The Truth of Ten Years’ Cryo Chapter 1

Ten years ago, my wife carved my brain from my skull and sealed my shattered body in a cryogenic vault.

All because I was the prime suspect in a notorious, large-scale human trafficking case.

A decade after my death, she had my brain thawed for a public trial. A new technology could now dissolve human brains to extract memories, the color of the resulting solution indicating the person's moral alignment: black for evil, crimson for good.

On the day of the trial, a giant screen in Civic Plaza broadcasted the memories live to a massive, waiting crowd.

“Simon Fairchild was a monster! That degenerate tortured trafficked children. He wasn’t even human!”

“He framed his own wife and nearly got her entire squad killed! The man was pure scum!”

“I’d love to crack open that bastard’s skull and see just how black his soul is. Probably as rotten as the rest of him!”

The crowd seethed, a chorus of curses calling for my annihilation, wishing they could tear me limb from limb and scatter my ashes to the wind.

Amid the uproar, the black cloth covering the vat of solution was pulled away.

The sight of the vibrant crimson that signified ultimate good left everyone speechless.

* * *

“What… how is that possible? How could a man as vile as Simon Fairchild not have a black solution?”

“Did the coroner mess up? Maybe they mixed him up with some other John Doe.”

Elara Rhodes frowned at the glaring crimson, ordering her team to re-verify everything. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist. She turned to see Bob, the man who was now her husband, holding her close.

Her expression softened at the sight of him. “What are you doing here? You just had surgery. You should be resting.”

Bob didn’t answer, his gaze fixed thoughtfully on the crimson liquid. “It’s all in the past, Elara. Why drag it all up again?”

After a moment, he added in a small, wounded voice, “You’re not… thinking about him, are you? I mean, you and my brother were married once.”

Elara quickly wrapped her arms around him, placing his hand on her stomach and whispering a reassurance. “That animal? I wish I could have been the one to cut him into a thousand pieces.”

“The only ones I love now are you and our child.”

“But his crimes were immense, the list of his victims endless. I just want the world to see the full extent of his evil, to have his name cursed for eternity.”

Only then did Bob seem content, pulling her into a tight embrace.

While the technicians worked, the crowd buzzed with talk of the decade-old case.

“I remember that case. The ringleader was a syndicate boss, Morgana Shaw. Simon Fairchild was her kept man.”

“Simon’s father, Marcus Fairchild, was a corporate shark with mob ties. Father and son were two sides of the same corrupt coin.”

“But Marcus’s adopted son, Bob, he’s different. He’s spent years supporting the victims’ families, trying to atone for his father’s sins.”

“Goes to show you, it’s not all about genes.”

The case was infamous. No one could accept the crimson solution, and they clamored for the coroner to confirm the results.

The coroner looked exasperated. “If you want to know if these are Simon Fairchild’s memories, just watch the screen.”

The dark screen in the plaza flickered to life.

My face appeared.

The agony of my dissolving brain felt like my very soul was being set ablaze. The sight of my face only stoked the crowd’s fury, their venomous curses echoing through the plaza. Elara’s expression mirrored their rage.

I watched as the eyes that once held me like a precious treasure now burned with hatred. My dead heart ached with a phantom pain.

The Simon on the screen was only twenty.

He wore a crisp white shirt, riding a bicycle down a tree-lined campus path with Elara on the back. The sun was brilliant, but the young man’s smile was brighter.

Knowing the dangers of her job, I placed a protective charm I’d gone to great lengths to acquire around her neck. She accepted it solemnly, then surprised me by producing a delicate silver ring and slipping it onto my finger.

“Officer Rhodes, is this a proposal?” I teased, leaning closer.

Elara blushed and looked down. I chuckled at her flustered expression, then leaned in and captured her lips with mine.

The two of us on the screen were so happy.

Even now, watching that moment of pure bliss, Elara’s composure wavered.

Bob shifted uncomfortably, forcing a note of pity into his voice. “It’s a shame she didn’t cherish such happy days, choosing instead to become the plaything of a syndicate boss…”

He trailed off, but his words were enough to snap Elara out of her reverie. She looked at him with gentle eyes.

“If it weren’t for his heartlessness, I never would have known how good you are,” she said softly. “I never would have found true happiness.”

Bob smiled, satisfied, and drew her into his arms, his hands resting protectively on her belly.

They whispered to each other, lost in their own world, as my memories continued to play.