2 Towards a Better Tomorrow

His parents had only vaguely told him about what they were making him do at Xen Labs during Christmas. He had asked them repeatedly over the new year, but they stayed silent over the matter as though they didn't want him to know about it.

With this in mind, Victor wanted to ask Ms. Jacklyn questions about what he was going to go through.

"Well let's start then," Ms. Jacklyn said as she smiled at Victor.

But as the session started, Victor smelt an odd fragrance in the office, something that he hadn't smelt before. His mind became blurry, and he felt slightly nauseous.

"Victor, what do you know about cryogenics?" Ms. Jacklyn asked.

It took a while for Victor to understand Ms. Jacklyn's question before replying.

"I-It's about freezing the body right?" Victor replied. "I...heard about it once when my father was watching the news."

Ms. Jacklyn smiled as she heard Victor's reply and said: "You're right about the freezing part, what we do is we preserve a patient's body in its current state until we manage to cure him or her of whatever ailments we cannot cure in present time in the future."

Victor was confused by what Ms. Jacklyn said; he tried to think about her words before asking: "S-so...does that mean I'm sick somehow?"

"Not quite, you see your parents have chosen to let you go through a program we call "Future-Cell" where children like yourselves will be put under our care for the future. We will be using cryogenics to freeze your bodies until the time is right for you to enter the future." Ms. Jacklyn replied, "Meaning you will get to go to the future!"

"The future?" Victor asked, "Does that mean my parents are trying to make me go to the future?"

"Towards a better tomorrow, you will be going to the future under our care to live in a world more technologically advanced than what we have now. Doesn't that sound exciting to you?"

"What?" Victor muttered in surprise when he heard about it, "I don't want to go to the future… and is it even safe?"

"You will be just fine Victor, and you don't have to worry about anything. Just know that your parents are happy that you're going to experience a better life in the future, towards a better tomorrow."

'Towards a better tomorrow?' Victor thought to himself.

The life he was living was great, would the future be better?

"I know what you're thinking Victor and you don't have to worry." Ms. Jacklyn smiled "History has shown our way of living improves tremendously over each century, so it's safe to say the future will be better than the life we are living in now!"

Victor confused by the situation asked: "Is there any way that I can leave this program?"

But Ms. Jacklyn shook her head: " Your parents have already paid and signed you to this program. But don't you worry we will do everything we can to keep you safe."

Hearing what Ms. Jacklyn said made Victor feel like his parents were paying them to take him away. Did they not like him? Did he do something before?

"Now after this session, your parents have asked us to start the process for you to enter our Cryopods immediately," Ms. Jacklyn said

"So soon? Don't I get a few days to prepare myself mentally?" Victor asked worriedly, even though he felt he should be anxious about this situation he felt surprisingly calm. "What about all my stuff back at home? A-and what about my friends? I would need to say goodbye to them."

Victor tried coming up with excuses hoping that they would give him a few days to think about the situation.

"Relax Victor; everything will be alright. Maybe your friend's parents would also let them join this program. And don't worry about your belongings, your parents will send all your stuff to us while you're in cryostasis so you can begin your journey towards a better tomorrow as soon as possible." Ms. Jacklyn said as she gave Victor a reassuring smile.

The moment Ms. Jacklyn had told him to relax he felt all his anxieties about the situation disappearing

Victor felt his behavior was weird, why was he so calm about the situation and why did he feel so nauseous?

And Ms. Jacklyn was getting weirder with each sentence they spoke; she wasn't like any counselor he had talked to before. Granted the only counselor he spoke with was his school counselor but he thought that they would at least be somewhat alike.

If Victor had to describe Ms. Jacklyn as best he could he would say that she was more like one of those advertisers selling their products.

Ms. Jacklyn continued to talk about how amazing the future will be for Victor and started talking about how they will take excellent care of him, towards a better tomorrow she says. And with each minute that passed, Victor felt he was getting progressively more tired.

"Ok, I think you've gotten the gist of things right Victor?" Ms. Jacklyn asks as she got up from her desk. "We'll be going to the cryogenics lab now so follow me."

Victor who by this point couldn't think too clearly nodded his head when he heard Ms. Jacklyn telling him to follow her; his father had told him to follow whatever they said after all.

With Victor's feeling dazed all could do was follow her orders, it was safe, right? Victor's father said they were professionals after all.

The two of them walked down the hallway together hand in hand as Victor tried his best to walk properly. With him being in a daze he couldn't walk straight, the feeling felt as though he hadn't slept for an entire day.

"Seems like I've talked with you for a tad bit too long Victor. You seem sleepy, but we'll be there soon so try your best to stay awake okay?" Ms. Jacklyn said as she smiled at Victor.

'Why does everyone keep smiling in this place?' Victor wondered as he followed Ms. Jacklyn. Every person up to this point has been smiling to him since the start when he arrived at Xen Labs. It didn't feel right.

After walking for a while, they made it to a section of Xen Labs that looked completely different from the section Victor had seen before. While the one before had windows everywhere which made it feel welcoming, the section here had entirely no windows and had metal flooring, walls, and ceilings giving off an unwelcoming vibe while the floor lights helped illuminate the hallways.

