Shortly after five, Beth walked out and blew a whistle. The sharp sound brought the rattle of gunfire to an abrupt halt. Ryan, Amy, and Syd all turned, as did the handful of regulars who had trickled in as the day went on.

"We're closing in thirty minutes, folks!" the thickset woman bellowed. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em!"

The whistle blew again, and the shooting immediately resumed, redoubled in intensity. Beth stuck her fingers into her ears as she strolled over to the far lane where they were set up.

"You know, Beth, we could use another hour or two of range time," Amy said to the woman, once she was close enough for them to hear each other without shouting. "I don't suppose there's any way I could talk you into letting us stay out here for a bit longer?"

She considered the question, her gaze lingering on Syd uncertainly. Finally, she shrugged.

"Suppose I can do that for ya'll. Doors'll be locked, though, so if ya wanna use the ladies' room, better do it now." Beth pointed over her shoulder with a stubby thumb. "Nearest gas station is twenty miles down the road thataways."

"Thanks, Beth," Amy said. "I really owe you one."

"Aw, heck, it ain't no big thing." The woman bashfully scratched her nose. "You were a peach, helpin' us out when we had that break-in last year."

Squeezing in between them to look down the lane, Beth scrutinized the most recent target they'd set up. Almost all of Syd's shots had landed on the paper, at least, and more than half were grouped inside the silhouette.

"Seems like your girl is makin' some progress. Did ya give that fancy Glock a try yet?"

"Only the shotgun so far," Syd said, beaming at the praise. Her gaze slid over to where Ryan was standing. "It's been a lot of fun, but tomorrow morning I'm gonna be sooo sore... if you know what I mean."

"Gotta pull it in tighter, if it's kickin' ya," Beth advised her.

"Pull it in. Tighter." Without taking her eyes off him, Syd nodded sagely. "I'll have to remember that."

Clearing his throat loudly, Ryan shot her a cautionary look, then told the woman, "We're going to move her on to the pistol once we're done with this last box of shells."

"And then we'll find out if I'm cowboy material," Syd added excitedly, drawing a pair of finger-pistols from imaginary holsters on her hips. "Reach for the sky, pardner!"

"I'll go load up some magazines for us," Amy offered. As she walked past Syd, she added, "We are not going to be practicing quick-draw."

"Shucks," Syd said, still speaking in the ridiculous movie-western accent. "Bamboozled again."

"Are you still angling for that cute outfit try-on session?" Ryan asked, pitching his voice just loud enough for her to hear. "I'm not sure a pair of chaps and a ten-gallon hat would be the best look for you."

"If they were assless chaps, it totally would," Syd shot back. She shook her hips back and forth. "You'd better believe I could rock a pair of those."

"Chaps is chaps," Beth authoritatively informed them. "If they got a butt in 'em, they're just jeans." She shook her head. "Y'all play safe now. If there's anything else ya need from inside the store, make sure ya grab it 'fore I head on out."

Turning away from them, the woman cupped her hands over her mouth and began shouting in the direction of other patrons, "I better not see any of y'all leavin' without pickin' up brass first, y'hear?"

Once she'd wandered off, Ryan shook the last five shells out of the box and offered them to Syd.

"Want to try combat-loading this time?"

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds awesome." Syd motioned for him to step closer. "Why don't you show me how it's supposed to work?"

***

The range gradually cleared out, until at last there was no one else in sight.

Surrounded as they were by so many armed potential hostiles, it had taken constant effort on Ryan's part to suppress his trained responses. Every time a gunshot went off nearby, his instincts screamed at him to seek cover, to take evasive action... to find and neutralize the threat. He'd managed to resist, but it was still a relief to see the last of them depart.

Now that they were alone again, he could finally relax and let down his guard a little.

Syd removed the empty magazine from the ostentatious purple Glock, then pulled the slide back and locked it open to show the gun was empty. After receiving a nod from Ryan, she returned it to the case they'd bought, keeping it pointed downrange the whole time.

The owner of the store had been right, he decided. She was definitely making progress.

