The worst part of cryogenic sleep is waking up, especially if its your first time.  It's a disorienting sensation; one scientist had described the thawing procedure to be "Experiencing the first twenty years of brain development in five minutes."<br/><br/>Raine regarded the strange metallic world for a few minutes, idling standing in her tube as her neurons thawed and began firing properly again.  Her head seemed stuffed with cotton, and her entire body felt like it bore a nasty sunburn.<em>Freezer burn</em>echoed up from the depths of her mind, and she bit back a swear.  Amazing as cryogenics was, there were some simple side effects that just couldn't be solved.  "Freezer burn" was one of them.  When a person was put on ice, the water in their body cooled and shrunk, causing the cells to shrivel as well.  When they were thawed, the water warmed and expanded to its original size, forcing the cells to do so as well.  This applied pressure on the tightened skin, stretching the subdermis, and painfully stimulated nerves inside the body.  The result: a nasty sunburn-like rash covering the trunk, arms, and legs, as well as chronic pain similar to pins-and-needles.  A few hours moving around got rid of most of it, fortunately.<br/><br/>That didn’t make it hurt any less.<br/><br/>The mechanic rubbed her cool palms over the reddened, irritated skin of her arms and stomach.  Fortunately, she noted, her breasts had been spared the painful rash.  She suddenly wished she had been frozen along with the other civilians.  At least they were going through it for the first time, just like her.  Most of the people in this cryo bay were military types, and being shot through space as an icicle was part of their job description.<br/><br/>As she noted the other people, she instinctively covered her bare breasts, carefully climbing out of the cryo tube and looking around.  For some reason, she first noted that she was the only dark skinned person present.  That was a little surprising.<br/><br/>The next thing she realized was another, less painful side effect of cryogenic sleep: a permanent sense of balance.  The organs that monitor body position are located in the inner ear, and use a unique gell-like substance sliding on a bed of nerves to determine if someone is tilting their head or standing upright.  Because the gel is dense and, well, a gel, it naturally takes longer to thaw out then the rest of the body.  For a few exhilarating and potentially dangerous moments, the gel will move sluggishly inside the inner ear, tricking the brain into thicking its body is standing upright, when its actually tilted sideways, or even standing on its hands.  An inexperienced cryogenic participant would havbe to be careful, since they could be keeling to the side as they walked and still think they’re upright and balanced.<br/><br/>Raine gripped the thick, steel bar next to the entrance of her cryo pod for a minute or two, waiting for the sensation to pass.  Once again she envied the more experienced people surrounding her, and her face grew warm with embarassment.<br/><br/>By the time she finally felt confident walking again, most of the other people were already partially dressed.  Still feeling oddly self-conscious (a rare emotion for Ms. Iabara, believe you me), she made her way across the cool rubber floor to her locker.  Inside were the clothes she had been wearing three months earlier, when the ship had been catapulted away from Sol at superluminal velocities.  Raine tugged out a wrinkled pair of jeans and a tank-top bearing an ancient symbol from the 20th century on it, slipping them on over her bra and panties.  A pair of work slippers (flip-flops were<em>not</em>allowed) completed the ensemble.  They were only temporary vestments though; she knew they would all be donning jumpsuits and special safe suits for the journey down to the planet.  No matter what the scans and fancy gadgets say, only a fool would touch down on an unexplored planet without protective gear.<br/><br/>For now, the clothing provided a much-needed sense of comfort.  Home was far away, orbiting a distant planet circling a distant star, dozens of light years away.  She sighed inwardly, hoping the right decision had been made.<br/><br/>((OOC: College library, ha!  No time for an edit right now, but I promise I will later.))