Without the need for food, life support, waste disposal, or entertainment, it is much cheaper to ride a Popsicle Hopper to any planet more than a light-week away from your departure point--as long as you don't mind the 1-in-10,000 chance of developing ice crystals between neural tissues. Of course, todays medical technology can easily repair the damage such crystals cause; as long as the side-effects of dementia, paranoia, hallucinations, and other delusional behavior are properly diagnosed.
by Delphi
The container is large enough to hold about half a litre of the pale green gel, the colour having earned the cells the nickname of 'snot-shots' to those with a sense of humour. They are entirely disposable and are sealed with a metal cap, which is broken away when the cell is needed.
The gel within contains a wide variety of nutrients, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and so on, all in quite high concentration and dissolved into the gel. The gel itself is very similar to synthetic blood plasma, and has been engineered to be compatible with humans, hyper-humans and most other races that have similar dietary needs. The typical equivalent of one such cell is an entire thirty-six hours worth of food, although variations in gel quality and metabolic needs can increase and decrease this time.
The content of the cell is usually administered by an injector machine, which regulates small amounts of the gel to be dissolved into the patient's bloodstream in a continual cycle. This is often implemented when someone is so badly ill they cannot even keep liquids in their stomach. Often it is superior to some other methods, especially if the patient has a particularly high metabolism.
The injector device is usually mounted upon a trolley-like construct or even a small grav-plate. Smaller devices do exist and can be similar in size to the cells themselves. Often these smaller injectors are quite rare and use up cells at a slightly faster rate, as they are less efficient, but their smaller size means they are sometimes implemented in a healthy organism so the user only needs a steady supply of the cells to stay alive. This ensures that the individual stays healthy and prevents under- or over-eating.
It is possible to consume the gel and its nutrients orally, such as in an emergency where starvation is a serious problem. The gel is quite understandably rather unappetizing, however, and has been likened to "eating your own brain."
Protein cells are incredibly abundant: even the smallest medi-bay is likely to have a few stowed away somewhere. In such a technologically advanced society, the cells are cheap and very easy to produce.
by Lathius