A painful and poorly remembered weekend passed by—either in sleep or nursing hangovers—until, per their orders, the freshly minted Rangers queued up outside the Physio-Development Center to complete their ‘training’. Joined by dozens of graduates from other training camps on Tyr, all were giddy with anticipation at the next step in their journey. Kayla found herself surrounded by young women just as boisterous, fit, and ready for action as she was. Most of them had concluded that the women of Valkyrie were something unusual, and guesswork ran wild.

The crowd of girls waited for an hour, breaking ice, and sharing their boot camp stories, until the main doors opened and they were ushered into a lobby. Glass walls separated them from an expansive gymnasium, where they witnessed absurd feats of strength from women inside.

Thandi nudged Kayla. “Check it out—she’s lifting five-hundred pounds!”

A young woman got up from the bench press machine, saw the spectators and smiled, flexing her biceps in a Miss Universe pose.

“She doesn’t look that big,” Rose said. “Men who lift that much are built like tanks.”

Kayla smirked. “You could use a little more thickness.” She began to laugh, but stopped when Rose glared at her.

“This way ladies!” a woman called, and she led them into a small auditorium where she took the podium.

“Welcome to the next step on your journey in Valkyrie. It is an endless truth of war that nobody is ever as strong as they need to be. For that reason, all personnel in this organization undergo a biomolecular transformation. Today, we’re going to subject you to that procedure.”

An image flashed up on the screen of a bizarrely shaped flying robot, armed with strange twisting limbs and mechanical appendages arranged around its body.

The speaker gestured with a laser pointer. “You will be strapped down while this machine operates on you, rearranging your insides to make you physically superior. You’ll have to hold very still while it goes to work because the slightest mistake could leave you in agonizing pain.” She paused, then glanced around the room and winked. “Okay, I’m kidding, sort of.”

The Rangers laughed nervously.

“This is called a nanomachine, or nanite, and it’s actually much smaller than your cells,” the speaker continued. “In short, we will flood your bloodstream with these machines, and they will reconstruct your bone, muscle, connective tissue—the entire substance of your body. The process takes two weeks, during which time you will be in a chemically induced coma. When you wake up, you will have profoundly increased strength, stamina, speed, and healing potential.

“Obviously, this information has been deliberately kept from you until this point in the program. Napoleon once said, ‘It’s the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory’. With your graduation from boot camp, you have proven your dedication, self-discipline, and ability to succeed against adversity, regardless of what you have to work with. Never forget—Rangers are the product of their own character first. Everything else is just a tool.”

Kayla nodded keenly. Her imagination raced with possibilities. First on her mind—would there be anything in the galaxy she couldn’t climb?

“In the second place,” the speaker said, “knowledge of this transformation offers a grave temptation to those who would otherwise not be so committed to working here. For you see, these nanites will make you effectively immortal.”

Jaws dropped around the room, and Christie raised her hand. “What does ‘effectively’ mean in this context?”

“We don’t know,” the speaker said. “Theoretically, up to fifty thousand years, but nobody has tested that.”

“That you’re going to tell us about,” Kayla said, and murmurs of agreement filled the room.

“That we know about,” the speaker insisted. “I can absolutely assure you that nobody in the organization is that old.”

Kayla was not content with that response. “How old are the oldest women here?”

The speaker smiled patiently. “Never ask a woman her age. However, I can tell you that I am seventy years old, though I know I don’t look it. I won’t answer any more questions of that nature, but if you’re too far outside your comfort zone, you know where the door is.”

Kayla was about to speak again, but snapped her mouth shut, when she felt Thandi’s hand on her shoulder.

The speaker nodded. “Some of you are no doubt feeling pretty intimidated by the thought of having your body altered—some of you are maybe getting aroused.”

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Nervous laughter filled the room again.

“I want to reassure you,” the speaker went on, “this process will not change who you are as a person, but it will change your life. You will go to sleep and wake up in two weeks as a superhero. However, there are consequences.

“Consider the following question. If humanity did evolve to be bigger, stronger and meaner, would we still be human? Would we become a race of violent monsters? The purpose of this organization proves that the most advanced beings are not necessarily the wisest.

“So, it is not our policy to change the human species by introducing into its midst women that are biologically altered. Who knows what could happen to an infant born from a body like mine? Could it even survive? Maybe it would, and go on to engender a terrible race of mutants. We don’t have the knowledge, and we don’t have the desire, to play God.”

