Lost in Transition*

He looks around himself and attempts to concentrate. He blinks several times as his eyes focus.

He has pain. That was to be expected so the pain is not a significant concern. The Automated Resuscitation System - ARS - is going through its steps to assess his condition.

He is responding to the directions. He is holding still for the tests. He holds still for the injections. He is answering the questions.

"This body feels acceptable."

"There are general aches, but nothing unexpected."

"He remembers that he is on a slower-than-light sleeper interstellar spaceship. He remembers his name: Richard P. Winkler."

"He doesn't understand the question."

"He doesn't understand the question."

"His cognitive processes seem to be functioning normally."

"He doesn't understand the question."

The ARS finishes its evaluation. It has more questions but he need not stay in the cryogenic chamber to answer them. The ship's intercoms follow him throughout the passageways as he opens lockers, dresses in the clothes he finds there, and begins addressing the checklists that will prepare the ship and the rest of the sleepers for the end of the trip.

"His cognitive processes seem to be functioning normally."

"His name is Richard P. Winkler."

"He is speaking normally."

"He does not know."

The ARS' line of questioning is illogical. His cognitive processes are functioning normally, but the ARS continues to explore his certainty of that fact. It will not accept his assertion that his behavior is normal, that his identity is established. The ARS may have malfunctioned during its extended down time. He will examine it during a scheduled discretionary period.

...

Checklist one is complete. Three sleepers have died during the transition. The bodies have been recycled and the appropriate notations entered into the log. He recognized two of their names; one was a Ship's Engineer's Mate. The other was a colonist. Neither of their sleep pods had malfunctioned.

One sleep pod had malfunctioned. The sleeper within had suffocated before she could disengage the pod's life support systems. He did not recognize her name. She had damaged the umbilicals; he has recycled the body and repaired the pod. Its self-check routine is underway and will be complete in seventy-three minutes.

The remaining three hundred fifty-six pods report that their sleepers are in acceptable condition. Two pods are out of specification and will require refurbishment before they can be used again.

The ARS continues to explore his assessment of his own mental health and acuity. He answers its questions.

"He is in acceptable health."

"He is allergic to tree nuts."

"He has not eaten any tree nuts."

"He graduated from the University of Utopia twenty-eight years, three months and two days ago."

"He majored in Mechanical Engineering with minors in Electrical Engineering and Aerospace Medicine."

"His ambition was to become a Ship's Engineer."

"He is Ship's Master Engineer, assigned to the Interstellar Expansion Administration colonial sleeper ship Peregrine."

"He will consider the hypothetical circumstance."

...

The second checklist is complete. The colonists' equipment has undergone the transition with nominal damage. One loader's battery packs had degraded beyond its specification. He replaced it. Access to the pack was time-consuming and required revising the estimated time to completion of the checklist. He has reached another discretionary period. The exertions required by the pack's replacement have necessitated inactivity during the discretionary period.

He is considering the hypothesis proposed by the ARS. The ARS asserts that his responses, while nominally acceptable, lack qualities that are expected in responses that would be assessed by the ARS as fully normal. The ARS asserts that his responses are not fully normal and are indicative of a dissociative state or other psychological malfunction.

"He understands what 'ego' means."

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

"Play the recording."

"Hey! This is Master E Rick Winkler, folks, and I'm going to give you a quick rundown on a couple of details before the Captain takes the mic away. Peregrine is the first of her kind, equipped with both the higher-impulse Gen Five light plasma drives and the Sanatana cryo pods. We're going to go faster and you're going to sleep deeper and we're all going to arrive at Luyten B in just under 125 years. Interestingly, even though the Pitseolak Ashoona left twenty years ago, we'll be arriving at about the same time. These engines are that good.

"I'm told that in testing these Sanatana pods are way better than the older models. You know what they say: "twenty years asleep in a pod feels like a month in Purgatory." Not these pods, folks. You're going to wake up at the other end thinking they didn't work and we're still around Titan. Don't be fooled! You're going to close your eyes, open them, and we'll be approaching Luyten B. It's going to be a great trip."

The ARS is comparing behavior observed in the recording to his current mode of behavior.

"He remembers making the recording."

"He does."

"He does."

"He cannot."

"He cannot explain why egotistic expression is no longer present."

"Without testing that hypothesis' validity cannot be established."

"Begin the resuscitation."

...

The ARS is waking a colonist. The colonist is a psychological counselor and spiritual pastor. His name is Uri D'Angelo. He may have insight and experience that can explain the alteration in Winkle's mode of behavior.

"His name is Richard P. Winkler."

"His name is Uri D'Angelo."

"He has directed the ARS to resuscitate Uri D'Angelo out of sequence so Uri D'Angelo can render psychologically rehabilitative assistance to Richard P. Winkler."

"He observes dissociative cues."

...

Uri D'Angelo has died. He suffocated when he exited the airlock. There was no allowance on the body disposal checklist for this circumstance. He has made the appropriate notations in the log.

...

The ARS asserts that his psychological health is poor. The ARS asserts that both Richard P. Winkler and Uri D'Angelo were in acceptable psychological health before entering cryosleep. The ARS asserts that the acute dissociation of two formerly psychologically healthy individuals is statistically unlikely.

He asserts that two instances are an insufficient sample.

He overrides the ARS' safeguards and will wake three more sleepers. He cannot choose random numbers. He achieves randomness by rolling dice. He does not know their names.

...

The three woken colonists have died. One died of either hypovolemic shock or cessation of lower brain function after overriding a hatchway safety interlock. The hatch closed on his head.

He has recycled the body. Bone shards trapped in the hatch rails forced a closer motor overamp condition. Its breaker opened and has been reset. He has cleaned the hatchway.

The other two colonists have killed each other. One exhibited associative behavior and was responding to the ARS' questions when the other approached her and stabbed her with a knife. She took the knife away from the colonist and stabbed her in turn. Both died of hypovolemic shock. He has recycled the bodies and made the appropriate notations in the log.

He does not know where the knife had been. Knives are part of the colonists' supply manifest but none had been stored in the personnel spaces during the transition.

The ARS expands its line of questioning.

"He does not know what a soul is."

"He does not know if he has a soul."

"He does not enjoy his current state. He knows what joy is. He cannot feel joy."

...

He has set the scuttling program to begin opening atmospheric valves in five minutes. He has disabled the cryo pods. The sleepers will die without waking. They will not experience the dissociative state. The ARS asserts that they are incomplete persons, that they are unhealthy. Unhealthy people are not suitable colonists.

He has made the appropriate notations in the log.

*originally posted on Reddit in the r/Writing Prompts forum