It took ages for the screen to count down. I guess it was eleven minutes but man. When you are lying in blackness and there is nothing, no sensory input other than this timer, it seems forever. Sure, you would say: ‘But Kade, I have woken up in the middle of the night and there is only my alarm clock.’ And I would respond: ‘Yes, you have and no, it’s not the same.’ Because I have woken up in the middle of the night too. And there is always some light pollution, some background hum or noise, some smell or flavor. And there is the sense of your own body. Where you touch the bed or ground or bath tub - wherever you did fall asleep.

This was a completely non-corporeal feeling. I mean other than the vertigo and nausea. And even that was totally different. I just don’t have words to describe it better. That's the best I can manage. Because, you know, when you feel nauseous, you feel it in your body. But there was no body feeling to the process. Weird, disconcerting and to a level terrifying.

When the timer ended, the blackness washed over me again and the next thing I knew was that I was back in my body, blinking my eyes open, seeing the lid of my pod recede and being replaced by the blue-gray of the concrete of the ceiling. It was not a pretty ceiling. Neither was it innovative. And why the hell did I feel drunk?

I tried sitting up but I felt achy. Wow, not a little achy. Nope, full blown, full body soreness. The second time was a charm though. After I knew to expect my body not to play very nice with me, I managed to slowly pull myself upright.

“He is awake, everything looks good.”

A female doctor or nurse walked over with a robe in her hand. The plushy ones.

“Let me help you.”

She put the robe over some attachment on the pod and then held her hand out to me. I would love to say that I scoffed at it and basically jumped out of the coffin shaped pod. And while that would sound much better, it was simply not the case. I really was sore. Even with her help, stepping out of the pod and standing on my own two feet was a challenge. And I held on to her arm like a real man. I know what it sounds like but a mentor of mine once told me that a real man understands when he needs help and is not afraid to accept it when it is offered. So yeah, like a real man I help on to her arm.

When I was somewhat steady on my feet, she picked up the robe and draped it over me. I looked down. Oh, naked. And covered in slime. Fun.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, my mouth dry.

“No worries. We were briefed on problems you might have moving around for the first twenty or thirty minutes. Your mind lived in a different environment and needs to adapt again to the real life stimulus. Will only take a bit.” She pointed at some seats next to the wall and door. “Why don’t I help you to the seats over there, you rest a moment and get your bearings and then you can just leave through the door when you are steady on your feet. Follow the blue markings.”

I nodded. “That would be nice. Could I have some water too?”

“Sure thing.” She handed me a cup that she picked up from a dispenser after dropping my ass onto one of the chairs. “When you feel ready, through the door and follow the blue markings.” She repeated with a professional smile.

“Got it.” I responded.

“Oh, and slow on that water. Sips, no guzzling.”

Again I simply nodded. “Uh hu.”

She gave me one last look, was obviously satisfied with whatever she saw and hurried back to the next pod that just slid open.

I sipped my water and took in the bustle around me. There were tech people and medical personnel all around. The pods were stacked on industrial size shelving units. I watched in fascination as the next person was brought out of immersion.

The techs disconnected the pod and pulled it out, using something like a crane-slash-forklift contraption. Then they placed it on a platform that shortly after tilted up to about 45 degrees. They connected a hose to the bottom, which I guess drained the slime, then the lid flipped open and medics fussed over the person inside. They commented on the vitals while the person inside had a bit of a rough time moving about, just like I had.

When they stepped out, I saw that it was a young, blonde woman, all naked and covered in slime. The same nurse or doctor or whatever, brought her a robe as well, which she hung over the woman’s shoulder and then escorted her to the seat next to me.

The blonde had the same, for the lack of a better word, vacant or confused look in her eyes that I had when I got out. Or I assume I had. At least from her body language she must feel like I did. However, sitting there for a bit really helped and I felt much more in control of my thoughts as my body now.

I got up, walked to the water dispenser, refilled my empty cup and grabbed a second. Making my way back to her, I handed her the cup. “Sip this, it helps.”

She focused on me as if she just saw me for the first time. A little startled, then something we call a smile. “Thank you.”

“Guess I follow the blue markings now. Take care.” I nodded once more to her and then walked through the door and into a white corridor with a bunch of doors on either side. Just as I wanted to complain to nobody in particular that there were no blue markings, a light started blinking on one of the doors. And what do you know, it was blue.

So I shuffled my way to the door which opened automatically and allowed me into a doctors office. A middle aged man with a five o’clock shadow and tousled brown hair looked up. Then at the file in his hands and then up again.

“Pod 77184, Kade Wilson, correct?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Would you please sit down?”

I plopped into the chair next to his desk. “My name is Doctor Mendez. I will be conducting your physical evaluation of the next two days. The exact timelines will be communicated later but for now a quick preliminary. How are you feeling?”

“Like I ran a Marathon and then got into a car accident.”

He chuckled. “Humor, that is good. The muscle soreness you are experiencing seems to be common. Other than that anything else?”

“Nothing else. Otherwise I feel fine. There was some disorientation that I experienced when leaving the capsule. I think that this would be something to look into because I don’t think that this would be commercially viable yet. And why do you say ‘seems common’?”

I might have been feeling weak and a little out of it but the way that was phrased threw up a red flag.

“Ah, you caught that, didn’t you.” He smiled. “Yes, you seem to be okay. As for the soreness, you will have some more communication about that in the briefing later today. For now, let me give you a brief onceover and then you can go and get a shower, put on some clothes and get something to eat or drink. There will be some briefings and a lot more medical and psychological tests over the course of the next two days. But you will receive your personal schedule after the briefing.”

After that he told me once more to follow the blue markings and I walked out of the examination room through a different door. On the other side was a dressing room and then a shower. There was a sealed pack with a big towel, briefs, a white jumpsuit and white trainers on a bench. I guess that was for me.

I hopped under the shower and it felt glorious to get the slime of me. I mean it's not like I was dripping with it but it was everywhere. My hair stuck to my head and I was slick and sticky at the same time. The robe had helped and soaked up quite a bit of it but now the robe stuck to me. So yeah, overall not the most pleasant situation.

But getting it off me under running warm water and then slipping into the surprisingly comfortable and soft jumpsuit was amazing. It must have been some microfiber material. Not sure but it was very nice.

As I walked down the maze of corridors after getting dressed, lights came on to direct me and after a few minutes I walked into a big canteen or cafeteria or what have you. I saw a whole lot of other people sitting in there, all in white jumpsuits and white trainers with the same blue edge to their arms as mine was.

I grabbed a donut and a pot of coffee from the trays that were lining the counters and observed the people in the cafeteria. The big clans seemed to gather up immediately again since they knew each other and I was waiting for Nic or Damian to walk into the room but they never showed. From the snippets of conversations that I overheard, even the big clans didn’t get a start together. Since we all got stuffed into the pods right after the implant, they all had to decide where to start individually and were now making plans to find each other.

I was just feeling like Kade Wilson, human, from earth again as a big screen flicked on. I hadn’t even noticed it before, it blended in so well. But as soon as it came on, the conversations died down and everybody turned their attention towards the screen.