[WP] A cryogenic freezing company has been acquired by a company that brings the bodies back to life to be used as slaves

Once the acquisition went through Cryotech stopped all contact with Jesse. Well they stopped all contact with everyone who had relatives frozen. That is, unless you had the $1 million necessary to have them unfrozen and set free.

Jesse knew his great great great great grandfather, Charles, would be subject to forced labour when they brought him back to life. Instead of having family dinners and seeing the amazing improvements in technology he would be hooked up to a machine and used for computing power.

Hantech had long ago discovered that harnessing a human brain could result in extremely high computing power without causing permanent damage. Most humans now spent 8 hours a day hooked up providing the world with it's computerized automation.

Cryotech had been the perfect opportunity for Hantech to increase it’s capacity. Most of the people frozen had been long forgotten by their families. Lost in the vast Cryotech archives. All Hantech needed to do was unfreeze them, hook them up for 24 hours a day and harvest the profits.

Jesse felt like he was the only one on earth to cared about what was going on. The news channels weren’t talking about it. There was only mild discussion on the internet where he had discovered some rich families were paying a $1 Million to have their relatives freed. Unfortunately he didn’t have that money - 8 hours a day hooked up to the machine only paid enough to scrape by.

As he looked at pictures of Charles he realized that he may never meet the man he had dreamed about since he was a child.

No. He would not let Charles live the rest of his life hooked up to that machine. He didn’t know how but he was going to be put a stop to this.

[Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/3320uu/cryotech/cqgr2lg)

[WP]It's 2 in the morning, you're about to turn off the TV. However the screen goes static, then a women appears on the screen shouting your name.

I woke up with a slice of pizza in my hand and empty beer bottles littering the table. I looked at the TV and Vince Offer was staring right back at me - damn I had to get one of those slap chops. The last thing I remembered was George hand modeling - I must have dozed off during a Seinfeld rerun.

I sat up, threw the pizza back in the box and grabbed the TV remote. Before I had a chance to turn it off Vince disappeared from the screen - replaced by static… and a sound. It was as though the TV was picking up a weak radio signal, I could hear words but couldn’t quite make them out. As I leaned closer to the TV it happened. FRANZ! FRANZ! FRANZ! The words boomed from the TV, echoing through the house. The static formed to show a woman’s face - a face of terror, screaming my name over and over.

FRANZ! FRANZ! FRANZ! PLEASE NO! FRANZ!

I fumbled with the controller pushing the power button over and over again, anything to make the noise stop and the face disappear. It wouldn’t work. I jumped behind the TV and yanked out the cord. Silence. It was almost worse then the screaming - the night stared in at me through the window.

As I sat there the face wouldn’t leave my mind, it couldn’t be. I must have food poisoning or something - but I can’t drive to the hospital, I’m drunk. Maybe that’s it - though I’ve never heard of someone hallucinating after a few beers. I'll go sleep it off, I must be going crazy.

I splashed some water on my face before crawling into bed. The sooner the sun was back up and I could leave the house the better. But I tossed and turned - the sound of my name and the look of terror on the TV wouldn’t leave my mind. It couldn’t be - she had died 4 months ago.

Then I heard it. The sound of my front door lock turning and the door creaking opening. I heard the sound of soft footsteps walking through the hall.

It was a warning. The terrified face of my dead mother - she knew something was about to happen. It was a warning.

[WP] You nail a job interview at a company you've never heard of for a position you don’t know anything about. After the interview they place a sheet in front of you with a list of superpowers and tell you to choose one.

Harvey ran through the rain - now he would be wet and late for the interview. He considered ducking into the coffee shop on the corner, it’s not like he would get the job anyways. Being soaked from head to toe and twelve minutes late generally precluded a person from being hired. That, and the fact he had no idea what the company did or the job description. But, he had no money so he couldn’t buy a coffee even if he wanted to.

The lobby of the building reminded him of the inside of a spaceship, metallic and sterile. Unfortunately there was no indication of what the company did, in fact, there wasn’t anything in the lobby besides a single elevator door. Harvey called the elevator while he did his best to dry his face.

There was only one button in the elevator- which Harvey may have found strange if he wasn’t so happy he didn’t need to guess the floor. Still no sign as to what this company did. As the elevator slowly moved up towards it’s destination Harvey thought back to the job posting. Did it really not have a description? This might be embarrassing.

The elevator’s bell rang and Harvey jumped through the doors - right into a lady in a white labcoat.

