I quickly scanned my skills and abilities, there were no big surprises there. I had the Absorption ability, and skills that fit under my Classifications, so I got up and walked around the Control Room. It looked similar to a sci-fi spaceship bridge layout. My chair was on the back wall, facing out over places for other chairs, right now there were only enough spots for those under my command that could upgrade their status.

A few feet in front of my station was a large circle, the label 'Teleporter' floating in the air above it.

"Please think or state your destination, or ask for a list of destination," a soft neutral voice seemed to whisper in my ear.

"Destination list please," I replied.

"Control Room, current location. Mess Hall, Sleeping Quarters, Gym, Crafting Hall, Lounge."

I decided to save the Sleeping Quarters for last, "Gym, please."

A flash, followed by a short darkness then another flash, and I was in an alcove just off a large gym. A mile-long track surrounded various types of work out machines. As I approached the machines, I noticed they all seemed to be older models, with very few features. Closer inspection showed that they were still worked, so I crossed over to the other side of the track, to where I had noticed an open area.

There were some old gymnastics mats and equipment, and on the far side of them appeared sports fields of various types. With a nod and grunt of satisfaction, I returned to the track and started a light jog around it.

As I jogged I thought about things, then wondered if I could raise my puny stats in the gym. It made sense, I mean the gym could be just to practice various moves, but all this equipment.... So I grabbed two, two-pound weights and started to run the track as fast as I could. When my time ran out I struggled as I pushed past the limit, then had to sit and catch my breath and let the pain pass. After a few hours of this I saw one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen:

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Due to your hard work, and pushing past your limits, the following attributes have changed: Strength +2, Reflex +2, Willpower +1

I fell to the ground, the weights rolled a few feet away from my hands, as I laid on the ground and panted from all the exertion. A few minutes later and I sat up, crossed my legs with my hands in my lap I started to meditate as I took stock of my body.

I had no hair on top of my head, but as my skin was covered by small, sharp-edged scales, it did not look bad at all. Just above each temple was a small stub of a horn, and in their normal place were two long ears that came to a point and had two-inch hair-like strands that came off of them. The hair was stiff, and as I found out could cut. I also found out that in my Control Area I healed much faster than normal, as the small cut healed almost in an instant. My neck, chest, hips, and legs were all proportional to my size as if I had been a miniature human. My arms were slightly longer than normal, and after a bit of thought and experimentation, I figured out that I could lean forward and walk on all fours, which increased my speed to double normal.

On my back, near the spine, just inside of the shoulder blades protruded twelve long multijointed objects, six on each side. This took me longer to figure out, but they were wings and tentacles at the same time. If I locked them together like at certain joints they would act as wings, but when I unlocked them at those joints they could move independent of each other and became flexible tentacles. On my lower back, at the tailbone, was, yes a tail, twice as long as I was tall and very flexible. I could wrap it around and lift objects, or even use it to lift or swing myself.

My hands and feet were odd, they all had three long, clawed fingers and two clawed opposable thumbs. There was one thumb on each side of the three fingers, and if I folded them back and locked them into place, I could walk on them similar to a bird, or I could leave them out and walk and swing around like a monkey or great ape.

My teeth were all small and sharp, a long forked tongue I could taste the air around me with, and snake slit eyes that could see somewhat in low light, and a little exploration of my gender changeability, and I knew my odd body really well. 

Now that I knew my body, I got up and went into the Control Room, ready to start my first mission, which was labeled "Trial".