#cluster 01

The procedure followed for you must be different from the ones that have so far been handled. The group is split into twos, with Dominika and Sigurd on one side, and Gilbert and Larysa on the other. The former mustn’t exert themselves to remove all clothing and lie in a pod, but they are asked to remove any piece of clothing that covers their arms. If this includes their shirts, then so be it. Rolling up your sleeves won’t do. Mod Bayonet appears from a single steeled door with two assistants, each carrying a large bucket of water. 

“Stick your hands in,” she instructs the experienced two. They already are connected to each other, and the initial process of harmonizing can be skipped over. The other two, are however, asked to fall into place, and relax in the pods. The buckets, though they look plain, are wirelessly connected to the pods, after a serious of precarious beeps. Bayonet mumbles something about how these devices had to be shipped over from PIERCE HQ, with the slightest hint of annoyance. 

Beilschmidt and Chernienko lie in the lukewarm water in the pods, and are asked to close their eyes. It won’t last more than a minute, Bayonet assures, although she can feel the mistrust. One of the lab assistants closes the roofs of the pods above the two, just after muttering a ‘relax’, barely heard. To Nilsen and Arlovskaya are asked to let go of their thoughts as well. To not think, even for a second, about their earlier initiation or their old Clustermates, no matter how frustrating or difficult that may be. 

After a exactly 6 and a quarter minutes, the pods let out a wave like note of music, and the water begins to drain. The pods open up, hands are retracted from the water, and all four of them gather for the demonstration. 

After whispering a short apology to those that have already felt this pain, Bayonet stamps on Larysa’s foot with her reinforced rubber boots. Each of you cry out in sudden shock and grip your foot with great difficulty. Each one of you feel annoyance, but relief, a clash of emotions that feels hot and cool within you.