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Michael and Amanda

Introduction

In the late 21st Century, an eco-terrorist group decided that humans had been the dominant species on earth for far too long. Therefore, they convinced genetic scientists to genetically alter the human immunodeficiency virus to make it airborne. Upon the successful completion of this genetic altering, they released the virus upon an unsuspecting human population. The desires of the eco-terrorist group was to cause the extinction of the human species so that a more enlightened species would eventually come along and treat the earth properly.

One of the first victims of the altered virus was a young man by the name of Michael Thomson. He became aware of his condition one morning when he woke up and found he couldn't get out of his bed. He didn't feel sick; he just felt too weak to even blink his eyes without wanting to take a nap. He eventually felt a little stronger and was able to get out of the bed.

His parents made an emergency appointment with their family doctor. The doctor gave Michael a quick physical and couldn't find anything obviously wrong with Michael so he ordered a battery of tests, including blood work. A week later, the Thomson family brought Michael back to the doctor who informed them that Michael had contracted the HIV. This revelation surprised Michael due to the fact that he had never had sexual relations with anyone, let alone a man. He also had never used intravenous drugs.

Dr. Mitchel told them that it was possible that Michael had, in actuality, contracted the HEV. When the Thomsons looked at him curiously, Dr. Mitchel said, "The HEV is the Human Extinction Virus. It is a genetically altered HIV and is an airborne virus. It was released by an eco-terrorist group about five years ago. Michael, I'd say that you may have three months to live. I'm sorry."

The Thomson family was stunned to say the very least. After a few seconds, Michael's mother, Deborah, started crying. Michael's father, Gerald, sat in his chair with his mouth open in shock unable to speak. Michael sat in his chair too stunned to even think.

Gerald said, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Dr. Mitchel said, "Well, if there was some way to freeze Michael until we found a cure, then, Michael would have a chance."

This statement seemed to rouse Michael from his reverie. "Mom, Dad, I interned with a Doctor Broadhurst while I was at the University of Georgia. He was studying stasis. He had been relatively successful. Perhaps we could talk to him about letting me be a human guinea pig."

Deborah said, "I'd agree to almost anything if it will save your life."

"Mom, there's no guarantee that I won't die because of the stasis. Dr. Broadhurst was successful about 42% of the time."

"Michael, I'm grasping at straws here. Let me have my fantasy."

Michael smiled and said, "Yes, ma'am."

After the Thomsons returned home, Michael got on the telephone and called Dr. Broadhurst. After a few seconds, Michael heard, "Dr. Alphonse Broadhurst."

"Dr. Broadhurst, this is Michael Thomson, I don't know if you remember me . . ."

"Michael! Of course, I remember you, my boy. I remember you had a great curiosity about how stasis works. How are you doing?"

"Dr. Broadhurst, my parents and I need to speak with you, in person. Do you mind if we drive up to Athens and visit?"

"Sure. Come on up, Michael. I'd love to visit with you again. When will you be coming up?"

"I was hoping tomorrow morning."

"Hmm. Five hours from Brunswick to here, if you leave by, say, 7:00, you should be here by noon. That'll be perfect, Michael. The four of us could have lunch together and we could catch up on how life's been treating you since you were graduated."

"Actually, Dr. Broadhurst, how life's been treating me since graduation is why we want to visit you."

"Oh, dear. That sounds ominous. Very well. I'll see you by noon tomorrow."

"Thanks, Dr. Broadhurst."

After Michael got off the phone, he told his parents that Dr. Broadhurst had agreed to see them the next day.

Michael's brother, Edwin, 18, and his sisters, Molly, 15, and Evelyn, 12, had been interested in the conversation. They knew that something was terribly wrong if Michael had a secret conversation with someone on the telephone because he had never kept any secrets from them before.

When he noticed his siblings looking at him, Michael said, "Guys, I need you to sit down. I've got some rather bad news to tell you."

