seared into his fragile brain thank you very much.
Miller stood about fifteen metres away, standing tall against his men who were huddled off to the side. The tension and fear in the room suffocating him like a tangible pillow. Small fragments of debris rained down and coated them all, Jensen’s eyelashes were thoroughly coated by the time he reached Miller.
“Here’s what you came here for, Jensen,” Miller spoke in a whisper, as if talking too loud would cause a collapse. Jensen looked down.
“Woah…”
Tremors shook the bones in his feet as he stared at the object on the ground. A cryotank - it was old - the metal skin pulsing audibly against the rubble stuffed under each side. Judging from the architectural design Jensen guessed that it was from the early days - the very beginning of cryogenics. Still it was strange that this one in particular had survived. It was older - clumsy and clunky in comparison to the newer designs. Like a weed in the rose garden.
But, Jensen thought, it is the weeds that are harder to get rid of.
“This is the only one? This is what’s sending the signal?” Jensen wanted to clarify - needed to clarify this fact. He felt dizzy.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure now?”
“What part of yes isn’t getting through, Jensen? This. Is. It.” Miller was getting irritated - anger rising with the body count. The tone in his voice going from begrudging respect to scratchy ire.
“Sorry - but - it’s just… why this one, y’know? Everyone else is dead and yet… this…?” Jensen gestured to the tank on the ground, sweat dripped coldly from the nape of his neck and slithered down his back.
Miller laughed, bitterly, “Everyone in this damn room has been dead a long time, son. It was just a difference of opinion keeping them alive.”
When Jensen looked up again Miller had turned away - sturdy back facing to him. He was looking out of the gaping hole where the east wall used to be. Plumes of ash and smoke flew past with the wind, painting thick black lines against the twilight sky. There was still the faint glow of fire outside - this city wouldn’t stop burning.
“So you can take it?” Miller asked, he sounded tired now - like he wanted to leave. Immediately.
Jensen could sympathize, “Yeah - yes, I can take it,” he turned to EVEE, “Eve, can you do a power hookup for immediate transport back to the heli-pod?”
Three consecutive beeps and the tank was in EVEE’s arms, thick cords running from the main power console in her chest to the capsule. With the strong hydraulics in her legs hissing and whirring under the new strain, she left the room. Jensen could hear the bodies popping with wet, sloshing noises.
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts.
“Well if that’s it, then it’s time to call out the clean-up crew then,” Miller left following the same path as EVEE - sans pops and slurps, his men trailing carefully behind him. Jensen stood there a while longer, looking at the sky to avoid looking at the mess of the floor. It wasn’t a much better change of scenery and it didn’t provide him with any answers, so he left, shaking hands in his pockets as he stared at a point near the door on the far side of the room. Anything not to look down.
Anything.
---
Gravel scuffed under his work shoes as he joined everyone outside. The wind had picked up, making the fallen city moan and groan with each strong breeze. If he could isolate one sound he’d never want to hear again in his life - it would be this. Jensen shivered - crossing his arms over his chest and rubbing his arms. Not just the cold chilling him to the bone.
He called out to Miller who was standing on the other side of the lot, “Need me for anything else?”
Miller gave him one second of attention followed by a quick ‘no’ before he was alone again. EVEE was in the back of the heli-pod, he could hear her battery system humming gently through the hull. Jensen took one last look at the destruction - at the death and decay - then got in his pod and left. Dread and disgust churning unhappily in his stomach with each rhythmic beat of the pods propellers.
---
EVEE settled the huge tank on the regeneration bay, a large metal plate in the centre of the room, four x-ray rods that stood guard around the circumference. Jensen turned back to EVEE, “Good job Evee, assume hibernation.”
She beeped loyally at him - walked over to the corner of the room with hulking steps and folded in on herself. Effectively turning herself into a large cube. He couldn’t help but notice that there was still chunks of someone smeared over the metal.
Jensen sat down at the main console - a large, sleek and white workstation that spanned nearly three metres in length. Tapping a few keys he waited patiently for the activation message. A female voice chimed from above, the computer’s voice, “Cryotank x-ray scan activated, time until completion - thirty seconds.”
The four rods on the platform began a slow rotation around the silver hulk - accelerating until Jensen couldn’t differentiate between one rod and the next. An image slowly began to build itself up above his workstation - a skeleton followed by muscle groups and finally skin. A 3D image of the person inside the tank - the image wasn’t very detailed though - it wasn’t really necessary to have any details.
It was a man - young, early twenties, Caucasian - seemingly healthy until, “Cancerous body detected,” chimed the computer. The image spun round, coming to rest on a zoomed image of the young man’s brain. A large tumour wrapped tightly around the base of his neck - encroaching on the spine. That could be tricky.
