"Declared legally dead?" he repeated, his eyes widening slightly. He was sure it wasn't like anything he had gone through, where he had actually been dead, and at the last minute iced to preserve whatever brain function they could. Still, it was an odd thing to hear from someone, and not a set of words he liked. "What's the story behind that?"

Maybe they would be, maybe they wouldn't. He couldn't know. If this was the future, they could all be dead. The mere thought made his heart twist, hand rising to rub at the ring and chain he still kept under his shirt. He glanced down, saw the pulse of the vein in his wrist, wondered...