Context

via https://www.newscientist.com/article/2122087-winning-words-write-us-a-sci-fi-masterpiece-in-48-hours/

then http://48hour.sci-fi-london.com

The deadline for submission is Monday 10th April, 2017 at 1:00pm via a PDF sent as an email attachment to 48hrflash@sci-fi-london.com.

The elements you need to use.

These include:

• The TITLE for your story
• A piece of DIALOGUE that must be incorporated somewhere into the story
• An optional scientific idea or theme

Easy…half your work is done! You then have 48 hours to write your story.

The deadline for submission is Monday 10th April, 2017 at 1:00pm via a PDF sent as an email attachment to 48hrflash@sci-fi-london.com.

Other things you may be curious about should be covered in our FAQ - http://48hour.sci-fi-london.com/frequently-asked-questions

Formatting

• Standard manuscript format: in a serif font (Courier/Times New Roman/Garamond etc) + 12 point size + double spaced lines + single column layout + no illustrations.
• Include your name and full contact details on the first page AND list the cues you were given on entry: Title + Line of Dialogue
• Manuscripts to be submitted digitally in PDF or MS Word or Apple Pages file formats only as email attachments.
• Please also include your word count - note the maximum is 2000 words.

Title: SEVERAL DAYS

Dialogue: Five minutes, that’s all it takes.

Science (optional): Human ‘black box’ recorder tracks movement and interaction

Notes

scenarios

• person is repeatedly awoken and asked for choice to be fully awoken or returned to stasis
  • done brusquely
  • increasingly confusing language
    • language changes, new terminology
  • too quick to understand
  • had chosen cheap stasis option
    • woken every 50 years
      • only partially
    • max 5 mins per consultation (since animating is expensive)
  • always awakes in confusion, nausea, vertigo
  • then awakenings become very smooth/slick/instantaneous
    • takes several awakenings before realises not physical
    • elapsed time is then measured relative to speed of mental functioning
      • years become minutes
  • questions asked
    • voices
      • Artificial
      • human
        • bored
        • foreign accent
        • delay/long distance
      • charity takes over
    • what is your name?
      • confusion, since is first question received
      • used to
        • indicate mental competence of patient
        • id
      • mandatory
        • no progress until answered
    • you have 3 options
      • return to stasis
      • awake fully
        • not offered initially
      • euthanasia
    • do you have any further questions in your allotted 5 mins?
      • time does not roll over to next period
  • elapsed time
    • 50 years
    • then 50 minutes
    • then 5 minutes
  • memories
    • why enter stasis?
      • current political situation boring/annoying
      • mentally fit
      • government offered tax breaks for working with longevity institutes
        • by entering stasis, forgoes rights to state pension, covered by long-term investments
      • no family, boring dead-end job, no prospects, not poor, will never be rich
    • recalls some of previous awakenings,
      • only early answers in session, not later answers
  • voices
    • background chatter
    • silence, person asking questions, no answers
    • click then quick apology
      • “this is the supervisor, just noticed you were speaking after opting for stasis. The system decouples from your brain and starts putting you into stasis. The process has begun. I see you have asked lots of questions. No time to answer them. You’ll be out in a few seconds. Sorry I can’t help. Perhaps mentally prepare a couple of questions now for when you next wake up, I think that might work for you. Good luck.”
  • changes
    • human voice, bored, accent odd
      • impatient
    • human voice, remote, accent very odd
      • computer voice giving countdown
    • smooth, clear voice, good accent, no hurry
    • hospital room
      • becomes clear is VR
      • consequence of breakdown/poor design in stasis machine,
        • each awakening causes increased loss of short term memory
          • no coherent memory of why entered stasis
        • mind and memories uploaded into virtual storage
          • incoherent memories available for browsing, with caveats
          • recordings of awakenings’ conversations
        • criteria for awakening no longer relevant
        • online, passage of time is consensual, relative to speed of thought
          • much faster than real time, hence time passes slowly in real world