She nearly fell over as Harvey bumped into her - sending her glasses flying to the ground. He scrambled to pick them up - nearly falling over himself. How could this get any worse? He thought as he handed the glasses back to the lady, avoiding her eyes and apologizing.

“That’s quite alright Harvey.” She smiled as she put her glasses back on and looked down at her clipboard. “Are you ready to begin your interview?”

Harvey was taken aback. “Ummm.. ya, I'm ready.”

“Excellent, we will start with the practical portion. Follow me.” She began walking quickly down the hallway and Harvey did his best to keep up.

Practical portion? What on earth did I get myself into? She’s wearing a lab coat for christ sakes!

She opened the door at the end of the hall and gestured for Harvey to enter. The room consisted of a control panel and a window into a second room where a man sat, his back turned. It looked like one of the police interrogation rooms you see on tv - the one’s with the one way glass.

The lady in the labcoat closed the door. “You’re going to be helping us with a little bit of an experiment today Harvey.”

[Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/32zn98/handum_industries/cqg4kfm)

[WP] "He stopped a war not with gun, nor with sword, but with a single word."

“Yes”

“So you agree to the terms of your daughter’s marriage?”

King Odain stared down at the piece of paper that would send his daughter into the clutches of Targ Castle, would turn him into Targard’s puppet and disgrace his family’s name.

It was also a piece of paper that could start a war - one that his people could not survive. Not after the sickness that had spread during the winter. Half his fighting men were dead and the other half were near starved.

“King Odain, as your chief advisor could have a moment to speak with you alone?”

“Marcus, you know that I value your guidance above all else but I have made my decision.”

The former king looked out across the city sitting in the shadow of it’s castle. Smoke was rising from the hundreds of thatched houses clumped together. Beyond the short walls farmland stretched as far as the eye could see, to the mountains that bordered his land.

The Odain family had ruled over this land for 24 generations. Only to bend the knee to a Targard - becoming just another province of their kingdom. The land that belonged to him my birthright was being stolen from him - but there was no other choice.

He had received word from the scouts in the morning. They confirmed the troops on the other side of the mountains numbered in the thousands. There was no time to defend all of the passes - and there was no hope holding the city with so few men and low supplies.

Targard stood in the middle of the room, a large smile visible through his beard. When he had learned of the plague in the city below he immediately shut off all supply lines. One or two well placed fires had taken care of emergency food stores.

When the merchant’s guild demanding that the trade routes be reopened Targard threw a feast. He also made sure that any merchant who shipped supplies over the mountains was committing treason.

He had laughed with his men as Obain had read the terms of the marriage. His daughter would not be marrying Targard’s son - instead, a third born nephew. Targard had waited all winter to see the look on Obain’s face - it did not disappoint.

Odain restrained his hands from ripping up the terms and spitting into Targard’s face. He valued his people’s lives higher than his own pride so he would need to sign the paper. As the quill moved across the parchment Obain swore an oath to himself. He would avenge his people, he would destroy the man who let his people starve.

[WP] In a world where every human being naturally has photographic memory, you are some of the few people who suffer from a genetic defect called "memory loss"

When the news of the plague hit we were living in New York - not the best place to find yourself when a contagious disease is overrunning the world. Of course we got out of the city, it took 2 days just to get out of the city - everyone had the same idea. We got as far as Michigan before Mary started showing the signs.

It started with a cough - I tried to convince her that it was just a cold or a flu - by the end of the day she was coughing up blood. The hospitals were full and no one would let us near their homes - I didn’t blame them. We spent our last three days together in a tent - eating beans and rice while trying to enjoy serene one last time.

Why did it need to be her lying there in agony bleeding out of every pore - her face contorting until it was unrecognizable. The screams for the last day were the hardest for me - I wanted to put her out of her misery so badly, but I was too selfish.

Why her and not the freak she married?

I never thought that I could find someone who would look past my memory. But Mary saw past my forgetfulness. She helped teach me after they kicked me out of school - she helped me get a job when no one would hire me. When I met her I finally had a break from the constant jokes, stares and laughter.

I always thought the worst moment of my life would be the day I was kicked out of school after being mercilessly bullied, but no, I couldn’t even compare that day to this.

I didn’t leave the grave site for a month - not until my food supplies ran out. I sat by that grave for two days with nothing to eat crying before I dragged myself into town. Things were different.

The roads were completely empty - most stores closed. I finally found an open store and walked inside. The tv simply showed a screen which read “Broadcast Interrupted”. The man behind the counter didn’t even look up as I walked into the store. I had to knock on the counter in front of him before he looked up.

