This short story will involve episodes in the life of a certain Arthur, spanning roughly 200 years of his life. The main theme is about scientific discoveries that once promised greater human good end up transforming human into goods. (There's no magic, steel, or superheroes here - sorry.)

The story begins with some simple scenes from his childhood (6-7 y.o.); a time contemporary to ours. (This may take place as flashbacks.) One of the scenes depict a front-page reporting of the first cryogenic preservation and revival of the human body, and gushes enthusiasm about the wonders this will do for society while saying that this is yet impractical for public use.

Fast-forward to his teenage years: he is flicking on some electronic gadget, and a new method of "corporo-stat" is developed on mice - the simple injection sets the body in a torpor stage where cellular processes are held frozen, so long as it remains in a fluid chamber.

In his twenties (26), Arthur became a paramedic, and the injection technology matures. It is now commercially feasible, and many competing corporo-stat services are offered. Arthur jokes with his buddies about the old farts that are still going to wake up from these "glass coffins" with wrinkles and a dysfunctional penis.

Five years later (31), he is married, and his teaching wife Jane is shopping with him for these "CS-shell" beds -- it is wide-spread in society to use these instead of regular beds, since it is expected (no one knows if they work) that this would prolong their normal life-span. It's incredibly expensive to own, however, and they end up not buying it.

Fast-forward another five (36); scene is of a suit-type overseeing a paramedic station, talking to his cohort. It is recommended that these machines be installed at the paramedic stations, and hooked up to the emergency system, so that the paramedics can stay fresh while on-call --- and thus be on-call for extended periods at cheap pay, and less physical footprints required. On the other side, Jane is saying that she wishes that teachers also have the same perks of having these at their school.

In another five years, Arthur is 41, and a memo is circulated to extend their "on-call" period to two weeks. Arthur counsels Jane about their long separations,

"Think about it as me going on long business trips, two weeks on and 4 days off..."

"But it's not the same - I can't talk to you. You're just... just taken away. And you know it's not fair - you're almost not paid for most of the time!"

"..." "I'm sorry, baby. But I can't say no. Everyone else is doing it. And they will fire anyone who isn't... what job am I going to get? I'm old - no one will hire people who haven't been in CS since they're young. But I won't take up their long contracts, no, I won't do that."

Fast forward a year. While Arthur is away, Jane cheats on him. In a rage, Arthur signed onto a 2 year extended service contract with the now entirely private and automated company.

When the contract is up, he returns to the "real world" and discovers that everyone he knows/cares about are either in Stat, or the ones that have not been in Stat had seen their lives so different from him that there is no one he can connect to anymore. He has no home, no friends, no family. Being CS'ed for his job is his only worth in life now.

And so he signs the perpetual contract, becoming one of the army of "on-demand" labor who lives forever to serve the few privileged.