“Hard drive information acquired.”
Information flooded the screen - not so much information as it was random numbers and letters - either encrypted or scrambled. Surprised at the find, Jensen scrolled through and discovered one piece of information that proved useful.
‘Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx - Core Five - ‘GAMMA’
Isolation Date: 14 September 2008
Compatibility: 99.99%
xxxxx - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx
xxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx
Treatment to start immediately.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’
Jensen was instantly confused, “Treatment…?”
There was nothing else there to suggest what sort of treatment had been undertaken during the entire time period. It didn’t rest well with Jensen - if there had been any sort of treatment they would have woken the patient up afterwards. It was standard procedure - common knowledge even. Yet here was Patient ‘Gamma’ - asleep in a frozen tube with a tumor in his neck.
It didn’t make sense, but then again not much had so far in the mystery of the shuddering tank.
But nevertheless he had somewhat of a name to go off of. Maybe he could search through the old archives - every company’s cryogenic patient’s information was stored there. He jotted the information down quickly in his log - closing it down and burying it within his personal hard drive for future research.
The late night moonshine shone gently through the large observation window at the front of the room. A gentle creamy white hue cast over the shimmering capsule - like a cloud had floated in and settled itself on it. Jensen shivered again - the innocent analogy not doing much to dim the obscurity of his current situation.
There was a sudden loud banging from the front entrance of the lab, fast and impatient a voice followed, “Ackles?! I know you’re in there you bastard so why don’t -“
Jensen appeared quickly at the door, in front of his very angry lab supervisor. His name was Jeff - just shy of forty with distinct grey slopes carding through the hair near his temples.
“Uh-hi Jeff… you needed something?” Jensen knew why he was here, the thought screaming into his head when he’d heard the voice through the door. He hadn’t told Jeff yet - the biggest find of possibly the past decade and he hadn’t told Jeff.
“Don’t play coy with me now, boy - You know as well as I do exactly why I’m here. Open up,” Jeff pushed impatiently past, not even waiting for Jensen to fully open the door, shoving his lab ‘understudy’ into a rather uncomfortable position behind the door’s closing mechanism. Leaving Jensen to get hit in the face four times before he managed to get out, rushing over to where Jeff was standing at his console with a disoriented stumble.
“Jeff - Jeff! I swear to God I only just got back and I was just about to get Sally to call you up and-“
“Leave it Ackles, tell me the situation,” Jeff was staring intensely at Gamma’s tank - eyes trying to pierce the metal exterior. Scrabbling to decipher this entire situation without having to be told by a lower level techie.
“It was - well he was the only one left. In the whole city, Jeff - the only one left, can you believe it?” Jensen was looking at Jeff’s profile - watching as his words slid through one ear and out the other to splat rather unpleasantly on the opposite wall.
Jensen cleared his throat - bringing up the information the computer provided him with before, “Okay so we have a patient Gamma - isolated at the beginning of the 21st century, white, early twenties - brain tumour.”
Jensen tapped on the projected 3D hologram of Gamma causing it to swivel and expose the cancerous lump at the back of his neck.
“It’s usually the young ones, huh Jeff?”
Jeff grunted - taking Jensen’s comfy chair with his newly enforced dominance and tapping up a few commands on the CPU, the computer’s voice rang out pleasantly, “Nano-bots dispersed, estimated time till tumour elimination: Fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds.”
Jensen was slightly miffed, “Just so you know - Jeff uh sir, I was going to do that originally,” Jeff glanced him - the icy stare more than just unnerving, Jensen crumpled,” Yes- uh, just thought you should know and… uhm yes.”
Jeff swiveled round on the chair completely - facing Jensen with a parallel body - using his bigger physique for the usual intimidation technique, “Call Sally - tell her I want the entire floor of cryo-techs here for this. I don’t need them finding out about this the way I did - the news.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. Jensen slumped over to the other side of the room where the communicator was positioned, whilst Jeff swung back around to continue ruining his life. Asking Sally to round up the other techs who were no doubt asleep at this time and probably hating Jensen within five minutes and counting, he flicked at a bit of paint on the wall. Oh joy, he loved his job.
Jeff was still tapping away at the keys when Jensen returned to his desk. So he leant back on a nearby tank forcibly content with just watching Jeff run the whole show - which was no doubt the reason why he had subconsciously forgot to tell him. It was always like this - whenever Jensen discovered something of even the smallest of merit Jeff was all over it like a middle aged leech. Sucking the whole thing dry before giving Jensen the chance to even poke a stick at it. It was no wonder Jensen was still stuck on night shift.
“-Jensen?”
He hadn’t been listening. Shit, time to improvise.
“Yeah, sure I’ll get right on that Jeff.”