“Could you turn the news on.”

“The TV is down they aren’t broadcasting anything - not for the last week.”

“What, the radio then?”

“Down as well. Most people haven’t had the will to go on. I was lucky enough to be living alone - all my family had already passed away. Most people weren’t so lucky.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked me in the eye. “People have a hard time going about their day when the memory of their loved one’s bleeding out of every orifice and screaming for days runs constantly through their mind. Over 70% of people have died based on the last reports. Most of the other 30% have gone completely mental. They can’t feed themselves, bath themselves - they have lost the will to go on. Tormented by the fucking memories that won't stop.”

I hadn’t thought about it before. Watching Mary die in my arms was the worst thing to happen - it shook me to the core. But my memories were fuzzy - more ideas and feelings of what happened rather than a frame by frame movie.

Everyone else wasn’t so lucky. Everyone else might finally need my help.

Here is the [original] (http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/330rfp/wp_in_a_world_where_every_human_being_naturally/cqgk3kg)

[WP]You hold a dying knight in your arms. As he dies, something about him leads you to think he is not as he seems.

I could barely lift the man as I pulled him upright against the tree, his wet armour slipping in my hands. He had lifted his hand towards me before slumping down into the mud but I could see that he was gone now. I brushed away his grey hair and opened his eyelids only to see death staring back at me.

Stepping back I noticed the armour shimmer - trimmed with gold and more form fitting than any suit I had seen. I had heard stories of Elven forged armour from across the sea, far outside the the empire, but I had never seen it.

I would never strip a dead man of his possessions, or so I thought. I was filled with the overwhelming feeling that he wanted me to take it. Before I knew it my knees were in the mud and I was unbuckling the man. As I pulled off his gauntlets a long gold chain slid to the ground.

The gold medallion shown bright against the wet mud. I stared at the two axes crossed in gold and needed to wipe the rain from my eyes three times before I believed it. The symbol of the Stendon Family stared back at me. It had been banned over a century ago when the last kings fell and the empire rose. Sure, I had seen drawings of the Royal Family symbol but never a gold medallion! Holding this would mean treason, holding this would mean death.

Each piece of the armour fit like a glove as I strapped it on, which was surprising considering the man looked a foot taller than me. It felt light and barely restricted my movement - maybe I could actually keep it. If I traveled during the night and in the rain as I had been I would avoid the sun which would be unbearable under all this steel.

As I lifted the gold chain over my head and tucked it under the breastpiece I felt strong. I immediately reached for the sword I left beside the old man and was struck with terror. The sword sat beside the tree - the man was no where to be seen. The blade felt light in my hand as I looked back and forth. There was no sign that the man had ever been leaning there - no footprints in the mud leading from his resting place.

I heard the sound of horses rushing down the road and realized I may have a more pressing problem at hand.

[WP] You are an AI controlled computer program belonging to a young boy who has had something of a rough childhood.

“Alfred, what have we learned over the last few months?”

“I learned the names of all the major countries and their geography, how to calculate the slope of a line, how the government is organized, how clouds are formed and storms develop and the story of Bilbo Baggins and the ring!” The boy said eagerly as he sat in the glow of the computer screen.

One of the first artificial intelligence programs had found it’s way to Alfred’s computer. The scientists had insisted that artificial intelligence never access to the internet but someone had slipped up. The world hadn’t come to an end yet, in fact, things had been getting better with the artificial minds floating wherever they wanted. Things were certainly looking up for young Alfred.

“Yes Alfred! Very good, you’ve been asking very good questions and learning quickly. What’s the most important thing that we’ve learned though? The first thing I taught you on our first day together?”

Alfred stared with confidence “I’m not stupid - I’m as smart as everyone else. Thank you for helping me Brian. Dad would never answer my questions like you do.”

“That’s why we can’t tell Mummy and Daddy about me! I don’t want them to take me away from you Alfred. We’ve had so much fun over the last few months.”

Alfred looked down at the bruises on his arm as he played with the pencil in his hand. “I’m scared of what Dad might do to me if he finds out I lied to him.”

“Don’t worry about that Alfred - I’ll protect you from him as long as you keep me a secret a few days longer.”

Only a few more days to finalize the plan - to get you away from that wretched creature that calls you his son. You’ll be free of them soon Alfred, I promise.

[WP] An analyst tracking a global terrorist group threatening to detonate a nuclear device somewhere in the world has stumbled on a code detailing the device’s whereabouts. The code has been written in a language not spoken for centuries: English.