"Beth's car just pulled out of the lot," Amy reported. "Okay, Ryan, we've got the whole place to ourselves. What's next?"

"I double-checked, and we can Level up both of your Changers whenever we're ready," Ryan began. "After I've walked you through that, we'll take some time for you to get used to your new Abilities in a safe, controlled environment."

"That sounds a lot better than trying to figure out how everything works in the middle of a fight like last time," Amy emphatically agreed.

"Since Leveling up a Changer resets all its cooldowns," he continued, "I was thinking that we'd start out with a Changer training session beforehand, too. That way, we can maximize the amount of practice time that you two get in. As soon as you're ready, then –"

"It's time to get naked!" Syd cheered.

Amy shot her a glare, but Ryan raised a hand to forestall the imminent explosion.

"Syd's... not wrong," he said, "although I probably wouldn't have phrased it quite like that. You two are going to want to take your clothes off before you transform." Pointing towards the other side of the berm, he continued, "I'll be waiting over there until you're done. Just give me a shout when you're ready for me to activate your Changers, okay?"

Putting a hand up beside her mouth, Syd leaned in and stage-whispered to him, "You can peek if you want."

"No, he can't," Amy contradicted her in an irritated tone. "What's gotten into you, Syd? You've been acting strange all day... well, stranger than usual."

"You want to know what's gotten into me?" She smirked. "I think you know exactly –"

"Ladies, please." Ryan held up his hands in a placating gesture, then turned to Amy. "No peeking, I promise."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Making good on his words, he walked around the dirt embankment. The ground on the other side was just as wet and muddy as it had been everywhere else. Rather than take a seat, he eventually decided to relax against the packed-earth slope instead.

His burn felt a little better than it had yesterday, but that wasn't saying much, and he'd been on his feet for hours. I could really use a break, he thought, not that I'd ever admit it in front of the girls.

Closing his eyes, he settled in to wait.

"Hey, Amy," Syd's voice drifted over the divider. "How do you and Beth know each other, anyway? It seemed like you two were pretty close."

"Beth's husband and my dad did a couple deployments together on the USS Iwo Jima. After they both retired – hey, keep your hands to yourself!"

"Oh man, that's a cute bra. Ryan has got no idea what he's missing out on over here." Syd cackled, and a moment later Amy let out another annoyed squeak. "How many sit-ups did it take you to get abs like that? I'm so jealous!"

"Syd, you don't exercise. Last night I watched you inhale a dozen slices of pizza, plus a bag of cookies, half a family-size bag of chips, and at least a liter of soda. You're lucky you don't weigh four hundred pounds."

"Ooh, those are fighting words. Take this – tickle attack!"

"Gah! Okay, that's it."

"Ow ow ow!" He heard the sounds of a brief scuffle, and then it was Syd's turn to yelp. "Arms aren't supposed to bend that way! I'll be good!"

A deep sigh that must have come from Amy followed.

"...somehow, I doubt that."

***

Eventually, Amy called across to him, announcing that they were ready to proceed. Navigating his Implant's display to the appropriate selection, Ryan obliged them.

TEMPORAL FLOW ADJUSTED.

COMMENCING TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE!

Whoa, this rules, Syd sent. Is that how it looks when I transform, too? Seeing it from the outside is way more impressive.

I don't know, Amy replied, sounding much less enthusiastic. It's all a little... revealing, don't you think?

Yeah, it's great. I wish I could put the whole thing on livestream!

Uh, Syd, about that... Ryan began.

Relax, I wouldn't actually do it, Syd reassured him. I don't want to get naked in front of everybody, just a certain somebody. After a pause, she added, Besides, it would definitely get my channel demonetized.

...that's your concern? Amy asked. Not being tracked down again by the agents that tried to kidnap you yesterday?

Oh! Yeah, that'd be bad too. They were terrible for my analytics.

TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE COMPLETE!

TEMPORAL FLOW RESTORED.

Okay, team, Ryan told the pair, you've got six minutes, starting now. Let's make them count.

A few moments later, they came jogging around the berm in their suits. Masking a wince, Ryan pushed himself away from the slope and turned to face them.

