"But that can't be right." She said with disbelief "Run the test again."

"We've run it five times now." The white coated doctor said as he tapped his tablet

"I want you to run it again." She said through gritted teeth.

"Octavia" The doctor motioned to her child

"I said run the…" she paused as the doctor kept tapping his tablet and the screen in front of them came alive

Octavia looked up at the screen and stared in disbelief. A rather large growth was seen in the left side of her son's brain.

"You do have options, Octavia." The doctor spoke softly

"But how did this happen?" She said with confusion and hurt in her voice, "We are on a strict dietary schedule, we use the regular fitness chart, we…" 

The doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "Sometimes, these things happen to even the healthiest of people."

Her mind was ever thinking and she wished that things could have been different. Could it have been different if she had altered her genes like the doctor had suggested all those years ago? What if she had engineered his genes instead of having him naturally? His father had passed early from a similar sickness and if she had just… just.. she snapped back to reality as the doctor cleared his throat.

"There are options available to us, Octavia." He said as he pointed to the screen. 

The screen showed 3 different companies that offered different cyrosleep or mind transference opportunities. Octavia stared at the screen without really reading the names or descriptions. She was still in disbelief.

She stared at the screen as the doctor spoke, "Cryostatus, The Sleeper Initiative, and Future Health are all options that you can use for your son. As you know, it does cost a substantial amount and the billing department…" she had stopped listening and pressed her fingers against the area to sign the documents to save her son.

Back in the waiting room, Charlie sat waiting patiently to hear the news. As he saw his mother he jumped up and asked, "So what did he say? Are we doing the test again?"

Octavia shook her head side to side with a sorrowful look as the two embraced.

"I'm sorry, Charlie." She said as she held him

A few hours later Octavia suggested, "Let's go on a trip, somewhere special before you..." She began but started to choke up

"It's okay, mom, at least I'm going to get a chance for a full life someday." He said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "It would be awesome to camping at the old lake, like old times." He said softly

"We all did go out there a lot, didn't we?" She responded through tears

"Ya, we did." He spoke as he lowered his head a bit.

"Your dad…" She began

"Camping it is!" He shouted 

____

They loaded up the tent and all of the supplies for a camping trip at the lake. The great cedars smelled amazing this time of year. The area was teeming with life, squirrels, rabbits, and other creatures rustled in the woodland brush. The lake also had the splashes of fish jumping and the ripples from where snakes and turtles had touched the surface.

Charlie was able to catch many fish for their dinner and they both started a fire. The wood and brush popped and crackled and it would shoot sparks up each time. The embers were mesmerizing with their different shades and intense heat. The stars shone brilliantly on the lake below and the stars above looked to burn with an unending fire. 

They both began eating their fish and Charlie said, "You don't have to worry about me, you know?"

"I just… there's no telling how long you'll be frozen for.." She said barely touching her fish

"We'll see each other again with smart people like you, it won't take long at all." He laughed

She looked at him and attempted a smile but she began to cry. Charlie got up and hugged his mom tightly.

"We will see each other again." He said confidently

_____

The next day they arrived at the The Sleeper Initiative. It was a huge hive-like warehouse with different pods of Sleepers. There were people of all ages here, all suffering from lethal diseases. Instead of living only the short amount of time that they had left, they would sleep until scientists were able to find cures.

Men in lab coats and masks sanitized the D.S.S. chamber that Charlie was getting ready to be in for his slumber. The Deep Sleep Storage unit would house the patients for as long as needed and could last upwards to 40 years or more. Eventually, scientists hoped the number would increase so that missions to distant stars would become viable.

Charlie got into the chamber and the attendants placed small monitoring fabric on his forehead, arms, chest, legs, abdomen. 

"I love you, Charlie." Octavia said softly

"I love you too mom." He said as the chamber was about to close.

"I'll see you again in no time." She said and waved to her soon as his face and body went completely still. His unit has a small layer of ice on the inside of the glass. 

"Take 737 to Pod H-5 a man yelled' as the DSS was magnet lifted and followed a predetermined track to H-5.

She watched as her son's unit slid neatly in-between hundreds of other units. There must have been tens of thousands in total.

She stared at her son's capsule and made a vow, "I will find a way to bring you back," She paused as she choked back tears, "We will see each other again someday."

____