“This upgrade is therefore temporary. When you leave Valkyrie to return to a normal life, all these nanomachines will be flushed out of your system. From today until that time, you will be artificially sterilized. Now ladies, I personally have over a hundred friends who have retired, returned to a normal body and a normal life, and successfully had healthy children. This is a problem we worked very hard on, and I want to reassure you that whatever future you had planned for yourself is not threatened. This brings me to my next point—”

“Is that why there are only women here?” Christie interjected.

The speaker stopped and stared curiously at her. “What do you mean?”

“You can presumably have the nanites sterilize egg cells against normal sperm easily enough,” Christie said. “But if both an upgraded male and female got together, that would mean nanite modified sex cells interacting with each other. Something unpredictable could occur.”

The speaker nodded. “Y-Yes, that’s very insightful, Ranger. Perhaps I will expect to see you in our R&D labs in a few years?”

Christie wrinkled her nose. “Doubt it. I like to play outdoors.”

“Well, in any case,” the speaker continued, “yes, the founders of this organization were women, and agreed that they should not risk mixing two nanite enhanced genders for fear of what might be produced. Life evolves constantly, after all. The only alternative would be total voluntary abstinence, which you ladies,” she said with a grin, “probably would fail to observe.”

This was met with general agreement and a few confidently nodding heads.

Kayla’s jaw, however, clenched in frustration. There was still too much not being said.

There were more questions on the effects of nanites on the human body, and many Rangers wanted to know exactly how ‘super’ they would become. Once these had been answered, the girls were led to individual exam rooms, where they received a series of tests. They reassembled in a large hall filled with medical beds that were hooked up to unpleasant looking machines. Technicians moved between the beds, checking their clipboards, and preparing for their future patients.

“Are there any questions before we begin?” a technician asked the excited but nervous Rangers.

“Why bother?” said one girl. “You could tell us we’ll grow wings, and we’ll still go along with it.” The others laughed.

“Wings would be awesome, though,” Kayla mused.

Christie raised a hand. “Will the procedure provide any treatment for low intellect individuals with behavioral disorders?”

The technician smiled. “No, you will emerge exactly the same person as you are now.”

Christie turned to Kayla and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Kayla”.

Kayla cracked a wry smile. “Enough talk,” she said. “Let’s get started.”

When she woke, Kayla was nauseous, and her muscles felt weak. The glare of bright lights seared her eyes, and when she tried to blink, she found her eyelids were as heavy as lead. A concerned-looking, white-coated doctor moved into her field of vision.

“Take it easy, Ranger Barnes,” the doctor said. “Everything looks good on the charts. How are you feeling?”

“Dead,” Kayla whispered, and even that single word took great effort. She wanted to sleep for days. “I can’t move.”

“You were withdrawn from the coma three days ago,” the doctor continued, “and you’ve been naturally asleep since then. Don’t worry, this is all normal for the procedure. I’m afraid you will have to learn how to move all over again. Try to relax—you aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.”

“When—”

“A rehabilitation specialist will come by a bit later. Do you have any sharp pains or discomfort?”

Kayla tried to shake her head, but she didn’t have the energy. “No,” she croaked.

“Be patient. Give yourself time.” The doctor moved on.

Um… no, Kayla thought. She didn’t need anyone to tell her how rehabilitation worked. Focusing on her fingers, she tried to wiggle them as fast as she could, though they moved like they were immersed in treacle. When she got tired of that exercise, she switched to her toes. That too was a workout all on its own, and after struggling for as long as she could, Kayla became too tired to even keep her eyelids open. Suddenly convinced that everything she cared about was pointless, she decided she might as well sleep forever.

She woke up again, not knowing how much time had passed, but feeling refreshed and ready for more. A new doctor soon moved over to her.

“Hello Kayla, I’m the rehab specialist,” the doctor said. “I’m happy to see you’re awake again. Don’t worry about sleeping too much—in fact, I encourage it. Are you ready to start working on some simple moves?”

Kayla felt like she didn’t have the strength to argue, so she gently nodded her head.

“Why don’t you try and wiggle your fingers?”

Kayla obliged. They moved just a little quicker this time.

“Excellent work,” the doctor said. “You seem to be progressing faster than the others. How about wiggling your toes?”

Again, Kayla willed them to move faster and faster, and felt her heart buzz.

“Okay, slow down now. You don’t want to run before you can walk.” The doctor gave a small and irritating laugh at her own joke.

Kayla ignored her and focused on her movements. She soon felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Now, Barnes,” the doctor said less cheerfully, “you really must pace yourself and get some more rest. I know it’s frustrating, but this will take a lot of time.”

Kayla nodded and stopped moving, closing her eyes until the doctor patted her arm approvingly and walked away. When the voice spoke again at another girl’s bed, Kayla went back to wiggling her toes. No-one was going to tell her to take things slowly.