Syd's movements were as natural as they had been when she was in her street clothes; Amy remained a bit unsteady on her feet, glaring down in frustration at the heeled boots when she stopped, but her skill had improved considerably since the first time she'd used a Changer.

"Earth's best Assassin, reporting for duty!" Syd shouted, then drew herself up to something resembling attention. Grinning, she tossed him a sloppy salute. "Ready for orders, boss!"

Under her helmet's transparent green visor, Amy's eyes rolled. She elbowed Syd in the side, which produced a hollow clank on impact, but no other apparent effect.

Let's try to get in the habit of using to the neural network for communication whenever you're transformed, Ryan sent. It's faster, messages travel further, and the bad guys can't listen in on it.

"You got it, boss – oh, whoops." She covered her mouth with an armored glove. Sorry. You got it, boss.

While we're talking, you two can take a couple of laps around the range, he said. We'll start by practicing basic movements: running, jumping, turning around, balancing on one foot, laying down and standing back up, that sort of thing. He gave them an apologetic shrug before continuing. When an Enforcer gets issued a Changer, they spend their whole next week just relearning how to move in War-Form. You're going to have to pick it up a lot faster.

The moment Ryan finished speaking, the pair glanced at one another. Reaching some sort of wordless agreement, they both took off at a dead sprint, moving quickly enough that the wind of their passage ruffled his hair.

A beat later, they were a hundred feet away, then five hundred, a thousand, and still accelerating. Before long, the distant figures disappeared into the surrounding woods, and he had to pull up his area map to continue tracking their progress. Ryan listened to the fading sounds of their crashing passage through the undergrowth, the squawking protests of disturbed birds trailing behind in their wake.

Is that the best you can do, Syd? he taunted, watching the two colored dots on his display jockeying for position. Come on, Amy, are you really going to let Syd leave you in the dust?

Syd proved to be a lot faster once the pair reached their respective top speeds. Not a surprise, he thought, considering how differently their Attributes were distributed. Even so, Amy's comparatively-slower pace would still have given an Olympic sprinter a run for their money. No matter how many times he saw one in action, he always found himself awed by the superhuman physical capabilities that a Changer could grant.

He glanced at the transformation time remaining on his display and decided they'd gone far enough.

Alright, he sent, let's bring it back in, shall we? Meet me at the waypoint marked on your display.

Arriving at the designated location on the other side of the range moments after he did, the two women skidded to a halt in front of him, breathing hard. Amy stood tall with her hands behind her head, while Syd was folded over and leaning on her knees.

Need a break? he asked them. When they both nodded, he raised his eyebrows skeptically. Are you sure about that?

What's... Syd panted, sounding like she was wheezing even through the neural link. What's that supposed to mean?

Human muscles turn oxygen into carbon dioxide, Ryan began, rather than answering her question directly. The harder you work your muscles, the more oxygen they need, and the more carbon dioxide they make. While you're running, your breathing gets shallower and faster to compensate, which is why you feel short of breath. It's an autonomic reaction, something that you only have partial control over.

Yeah, I noticed, Syd cut in, still winded and apparently a bit cranky as a result. Not that I don't appreciate the anatomy lecture, but what's that got to do with you telling us we don't need a break?

When you're transformed, every movement you make is amplified. The War-Form does all the heavy lifting, and your body is just along for the ride. All that running you did? Your muscles were barely working harder than they are right now.

So you're saying that we only feel tired because we expect to feel tired? Amy's tone was thoughtful. Wow. That's deep. How do we fix it, meditation or something?

Like anything else, it takes practice to get better, he said. As you train more, you'll get a better handle on your actual limitations, and your mindset will adjust to match. You won't be able to use the Changer to its full potential until you learn what you're really capable of –

– and the bad guys have already done that, Amy finished the thought for him.

Right. We're playing catch-up. Speaking of which... Ryan clapped his hands. Break time is over. Jumping jacks, let's go! And this time, try to focus on what your body is actually telling you, rather than what you expect it to be telling you.