The whole area felt freezing cold as though they were entering a chiller. Wearing only a T-shirt, Jeans and sports shoes made Victor extremely cold; he immediately starts trying to warm himself by rubbing his arms.

"Try to endure the cold here Victor; we are almost at the cryostasis room." Ms. Jacklyn said as they moved forward.

Soon they arrived at a door that read "Cryostasis Room 5.5", Ms. Jacklyn knocked the metal door, and it immediately opened. The room looked empty with just a low long metal table with steps on the side, and a human-sized metal tube on top of it opened up with its lid to the front of it. The cryotube looked almost like a coffin. Right behind the cryotube was a hole completely dark; the hole seemed just big enough for the metal tube to fit into it.

Victor looked around to see Dr. Matthew and his parents were already waiting in the room and they were wearing winter like clothing.

"Victor, how was your Counselling session? You look unwell!" Victor's mother asked worriedly.

Seeing his mother looking worried surprised Victor, with how his parents have seemingly spent money to send him away it made him question whether his parents cared about him.

"Victor is just tired Mrs. Smith; it's normal for children to be like this after their counseling session. Now let's begin the process shall we? With your permission of course." Dr. Matthew said as he smiled at Mr. Smith

"Yes, my wife and I are ready for this. And I'm sure my son is too." Mr. Smith said as he looked at Victor. "Now follow what Dr. Matthew tells you to do, understood?"

Victor nodded at his father's stern voice as he looked towards Dr. Matthew. He still didn't dare to say anything back to his father.

"Now Victor, remove your clothing." Dr. Matthew said

Hearing this Victor looked towards his parents in hopes they would find Dr. Matthew's order strange, but his father's stern look towards him meant he had to go through with it.

Victor stripped down to only his underwear, he struggled a bit as his body was cold and tired, but he managed to remove his all clothes after some time. When he had finished removing his clothes he noticed how cold the room is, it was almost like the temperature of the room was as cold as the inside of a freezer.

Dr. Matthew continued. "Now wear this and sit in the "cryotube" on top of the table next to me."

Dr. Matthew gave him a suit that looked like a full-body swimsuit. Victor reluctantly followed Dr. Matthew's order and wore the suit before walking towards the table, assuming the human-sized metal tube was what Dr. Matthews called a "cryotube."

'So I'm going inside there?' Victor thought as he looked at the metal tube, it's construction looked like one of those pods you see aliens coming out off in movies and TV shows. It felt odd to see one in real life and even more so having to enter it. At least the "cryotube" had some cushioning to lay down on.

Victor climbed the steps of the table and climbed into the"cryotube". When he touched the metal of the Cryotube, he felt a cold burning sensation cause him to pull back his hand quickly. He looked back at his parents but only saw the stern look of his father, while his mother still had that worried look on her.

Sighed in his heart, Victor tried his best to avoid the metal parts of the cryotube and sat on the cushioned floor of the cryotube; it was like a small bed.

"Now lay down on the cryotube, and we can begin." Dr. Matthew said as he went to the side of the cryotube.

Following Dr. Matthew's order, he laid down onto the cushioned cryotube. Even though the bottom of the cryotube was filled with cushion, there wasn't enough to make it as comfortable as a mattress. Instead, it felt like he was sleeping in a tent with a sleeping bag.

Once Victor was completely laid down Dr. Matthew spoke: "We will begin the process now."

As Dr. Matthew's closed the lid to the cryotube Victor could hear his mother crying, why was she crying when they were the ones who forced him into this he wondered. After the lid closed, he felt the metal tube moving, and after a while, it stopped. The metal tube seemed soundproof as he couldn't hear anything after the lid closed on him as he couldn't hear anything. It was just the cold silence and him.

Now he's stuck alone in a dark, cold metal tube, and they didn't even care to put windows on the front for him to see the outside. It felt lonely and cold; it gave him a moment to think about things. He could probably have tried harder to rebel against his parents, but he was too scared of his father even to attempt it, and the thought of trying to do it scared him even more.

Would things have gone another way if he was more rebellious? Victor thought as he laid in the cold metal tube. Cold. Very Cold. Victor rubbed his arms as he tried to stay warm. He felt as though the cryotube had started getting colder and colder. With Victor feeling much more awake with the cold biting every inch of his body he had realized during his time with Ms. Jacklyn that he wasn't even told about the process he is going through right now.

But, he shouldn't worry, right? After all, they know what's best for him. Everything will be fine. Everything will be great. The future will be incredible. The future will be fantastic. This is just the beginning, towards a better tomorrow.

Soon Victor succumbed to the cold and fainted as a cold liquid filled the inside of cryotube.

-----

"And it's a success, it was good working with you, Mr. Smith."

Dr. Matthew smiled as he shook hands with Mr. Smith.

"I've held my end of the bargain, so I'm expecting you to do the same"

"Of course, Mr. Smith. Your contribution will not be forgotten. Your seat in parliament will most definitely be ready for you."