After they sat down, Michael took a deep breath and continued, "As you know, I haven't been feeling very well these last couple of weeks. Today, our family doctor told me that I've contracted what's known as the Human Extinction Virus and that I've got, at the most, three months to live. That person I was just talking to on the phone is a Dr. Broadhurst in Athens. He's been studying the feasibility of stasis. Mom, Dad and I are going to see him tomorrow and I'm going to volunteer to be his human guinea pig in the hope that, sometime in the future, a cure will be found and I can be awakened. More than likely, tonight will be the last time you see me for a very long time, if ever again."

Michael's siblings just looked at him in shock. It was like being told that a loved one was going to die within the next 24 hours and there was nothing that could be done about it. Molly and Evelyn started crying, even Edwin's eyes were wet with tears, although they never fell.

That evening, the entire family went out to dinner and spent the rest of the evening playing games and just spending time together. The sadness was in the air thick enough to see, figuratively speaking, but, it was covered by the laughter and baiting that was said every time someone had some bit of bad luck in one of their games. Finally, at around 9:00, it was time to go to bed since Michael, Gerald and Deborah had to leave early the next day to get to Athens by 12:00. Molly and Evelyn gave Michael hugs that left him gasping for breath and their tears started to flow again. They even said that they were glad that he was their brother and they hoped to see him again soon.

Around 5:00 the next morning, Michael woke up to the smell of his mother cooking breakfast. Although he was significantly weaker than he had been just a couple of weeks earlier, he got up, got dressed and headed into the dining room where he saw his entire family sitting around the table.

After breakfast, Michael went back to his room to get ready for the five-hour drive to Athens. He sat at his desk and looked at his computer. With sadness in his eyes, he looked around his bedroom knowing it could be the very last time he'd ever see this room. He stood up and walked to the book shelves and looked at the titles of the books he had there. Several classic book titles caught his eye, Great Expectations; I, Robot; Alice in Wonderland; Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, War of the Worlds, and the entire Barsoomian and Tarzan series of Edgar Rice Burroughs were just a few of the titles he saw. He believed he was going to miss reading all of these books.

It wasn't too long before he heard his father's voice saying, "Come on, Michael. It's time we hit the road."

"I'm coming, Dad."

Just as he was about to head out the door, Michael was, once again, accosted by his sisters who gave him hugs equally as tight as the ones they gave him last night. He returned the hugs, just not as strongly.

Five hours after leaving for Athens, the Thomsons were pulling into an empty parking space outside of the building where Dr. Broadhurst's office and lab were located. They exited the car and, even though Michael was shuffling more than walking, walked to the office of Dr. Broadhurst. In about 10 minutes, they reached his office and knocked.

From inside the office, they heard, "Come in."

They entered and Dr. Broadhurst stood and held out his hand. After shaking everyone's hand, Dr. Broadhurst looked at Michael again and said, "God! Michael, you look terrible."

With a wry smile on his face, Michael said, "I've definitely had better days." He laughed weakly and continued, "This is what the HEV will do to you."

"Oh, my God, Michael. You contracted it?"

"Yes, sir. But, according to my family physician, everyone has. It just affected me more quickly than a lot of others."

"So, this is the reason you wanted to talk with me. What do you need for me to do for you, Michael?"

"Dr. Broadhurst, do you remember how I was your intern while you were working on your stasis experiments?"

"Yes. You were quite helpful. Is that what you're here about?"

"Yes, sir. I want to volunteer as a human guinea pig for your experiments."

Dr. Broadhurst and Michael's parents looked at him stunned. Gerald said, "Michael, did I hear you right?"

"Yes, sir."

Dr. Broadhurst said, "Michael, all I've experimented on so far is fruits, vegetables and prepared meats. I've never even tried using live animals, of any kind. I can't guarantee that you'll survive being in stasis."

"Dr. Broadhurst, I'm going to die anyway. How much more dead could I be if the stasis experiment fails? If you want, my parents and I will sign a Waiver of Liability."

Smiling wryly, Dr. Broadhurst said, "I understand." He returned to his desk and rummaged through some papers and pulled out a sheet of paper.

