Vanessa walked through the steel door onto a metal catwalk overlooking the processing floor, a jarring juxtaposition of hard steel and supple flesh. Chrome pipes attached to towering tanks of liquid carbon fed three carbon-freezing chambers, each serving a line of gorgeous nude women. They stepped onto metal platforms, which lowered them into the chambers. Moments later, frigid clouds of vapor exploded from each chamber as steel claws descended to retrieve the contents, rising a few seconds later carrying blocks of carbonite containing the frozen beauties.
“Exquisitely efficient, isn’t it?” Gregor asked, closing the door behind him and joining Vanessa on the catwalk.
Vanessa nodded. “It’s extraordinary, Gregor. You’ve certainly outdone yourself yet again.” She pointed to the carbonite blocks dangling from the steel claws as they glided across the floor and through large openings in the opposite wall. “Where do they go next?”
“Once the new tokens are minted, we digitally catalog them and add each WomaNFT to the Carbonite Blockchain. As soon as that happens, the tokens are available for purchase.”
“How quickly do you sell them?”
“Almost instantaneously,” Gregor replied. “We have deep-pocketed buyers waiting around the clock to snap them up, often in lots of twelve, to build their collections quickly. We recently switched from ten-hour days to a twenty-four-seven operation to keep up with increasing demand.”
“Interesting. And how many tokens are you minting per day?”
“Each chamber can mint three per minute, so our total daily output is just shy of 13,000 tokens, assuming we can source enough women, though that has yet to pose a problem.”
Vanessa turned toward him. “Oh? That’s quite impressive. What is the total supply at this point?”
Gregor thought for a moment. “We’re minting about 90,000 tokens per week. I believe the total will eclipse a million later today.”
“Congratulations. And have you set a supply target?”
“Our target is entirely data-driven and adjusted based on demographic projections. As long as a significant imbalance exists between the sexes, we will seek to correct that imbalance to safeguard long-term fertility.”
“Fascinating,” Vanessa replied. “And what do the current projections suggest?”
“The imbalance is accelerating, I’m afraid. The population is 55% female today, but we expect that statistic to increase to 67% within fifty years. Women would outnumber men two-to-one at that point if we weren’t carbon-freezing excess females.”
“You mentioned safeguarding long-term fertility. How does that play into this?”
“Our statistical models suggest a devastating reversal is likely. It could be as extreme as five-to-one in favor of males. If that happens, humanity will be well-prepared and able to thaw as many blockchain beauties as needed to maintain equilibrium.”
“So that reversal is likely?” Vanessa asked. “It’s not inevitable?”
“Correct. Our predictive modeling has limits, but we felt compelled to act swiftly and decisively.”
“How soon might you need to thaw some of these ladies?”
“Oh, this would be far in the future,” Gregor replied. “A hundred years is the minimum, but the median projection is about four hundred years. In the most optimistic scenarios, we won’t need them at all.”
“I see. And what happens in those scenarios?”
Gregor chuckled. “Then the most extraordinary art collection in human history will remain intact indefinitely.”
“You wouldn’t thaw any of them?”
“No, of course not.” He gestured toward the naked women on the production floor. “These lovely ladies know of this possibility and still come to us in droves. Some say they don’t want to be thawed.”
“And why is that?” Vanessa asked.
Gregor pointed at the blocks emerging from the carbon-freezing chambers. “They want to be objects! They desire to be bought and sold as works of art.” He paused a moment and looked at Vanessa. “Forever.”
Vanessa didn’t bat an eye. “Fascinating. So you’ll have a million WomaNFTs later today. Do you have a supply target at this point?”
“Yes, we do,” Gregor replied. “Twenty percent of the world’s population is within our target age range for preservation. Since that age range is 55% female and 45% male, ten percent are excess females eligible for preservation. We’re targeting a tenth of them.”
“So what’s the bottom line, Gregor?”
“Our supply target is twenty million WomaNFTs.”
“And you’re confident you can reach that target?”
“Absolutely. We have the utmost confidence in our ability to source enough women.”
“You must pay quite well,” Vanessa remarked.
