May 1, 2033, 8:44 a.m. Sunny.
A certain pair of scientists were preparing for the biggest day of their lives.
One of them, a woman with brown hair cut short and a yellow headband holding it back to not cover her face, was reading and watching the computer's screen. Her similarly brown-colored eyes, hidden behind the thick lenses of her spectacles, went left and right as numbers and letters scrolled across its display.
"The readings from all sensors are fine, dear. We can proceed with the procedure anyti."
With a sweet voice matched with a gentle tone, her words were enough to give anyone listening to her a sense of serenity.
"Got it."
On the other end, a man with pitch-black hair and obsidian eyes, along with a stoic expression, nodded his head in affirmation. His sharp eyes looked around the place emotionlessly before locking in on a figure of a teen sitting by the far end of the lab.
"Star, co here," the man called in a cold voice.
"Yes, father."
The young man—Aster Mistral—moved imdiately.
However, with how emaciated his limbs were—practically skin and bones—his movents were extrely slow. He couldn't even walk straight without soone supporting him.
A nurse wearing a usual white nurse outfit, soone who had been by his side longer than his parents ever were, quickly rushed to his side and supported him. With her support, Aster was able to walk faster and head to where his father, Roger Mistral, was standing.
"My son." The other one, his mother, Mary Mistral, looked at him with tears that threatened to overflow at any mont. "We're sorry you've lived such a harsh life... And we can't even help you."
*Huff!*
Aster took a deep breath—sothing that he does only once every few seconds—before he let out a forced smile, the most sincere smile he could afford.
"It's fine, Mother. I have already accepted my fate long ago. The only reason I'm still fighting against my disease is because you and Father never gave up on ."
It was his unfiltered words and his feeling for them that had been brooding deep inside him for over twelve years, ever since he started to lose hope in finding a cure.
Unknown Disease—It was codic how they nad it so plainly, but this was what they decided to call the mysterious ailnt that Aster was suffering from.
They had known for as long as they could rember that he had so form of abnormality, but they had not noticed the real symptoms until he turned five. At the age when running around energetically was normal, for Aster, just walking a few steps was enough to make him pant as if he just finished a marathon.
Worried, they brought him to a hospital for checkup, but...
"Your son is suffering from a new type of disease and will, unfortunately, live for only 25 years at most."
When the doctors they consulted told them this, they almost flipped the table in anger.
But even after dozens of dical professionals examined Aster, their findings remained the sa. They also discovered then that his disease made it so that every ti he breathed out, he was losing his life force.
It was an unknown disease, neither viral nor bacterial, with an unknown cure, but they never gave up on finding a way to heal their only son.
As such, his parents spent over a decade of their lives searching for a solution. But in the end, they ca up with nothing. They could only teach him a breathing technique to lessen the total breaths he took each day, but that was naught but a stopgap asure.
Watching their son grow up with such a frail body made them feel like their hearts were being ripped apart. As such, they ended up unconsciously spending most of their ti in the laboratory instead of staying with him.
Ti was running out, and before he turned 18, his parents finally decided to take a drastic asure.
"Aster, you understand, right?" Roger held his son's bony shoulders, his grip tight and shaky but firm. "We will be freezing you to extend your life until we find a cure. It could be a decade or two, but we will never give up. As a man, promise that you won't give up!"
Aster's lips curled into a thin smile as he replied with sincerity. "I will, Father. I will never give up."
Despite how weak his body was, only his deep, hazel-brown eyes radiated endless confidence and belief. Never once did he doubt the love that his parents had for him. As such, he didn't want to betray their trust either.
'If they say they'll find a cure, then surely they will.' Aster agreed, almost to the point of hypnotizing himself into believing their words fully.
Although his father's face remained the sa as before, cold as ice, he knew how much anguish he was feeling. A person's touch could relay so many emotions, after all.
"R-Rember…" his mother, Mary, added as she went to hug him tight. "It would feel like you were only asleep for a while. But when you wake up, we'll make sure you are able to walk and run around like any normal person would. Trust us."
Warm tears stread down the corners of her eyes, wetting Aster's cheeks lightly.
After a while of sobbing, it was finally ti.
Aster moved toward a large module, shaped like a cylinder three ters in length and about two ters in diater, with several dozen layers of materials covering it. In the center was a white foam bed, following the body's contour as closely as possible.
"Rember, don't move imdiately after waking up. Wait for the cold to fade first." Roger warned him.
Mary also enurated reminders one after another as if it were the only thing she could do for Aster. All the while, tears were still rolling down her cheeks like rain as her face beca a ss.
His father was just looking at him with a firm gaze, not adding another word.
As soon as Aster laid down on the cushion fitted for his body, the covers of the cylinder started to close, cutting off his view of the outside.
Cryogenic devices like this need to stay at a very low temperature to halt the tabolism of the person inside. The temperature was kept very close to absolute zero, or 70 degrees Kelvin, in a space where not even light was allowed to pass.
Darkness covered Aster's vision, making him feel a little scared and lonely. However, with the best wishes of his parents in his heart, he closed his eyes and waited as the anesthesia kicked in.
After making sure that he was asleep, the Cryogenic Capsule activated, bringing the internal temperature down gradually to its absolute limits.
Just like that, Aster went into suspended animation, waiting for the ti that his parents would wake him up once more.
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