On Being Frozen

[angevin@juno.com (Joseph P Benedetto)]

BG> Since neither technique is "real technology" yet, I will go with what
is
BG> said in Desert Search.  It also adds to the "something has gone
wrong"
BG> feeling when you can tell your players that they don't feel like when
they
BG> went through the test freezing during training.

Thank you!  I see also that I am not the only guy who figured that
characters would be test-frozen during MP Basic Training to both assess
their reaction to cold sleep and show them what it would be like.  

As to them turning "fish-belly" white while in cold sleep, the gamebook
DOES say (p12) the the freezing process "is intended to slow the human
metabolic rate to a level where it is almost indetectable"--indicating
that the characters are not frozen solid like fish in ice, but rather
alive, although their bodies metabolism is slowed down incredibly.  Thus,
a human body under such conditions and deprived of light for decades
would begin to lose it's skin color, the same way individuals who stay
indoors for years at a time become noticeably paler.

Of course, it's all just a theory until someone actually tries it for
150+ years....

And remember that the characters are hooked into enough stuff to make
them look like ICU patients--breathing tube, brainwave monitor, heartbeat
monitor, needles and tubes taking blood in and out of their bodies,
electrical stimulation pads...no one just jumps up out of cold sleep and
runs naked through the bolt hole, they're all busy trying to get the
needles out and pulling off those stuck-on pads.

Now, as to their mouths tasting like monkeys have been living, breeding
and dying in there for generations, well, that's up to you!

Joe
angevin@juno.com