In article <juoop35adi2vsksfv5oi14mrqceo9a9b3p@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Wildepad
<noreplies@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes
>A variety of posters helped me a while back in developing an idea.
>
>Unfortunately, when it came to the point of "what would you do/think
>if you found yourself in this situation" everyone knew what it was all
>about. Not knowing what a 'normal' reaction might be kept the story
>from gelling.
>
>So, using you as fresh blood:
>
>You go to bed as usual.
>
>You wake up on a gurney. There are no IVs, electrodes, or anything
>else attached to you. If you wear earplugs, a blindfold, or a t-shirt,
>they've been removed. If you wear a pajama shirt, it's open. Otherwise
>you are just as you were when you went to sleep, and you feel fine.
>
This is odd. If in hospital as a patient, I expect to be in full
pyjamas, and with a dressing gown and other accessories nearby. This is
not the way I usually sleep. I also require glasses. I'll assume they're
within arms reach, as I can't see a thing without them. This oddity is
evidence against my first idea, which is that I have suffered some
physical or mental event severe enough to destroy my memory of it. If my
glasses are intact, this is an argument against head injury. If any
normal hospital can duplicate them within a week, I am going to be
seriously annoyed at my opticians, for whom ten days is amazingly quick.
>Sitting up, you find you're in a room with a CT scanner, and there are
>half a dozen other people asleep on gurneys.
>
>A clock on the wall (with day/date/time) shows that you've 'overslept'
>about twenty six hours.
>
>No matter how much you call out, no one comes.
>
>Throughout the hospital, you find people asleep in beds, on chairs,
>curled up in corners, etc. and you can't rouse them.
>
This is very odd. Have they been affected by the same event? How wide
does this go? Look for assorted documentation. What is the speciality of
the ward? Assuming that all wards are affected, are there any newspapers
lying around? Any bulletins? Any notes addressed to or written by others
like me? Writing such a note might not be a bad idea, after half a day
or so. Put copies near medics, maintenance, and security staff, if
apparent.
>It is noticeable that no one seemingly 'dropped in their tracks' --
>that is, everyone is in a reasonably comfortable place, with nobody
>sprawled on the floor as if someone conked them from behind.
>
>Through the windows, you see no one outside and no traffic.
>
>The telephones work, and you can reach answering machines, but no
>person ever picks up.
>
>Every chart you can find, except for those people who were already in
>the hospital, shows only something like: "brought in asleep, unable to
>rouse" along with normal vitals and, in a few cases, dosages of
>medications which were tried, unsuccessfully, to awaken the patient.
>
>
>1) What are your first thoughts about what happened?
>
>2) What is the first thing you'd do? The second?
What about radio and TV? The catch with this is that some radio stations
are now entirely automated, so might be on, playing their usual
schedule, and entirely bereft of useful information.
At the very least I'd be checking over my memory periodically to see if
it was working, for both recent events and the distant path. Notes to
self in diary or notebook, too - ObSF "March Hare Mission".
In a couple of days this is going to be a big deal, as utilities stop
working - I'd guess at electricity going first, but loads of other stuff
failing shortly afterwards. This is going to be a survivalist problem
within weeks, which is a shame, since I'm not a survivalist, nor
remotely cut out to be one.
>
>3) What precautions might you think about to prevent it from happening
>again?
>
The obvious suggestions are stimulants and wake-up alarms set to go off
in an hour, but I'm not sure that they would be effective, and I suspect
that inexpert self-medication is even more idiotic than normal when
facing the unknown like this.
>
>As the author, I obviously know what is going on, but that means my
>view is tainted, and it is difficult to connect to what might go
>through a normal person's mind (I hate stories where someone is thrust
so why are you asking the inhabitants of rec.arts.sf.science? :-)
>into a surreal situation and they instantly grasp what is going on).
>
>Any help appreciated.
>--
--
A.G.McDowell
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