--- Kat ---


    Like many ufortable andplicated decisions throughout the ages, it was decided that instead of reaching a decision now they could instead pawn it off onto some other poor shmuck. As such, Cor tasked Meg with locating all of the most likely to survive the awakening process and get THEM to make the decision.


    It did mean that the pamphlets Bre had done up would be useless but that was only a small loss, and they might still be necessary.


    "So… these people are all certain to wake up?" asked Bre once Meg announced she''d finished looking.


    Meg of course sighed at the question, "No. They are not certain to wake up. Even Cor, crazy as her body is, wasn''t certain to wake up. I''d give them above ny percent chance though. None of them are quite that secure but they''re all… within the same bracket I guess? Like… they aren''t on Cor''s level but they''re clearly close,"


    "Just these seven?" asked Cor.


    Meg shrugged, "Well you''ve got the two that haven''t been in there all that long, two that have been in there almost as long as you… and the other three that joined seemingly by themselves. Not sure who here is the most likely to be fine if that''s what you''re angling for… but yeah just these seven. I could add another grouping on afterwards?"


    "No, let''s just go with these for now," said Cor.


    Meg nodded and moved to the first person, a younger looking woman who was technically closest to Cor''s age and someone the old woman new. Not particrly well, but she''d been the personal assistant of Cor''s friend, one who had decided not to entire cryo sleep at all. Her name was Stensil apparently. Meg popped the thing opened and the girl fell out screaming.


    Cor caught her but… "Let her down, let her down," said Meg as she summoned up a beanbag chair and put it under Stensil. Stensil''s appearance was odd. Shecked any wrinkles or crows feet, and a general sense of age and refinement that Cor had… but her skin was faded and cracked in ces and her scales were much the same.


    If quizzed, Cor would reveal they were once a bright red though now they were more of a burgundy colour.


    "What''s happening?" asked Cor. "Is there anything to be done?"


    "Hmmm…" Meg resisted the urge to lightly kick the girl to see if she reacted to the stimtion even as Kat tried to pour her aura into Stensil to help with whatever this was. It didn''t seem to be working… at all. *Why not though? What''s the issue?*


    Meg answered a momentter as if she''d heard the question. "She''s in a lot of pain. Not sure if she was in pain before she got put in but her nerves are constantly firing pain signals everywhere, her skin is cracking in a few ces… but her mind is holding up and her soul isn''t leaving the body so I count this as a sess,"


    "Sess! You can''t this as a fucking sess!" hissed Bre from the side, even as Cor remained silent. "She''s screaming her lungs out.


    "Yeah? And? You lot think freezing a living, thinking being and putting them in cold storage is easy or something? There''s a reason people normally use magic for this, making it so that no time actually passes for the person involved, or they slip forward in time instead of living it out, but no. You guys wanted the technological way.


    "Sure there''s some magic used in the construction but not much if any time enchantments. This is the reason why. Sure it works better for like… a century or two but you guys are all long passed that," said Meg.


    "Did you know?" asked Cor, not anger in her tone. All the while Kat was feeling the strain of pushing her aura so much. Sure it didn''t seem effective but that didn''t mean she wasn''t trying.


    "Um… and should I keep up with the aura?" asked Kat while Meg was ''thinking'' on how to respond.


    "Probably for the best but don''t hurt yourself, the others might need it as well. As for the whole ''did you know'' thing… not really? I mean, this is one of those side effects people get told about. I forget the technical name for it… something something long-term, something overload something nerves. I really don''t remember.


    I had no way of knowing this would happen, but it''s not a surprise really," exined Meg.


    "Does this mean she has a problem with her nervous system? Should I go and acquire some medical supplies?" asked Cor.


    "Not unless she bashes her head into the floor or something simr… unless it''s for her throat maybe? She IS still screaming. I''d have expected that to stop at this point," answered Meg.


    Bre looked at them both somewhat horrified and Kat sighed and walked up to the young woman and gently started to rub her back, careful to be mindful of the thrashing. A hand reached out to her and clenched tight around her wrist. Kat, noticing this put her other hand on top and that seemed to calm her down further.


    Stensil still thrashed and jolted but it either calmed down… or was being supressed.


    As the screaming died down, even if the spasming didn''tpletely Cor asked, "Is this likely to be an issue with the others? Is this a sign of weak nerves or something?"


    Meg shrugged, "Nah, no way for me to tell before it happens. Her nerves are fine though, or well perhaps not entirely fine because of the attack but certainly not weak. Now are we cracking open the next one?"


    Kat, not wanting to rush through this cut the idea down, "I''m feeling the strain on my aura already. I can take it off Stensil here and rest for a few moments and then you can go forward if you want, but I doubt I could stretch it to cover two people for longer than a few moments if pressured,"


    *Not that I''m overly concerned about myself at the moment. I just don''t want to take my aura off Stensil. She''s clearly calming down, she''s spasming less and she''s not screaming but that doesn''t mean things are fine. Not sure if she''s even conscious. Hopefully this buys her a bit more time with my full attention.*


    "We''ll wait then," said Cor and that was the end of it. Kat did ease up on her aura a bit but didn''t left itpletely until Stensil stopped thrashing aboutpletely and had obviously fallen into a sleep. A restless one, shown by her constantly flickering eyes. Kat dragged Stensil off to the side of the room away from the pods where she remained even after Kat retracted her aurapletely.


    Kat let out a long breath and rxed now that she no longer had to strain against keeping her aura up. *Definitely pushed things too far there. I doubt the overwhelming amount of calm was actually helping matters. I just don''t know what else I could''ve done. It''s easy to say ''be more efficient with it'' but I''ve got NO practice at stuff like this and I guess I panicked.


    Not sure how I''d practice something like this though… might have to ask Nira.*


    Eventually, Kat was feeling good enough to restart the process and Meg hit the next button. This was an older dude, someone Cor really didn''t like. His name was called Craunch apparently. "Are you sure this asshole is going to be ok?" asked Cor.


    Find exclusive stories on empire


    "As sure as the rest of them," answered Meg.


    Cor thought about it for a few seconds before nodding, "Well I guess getting a chance to see him scream in pain will make up for the headache I''m going to endure by having him around again,"


    Meg gave a confused nce at Cor but opened the pod. The man sat inside for a few seconds before his eyes fluttered open and he scanned the room. "Cor you old bitch, still around I see! Great to have you around!"


    Cor gave Meg a betrayed look. Meg just grinned back as if the world had given her a great gift. "Craunch… it seems we''ve got a chance to leave the facility…"


    "Hmm, hmm, perfect! And you woke me up first? Truly I am honoured by your attentions, but I''m more into men still. Though I might make an exception for you…" said Craunch wistfully.


    "You''re third actually," admitted Cor.


    "Third? Oof, my poor heart. Truly I am a wretched existence if I only merit third ce! Where are the other two?" asked Craunch


    "First one''s dead and the second one''s asleep in the corner," said Meg ''helpfully''.


    Craunch nced at Meg for a few seconds before nodding and turning back to Cor. "Is it true? Is what the demon says true? You would sacrifice the first survivor for their wicked games? Was that the price of awakening us? Freedom for one of our brother''s or sister''s souls?"


    Cor smacked him on the side of the head. "Craunch shut the fuck up with your nonsense. No. It turns out long time cryo-pod usage has… problems,"@@novelbin@@


    "Yeah that makes sense," nodded Craunch.