2021-04-02

The next time I opened my eyes, All I could see was a white ceiling. I turned my head and saw a machine showing my heartbeat on the screen. All of these, together with the strong pickle-like odor of formalin, showed me that I was in a hospital.

"Good, so I'm still alive, huh?" I mumbled to myself, somehow sounding a bit sarcastic.

I suddenly heard some footsteps, and then the door opened. A man wearing a white coat came in with a report of examination in his hand. He realized that I was awake, cleaned his throat before he began:" Mr.Edward, is it?"

I nodded and waited for what the doctor would say next.

The doctor seemed to be hesitating. Then, he sighed deeply and sat down on the chair right beside me and said:" Mr.Edward, I am going to tell you something that may make you feel... desperate, but please listen to me until the end."

I nodded and said nothing, so the doctor continued:" We did a general examination of your body... and concluded that you might have lung cancer. The cancer is in the late period as well. Your life expectancy may be less than two years." The doctor finally finished his speech, and it seemed that telling the bad news to me made him feel horrible.

I didn't cry, didn't scream, didn't go crazy. Instead, I simply closed my eyes and sighed deeply. I have no nostalgia for this cruel world, so it was a sort of liberation for me.

"Can I please go outside of this hospital and get some air, please?" I opened my eyes and stared at the doctor.

He nodded, so I went outside.

...

I walked slowly on the street while looking around just like someone who just came to the city. The grocery store where I always buy my breakfast was still open, with few customers inside.

I went inside the shop, took a snack, and fetched an old coin in my pocket. After I quickly devoured the food, I immediately went back to the hospital.

And that's when I knew that I still, after all this suffering, have a chance of surviving...

The doctor handed me a registration form as well as a pen and said:" You're in luck, my boy. Ya know what the government just announced to all the hospitals in the state?"

I shooked my head before he continued, sounding excited:" The government is doing an experiment called 'DDP,' the deep dormancy program. It is a huge project that, if they succeed, would completely change our human race!!"

He then realized my puzzled expression, so he explained:" This project needs human experimenters, and all you have to do is sleep."

"Sleep?" I asked, because that does not sound like a 'HUGE PROJECT' to me.

"You're absolutely correct! But this'll be a long, long sleep, and the next time you wake up, that'll at least be 50 years later." The doctors ignored my face full of questions and then continued:" If this experiment succeeds, then you'll maybe get your lung cancer cured when you wake up next time, considering the speed of human technological development. So that's the reason I think you're a fitting human experimenter for this project."

After a short moment of silence, I sighed and said:" Tell me the chance that this will succeed."

"We already have succeeded the experiment on hamsters and even monkeys. By estimation, the chance of success on humans is around 60%." The doctor looked at me, then, hoping to persuade me, he added:" This is a win-win deal. You have 60% of the chance of getting your lung cancer cured, and the government will also be able to complete the project."

I sighed deeply and picked up the pen before signing my name on the contract...

After living my boring life in the hospital for three days, a bus finally arrived to pick up me and some other experimenters. I got up the bus and sat on the stiff armchair.

The bus drove on a wide and straight road, with all types of farms full of crops in the view. Even though the bus is full of people, everyone remained silent until we arrived somewhere that resembled a large factory.

We followed a soldier into the factory, and that's when I saw a base that we could only see in science fiction movies: some people wearing white coats were standing in front of machines with different buttons on them. 

There were tons of what looks like eggs in the main hall, except that there are transparent doors to go into the 'eggs.' Through the transparent door, I could see some white lamps and a little bed inside the egg.

Every one of us was ordered to go into an egg, and I could not help myself but get nervous and excited when I actually went in. I lied on the bed.

I looked outside of the window for the last time before the lamps in my egg darkened. And I started to hear a sound, like when you let the air out slowly from a balloon. My eyelids were beginning to feel heavy, so I slowly closed my eyes before a long, long sleep...