These facts and others led Sullivan and Cowan to believe they were on track to find a method for stopping the aging process in a controlled sleep. However, the side effects of the SIF were considered a significant problem. Randy later made it clear he would never agree to be given SIF or be placed in a sleep capsule again.

After several years of additional work on the SIF formula and with the introduction of a new drug that was administered at the time of awakening, most of the side effects had been eliminated.

The subsequent two-week-long test went much better; the test subject woke swiftly but was still briefly confused. He experienced two episodes of vomiting but was free of symptoms within two hours.

Additional tests further indicated the severity of the symptoms increased as the time subjected to the SIF increased.

Longer duration tests came next and it became necessary for anticoagulant to be added to the SIF formula. This was required to prevent blood clots from forming in the extremities while the sleeper was immobile for several years.

At this juncture, the team agreed it was time for more extensive tests of the system. Under Sullivan's supervision, Cowan re-engineered the sleep capsule so that urinary catheters were built in and tied into a central waste disposal system. A positive pressure face mask replaced the standard oxygen mask which had been used up until this point. The new mask was designed to increase the depth of respirations, which had been almost non-existent with the SIF in the occupant's system. By increasing the depth of respirations, it was hoped the pneumonia that often set in with poor ventilation could be avoided.

The plan had been to put four occupants to sleep for one year, using a central source of SIF for all test subjects, and have all systems monitored and controlled by computers. A twenty-four watch was established once the occupants were placed into the capsules.

The experiment proceeded as planned for the first two months, until early one afternoon when an alarm was sounded by one of the medical computers. The blood pressure of the subject in Capsule Four had suddenly crossed beneath the safe limits. The decision was made to remove the subject from the experiment, but before his capsule could be opened another alarm sounded because he'd gone into cardiac arrest. He was swiftly removed from the capsule, and resuscitation efforts continued for half an hour, but they were unsuccessful.

The autopsy which followed showed he'd died from a massive infection. By nightfall, the occupants of Capsules One and Three were also dead, passing in the same fashion. The experiment was immediately terminated, and the female subject in Capsule Two was rapidly removed from the capsule and awoken.