“Oh, yes! We do a fifty-fifty revenue share. Each woman’s designated agent receives half of the token’s transaction value. The market constantly shifts, but the typical transaction is currently in the two-million range. So far, we’ve paid out two trillion dollars while netting an equal amount for CryoToken Enterprises.”
Vanessa nodded. “An outstanding return on my employer’s investment. And a tremendous gift to the art world.”
Gregor smiled. “Precisely. Anything else?”
“Yes, my employer requests a token as a memento of my visit.”
“Certainly,” Gregor replied. “I’d be happy to select a subject for you.”
“No need.”
Gregor raised an eyebrow. “Oh? They already have a subject in mind?”
“Yes,” Vanessa replied calmly. “Me.”
Gregor smiled. “Splendid! We can begin at once. If you’ll follow me, I’ll escort you to the intake line. I’ll ask my assistant, Katie, to meet us.”
“Excellent. Lead the way.”
Gregor and Vanessa strode into the lobby. Katie was waiting.
“Hello! You must be Vanessa. It’s wonderful to meet you!”
“Likewise.”
Katie nodded and turned to Gregor. “How can I help, boss?”
“Vanessa is becoming a token. I want you to accompany her and walk her through the process.”
Katie grinned. “Sure, no problem! Let’s go, Vanessa. Right this way.”
Vanessa turned and shook Gregor’s hand. “Thank you for the tour. I look forward to seeing the process first-hand.”
“I’m confident you’ll be most impressed, Vanessa. Best of luck to you.”
Vanessa nodded and turned to Katie. “Lead the way.”
“Of course!”
Katie turned and led Vanessa through a door marked ‘Intake’ and into a small room. Katie immediately disrobed and tossed her clothing into a metal chute.
“We won’t need it where we’re going,” she explained.
Vanessa quickly stripped and dropped her garments down the chute. Katie nodded and walked to a door with a thumbprint scanner. After pressing her right thumb to the sensor, a light flashed green, and the door opened. As she walked through, Katie turned back.
“Just do the same and meet me on the other side.”
The door closed behind her. Vanessa pressed her right thumb to the scanner, eliciting a green flash and an open door. She was soon reunited with Katie on the processing floor itself. They stood at the end of a line of fifty naked women moving toward one of the carbon-freezing chambers.
“Well,” Katie said with a grin, “what do you think? Any questions for me?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“All right then,” Katie replied. “If you think of anything, just ask.”
Vanessa nodded and glanced up at the catwalk. Gregor stood watching them. He smiled and waved.
After fifteen minutes, Katie stood at the head of the line. She turned back to Vanessa and grinned.
“Well, this is it! So exciting! See you on the other side, Vanessa!”
Katie stepped onto the metal platform, which lowered her into the chamber. A cloud of vapor exploded upward, and claws descended. They retrieved the newly created carbonite block containing Katie and carried her into the next room.
Without hesitating, Vanessa stepped forward onto the platform. As it lowered her into the cylindrical chamber, Vanessa took a deep breath and waited for eternity. Freezing liquid erupted all around her, and she knew no more.
Gregor watched the claws lift Vanessa’s carbonite block from the chamber and carry it away. He had already authorized the transaction, transferring ownership of Vanessa’s token to her employer. She and Katie belonged to the blockchain now, two of millions of women to be preserved in case of a distant emergency—or forever as works of art.
Gregor would need to hire a new assistant, but that was a common occurrence at CryoToken Enterprises. His assistants had a tendency to become art after a few weeks. Katie would join the others on Gregor’s office wall, another souvenir for his collection. Soon, he’d need a larger office.
Copyright 2023 Olivia Zoe Quinn
Photo by Crystal Kwok on Unsplash
Story notes
Women frozen in carbonite blocks would be the ultimate in home decor. And what better way to track them than minting NFTs and recording transactions on a blockchain? The scenario in this story may not be as far away as we assume. It’s time to start saving up some money.
I extensively retconned this chapter to match my new vision for the story world. The demographic imbalance was not originally part of the narrative and, thus, was not the catalyst for freezing millions of women in carbonite. Honestly, there wasn’t a clear purpose, so I felt the need to develop something pseudo-plausible. Have I succeeded?
Article Tags: Carbon Freezing · Female · Frozen · Immobilized · Nudity · Sci-Fi · Volunteer
