The orientation continued, running for three hours daily, while the world was reacting wildly to the images and videos that were posted by the staff.
Nova moved through the material methodically — monitoring protocols, volunteer communication frameworks, emergency escalation chains, consent procedures. Each session built on the previous one. Each session ended with scenarios: situations that might arise during the trial, worked through in the room before they became real.
The staff took notes. They asked questions. By the third day, the questions were sharper.
There were even holographic depictions of situations and virtual reality depictions to review the staff's responsiveness.
When orientation ended each afternoon, the base was theirs.
They explored it deliberately, returning to areas they had passed through quickly, finding details they had missed, testing things, asking questions and discovering new things.