Dr. Broadhurst signed it, then, Gerald and Deborah. After Deborah signed the piece of paper, she handed it to Michael. On the sheet of paper, Michael read: "I, the undersigned, agree to not hold Dr. Alphonse Broadhurst responsible for any negative effects of being put into stasis. I do acknowledge that I make this statement of my own free will and understand the potential dangers associated with this therapy." After reading the paperwork, Michael signed on the designated line. Below the lines that Michael and his parent signed was a statement that read: "I, Dr. Alphonse Broadhurst, agree to do everything necessary to insure the safety of the subject being placed into stasis and to guarantee that he/she receives all necessary precautions to insure his/her safety for the length of time that the subject is under the stasis field." David then returned the paperwork to Dr. Broadhurst who turned to his assistant who signed the witness line.

Dr. Broadhurst said, "As you can tell, I've been planning on eventually using human guinea pigs.

"All right. Let's go to my lab and we'll fill out the paperwork and put you into stasis."

The four of them, plus the assistant that signed as a witness, walked down a flight of stairs and entered the lab. Michael walked over to a large coffin looking piece of machinery.

Dr. Broadhurst followed Michael and said, "Michael, this is the stasis sarcophagus. This is where you'll be spending your time until a cure is found for the HEV. What I'll do is insert a couple of intravenous needles into a vein in each of your arms. One will administer fluids to insure that, while you're in stasis, you don't dehydrate and the other will administer necessary nutrients to insure that you don't die from malnutrition."

Gerald said, "Dr. Broadhurst, will Michael age while he's in stasis?"

"Yes, Mr. Thomson. According to my calculations and extrapolations from my previous experiments, he should age at a rate of one second for every 42.25 days he's in stasis or approximately one day for every thousand years he might possibly be in stasis."

Deborah said, "Wow! That's slow."

"Yes, it is Mrs. Thomson. However, all of his bodily functions will cease during the time he's in stasis. The water and nutrients are being injected because of the fact that he will, technically, age during his time in stasis.

"Now, Michael, if you'll be so kind as to climb into the stasis sarcophagus, we'll implant the intravenous needles and put you into stasis."

Michael climbed into the sarcophagus and lay down. Dr. Broadhurst placed a rubber tourniquet around each of Michael's arms and found a vein. Then, he swabbed each area with alcohol and inserted the drip needles into a vein. After verifying that the needles were inserted properly, he motioned Michael's parents over.

Dr. Broadhurst said to Michael's parents, "Mr. & Mrs. Thomson, this may be the last time you ever get to speak to Michael. You need to say your good-byes and I'll start the stasis field."

"Thank you, Dr. Broadhurst."

Mr. & Mrs. Thomson walked over to the sarcophagus and looked in. Michael looked back and smiled bravely. "Mom, Dad, I'll be all right. In a couple of years, you'll be back to see me awaken and we can continue with our lives as if nothing ever happened."

With tears in her eyes, Deborah said, "Of course, baby. We'll count the days until we talk with you again." Then, she reached in and hugged and kissed Michael. After she did this, she walked away and cried softly.

Gerald looked in at his son and said, "Michael, you'll do anything to get out of finding a job." Then, he laughed through the tears he was fighting hard to not shed. "We'll visit regularly to check on you, if Dr. Broadhurst will let us." He looked back at Dr. Broadhurst who nodded.

Michael said, "I'll look forward to your visits, Dad. Take care of Mom; you know how emotional she gets and I promise to find a job just as soon as possible after I awaken."

"I'll hold you to that." Then, Gerald walked over to Deborah and put his arm around her as she cried on his shoulder.

Dr. Broadhurst walked over to the sarcophagus and said, "Michael, I wish I could tell you what to expect when I start the stasis field but, all I can guess is you'll feel an electric kind of tingling. Of course, you may not feel anything or you may feel a strong electric shock as if you'd placed a wet finger into a light socket. I really can't say. But, if all goes to plan, you won't remember it anyway."

He reached in, shook Michael's hand and continued, "Good luck, young man. I'll check in on you every day as long as I can. I hope the future holds the cure that you're hoping for. Good-bye."

"Good-bye Dr. Broadhurst." Michael closed his eyes because he felt certain that, when the stasis field was implemented, his body wouldn't move again until the stasis field was turned off.

Dr. Broadhurst walked over to a panel, pressed a button and an electric humming could be heard in the room. Inside the sarcophagus, a violet tinged blue light could be seen and Michael Thomson was in stasis.