She found herself robed and ready on time, which was expected - a lack of synchronicity is a sin.  Her mother and father stood to either side of the door, ready to enter at her side.  They would offer her to the Colony, supporting her as she adjusted to the input.  She shivered at the thought of it, but had been advised it was controllable.  Practice would provide some autonomy and mastering the filters would limit unwanted intrusion.

“Are you ready?”  Her father offered his hand.  She accepted it and then her mother’s.  They waited a brief moment until the door opened, the High Scientist bowing in greeting and then waving them forward.

The sermon was a blur.  She’d heard it enough times when witnessing the Quickenings of her cousins and a few friends, so there really wasn’t any need to follow along.  She just waited until the High Scientist turned and invited the three of them to be seated.  

There were three chairs.  The middle chair was for her and was deep and would allow her to fully recline.  The headrest was a brace, with wings to either side.  The microsuede was smooth and clean and soft as the High Scientist adjusted the wings to hold her facing forward and placed a large screen to enclose her head and provide privacy as she collected herself.

She was relieved as everyone disappeared from view.  There were only fourteen people in attendance.  Her aunt and two uncles, a few cousins - she wasn’t sure which but she’d faces she recognized.  Some friends and an elder or two.

The High Scientist leaned close enough to whisper, “Are you okay?”

“Uh-huh,” she grunted back.  Not very formal, but she wasn’t exactly feeling the moment.  She just wanted to get through it.  

“Dear friends.  Fellow humans.  We are gathered here to offer unto our sister Amissa a connection to the mind of the one true deity.  Today, she becomes a part of our Colony.  Let us take a quiet moment to prepare for this joining.  Please think of Amissa as we invite her into our Minds.”

The room went silent.  Amissa tightened her grips on the armrests and felt her parents lay their hands on her arms, offering reassurance.  A slight rustle behind her and then a hum in her left ear.  The frequency shifted slightly downward and then faded.  Another rustle and the hum repeated in her right ear.  It faded and then…numbness.

Utter silence as if her ears had quit working or were clogged with cotton balls.  She felt tired as if a weight had settled on her mind.  She felt sluggish.  She felt…nothing.  It lasted for awhile, not that she could measure time.

She felt her body quiver.  The muscles in her neck tensed and a headache blossomed.  The Calling.  She knew it from the preparation program.  This was the attenuation as her brain started trying to accept the incoming inputs.  She tried to relax, get some distance, understand what was happening and how.  

The numbness spread lower and she felt chilled.  Whispers began to fill her head and then faded.  More numbness, spreading down her legs towards her toes.  This chill faded to a spreading warmth between her legs and she realized she’d peed herself.  They said it was normal, called it the Cleansing.  Her parents and elders went out of their way to assure her it was normal, though all her older cousins claimed it certainly had not happened to them at their ritual. 

She felt a detached embarrassment and could only find an objective comfort that her parents had provided special underpants - just in case, she had been told.  Time moved on, but slowly.  So slowly.  Her thoughts remained sluggish, until the numbness began to fade and feeling began to return to those remote parts of her body.  Tension returned with the sensation and Amissa tried to relax, tried to regain control of her breathing and her racing heart.  

Amissa had to work to recall the next phase, the final phase.  Forgetting it created a bit of panic.  Memory of the events had provided some distance, some control over the procedure.  She shivered a bit, trying to remember something she could use.  Tried to recall…

They had told her to listen for voices.  They were there, the connections making them audible through the interface, through joining the others.  The Joining, that was the next part, or the part she was in now, whichever.  She’d read the sites, the forums, listened to her parents, cousins, elders and the High Scientist.  Each had the same advice, to accept the input as part of her new life.  That by accepting the input, she would join more quickly, more thoroughly.  She would have more control and access the thought filters more easily and intuitively if she didn’t fight them.

Relaxing, neither fighting to flee or catch the voice, she found a bit of calm and listened.  The hum was there, just barely detectable.  Like a gnat on the edge of her hearing.  She listened to it.  Invited it.  Tried to bring it into words.  She was just starting to catch them, a few here and there audible through the chatter.

Then the hum grew to a murmer.  More words coming through, but overlapping each other to obscurity.  More thoughts streaming into her mind:  Welcome.  Her name.  We’re so excited.  Our daughter is finally with us.  The complexity of what she could identify grew as time passed.  She listened and started to identify threads.  First her mother’s stream, “We’re so proud of you.  Your father and I have waited for this day for so long.”  She shifted to another voice.  “We should walk over to Becky’s later.  I heard she has a new kitten.”  Her cousins planning for after the event, already bored with Amissa’s quickening and ready to move on.

Connected, Amissa let out a… (Finish the story in the comments below as you think the story ends)