Cryopods

Cryopods preserve people between waking shifts and can also hold the dead; Thurman credits them with keeping power among the same few leaders.

Story so far

The pods hold living people in rows extending toward curved walls, with frosted panes and displays identifying occupants by first names. The orange-lit names are invented to separate sleepers from their former lives. Empty pods stand at the far end, and in Silo One, which has no burial soil, pods also store the dead.

Their controls warm an occupant during waking; a lid releases at thirty degrees Celsius, while resetting the temperature dial does not stop a waking already underway. Dr. Wilson says turning the temperature down and closing the lid puts an occupant back under. Donald used a code, red button, and dial to warm Charlotte’s pod. Later, blood found on another pod prompted an investigation: the exterior blood matched its assigned occupant, while blood inside matched a partial executive record. Darcy reported that the wounded man had already been connected to the functioning pod before being shot.

Paul Thurman now argues that the pods and rotating shifts solve succession by allowing the same few people to retain power.

Appearance

Coffin-like enclosures with frosted glass, orange-lit name displays, temperature readouts, lids, and controls for warming or returning an occupant to sleep.

Role

A preservation system used for rotating shifts, long-term sleep, and storage of the dead.

Relationships

Silo One — Silo One uses the pods for living sleepers and for its dead.

Paul Thurman — Paul Thurman credits the pods with preserving continuity of leadership.

Earlier in this series

Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:

ShiftBook 2

Sources — 5 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 17

A medical technician discovers blood on a cryopod lid while servicing a neighboring pod.
The blood on the cryopod’s exterior matches the DNA record assigned to that pod.
Darcy reports that the blood inside the pod matches a partial record in the executive files.
Darcy says the injured man was already connected to the functioning pod before he was shot.

Chapter 32

Thurman credits cryopods with allowing the same few people to retain power across shifts.