“What?
“Didn’t you ask me to go and uh - y’know, do that thing you just asked me to do. I’ll just be going now.”
“I asked you a simple question, Ackles. Please respond in kind.”
“… What was the question again?”
Jeff sighed - irritated, “I asked if you could start the reanimation process after the tumour is removed. I’m going to need to make a press statement to give us a little more time to figure this shit out.” Unimpressed by Jensen’s stunned silence he dropped the politeness,” Think you can handle this for once, Ackles? Or should I get Sally to call you a damn babysitter?”
Jensen spluttered,” No Jeff, thank you for your offer - but I can manage. I have been doing this job for four years now, without raise or promotion, can you believe?” he’d felt a little brave at the last part - pushing the fact that he was above and beyond such menial tasks. Don’t get him wrong - Jensen never thought that bringing someone back from a frozen stasis was boring - just that maybe he needed to get a little more recognition and/or money for it. That was all.
Jeff eyed him carefully, the hard-arse I can fire you for this gaze summoned perfectly, “Be grateful that I even gave you this Jensen - you fucked up this time,” Jeff stood, Jensen heard his knee joints crack, leaning forward till their noses nearly touched and growled, “next time you’ll be scraping the shit out of the toilets on the ground floor.”
Jeff then proceeded to walk swiftly to the door, tossing an, “I’ll be back before the reanimation process had been completed,” over his shoulder. The door closing shut with a final quiet whoosh-click.
“Prick,” feeling the need to wash his chair with liquid hot magma before he sulked into the tainted material - feeling the warmth Jeff left behind soaking into the fabric of his pants. The computer chimed out overhead, “Cancerous tumour eliminated - nano-bots retracted after fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds,”
---
The rest of the staff arrived within the next few minutes. Chattering loudly or just gazing off into the distance in a sleepy haze. There hadn’t been any aggression shown towards Jensen yet which he felt extremely grateful for, but the new noise in his lab was disconcerting - distracting. He’d waited for the rest of the staff to arrive before he started the reanimation process, so now that the majority of them were here he tapped to final key.
“Re-animation process initiated, beginning submersed temperature correction.”
The metal pad that Gamma’s tank was on suddenly segregating into four pieces - three triangular parts that folded back and into the floor leaving the tank on the fourth round lowering platform. Red shimmered out from the opening on the floor - casting the room’s inhabitants in a ruby hue. Jensen felt the warmth from the opening graze gently over his hands; he hadn’t realized that they were cold.
Gamma was lowered slowly into the pit, triangular sections folding back over the top with a clanking whir - sealing off the warming gel whilst Gamma’s internal organs were brought within the correct range of temperature for function.
All of a sudden Josie from five doors down the hall was at his side - elbow uncomfortably resting on his back, “So, this is the mystery man, huh?” She pointed to the hologram above her, Jensen nodded distractedly - more interested with watching the internal core temperature rise on the screen to his left - 12.5, 12.63, 12.9. She giggled, “I bet he’s cute,” rubbing her elbow suggestively into his back. It was such an obvious bait for his attention that he ignored it, she’d had a thing for him since March last year - no need to encourage her.
So Jensen watched, 13.24, 13.5, 13.72, until she got the hint and left, joining Bette and Leanne from reception in a womanly huff. He could hear them talking quietly from their spot not five metres away. It was unnerving. Like having vultures watch you from their crackly peaks - eying and discussing which part of you they’d like to eat first.
Jensen was staring distractedly off into space again when the computer rang out, “Core temperature restored, vital organs functional.”
The easy bit was over, the rough of the woods began to bear its bark after this part. The heart had to be restarted first - not so difficult with modern science - but the next part was more like stabbing in the dark. Restoring awareness was fine - but there was no way they could tell if the patient would return the same as when they were frozen or if there was any sort of memory loss or brain damage.
Most of the time the patient would make a full recovery within the few weeks. Remembering basically everything before their time in the deep freeze… but sometimes they didn’t. Big Jim’s case came to mind - Jensen never wanted to witness anything like that again. Ever.
The sound of the door opening drew Jensen’s attention, it was Jeff. Dressed in the same grey pants and shirt combo as everyone else but making it look like he had the right to wear it, like everyone else was shit. He focused on Jensen briefly, trying to scald Jensen’s brain with the heat in his eyes, before focusing on the empty space where the tank was.
“Update?” it was a command more than a question. Like asking a bank teller to ‘please, give me all the money’ whilst pointing a gun at her head.
“All vital systems are up and running - we just need a coronary reboot and then we can wake him up.”
“Good, let’s get to it then,” Jeff stood close to his side like he wanted Jensen to move - so he didn’t. He stretched in his seat and tapped out the command to the CPU.
