Thomas watched as the Synth tapped the recessed screen on the larger box. The long side split and slid back from both directions, revealing folded cots stacked in clean rows.

The Synths pulled them out and began setting them up. Each cot unfolded in stages — the frame first, then the surface expanding outward until what stood in the lounge looked less like emergency equipment and more like something from a private medical facility.

The angle of the surface could be adjusted from flat to elevated. A holographic screen emitter sat recessed into the frame at the volunteer’s eye level, activating on contact.

Thomas crouched beside the nearest one and pressed the edge of the frame. The screen came alive immediately, showing a blank monitoring display — no data yet, just the clean interface waiting for someone to be in it.

Twelve cots total were packed for the airport. Eight for the volunteers and whoever they were bringing. Four for the staff.

When the cots were positioned, the Synths laid the bedding. It looked like standard linen but wasn’t.

Thomas had been briefed on it during orientation and had still not fully adjusted to what it could do — temperature-regulated, weight-adjustable, self-correcting against the user’s body temperature throughout the night.

The bedding also communicated with the cot’s monitoring system directly. If a volunteer’s temperature spiked or dropped past threshold at three in the morning, the cot would know before any of the staff did.

When the bedding was done, the Synth closed that section of the box and opened the second. It retrieved the emitter sets and began placing them — one at each corner of every cot, volunteer and staff alike.

For the staff cots, the emitters served a different function. When activated, the holographic walls they projected would display the full monitoring output from every volunteer cot simultaneously. Alerts would surface in real time, visible for the resting staff.

The Synth walked to each of the four staff members in turn and held out a MedScan.

Thomas took his. It was lighter than it looked — compact, designed to be carried in a pocket or held in one hand during a scan. He had used one during orientation simulations. The real version felt identical.

He turned it over once, then looked at the room.

The Synth holding the first metal box had already pulled it to a corner and set it down.

The food was in the first metal box and didn’t need to be taken out until the volunteers had arrived and wanted to eat, or the staff wanted to eat.

With that, everything was set.

The Synths moved to their positions along the lounge wall and stood still.

Thomas looked around the space one more time and then he looked at the lounge entrance and let out a slow breath.

Dr. Brenner looked at Thomas, who was the on-site medical coordinator, and asked, "When do you think they will start arriving?"

"I don’t know. The airport has only four volunteers designated to it. Two are from the host country and the other two are from nearby countries. I’m sure the two from the host country will arrive first," Thomas said.

"I’m not so sure about that. They might arrive later than the other two from neighbouring countries," Dr. Park said.

"Instead of arguing, why don’t we just place a bet. Who will arrive earlier — the volunteers from the host country or the neighbouring countries? And which volunteer would arrive first, second, third and last?" Marco, the translator, said, with a small smile on his face.

"Come on. We shouldn’t do that. These are patients and we are on a very important assignment," Dr. Park said.

"We are not doing anything bad, are we? We’re just doing something interesting until they arrive," Marco said.

"Yes, Dr. Yuna, we are not doing anything bad. Okay, what are the stakes?" Thomas asked.

"I would say that whoever loses has to fill in the report, but Thomas is already handling that and can’t escape it or he will have to explain himself to Nova. The base staff is handling cleaning of everything, so the only thing we can stake is that everyone will have to agree that I’m the king of zero gravity dunk," Dr. Brenner said.

"No. I’m in on this and I won’t agree. You are not even close to being in the top five," Dr. Park said.

"Ouch," Thomas laughed.

"I mean, Dr. Brenner, you could have chosen something else, but the king of dunk? That’s a no-go area," Marco said.

"Come on. What’s the problem with you all admitting the truth?" Brenner asked.

"Well, for one, you’re one of the worst at zero gravity control. So how can you even do a zero gravity dunk?" Park asked.

"Just plain evil," Brenner sighed.

"So what should the stake really be?" he asked.

"How about this? The winner gets to have everyone call them whatever they want. That way we can give Dr. Brenner a chance to achieve his delusion," Dr. Park said.

"Alright, I love the idea. Who is going first?" Thomas asked.

"Let me choose. Volunteer 10 will arrive first," Marco said.

"I choose volunteer 8," Dr. Park said.

"Volunteer 9," Thomas said.

Brenner was left. He looked at them and shook his head. He knew he had no choice but to choose the final volunteer number.

"I go with volunteer 11," he said.

"And that is settled. Now we just have to wait," Thomas said.

"I will be on my cot, watching a movie. Let me know when they arrive," Brenner said, walking to one of the staff cots.

"Don’t worry, Dr. Brenner, I will let you know when they arrive," Marco said.

Brenner turned to him and flipped him a middle finger, with a smile on his face.

The group laughed and turned to look at the lounge entrance, waiting for the volunteers to arrive. They couldn’t wait to start the trial, even though they were aware that the coming days would be extremely stressful.

They would face more than anything they had ever faced before, but they weren’t worried, because it was going to be worth it in the end.