Recruitment

“You will be asked to solve the unsolvable – not once, but relentlessly. In simulation after simulation, we will drop you into the collapse. Systems in freefall. Societies on the brink. Entire regions waiting for help that isn't coming. The scenarios won't be fair. They won't be clean. That's the point.”

“We push you until the question is no longer 'What's the right answer?' but 'What is the least devastating choice?' Because this training isn't about getting it right – it's about learning to decide when everything is already wrong.”

“We will show you loss. We will show you chaos. We will show you what it means to be the one who cannot look away.”

“That's what it means to become a Mind. You won't just inherit a broken world. You'll inherit the burden of action – and the discipline to carry it.”

– Professor Nyssela Gorven, Simulation Briefing, Week One

The process of selecting Contingency members is demanding and highly personalised. From the beginning, the recruiters understood that the program could not rely solely on technical skill or professional credentials. The psychological cost of indefinite hibernation, of waking in an unfamiliar and chaotic future, is immense. Recruits must be more than competent: they must be resilient, adaptable, and deeply motivated by service. Thus, the selection process was designed holistically. Rather than assembling a team of the “best” individuals in a vacuum, the goal was to form a cohesive cohort – a team whose members complement one another, who bring different strengths, expertise, and perspectives. Character matters. Cooperation matters. Trust is essential.

Consent lies at the heart of the Contingency. Every candidate is informed, repeatedly and in detail, what the program entails. No one is coerced. No one is misled. The decision to apply and to join is fully voluntary. The expectation has always been that Minds will wake into the unknown. Every activation is a surprise, not just in terms of time, but in circumstance, culture, technology, and even language. Members are trained to anticipate confusion and loss. That preparedness begins with knowing exactly what they are signing up for.

After a crisis has passed, if one occurs at all, each Mind is given a choice: Would you like to continue? Some may choose to return to hibernation, ready for the next crisis. Others may opt to retire from the Contingency. That choice is respected. It is built into the design of the program itself. But that freedom does not erase the sacrifice. Even for those who choose not to continue, centuries may have passed by the time that they make that decision. Friends, family, and society as they know it may be gone. There is no way back to the life that was left behind: the world will have moved on without them. Additionally, once a Mind has been inserted into the facility they occupy, they may not go back to their original organic or Nassoid form, even if they wish to leave the Contingency. Their new form requires additional space for processing power, and hence they will forever remain tethered to their facility. Candidates are urged to think deeply about their decision to join. It is not one made lightly, but it is theirs to make. 

There is a steep cost to joining the Contingency. Indeed in the first few years of the program, there were very few sign-ups, and fewer still who made it past the psychological vetting. Those that did were the die-hards, often recruited from the military, willing to sign up as their duty to the Coalition. These initial few were drawn particularly from branches with experience in deep-space isolation, high-risk operations, and crisis containment. They were individuals who already understood that duty sometimes meant disappearing from ordinary life. Their contribution was highly symbolic: they became the foundation of the Contingency. Their courage offered a powerful example and a promise of what might be possible, inspiring others to step forward.

A more active approach to recruitment began to show up in the following year, with outreach programs targeted towards the general public, as well as more specific recruitment schemes for Nassians with the experience required for more specialised roles in the Contingency. These schemes targeted: 

• Industrialists with experience managing infrastructure, logistics and energy systems
• Pilots and transport specialists trained to operate in uncertain conditions 
• Scientists and university researchers capable of problem-solving across different domains 
• Diplomats, negotiators, and aid workers with expertise in conflict resolution and leadership during breakdowns of governance 
• Healthcare personnel able to organise relief efforts, maintain morale in a crisis, and make decisions under extreme stress

They aimed to recruit from as many varied sectors as possible to broaden the scope of the Contingency. The guiding principle was simple: whatever the future crisis might require, someone in the cohort should be ready for it. This variety of skills also supports the emotional and psychological health of the entire Contingency. If Minds awake, they would face confusion, grief, and cultural dislocation. Having people with different perspectives, temperaments, and methods for coping helps ensure that the Contingency functions – not just as a program, but as a temporary society unto itself.

In recent times, the Contingency has started a second-chancers scheme, where convicts can undergo training and apply to the Contingency. This was done as part of a reformative justice program, with a view to find the best candidates whoever they are, given the Contingency's limited numbers. The vetting and training process is as intense for these convicts as for any other Contingency member, and any who are accepted are treated just like other members.

Before a candidate is chosen for the Contingency, they must endure a final training phase. It is the last and most demanding step on the road to joining the Contingency. This phase lasts approximately 18 months and is universally acknowledged as one of the most challenging experiences candidates undergo. It is not a formality. It is not symbolic. It is where the Contingency takes shape, in discipline, thought, and clarity of purpose.

Recruits are put through a relentless series of crisis simulations: full-immersion environments that replicate every kind of breakdown the Contingency was built to address. Natural disasters. Bioweapon outbreaks. Civil war. Extraplanetary invasions. The scenarios are layered, branching, complex. There are no clean wins. No perfect solutions.

Outside of the fieldwork simulations, candidates spend thousands of hours in cerebral training: advanced systems analysis, disaster psychology, logistics, architecture, political history, interspecies negotiation, and much more. Each Mind must be more than a tool – they must be thinkers, leaders, problem solvers. When all else has failed, they must be the ones the world depends on to make critical decisions. Many say they learned more in eighteen months than they had in their twenty-year careers. And while only their copy will enter hibernation, the original benefits profoundly from the process.

And then comes the end. Or the beginning.

When the training is complete, and the final evaluations passed, candidates are taken to the copying center. The equipment is prepared and the candidate is asked one final question: Would you like to continue ?