Hypersleep

Hyper-sleep is a technology only about fifty years old. It was developed by Isely for the purpose of being able to travel longer distances without taxing food or life-support and, though effective in most regards, it is far different from the perfect systems of science fiction.

Humans cannot endure more than a maximum of 24 days in hyper-sleep. There is a risk of cellular damage at 20 days, and current regulations restrict the time limit to two weeks for safety’s sake.

Hyper-sleep is effected with the use of devices known as hyperbands. These are bioelectronic bracelets that fit around each of the person’s wrists. They contain a chemical to induce and maintain hyper-sleep, a medical regulator and monitor and a wireless comm. that links up to the ship's main systems.

Hyper-sleep can only be achieved successfully when the subject is in the deepest stages of REM sleep. To be put into hyper-sleep, the subject puts on the bands, activates them, and then falls asleep as he or she normally would. The bands monitor the subject and inject the chemical via a painless hypospray once optimum REM has been reached.

During hyper-sleep, the bands transmit biofeedback to the ship’s computer. If something becomes irregular, the computer issues a command that has the bands bring the subject out of hyper-sleep as quickly and safely as possible.

If things go well, the computer waits the allotted and pre-programmed time and then signals the hyperbands. It is dangerous for subjects to come out of hyper-sleep while in an REM cycle, so the bands wait until the subject is closest to consciousness before rousing him or her. So, entering and leaving hyper-sleep feels almost exactly like just going to bed and waking up normally.

The most common side-effects are disorientation upon waking (the degree of which usually corresponds to the amount of time in hyper-sleep), nausea, dizziness, dehydration and headaches.

About 1 in 20,000 die during hypersleep. About 1 in 10,000 suffer what’s known as HSDD, or Hyper-Sleep Dementia Disorder. The symptoms can include distorted vision, colorblindness, hallucinations, heart palpitations, anxiety, paranoia and stroke.