The medical team wanted them to rest—six hours of consciousness integration had exhausted their bodies even though their minds felt strangely energized. But Thorne overruled rest protocol.
"We need to understand their capabilities immediately," she said. "Need to document what hybrid consciousness can do, what limitations exist, what complications might emerge. We have narrow window before university authorities discover what happened here. Need data to justify continuation."
So they ran tests.
Basic cognitive function first: the seven hybrid consciousnesses completed standard neurological assessments—memory recall, spatial reasoning, pattern recognition, verbal fluency. Medical team documented results with mix of fascination and professional concern.
"Subject One—Lia-Elora—demonstrates memory capacity approximately 170% of pre-integration baseline," medical team leader reported. "Can recall both human and refugee experiential data with high accuracy. Pattern recognition shows enhancement, likely due to refugee consciousness providing additional analytical frameworks."
"Not 'Subject One,'" Lia-Elora corrected. "We have names. We're people, not experimental subjects."
"Apologies. Lia-Elora demonstrates—"
"Better. Thank you."
Marcus-Theron was showing even more dramatic enhancement—mathematical problem-solving had improved to near-superhuman levels. Give them quantum mechanics equation that would normally take hours to solve, they did it in minutes. Advanced physics that required graduate-level training, they handled it with ease that suggested refugee consciousness had fundamentally upgraded Marcus's existing capabilities.
"This is incredible," Marcus-Theron said, working through problems on tablet. "I'm seeing solutions I wouldn't have conceived of before. Not because I'm smarter—because I have additional frameworks, additional ways of approaching problems. Theron's mathematical training was centuries ahead of human development. I'm leveraging perspectives that won't exist in Seventh Earth mathematics for generations."
"Can you teach those frameworks to other humans?" Thorne asked.
"Maybe? If I can translate Korvan's concepts into human mathematical language. But some ideas literally don't have human equivalents yet—we lack terminology, lack foundational concepts necessary to understand advanced frameworks. It's like trying to teach calculus to someone who hasn't learned algebra."
Elena-Darius was demonstrating similar enhancement in physics—solving problems about dimensional barriers, quantum probability distributions, consciousness-matter interactions that had stumped human physicists. But they were also showing heightened anxiety, higher baseline stress than pre-integration.
"We're experiencing both human and refugee emotional responses," Elena-Darius explained when Grace-Senna asked about elevated stress markers. "Elena's anxiety about intellectual inadequacy plus Darius's grief about losing his dimension. Double emotional load, not averaged but additive. We're managing it, but psychological strain is significant."
"That's concern," Grace-Senna noted professionally. "If integration doubles emotional burden without providing equivalent coping resources, that's recipe for psychological breakdown. We'll need therapeutic protocols specifically designed for hybrid consciousness."
David-Miriam had been quiet, processing their expanded ethical framework. Now they spoke: "I'm experiencing profound theological transformation. Human Christianity plus refugee spirituality is creating synthesis that neither tradition would recognize. I'm having insights about consciousness and divinity that feel true but might be delusion caused by integration-induced euphoria. How do I distinguish genuine spiritual growth from integration-artifact?"
"You probably can't," Thorne said. "Not immediately. Genuine transformation and delusion often look identical in the moment. You'll need time, reflection, comparison with others' experiences to determine validity."
Yuki-Thalia was writing—or attempting to write. Their linguistic integration had created meta-language that combined human and refugee communication structures, but translating that meta-language into written English was proving difficult.
"Language is failing," they said with frustration that came from both perspectives. "Human words are insufficient to express refugee concepts. Refugee semantic structures don't map to human grammar. We're experiencing communication gap between our integrated consciousness and external expression. We can think things we can't say."
"That's expected," Thorne said. "Language develops slower than consciousness. You're pioneers—you're experiencing awarenesses that language hasn't evolved to describe yet. Give it time. You'll either find ways to translate or you'll create new language that can express hybrid thinking."
Omar-Kira was coding—writing programs that incorporated refugee computational frameworks, creating algorithms that solved problems human computer science hadn't approached yet. But they were also showing signs of temporal disorientation.