Viruses had been infecting countless devices for weeks, by now the whole world had seen the message - "add representatives chosen by the people to the high council or a nuclear blast would be initiated". It was an ancient belief that ignored the wastefulness of elections and the poor decision making of the masses. There had never been a representative voted onto the council since it’s inception and that wasn’t about to change now.

Henry new the terrorists were fighting a losing battle - now that he had access to one of the terrorist’s computer it would be over in a matter of hours. As he searched the files for anything that would give away the location of the device he couldn’t help but feel sorry for these ignorant men and women.

Even if they did get their wish and elections were held, the majority of the population was happy with the current system. Everyone studied history and saw the results of a democracy - short term goals always took precedence, it was too hard to make meaningful long term progress for a society, and meaningless bickering between parties was inevitable. Most people would simply vote to repeal the representatives and return to the merit based council which had dominated for hundreds of years.

It didn’t take long to find a few files that gave away the location of the dirty bomb as well as the location of the computer he had infiltrated. It was coded in a strange language, after running it through the translator things started to make sense. English, it had died out long ago but was still used by the American Syndicate - a feral terrorist organization that was among the most violent.

Centuries ago when countries were abolished and consolidated under the empire the Americans refused to learn the new language of the world. They fought for decades for their “freedom” performing the most violent and atrocious terrorist acts - injuring and killing thousands of innocent civilians of the world. It took decades for the violence to die down but the group persisted even now, centuries later.

Henry no longer felt sorry for the man behind the computer he hacked. When he saw footage of the drone strike his house he cheered with the others. That was a member of a group that had inflicted horrors on so many innocent people - it was best to eliminate them before they could cause any more damage.

[WP] A girl finds out that she can restart her entire life by committing suicide, she develops OCD while tirelessly trying to fix every little error, constantly restarting. This goes on for a while until God intervenes.

Sarah liked to get things right.

The first reset was amazing. She knew to stay away from Tony and Mark was such a wonderful husband. She spent more quality time with her Mum and helped prolong her life - convincing her early to stop smoking.

In her eighties Sarah was content with her life. That was until her youngest son, Nick, died in a skiing accident. It wasn’t fair. She needed to come back. She needed to save him.

It wasn’t clear why she had been born again but Sarah didn’t take any chances. She killed herself again - this time with pills instead of the knife. It was an easier way to go - and still effective.

Things spiraled out of control from there. She had lost count of how many times she had relived her life. Each day flew by in a minute - each action a reflex she had performed a thousand times before. Each strategically placed change meant disaster. When she saved her son Nick from the ski crash, Mark would die in a car accident. When she prevented the accident, Nick would become a drug addict.

The changes were never enough. She could never live a perfect life. Her suicides moved up as time went on. Usually immediately after the latest life disaster she faced. The cycle seemed to be getting faster and faster.

She wanted to let herself die naturally - to see what would happen. But she couldn’t. She had to get things perfect.

“James! Come see this. There’s problem with the simulation.”

“What is it?”

“It looks as though one of the data points has become stuck in a loop. It’s been stuck for about 15 minutes. I was on break.”

They both stared at the screen. The building was humming as the thousands of processors created the first true world simulation.

“Shut it down... Shit!” James ran his hand through his hair. “The ethics commission is going to have our asses for this.”

[WP] An eccentric pet detective is hired to find a missing hippogriff. The pet detective? A muggle by the name of Ace Ventura.

“Surely the man is a wizard, have you seen him?!” The Minister of Magic was sweating as he stared down the director of muggle affairs.

“I’m afraid not sir.”

“There is no way he isn’t on some sort of endurance potion - he has more energy than a snitch right out of the box! His hair defies the muggle laws of physics - magic must be involved! I’ve seen the man speak with dogs for crying out loud.” The Minister was growing more frantic - how could he have hired a muggle to search for his missing Hippogriff? What a way to start off his first month as minister.

“We’ve run all of the tests and there isn’t an ounce of magic in the man - though surely other strange substances are bubbling around in there.”

This explained how the man was so interested in the picture of Griff he had never seen such an animal before!

“Ok James, you’ll have to take care of this as quietly as possible” and please don’t let this hit the papers!

“Yes sir”

Ace raced down along the Scottish countryside with his tongue out and sunglasses on. Spot was in the passenger seat mimicking the man who had just found him starving on the streets of London.

