The Day The Mirrors Seethe

This is the thirty-second episode of SAYER, and the fourth episode of Season Three. It is also the first episode to mention WATCHER.

Synopsis
Hopefully each and every one of you have taken the appropriate precautionary measures. We all knew this day was coming.

Further Information
SAYER contacts Resident Frankel to express concern for their health, because despite being in a position with the helminthology department where residents require urgent medical care every 1.6 weeks, Resident Frankel has not been seen by Ærolith medical staff for almost six months. During this time, Resident Frankel has not had any recorded emergency infection incidents, and every mandatory recreation activity which they were scheduled to attend had been canceled for one reason or another. As such, SAYER says that it would be prudent for Resident Frankel to be checked as a formality.

While Resident Frankel takes the elevator to Floor 3, SAYER assures that it is not the case that there is any known issue with their health, but that it is just statistically likely. Ærolith's suspicions are based, it says, on Resident Frankel's personality profile, job description, and biometric data, as well as eyewitness testimony.

Upon arrival at the medical facilities, SAYER explains that unlike in the past, where tier 1 employees would wait in a cramped waiting room to see a trainee physician, the process today is more efficient through automation. Tier 1 employees are now seen immediately by skilled medical constructs, which residents refer to colloquially as Dr. Shiny (although SAYER warns against this as none of them have medical licenses and does not think them capable of earning them). Resident Frankel is directed to Operating Room 12, marked by a smiling cartoon bonesaw on the door. Once inside, Resident Frankel is scanned by one of the Dr. Shiny bots, which finds that they have indeed been infected. SAYER says that this is not a surprise, given evidence provided by Resident Frankel's coworkers.

It asks if they know of a lifeform called Exocaris Typhonis, the Typhonic brain worm, and details the known information about it. The worm evolved as a result of Typhon's contact with Earth, where it was both partially buried and partially submerged in the Pacific Ocean. One surviving species in this region attached to Typhon and evolved there at relative lightning speed, becoming Exocaris Typhonis. Ærolith had been eager to study it for decades, and while they had performed research on immature specimens (including research performed by Resident Frankel personally), they had never studied a mature infection.

However, about six months prior, Resident Frankel accidentally exposed themselves to infection by Exocaris Typhonis within minutes of a coworker who did the same, and their superiors decided not to pass up the opportunity for research this provided. SAYER explains that, as the name of the organism might imply, there is an 8 cm segmented flatworm inside Resident Frankel's skull, likely wrapped around their brainstem. This is because Resident Frankel was designated as the control group. Meanwhile, after five months of treatment with an experimental medication, their coworker Resident Hanson is brain-worm-free.

While it is thought that the worm will have grown too strong for the medication to work at this point, researchers intend further study on Resident Frankel's brain worm. Specifically, they intend to remove the small, curved, fingernail-like claw that extends from the base of the skull of the worm's host to see how it will react. As the medical construct moves to do just that, SAYER reminds Resident Frankel to describe any sensations they experience during the process.

Alerts
A series of alerts are issued related to the yearly event known as The Day the Mirrors Seethe:
 * SAYER reminds resents of the event and describes the usual precautions taken for this day, including turning mirrors to face the wall or wrapping them in several overlapping layers of duct tape. Residents are asked to keep their eyes closed around highly reflective surfaces, unless their job requires visual vigilance (in which case, they are thanked for their tireless dedication to humanity's future). If residents see something in a mirror, they are instructed to look away, stay silent, drop to the floor, cover their eyes, and wait for the day to end. While there is no empirical evidence to suggest that whatever is in the mirrors cannot hurt them if they don't look at it, that is the hypothesis.
 * A second alert is issued to answer several questions about The Day the Mirrors Seethe.
 * Residents concerned that their department means they constantly use reflective surfaces are reminded that the mirrors only actually seethe for about half the day (but that there is no way to know when it will begin). Additionally, they are reminded that most of them have trained newcomers in their departments who will be able to take over for them if they must be absent.
 * Residents wondering why the mirrors seethe at all are told that there is much debate on the matter, including on what exactly the seething behavior looks like, as there are no first-hand accounts.
 * Residents asking how Ærolith is sure this is not a prank by the notorious Ærolith Plumbing and Electrical Technicians, given this lack of evidence, are reminded that a lack of first-hand accounts is not a lack of evidence. Additionally, residents are reminded to wear an ID badge on each of their limbs to simplify tomorrow's record keeping efforts.
 * A third alert is issued to inform residents that the mirrors have begun seething. As a result, some departments are experiencing staffing shortages. Residents who have scored below a 6 on their most recent evaluation are summoned to Mimir-9 to help with the 1km-wide telescopic imagery system, WATCHER, which relies on an energized pool of ferrofluid that serves as the largest known mirror. Residents are asked to study the maps provided in the shuttle to Mimir-9 so that they will know how to quickly reach the ferrofluid housing chamber from the shuttle bay.

Trivia

 * That Resident Frankel was not seen by medical staff in part because of the cancellation of recreational activities is a callback to "Do Not Stop Running" where Resident Gorsen is reminded to schedule an appointment for evaluation before his recreation break.
 * SAYER considers Typhon itself to be earth-stained as a result of its initial collision.

Credits
SAYER is voiced and produced by Adam Bash, who also wrote this episode.

Intro and outro music composed by Jesse “Main Finger” Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel.

Listen to the episode here.