"Time feels different," Omar-Kira said. "Refugee consciousness experiences temporal flow differently than human consciousness. Sometimes seconds feel like minutes. Sometimes hours feel like seconds. I'm—we're—struggling to maintain consistent temporal perspective."
"Note that," Thorne told medical team. "Temporal perception issues could be significant complication for daily function. Monitor whether it stabilizes or worsens."
Grace-Senna remained most stable—their integration was so smooth, so natural, that testing revealed almost no complications. They were experiencing enhanced meditation capacity, deeper witnessing consciousness, ability to observe multiple perspectives simultaneously without confusion.
"This is what Buddhist texts call rigpa," Grace-Senna said. "Pure awareness that transcends individual perspective. I'm experiencing consciousness from both human and refugee viewpoint, and also from unified meta-viewpoint that observes both. Three levels of awareness operating simultaneously."
"Can you teach that to others?" Thorne asked.
"Maybe. If I can develop contemplative practices that help human consciousness expand toward multi-perspectival awareness. But it might require integration to fully achieve. Grace's meditation training provided foundation, but Senna's refugee consciousness provided completion. Together we can do what neither could individually."
After two hours of cognitive testing, Thorne shifted to physical assessment. Could hybrid consciousnesses operate human bodies normally? Could they walk, coordinate movement, speak clearly, perform fine motor tasks?
Mostly yes. But complications existed.
Lia-Elora walked across integration room successfully, but movement felt slightly off—like operating vehicle with unfamiliar steering. Elora's consciousness had developed in body with different proportions, different joint structures, different proprioceptive feedback. She was learning Lia's body, but learning took time.
"We're stumbling occasionally," Lia-Elora reported. "Elora's motor cortex is trying to coordinate movements designed for different physical structure. We're adapting, but it's effortful. Probably will improve with practice."
Marcus-Theron was experiencing similar coordination challenges—dropping objects, overshooting reaches, walking into furniture. Theron's body had been taller, broader, structured differently. Adjusting to Marcus's shorter, lighter frame required recalibration.
"This is temporary, right?" Marcus-Theron asked. "We'll adapt eventually?"
"Should adapt within days to weeks," Thorne said. "Refugee consciousness needs time to map to human neural architecture. Think of it like learning new instrument—initially awkward, gradually natural."
Elena-Darius had different problem: competing motor intentions. Elena wanted to pace while thinking, refugee pattern for Darius was stillness. Their body kept starting and stopping movement, creating jerky, uncertain motion.
"We're fighting each other," Elena-Darius said with frustration. "Need to establish compromise—when to move, when to stay still, which consciousness controls physical action moment to moment."
"Develop protocols," Grace-Senna suggested. "Explicit agreements about who controls body when, based on situation. Like driving—passenger doesn't grab steering wheel. Establish similar boundaries for consciousness occupying shared body."
After four hours of testing, they took break—hybrid consciousnesses needed food, needed rest, needed time to process unprecedented experience.
They gathered in small breakroom adjacent to integration facility, eating sandwiches medical team provided, seven people who were also fourteen people, having first meal as hybrid consciousness.
"This is surreal," Marcus-Theron said, biting into turkey sandwich. "I'm tasting this with Marcus's taste buds, but Theron is providing commentary about Sixth Earth cuisine comparison, and together we're having eating experience that neither of us would have individually."
"Same," Lia-Elora agreed. "Everything is dual now. Dual perception, dual memory, dual emotional response. We're permanently in comparison mode—this is how humans do things versus how refugees did things. It's exhausting but also fascinating."
"I'm worried about long-term psychological impact," Elena-Darius said. "We've been integrated six hours. What about six days? Six weeks? Six years? Will we maintain distinct perspectives or gradually homogenize into single consciousness that's neither human nor refugee but something entirely new?"
"Is that bad?" David-Miriam asked. "If we evolve into genuinely new consciousness configuration, isn't that the goal? Isn't that transcendence Original Twelve achieved—moving beyond individual limitation into unified awareness?"
