Aislin

kalon name: aislin

gender: female

edits: (s) shine, hair ; (c) custom tail, longer fur, short fur; (uc) custom ears, custom tongue, no pupils

designed by cosmosfox! character development by myself

It felt like falling asleep. Entering the cryopod, hearing the automated voice count down ten… nine… eight… all the way until you were gone. She’d heard stories of cases gone wrong, people awakening in horror having still been awake but unable to move or breathe as their bodies were frozen. Lucky her then, only feeling the barest hint of the cold before entering the void. Waking up was as expected too, more or less.

The process of unfreezing must fully finish before the sequence for exiting slumber begins. Working slowly through your body, the pod is careful not to shock your neurological systems into activating too soon. Your brain is last, and with it the pod opens, and you take your first breathes.

Disorientation. Yes, she most certainly did feel disorientated. Even knowing every step beforehand, entering stasis even while thinking of the mission, the plan, did nothing to prepare you for waking up after a hundred-year nap. For the first few minutes her brain was scrambled, comprehending absolutely nothing save for the fact that she felt like she could puke.

Nausea. A very common side affect for all types of procedures and situations, it wasn’t abnormal to feel the need to puke. It also wasn’t abnormal to follow through on the feeling, as she could hear from some of her companions waking up around her. She herself had no desire for the first thing she’s tasted in ages to be bile and took longer to rest before sitting up.

Dizziness. It is normally this step which leads to the feeling of nausea to come to fruition but is no less disgusting on its own. No matter how advanced science may have become over the course of human history, or how frozen she may have been, laying prone for a hundred years will lead you to go through several dangerous loops upon sitting up.

There were a number of other steps to follow, including the ever-dreaded stumbling fiasco they would all undergo upon attempting to stand up. Their muscles hadn’t deteriorated thanks to the wonder of science, but that didn’t change the fact that they’d been frozen for ages. However, the first thing she wanted to do was to know.

Clicking the panel along the outside of her pod, she spoke with a warbled voice, “Status update: UNS Black Pearl. Report: Status, primary goal and mission objectives; Location; Date.”

“Glad to see you awake, Captain Aislin. Primary Goal: Reach Solar System V, in Galaxy 318T. Status: Success.”

The pause was concerning.

“And? Continue.”

“Mission Objective Completion: Inconclusive. Location: Galaxy 318T, designated Aurora, success. Solar System V, failure; it was inconsistent with our records.”

“As in?”

“Nonexistent. I have instead navigated to the nearest system with a habitable planet.”

The entirety of the cryo chamber grew silent. The mission was only supposed to take five years. A long time, but manageable.

“And how long did that take?”

“Approximately forty-five years beyond original estimates.”

Closing her eyes, Captain Aislin refused to scream.