Scene One.
Charlotte and Shane exit the train. They have only walked a few steps towards the platform when Shane stops dead in his tracks.
"I forgot the flowers in the train." He says and hurries back. He returns a few moments later with a bunch of white lilies in his hand.
"You were always clumsy growing up." Charlotte says. She is a beautiful middle aged woman.
"Mom, you never saw me growing up." Shane says. Incredibly though, Shane is the same age as his mother.
"Is it really necessary to discuss this now? Let us finish the task at hand." Charlotte says.
Shane tries to keep up with his mother's pace. "Will you please walk a bit slowly?" He says.
They come out of the station and take a cab. In the back seat of the vehicle, Charlotte starts the conversation again.
"So? How's life? Did you marry?" She asks.
"Yes. I have a son as well. He is four." Shane replies.
"And your wife? Is she a housewife?"
"No, she works."
"Great. Women must work."
They continue on a road which leads towards the countryside for half an hour. The cab stops in front of a cemetery and the duo exits the cab. They enter the cemetery while the cab waits outside.
They walk on the paved path for a few minutes and reach a considerably new tombstone.
ROBERT WILSON – 1991 – 2038 – BELOVED FATHER. The epitaph reads.
"I wish I was awake when he died." Charlotte says.
She pays her respects. They stand there wordlessly for a few moments. Charlotte turns around and starts walking towards the gate.
They enter the cab again.
"Station?" The driver asks.
"No. It was too crowded. Here, take me here." Charlotte hands the driver a piece of paper. "They have provided a residence." She says addressing Shane.
"Mom, it will take too long. I have to join work." Shane says.
"We will drop you to the station then." Charlotte says and the driver starts the cab.
"They won't tell me why did they wake us up. More intriguing is the fact that we were nine. I wonder where that scientist Alharmi is." Charlotte says. Shane remains silent.
Scene Two.
Charlotte and Robert and arguing in the sitting room of their house.
"What is this?" Robert asks holding a large envelope in his hand.
"I thought I would surprise you." Charlotte says without making eye contact.
"Surprise? You think this is a surprise. This is shock." Robert says waving the envelope.
"I got chosen. I am one of the only ten people to be selected in this."
"What about Shane?"
"What about him? You think mentioning him will stop me. I got chosen Robert. Don’t you understand? I got chosen. I am one of the top brilliant minds of the country. I am the best neurologist there is. I won't let go of this opportunity. I won't ruin my life."
"This is life Charlotte. You are ruining your life, not saving it. They will put you to sleep."
"And I won't age. I will be alive long after you all are dead. I'll serve the purpose of having a bright brain."
"Our son?"
"Adopted son. I was always against the adoption. I told you to get his IQ checked. You didn’t heed my advice. He is not my blood. Shane is nowhere near intelligent as I am. You think I will stay here for him and ruin my life?" Charlotte breaks.
Her angry outbursts are carried all the way to the small ears pressed on the door. A four year old Shane listens to every single word.
"Leave Charlotte. And never say that again. Never say that to him that he is adopted." Robert says.
Scene Three.
Shane is seated in front of the television. A government officer is addressing the public in front of a facility. Ten people are occupying chairs on the other side of the stage. Charlotte is one of them.
"These are the top ten intellectuals of our country. Dr. Arif Alharmi who is one of the ten to go for the nap today, originally began the experiment. All functions of their bodies will be slowed down. They will not age until woken up. The government plans to wake them up after a few decades from now." The official finishes talking. The ten selected people bid their families farewell and are taken inside the facility and kept in tube like containers for the nap.
Robert walks in front of the television blocking it from the view. Shane gets up and follows his father outside of the house.
Scene Four.
Shane and Leena, his wife, are in the sitting room of a modest but cozy house. Little Robert plays nearby.
"I wish I didn’t detest her, at least not now." Shane says.
"Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. We have worked hard." Leena says.
"She asked me to take you both to meet her."
"What did you say?"
"I said work won't permit us."
"Did you tell her?"
"No. I couldn’t. She was taunting me when I said I had to get back to work. She thinks I am a wage laborer or something of those sorts."
Robert gets up and walks towards his father.
"Daddy. Why didn’t Grandma come with you?"
"She is staying with those government people son. We will go and meet her soon."
Scene Five.
They are back into the facility. Everyone who was chosen for the nap, except Dr. Arif Alharmi are seated side by side. They have the same expressions on their faces – recognition and confusion. They look at each other for answers but to no avail. A man enters the room.
"I am Dr. James Hughes. I am here for your debriefing. First to answer your questions, I know you all have the same question in mind, Dr. Arif Alharmi is dead. He was woken up three years earlier for an important task. He successfully completed the task but six months after he was woken up, he became deadly ill. The doctors couldn’t diagnose him and he died."
"Why did you wake us up?" One of the nine speaks.
"We were able to conclude that the origin of the disease, Dr. Arif was suffering from was the nap. We ran some tests on all of you and are very sad to announce that you all wait the same fate."
"You woke us up when it was certain we would die?" Charlotte says.
"No. We woke you up because two doctors were successfully able to diagnose and find a cure for this disease. Please welcome Dr. Shane Wilson and Dr. Leena Wilson." Dr. James says.
Shane and Leena walk into the room. Charlotte is astonished to see his son in doctor's attire.
"We found out that when you took the nap, the mixture of various drugs which was administered on you, went on to create an invisible synthetic tumor inside your inactive brain. A certain part of your brain stops functioning within six months from now. It isn’t visible and hence inoperable. Autopsy of Dr. Alharmi helped us find the cause and we were able to formulate a compound that will rid you of the virtual tumor." Shane says.
"How do we believe you? Why don’t we just go back to the nap until solid treatment is found?" Another of the nine people says.
"If you choose to do that, I can assure you will die instantly. One thing you must consider before deciding anything is that with quantum physics we are now able to predict the exact outcome of our actions. The simulations, we carried out with the drugs were promising. However, it is your choice if you want to get treated now or not." Leena says.
The discussion goes on for several minutes. Charlotte, however, is not a part of the discussion. She has already made up her mind. She has missed the childhood of his son. She won't miss her grandchild's childhood.