"Welcome to the real word, Crepax"
Doctor Hausen was standing in front of him, his customary white medical outfit cataloging him unmistakably.
"How much time has passed?"
He tried to walk a few steps, but his knees failed him, and he had to rely on a nearby table, almost falling on his face. The doctor came to his help swiftly.
"Easy, easy. You've been frozen for almost eighteen years now... You'll have to get used to a normal environment little by little"
"Eighteen years!"
"Yes"
"But the goal was to wake me up in 40 years! It was stipulated in the contract I paid for!"
"Those contracts are no longer valid. You see, during your long sleep, some things have happened..."
"What things?"
Doctor Hausen sighed, and lighted a cigarette.
"What not?... The four mega corporations that were in control of the international market when you went into hibernation merged into one. That was the biggest holding of sheer capital ever seen. They quickly seized more power than even the governments of the nations... In a few years, they were ruling over presidents and kings and popes... One day ( and this was a machiavellian, well- orchestrated world- scale coup d'état ), they threw the main nations' presidents and leaders out of office, and they executed them summarily and occupied their positions with their own people..."
"B-but... but the judges? The armies?"
"The judges and law enforcement, they bought with their money. The armies didn't want to risk total destruction of the world. The Corporation had invested zillions of dollars in top armaments. They were ready to fight an interstellar war, not just a world's one"
Han Crepax opened his mouth in amazement.
"Shit!! But how come nobody fought?"
"Many did, in what was known as the World Guerilla. But after terrible battles in several parts of the world, they were defeated, and the surviving rebels were executed too, or else used for experiments"
"What kind of experiments?"
"Genetic. They are on the verge of creating Humoids. A hybrid of a human and a robot, to use them as a hyper- police force, and as slave workers. They are also mixing humans with animals. They have already created them, but the hybrids have died, so far. They still haven't gotten it right"
"But... people didn't oppose? They just gave up?"
"I know what you're thinking. The rulers were much inferior in number, of course... until they hired the Chinese..."
"What do you mean?"
"After the fall of their communist government, the Chinese were literally starving. The Corporation hired them as mercenaries, men and women. That alone brought them about 1,000 million grateful soldiers!!"
"God..."
*******
"I woke you up before they come. You, along with millions, just lost your rights. I thought it fair to give you a chance to escape. Most common citizens are in danger now. Experiments fail often, and they need an endless supply of..."
"Spare parts..."
"Right. Awful, eh?"
"Hitler revisited, doc, no less. Where are the others?"
"The cryogenic process is fallible too, still. The freezing tubes went wrong and they died. The rejuvenation they wanted ended in eternal sleep "
"All of them?"
"There are other labs performing the same tasks... but here, yes, all died... All... but you and that woman"
The doctor pointed to a young woman that was sitting all hunched in a corner. Crepax hadn't noticed her. The girl's gaze was like void.
"What is wrong with her?"
"Her tube's oxygenation system failed. I noticed a minute too late. Her brain is damaged. We must go now"
"We?"
"A simple low level scientist such as I is no longer safe in this dictatorial system. I am alone in the world. Can we fight together?"
"Sure, pal. I won't give those bastards my body without a fight!"
"Let's go away then. They'll come any moment. Just a minute. I'll have to apply the girl a lethal dose"
"What? Why!"
"She's almost a vegetal now. She'll be a problem"
"No way! That case, I'll go with her, and you'll have to meet your fates alone! Han Crepax will never be blamed for acting as a selfish scumbag!"
That made doctor Hausen react.
"Ok, ok. Your way, then... Erh, which way?"
"Any will do! When you have nowhere to go, you just go!"
He took the girl by the hand, and they left the clinic behind cautiously...