Maysie's Galaxy ONC 2023

23 Goes Boom

Unfortunately, intimacy--not sex-- was hard to come by, in the following year. Not that they had sex because Ethan kept insisting that she wasn't ready. Sometimes it enraged her, other times she was grateful. He never refused to sleep in her bed, if she demanded it, but that happened mostly when she had the time to drink.

It never occurred to her that he wasn't interested in getting physical until she took the time for the other half of relationships, that he'd want her invested in having more than just sex--even if it was only investing in their friendship and going no further.

But then, she was achingly aware that if she ordered him to, there would be no hesitation on his part. It was just too close to Cleo's story, someone she didn't want to be.

Trying to ignore the twisted relationship between Marshall and Cleo was hell because she broke him in a way that wasn't sane--but considering what he had done to her, he shouldn't be alive. It was too much drama, and he was a shell of a man who was terrified of his own shadow. Not that Maysie ever got close to him, as the whole damn thing was surreal. Thankfully Cleo had a house built nearby and moved away from the company rooms. Marshall rarely left that house.

But there wasn't time because while they were testing out the hypothermic bed the sleeper slept in, Maysie was doing a light mass production on the apparatus for the time-warp bubbles. So she was daily working like the mechanic she had always been, as she had with Alder. Even speaking to her made calibration one of the most frustrating tasks to perform.

But there was little choice: until the proof of concept could be standardized, there wasn't anyone else but her and Cleo to do that work, and Cleo would rather monitor those getting their first sleep in the chambers, as that was what her original studies had been about.

About two weeks before her 23rd birthday, they brought a dozen sleeping units online, and would begin the long tests. The first volunteer was Marshall. Seeing him go under for 6 months relieved Maysie to no end, as Cleo had changed so much for her vengeance.

That and he looked peaceful.

It was hard to see him as a man who would sell out his love interest like he did.

They also wouldn't let Maysie or Cleo do their sleep studies without a handful of mid-trials to prove that the minds inside were safe from damage.

The night before she would place herself in Cleo's hands was the last time she slept soberly next to Ethan. She rarely bothered with anything more than one of his t-shirts while he wore sleep pants. Between the two of them, it was a full set of PJs. His arms draped over her ribs heavily--not in a way that hurt, but security, like she would come out her day far better than poor Marshall. Not that he died--he passed through that time with ease.

But it was supposed to have been 180 days trapped inside his head, not moving, while for everyone outside, half a year passed. He swore it felt like he had been to hell for a thousand years.

That worried both women because time wasn't supposed to work that way.

But Maysie would go first, as she had built the structures, but understood them less than Cleo. That and everyone was waiting to see if she connected with Talon again, and have that outside source come in contact with them again.

But still, she lay in Ethan's arms and had nothing to hold onto because her mind was in a past and future that had nothing to do with the reality of the man right next to her.

---

The day of the test was routine.

Maysie went into the cold water vat before she took the herbal compound that Cleo made specifically to aid with keeping the oxygen level low during the induced coma.

Ethan was in the room, watching, not touching her as she crawled into the pod. Infuriating.

And then she was under, blissfully unaware of everything. At first, it was serene. There was a saying that the warmest you'll ever be is in deep hypothermia, where the cold never got to you, and rest beckoned you eternally. That feeling stayed with her in the hallucinatory state that made up the deep sleep under time-dilation.

If she had stayed serene, she would have come out of it, peacefully, believing that Talon was a figment of her imagination. It would be easy to turn to Ethan, knowing that the was the only man she trusted on every level.

What she got felt like cockroaches scrabbling around inside her mind, trying to hide from the light of her consciousness. It itched and was even painful at times, but eventually, it settled into a steady stream of language and writing that made no sense as it crossed her senses. She felt like she would throw up. When that settled, it felt like her whole mind was filled with a web browser, attached to a catalogue of goods.

"What the hell is this?!"

Nothing answered her for at least 5 solid minutes.

"Welcome valued client. Please ask direct questions and we will get back to you as shortly as possible."

"Ok...why am I seeing a catalog?"

It was maybe a hair faster to respond this time, but still, the wait felt eternal. "This is a compilation of all the items necessary to build for life to thrive on the back of your Chelatenous Jelly Monster. We have artificial suns, brain connections to augment access to the catalog without needing to enhance the psychically deaf, there are fertility vats, DNA studies, translations of rare literature and art, artificial world walls to bring back dead lakes and oceans, the latest on medical technology to ensure that no humans have to suffer for their inferior DNA, Energy Sources, worldwide communication upgrades, terminals to access this archive without being asleep, so the masses can learn before the chambers are complete. Plenty of things to distract a mind willing to learn things."

Maysie thought about it for a moment, then responded. "I need the brain enhancer, the artificial sun, and the terminal. If there's any room within these next 23 hours, and you can think of something that is beyond those things and a time-dilation chamber, please upload that, for me."

The response felt like it was delayed by 8 minutes, this time. Then came the deluge of information, like everything was being discussed at the same time. Her head was spinning so fast that she knew it was only a matter of time before she drowned in her pod. She would die before she could explain what she had in store for humanity.

The vertigo came to an end--she kept the queasy stomach from rebelling until she got used to the way her mind flitted through the subjects shoved in her head.

Then everything went still, and the now gaping void asked her. "Do you have anything else to ask, honored querant?"

"Where is Talon?" She expected some sort of acknowledgement. It had been years of sacrifice.

"He is busy. Goodbye."

She was left in the void that should have comfortably lulled her to sleep with a false sense of warmth, but her heart was an icy mess, indignant about being ignored while she put her whole world on hold for 4 years.