[ WP ] In the future , every human born lives for exactly 1 billion heartbeats . Some go to extreme lengths to keep their heart rate low .

Shy couldn ’ t help but let out a small grunt as she pulled the pod out from its resting place. Cold air coiled around her face and sent a shiver through her body. She hated when she had to fix a pod, but she was the only one small enough to fit. Keeper was too tall, his whirring parts too cumbersome to fit. She sighed and eased herself underneath the pod, trying to avoid looking at the still blue body that lay inside. She had spent her entire life among the countless people that lay inside the countless pods, and still she felt a terrible shiver at seeing their cold hard faces with their wide staring eyes. She wondered if their skin felt as hard as Keeper ’ s, even though they looked like Shy. 
 
 
 Fixing the wiring underneath took most of the morning even with her nimble fingers. She made her way back to the lab that was home for her. Keeper was there, like he always was, gears whirring around his head as he trundled around the lab. His skin was hard and shiny like the beetles Shy sometimes caught when she played, and his many limbed flashed as they deftly carried out the necessary lab tasks of the day. Shy had a vague idea that Keeper was doing something Very Important that involved the people in the pods and allowing them to wake up one day. Shy didn ’ t know if she would like having the world be full of all those people. She had rather gotten used to it being just her and Keeper. 
 
 
 Keeper whirred and turned. “ Ah Shy, did you fix that pod? Very good, very good. We can not afford to lose anymore oh no we can not. ” 
 
 
 Keeper was very concerned about how many pods there were. In the distant past he said there used to be billions and billions of pods, and many more Keepers to try and find a way to wake them up again, and many more Shys to take care of the pods in the meantime. Shy couldn ’ t fathom such a number. It already seemed to her as though there were enough pods to populate her entire small world. 
 
 
 Shy shivered again as she thought about the staring eyes. She started fidgeting. 
 
 
 “ Keeper, am I going to go into a pod one day? ” 
 
 
 The Keeper stared at her, gears going still as he thought. 
 
 
 “ No Shy, you will not go into the pod. The people in the pods made me and trusted me with very important work. I made you to help me with that. I suppose you ’ re getting old enough to ask such questions. ” Shy imagined that the Keeper sounded sad, though she couldn ’ t fathom why. 
 
 
 “ But isn ’ t that a good thing? I don ’ t want to be cold and still. I want to be here with you and be able to play and help you. ” 
 
 
 The Keeper reached out a limb and laid it on her head. His fingers were cold and hard, but Keeper was all she ’ d ever known and she felt grateful for the affection. 
 
 
 “ Yes, I suppose you wouldn ’ t know any different. Go play Shy, you ’ ve worked enough today. ” 
 
 
 Shy was thrilled. She almost never got off to play early. She ran out the lab into the cavern, hollering all the while. The sun was slanting through the gaps in the ceiling, dappling and warming her skin. She felt grass and stone beneath her bare feet. Her heart thumped in her chest as she ran, her voice carrying through the cavern, falling upon countless of deaf ears before being swallowed by the silence entirely. 

