1. Welcome To Angel Falls


    Date: 11/2/2014, Categories: Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Author: Liz, Rating: , Source: LushStories

    at the time of course. They charged you a premium every month for the scheme, only a small amount, but of course that added up to quite a lot cumulatively. That and the fact that most people never even bothered to read the fine print anyway. The insurance company’s only obligation was that in the event of an accidental or unnatural death, all they had to do was turn you into a human popsicle and warehouse you.” “I think I’m gonna throw up.” “Anyway,” continued the nurse casually, “about fifty years ago when all the regenerative medical breakthroughs happened, the courts ruled that the insurance companies had to make good on their policies. A bit of a fuck-up on their part so of course they’re gradually going out of business now, hence the state of this place.” “Are you telling me I’ve been in a block of ice for, what, years?” asked David. He glanced around the room at all of the corroded steel tanks lining the walls. It suddenly dawned on him that inside each of those tanks, with their little blue LED lights flashing away on the front, was a real human being. “Indeed. It’s actually a fascinating science if you’re into that kind of thing. In order to stop the water in all your cells from crystallising when they freeze you, they suck out all of the water molecules and replace them with a cryoprotectant compound.” David flinched and scrunched his face as the nurse emphasised the ‘sucking’ element of the process. “It acts like an antifreeze,” she continued with a smile that ...
    showed you she really loved her job. “If they didn’t, we’d basically have to scoop you out of the tank with a bucket when you were brought back to ambient temperature. Then what they do is cool your corpse to about negative two-hundred Fahrenheit with dry ice, drop you into one of these things, and fill it with liquid nitrogen.” “So, let me get this straight,” replied David as he shuffled uncomfortably from side to side. “I’m in the future?” “Well, technically speaking you’re in the present, but I suppose from your point of view you could say that.” “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” David jumped off the table and started stumbling across the room. He headed for the window on the far wall in a roundabout way; his legs were still getting their bearings so he ended up doing an unusual kind of drunk crab-walk. He tripped and weaved dangerously as he veered across the floor, trying to avoid the obstacles of steel trolleys and mysterious rank puddles. “Wait!” the nurse shouted across the room to him. “You’ve got to go through orientation first. You could go into shock!” David never heard her warning, he was too focused on glimpsing the world of tomorrow. Scenes from all of the television programs and movies he’d watched when he was a kid suddenly started barreling through his mind. All of the strange technologies and weird customs that had delighted him growing up were now his reality. His hands gripped the dusty blinds and after a deep breath, he unceremoniously threw them open. ...
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