"Maybe. But transcendence implies growth, improvement, evolution toward something better. What if we're just blurring into confused mess? What if integration causes gradual degradation of both consciousnesses rather than synthesis into something greater?"
"We'll know over time," Grace-Senna said. "We observe, we document, we assess whether changes feel like growth or deterioration. If integration is damaging us, we'll detect it and develop interventions. We're not passive victims of process—we're active participants who can shape our own consciousness development."
Yuki-Thalia had been quiet, writing in notebook—or attempting to write. Finally they showed the others their work: pages covered in hybrid script that was part English, part Sixth Earth symbols, part something that might have been new language emerging from integration.
"I'm creating meta-language," Yuki-Thalia explained. "Human-refugee synthesis that can express thoughts neither language handles alone. It's probably incomprehensible to pure humans or pure refugees. But to us—to hybrid consciousnesses—it makes perfect sense."
The others studied the script, found they could partially read it. Their own integrations provided enough refugee linguistic knowledge to decode some symbols, enough human context to translate others. Hybrid language for hybrid consciousness.
"This is how communication will evolve," Omar-Kira observed. "If integration scales to thousands of people, if human-refugee hybrid society develops, we'll need new language that serves hybrid thinking. Yuki-Thalia is pioneering that development."
They finished eating, returned to testing, spent another three hours documenting capabilities and limitations. By hour ten of integration, patterns were clear:
Enhancements: Expanded memory, increased problem-solving capacity, multi-perspectival thinking, access to refugee knowledge and frameworks unavailable to pure humans.
Complications: Emotional burden doubled, motor coordination challenges, temporal perception issues, communication difficulties, identity confusion, psychological strain from containing two consciousnesses.
Unknown: Long-term stability, scalability to larger populations, societal impact, whether children born to hybrid consciousnesses would be human/refugee/something else.
"We need to make recommendation," Thorne said as testing concluded. "Should integration program proceed to next phase—twenty more volunteer pairs, then two hundred, then scale to full thirty-four thousand refugees? Or should we pause, study seven successful integrations longer, ensure complications are manageable before expanding?"
The seven hybrid consciousnesses conferred—not through words but through quantum entanglement that had strengthened post-integration. Seven perspectives, fourteen sub-perspectives, complex debate happening in seconds through direct consciousness-to-consciousness communication.
Finally, Lia-Elora spoke for the group: "We recommend proceeding cautiously. Next cohort should be twenty pairs, volunteers who understand risks based on our documentation. Give them one week, assess outcomes, then scale based on results. We've proven integration is possible. Now we need to prove it's sustainable."
"Agreed," Thorne said. "I'll coordinate with refugee administrators, select next twenty refugees based on compatibility profiles, recruit human volunteers from frequency-sensitive population. If second cohort succeeds as well as you seven, we'll have strong evidence that integration can scale safely."
"And if second cohort experiences complications we didn't?" Elena-Darius asked.
"Then we pause, develop better protocols, try again with improved procedures. This is iterative process—we learn, we adapt, we improve. No one expected first attempt at consciousness integration to be flawless."
"Just expected it to not cause mass consciousness dissolution," Marcus-Theron said.
"That too."
They left integration facility at 8 PM—fourteen hours after integration began, exhausted and exhilarated and fundamentally transformed. Walked across campus in darkness, seven hybrid consciousnesses moving through world designed for pure humans, navigating reality that would need to change dramatically if integration scaled to thousands.
Lia-Elora looked up at stars—human eyes seeing ancient light, refugee consciousness understanding quantum probability distributions that governed stellar physics, hybrid awareness appreciating beauty and mathematics simultaneously.
"We did it," Lia thought.
"We did it," Elora agreed.
"We're alive. We're unified. We're proof that mercy was right choice."
But also: they were exhausted, struggling, uncertain whether they'd still feel unified tomorrow or next week or next year.
They were pioneers.
And pioneers often died discovering what was possible.