The Pool defends the Conduit Plant because it senses the impending overlap of the planes and wants to bring this about. It will simultaneously end the torture and killing of its kind(s) and bring them into the material world so vengeance can be wreaked. The initiation and subsequent sessions are essentially brainwashing (pun intended). The Pool is preparing the minds and bodies of the cultists for use by its brethren when they arrive. The cultists are not getting on an ark, they are the arks for the water elementals. This is the critical lie in the cult mythology. Almost everything is true that they are told- the world is changing and changing soon, but they are far from safe. Injections of pure tralaticon allow the Pool to deepen and make permanent the effects of the brainwashing, easing the merging and producing compliant vessels. The water elementals will be able to easily subsume the unsuspecting human mind and take control of the body. Why do that? Vengeance is one reason, but there is a practical reason as well: Charged weapons are instantly deadly to elementals and encasing in human form provides some protection. Interesting thought: An elemental can pull out completely from a body part struck by a charged weapon to save itself and stop the spread of the Fire. Pretty fuckin cool. They can also get around in society more easily after practicing using their host body. This is a dominating form of merging. Davoust and the Pool are a symbiotic one, where both parties "consent" and they become a new being altogether. Some elementals refuse to do this and they are those who create their own methods of defending from charged weapons. The Air elemental covered in tralaticon shields is an example. It collects tralaticon breastplates like General Grievous collected lightsabers.
The initial appeal of the cult is a community of like-minded people searching for inner truth while pulling away from a rotting world via raw Water element. Play up the physical properties of liquids and moisture and how it produces a connection vs the dryness of Air and Earth. They preach emphatically that it is not Infusion, as is commonly understood, there are no injections, though contact with Water is necessary and every person is affected differently. The benefits are staggering though, allowing you to connect with yourself and especially other cultists on the same path. This is crucial during Mentoring- Clarissa is going to join no matter what because of her mission, but experiences wisdom from an Inner Circle member which makes her genuinely curious as to what is going on here. The cultists say that potentials may try their method and then decide whether or not to join: they use the "post-event high" to corral members. There is a darker side though because the Pool remakes them. Wait, am I missing a real opportunity here? Perhaps potentials may come and go as they please, getting more sessions just like Scientology, and during this time the Pool remakes them. The Dis scene, or certain concerts (Wrhythm) are recruiting events. The band members have a session with the Pool right before they play and so the Pool's energy is sent out to a mass of people. How do they recruit? Can the Inner Circle members "connect" and "see" potentials? Does Clarissa use her gender to approach the band as a groupie and get into the cult that way? Right now Tanya coming back is a little too convenient. Perhaps I could keep things mostly like they are now, but Tanya invites Clarissa to a "private show" in a smaller venue. This is where the real cult recruitment is. It would also be interesting for her to have intel that Wrhythm are connected to the cult in some way and they are her link. The Pool decides when to elevate people in a way that seems meritorious (bringing new people in, performing duties well, which is publically praised) but is actually based soley on their internal element ecosystem and pliability to the Pool's desires. There are three broad ranks within the Cult (Potentials are their own thing and one is considered an outsider until their initiation and acceptance by the Pool): Initiate, Supplicant, Servant. The leader is simply the First Servant. Each elevation brings new knowledge: Initiates are aware of the coming Apocalypse, which their training and search for inner truth plus the community of the cult will prepare them for; Supplicants are told that the Pool is not alone and the Apocalypse heralds the coming of more of its kind and a golden age of inner clarity for humanity; finally, the Inner Circle know that they are being groomed as the elite in the new world, as vessels for the Pool and its brethren. The Pool has promised union of itself with the First Servant.
Personal details from before initiation are not forbidden, but are discouraged. The cultists do not forget their old lives, but they fade into the recesses of their minds and seem unimportant next to their current work and the coming events. There is an exception, however. Members are encouraged in their free time to create training programs that other members can sign up for on the communal off day (unless on patrol). The purpose is ostensibly for personal growth, and this, like everything in the cult, is partially true: the real reason is that the more capable the human "arks" are, the more useful they will be to the elementals they will eventually submit to. The Pool has learned this through its experience with the cult. They are also permitted to read daily and books are bought legitimately or stolen for this purpose.
Post Davoust-Pool merging the cult descends further. When Davoust and her knowledge of Element Science combine with the ultra connection of pure Water, the new being gets glimpse of the Long Road. The Pool's desire for power and Davoust's thirst for knowledge combine into a complete obsession and the cult transforms into a small group of powerful merged Water elemental/humans who seek to sprint down the Long Road to godhood. Rylan is its first experiment with negative energy, a failure, and he escapes into the world as a unique wraith; becoming, of course, the Red Hand Knight and servant of the Shadow. Anyway, Pool/Davoust and its followers subjugate fellow elementals (Earth and Air) in an attempt to master negative and positive energy. Fire is still a dangerous and elusive thing. They are not fools, but are impatient.