As others have said, it's protective circuitry, REQUIRED when charging LiIon OR when using - if you don't have protective circuitry in place, and you short out the output, the batteries will at least get extremely hot (hot enough to melt through the plastic and burn the hell out of anything close) and will probably catch fire or explode.
I wouldn't go nuts about it though. Dry it all out, then give it a try. It'll probably be fine. When you've determined it's OK, just stick it in a ziplock or wrap it with electrical tape and just keep going.
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