“Yes, let’s get to it.”
The computer sung out, “Coronary reboot initiated,” a small display popping up on the screen next to the 3D simulation - a heart monitor. The line was currently flat, green against the black background. Jensen sat on edge as he heard the audible whir of the charge being powered up. The line jolted before it fell flat - the room was quiet now. Josie wasn’t talking anymore.
Another charge whirred in the silence - the line jumped a second time, falling flat against its black counterpart. A line of sweat trickled from behind Jensen’s ear. There was a three reboot limit that came in with the cryogenic law of 2052 - anymore and it was like necrophilia. Playing with a dead body. It was discovered that the heart began to deteriorate against the massive shock of electricity that was delivered to it after the first three jolts. It was useless if it started after the third charge - the heart would fail within hours. Organ transplant was out of the question, the donor list branching out into the millions with the teeming population.
Jensen stared anxiously at the monitor - the third and last charge seeming to take a life time to reach full capacity. The line jolted - blipped once, twice and died. Flat, lifeless, dead. All that for nothing.
Gamma was dead.
Jeff was the first to break the now tense thick silence, “Alright then, a false alarm, let’s pack it up. We’ll send this one to the crematorium tomorrow morning,” he even sounded upset - which was strange because Jeff had never sounded upset. Ever. Even when he came to work the day after his brother had been in a car accident. He was just angry. Never upset, never letting his attitude slip below anything that was constant irritation.
Jensen could hear the rest of the staff filter out quietly through the door - back to their warm beds now that the excitement was over. Jensen’s bed would be cold.
Jeff stood for a few more minutes - just staring at the spot on the floor - seemingly unaware of Jensen’s presence. Just watching the floor. Jensen watched it too - mildly disappointed with the outcome of such a promising beginning. He could feel the sweat turn cold on his neck whilst he came down from the excitement high.
“Prepare the body for transportation tomorrow, Ackles,” Jeff spoke to the quiet room more than to Jensen, spoke to Gamma more than to Jensen. And that was saying something - since the poor guy was dead and Jensen well - wasn’t. The material of Jeff’s slacks swished audibly as he exited the room, leaving Jensen alone with the silence. The now lonely silence.
Feeling strangely detached Jensen activated the platform raising sequence. Listening more than watching as the floor folded open - the red hue back on the room - and the tank floated back into view. It looked different now. Now that there was someone dead inside it. Jensen stood, strode over to the capsule with a half hearted step and just stared. Stared until his eyes hurt when he looked away - silver springing to life when he closed his eyes.
Muttering a silent apology Jensen bent down - fastening a firm grip around the lifeline cords jutting out the back of the tank like an awkward umbilical cord and gave a sharp pull. The cords didn’t budge - slipping wetly out of his hands - making him trip backwards with the force of his haul.
The ground under his feet vibrated gently - softly - almost undetectable.
Jensen felt it, “What the-?”
He was cut off by a shuddering heave - the very ground trembling in fear under his feet. The tank thundered explosively. The walls trembled. Jensen slipped - falling onto the shaking floor - covering his head with his hands. The sound was unbearable - making him blind as his vision encroached on itself. An unending vibration echoing up and around the walls - around and around until Jensen thought his head would explode all over the cool floor.
Then it stopped. Just as suddenly as it had started.
Jensen gently lifted his head - prodded his shaking fingertips softly to his ears to check for bleeding. No blood - he was fine. His eardrums tingled unpleasantly in his head, they felt too big - swollen.
Expecting someone to have heard the commotion he laid his forehead back to the cool ground and waited. And waited. And waited until he was pretty sure that no one was coming to help him - which was kind of unfortunate because he couldn’t really feel his legs right now.
He groaned - pushing up on his wobbly arms - then his numb legs and stood against the vibrations in his head. Eyes swimming with watery tears.
Jensen wobbled his way back to his chair - he wasn’t going to try and approach the tank for another good hour or so. Or maybe never, never sounded good right now. The plush cushioning forgiving on his legs as he flopped bonelessly onto it, letting his head flop back on the head rest. He closed his eyes, letting his hands tap out the shakes in a soft rhythm on the arm rest as he breathed against the silence. Ah, the lovely silence.
He reclined for a good ten minutes before he gingerly cracked on eyelid open against the light outside his mind, the second following suit rather quickly. His mind promptly died on him.
The green line on the monitor jumped to a soft one,two beat. A heart beat.
Gamma was alive.
End Chapter four
A/N 2: Heeeey, so there you have it - hope you liked it
:D :D :D :D
I hope the length of it makes up for the time I took to post it (even though its not really all that long D':)
THANKS FOR READING :33
Oh yeah - Jared's in the next chapter I swears
comments appreciated :D!