#i rlly think something a bit bigger than an accident in the eightfold word went on with gideon n pyrrha but I couldn't say what

[terribletruthsoversolaceinlies]

Reread Nona and this part is bothering me:

“You should be draining and replacing her fucking brain fluid,” said Pyrrha. “When Gideon and I designed that trial, I used to crack his skull and sieve it myself, just as a control variable. It’s aggregative. I doubt you’re testing her white blood cell count either. The only other people I put through that damn trial were Mercy and Cris, because only Cris didn’t mind being trepanned on the regular.”

Why was the necro (G1deon) being trepanned in one pairing, and the cav (Cristabel) in the other, when they were undergoing the same trial? If it was being used as a control variable, wouldn't it have to be the same across all versions of the experiment?

I assume the trial being referred to is the winnowing one that Harrow and Gideon complete in GtN, where Harrow has to essentially hijack Gideon's perceptions so they can take down the construct in the right order. I suppose a more extreme version of that is what Palamedes is doing when he takes over Camilla's body; Pyrrha's saying the above in reference to what Palamedes should be doing to Camilla to reduce the damage of him taking over her body, implying it's something that should be done to cavs, as they're the ones having their brains invaded and put under strain.

Then why do it to Gideon?

I would think they were both draining their brain fluid, but the wording doesn't suggest it (and I rather think Mercymorn would protest to being trepanned...)