That night, when he woke up from his eight hour shift he didn’t just rip the connectors out of his head and immediately try to get some real sleep. No, tonight he forced himself out of bed to grab some food and get some energy back. There was no time to waste - he needed to expose this human rights violation before it was too late.
He made himself a glass of soylent - a drink that had all the vitamins and nutrients of real food without any of the taste. He grabbed his camera, his most valuable possession, and made sure that it was fully charged. Turning to his computer he ensured that the email was set to send if he was not back in 10 hours. It would send to all the major news outlets and some of the friends he had met on the internet over the last few days. It probably wouldn’t make any difference but at least someone would know for sure the lengths Hantech was willing to go to keep their secret.
As he stepped onto the bus he could feel his heart racing and came to the realization that he had no idea what he was doing. They weren’t going to just let him walk into the building and take footage of all the mindless drones hooked up to the machine - soylent likely being force fed so they never needed to wake up. He needed a way in.
A few stops before the Cryotech facility Jesse jumped off the bus and ran through the rain into a small bar. With no clue what he was going to do next at least he could grab a drink while he thought.
The bartender scanned the chip in his arm and handed over a beer. The cold refreshing pilsner helped to steady his hands and his heart. By the sixth he had almost forgotten why he was here.
“What brings you here to a bar, drinking all on your own?”
She was beautiful - with smooth dark skin and long black hair. If it wasn’t for the beer Jesse probably wouldn’t have been able to find the words.
“I’ve lost someone very close to my heart and I don’t know how I can get them back.”
“Ahhh I”m sure she already regrets her decision to let you go. If not, then you’re better off without her.”
“Well actually…” Jesse stopped in mid sentence as he stared at the key card she had just placed on the bar - Cryotech Research.