Awakening

The humming sound slowly grew louder. It throbbed and pulsated. A dense, dark blanket of cold fog that covered his mind began a steady retreat. A flicker of consciousness sparked in the void. The warmth spread outward, and the icy cold retreated peripherally, dragging along a painful, tingling burn. The cold dissipated at the ends of fingers, ears, and toes, bursting into the air, replaced by the stab of millions of tiny needles. Suddenly, Vince was aware of his own thoughts. Frantically, he struggled to remember where he was. He remembered the depression. He remember the hopelessness, the utter despair, how he wanted it all to end. There were so many legal forms that needed his electronic signature. He remembered pressing the 'confirm' key, not once, but three times. The decision was not hard. Life had become too much. With a great sigh of relief, he had settled back into the warm ooze. The lid hissed and clicked into place. Vince held his breath as the gel quickly filled the small space where he was breathing. It filled his ears, then pushed into his nostrils. There was no pain or alarm as his body was instantly frozen. Now, the surgical neural scanner was making a faint clicking sound as it centered its alignment over his forehead. Alarm! Panic! Why was he here, awake, witnessing this?! He had already made his choice. His life was over, the sale was final. It was supposed to be over! The pain was supposed to be gone! But here he was, lying on a cold, hard table, covered in slime, having been rudely awakened from the cryo vat. He couldn't move a finger. Nothing worked. He couldn't even cry out or blink. Suddenly, he was blinded by white light as the scanner activated. Then, in the middle of the glare, he saw a tiny black speck. The blackness swelled, forming a deep, dark hole, that slowly expanded over him. The darkness was blacker and far colder than the depths of space. The darkness was nothing, complete void, complete loneliness. Suddenly, Vince felt a tearing sensation in his soul. Then, in one awful, painful instant, his consciousness ripped free and fell headlong into the dark hole.