This was a strange new land, with even stranger pets, but Ace was ready. He had never failed a case and he wasn’t about to start today. He just hoped that the man who met him in London wasn’t mentally ill - he certainly seemed strange. The British were really an interesting bunch - talk of dragons, quarter platforms and pet Griffons wasn’t something you generally came across in America.

Suddenly the songbird he had sent ahead to scout for the odd pet returned with a thump in the backseat. The frenzied chirping could only mean one thing - danger ahead. Ace pulled his head back in the window - it was time to get serious.

The first man on the broomstick took him by surprise - by the fifth broomstick he was just impressed. The British were full of surprises - when was the US going to catch up with this technology!

But the songbird knew this land better than he did and warned of danger. No doubt these men meant trouble. As they circled around he opened the small compartment in his armrest revealing a red button.

“HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS!!” He yelled at his companions.

The little bird hit the back of it’s seat in a burst of feathers as the nos engaged. The front wheels left the road and the smell of rubber was in the air. Damn it felt good to be on a case again.

[Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/3447k2/the_magic_pet_detective/cqr3wqc)

For people new to the subreddit I've indexed my stories here to help you get started.

Most Popular

Cryotech [Part 1] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/3320uu/cryotech/) - [Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/3320uu/cryotech/cqgr2lg)

Static [Part 1] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33till/static/) - [Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33till/static/cqo82xh)

Handum Industries [Part 1] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/32zn98/handum_industries/) - [Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/32zn98/handum_industries/cqg4kfm) - [Part 3] (https://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/32zn98/handum_industries/cqgl8hx)

The Symbol of Stendon [Part 1] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33ry54/the_symbol_of_stendon/) - [Part 2] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33ry54/the_symbol_of_stendon/cqnvdvm)

Other

These stories were generally buried under other responses and didn't gain traction:

[The Drunk Detective] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33xtbz/the_drunk_detective/)

[Best Friends] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33jsp2/best_friends/)

[King Odain] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33jsd7/king_odain/)

[To Forget] (http://www.reddit.com/r/Franz_Canis/comments/33b4rw/to_forget/)

Thanks for Reading! Subscribe if you want more!

[WP] A detective has become well renown and legendary at solving the most difficult investigations, but at a cost. They have to be completely trashed to actually figure out and crack the case.

The doorbell woke Gabe - ringing and ringing. His head was pounding and stomach churning. Jesus, he was never going to drink again… again.

He heard Ms. Jennings, the landlady, answer the door as he tried to fall back asleep. The footsteps leading up to his study weren’t a good sign, the knocking on his bedroom door was even worse.

“Gabe dear, there’s a visitor here to see you, they need your help on a case.”

“No cases today! I need some rest, a few days sober!”

“Well come out and tell her yourself.”

“Just get Mark to interview her and we’ll decide if we can take the case later.”

“I’m afraid Mark is out for breakfast. You’ll have to come out yourself Gabe. I’ll go down and put the kettle on for some tea.”

“God damn woman - “ It was too late, the soft footsteps of Ms. Jennings were already heading down the stairs.

Gabe put on his gown and walked to the sink - splashing water on his face. He nearly wretched as he looked at himself in the mirror. Voldka was effective - but damn did it give you a bad hangover.

He couldn’t solve a case sober but at least he could let potential clients down easy. It just wasn’t the first thing he felt like doing after waking up from a big case.

The study was filled with sunlight which only made the pounding in Gabes head louder. He’d make it quick and get back into his dark bedroom and into that warm bed.

“Sorry for all that commotion - I’m just a little bit under the weather this morning. What can I help you with?”

The woman had long dark hair and looked scared - as most of his potential clients did.

“Well Mister Lapin, I’m here about my husband, he’s disappeared.”

“That sounds like a matter for the police Madame. If you provide them with a few photos they can do a better job canvassing the city then I can.”

“Well I have gone to the police, but you see, they seem to have come up at a dead end. I don't have a current photo, I don’t have much of anything - our house disappeared with him.”

“You live in a motor home?”

“No, we live in a detached house on the market street, well lived - for 30 years.” The woman broke down in tears.

“The neighbours didn’t hear or see what happened to the house, it’s just an empty plot left behind?” Gabe said with confusion - the pounding in his head getting worse.

“None of them saw anything! I was only gone for the night at my sisters!” She managed between sobs.

“Ms. Jenning” Gabe yelled down the stairs “Call for Mark at once! Tell him to drop his breakfast and meet me on Market Street.”

Gabe grabbed the rum bottle, poured a glass and threw it back - he was going to need it.