“… how we didn’t catch this. Her body was overloaded with medical nanites.”

“It almost killed her! This is why the protocol was changed!”

“We should have checked.”

Leigh must have passed out at some point, because suddenly there was no more pain. Her body shivered in relief and she was only vaguely aware of the voices carrying a conversation around her.

“… not in her CHIPs history. It only says treatment was administered yesterday, there are no specifics on the dosage, and the visual record of it simply doesn’t exist.”

“… just wipe it and keep it off her record. We don’t need any more bad press for the UEF right now. She’s one of the McMann’s children…”

At the mention of her family, she tried to open her eyes and move, but the strain was too much for her body and everything went black again.

“… beyond my calculations.”

Leigh heard voices again.

“I agree, seeing as she wasn’t really Selected, my estimates had been for… 38% of the final injected mass.”

“Indeed, she’s… ah. She’s awake.”

“Hello Leigh, can you open your eyes for me?”

Leigh opened and then immediately closed her eyes when confronted with the glaring light above. She wanted to ask the technicians to turn it down, but her new and improved CHIP was already displaying a light sensitivity reduction alert. Leigh opened her eyes reluctantly and was relieved to see the light was no longer burning her retinas. She blinked a couple times, adjusting to her surroundings, but before she could, her CHIP notified her of the examinations the lab coats were performing on her. Leigh frowned, having never encountered that kind of notification before. All the information that the technicians extracted from her CHIP was relayed to her, core stats and all. She skimmed through the extracted stats until one caught her eye, the nanite report.

Unfamiliar with what she was looking at, it took her over a minute of CHIP-assisted guidance for her to understand it. The report basically gave a breakdown of the entire nanite population that was currently present in her body, including their status and current tasks. A quick investigation showed that most of the nanites were currently in the process of attaching themselves to bones and organs or creating the energy pathways through which she would later activate her energy suit. The working nanites tingled everywhere they touched and after ascertaining that every other bodily function was in order, Leigh looked down at her hands. It was the first time she was seeing her body since waking up. She’d seen vids of First Academy Selects and graduates, she’d even seen vids of her brother after he graduated, but even knowing what to expect, she wasn’t ready for what she saw.

Leigh’s hands were the whitest she’d ever seen them. She’d spent so many hours on the track and hover-boarding every week that she’d always sported a healthy tan. It was strange seeing a hand that didn’t look like hers obey her commands as she opened and closed it experimentally. However, that was only the beginning when it came to the changes that her hand, and her body, had gone through. Thin silvery, metallic veins could be seen flowing on the surface of her skin. They were literally flowing, as they delineated the pathways the nanites were taking to perform the various functions throughout her body. At a thought, the CHIP brought up a virtual image of what she looked like to others and Leigh gasped at the sight, barely recognizing herself. She was bald, white, with silvery and ever-changing veins of metal running across her skin, and yet, other than her lack of eyebrows, the most disconcerting change of all was the complete whiteness of her eyes.

Gone were the brown eyes she’d grown up with, and her hair, she knew, would grow out white. Leigh bit her lip, not knowing how to adjust to the change. Her own parents were First Academy graduates, but adjusting to the complete lack of visible pupils and irises on her own eyes proved to be more difficult than she’d anticipated. It almost felt like she’d lost part of herself, her identity.

“Leigh,” the shorter of the two technicians said, snapping her out of her self-evaluation. “Did you hear what I said, Leigh?”

Leigh shook her head to clear it.

“I said that—”

Leigh’s attention wavered again as the CHIP took it upon itself to replay the conversation she’d missed while caught up in her self-evaluation After she’d woken up, the technicians had started talking, explaining a few things, Leigh had missed all of it but the CHIP was now playing it back at 4x speed.

“Your stats look good,” the shorter lab coat said. “Especially your nanite integration. With such a high injected mass, we expected more complications, but your body recovered quite splendidly.”

“Above expectations,” the taller one said, garnering a glare from the shorter one, who was obviously in charge. “Your levels are not unheard of, but they are definitely in the higher margin, so if you experience any nausea, dizziness, sleepiness, sluggishness, loss of motor function, loss of hearing, loss of feeling—”

“Anything out of the norm,” interrupted the shorter one said. “The CHIP will alert you if anything is actually wrong, but just in case, do pay special attention to your stats over the next couple of days. Technology has come a long way, but there is a reason humans still lead the world and not robots—”

“Because we nixed self-aware AI about three centuries ago—”

Another glare.

“I remember when your brother came through five years ago,” the short one said, changing subjects. “He was also an exemplary specimen when it came to nanite integration. Both of you seem to be cut from the same cloth, after all.”

Leigh chose to ignore the surprise apparent in that statement.

“His intake was still significantly higher, but—”

“But,” the short one interrupted again, with another glare at the taller one, “you have done better than anyone of your Rank ever before.”

Once the CHIP recap finished, she panned back to reality, where the short one was advising her to contact the medical officer on board if any irregularities should arise over the next couple of days or weeks. Leigh nodded.

“I understand,” she said, uncomfortable with making the technicians have to repeat themselves.

“Good,” the short one said. “Then let’s get you clothed and shipped off. We’ve got about five hours left to get you on board.”

“Five hours?” Leigh asked, surprised.

She checked her CHIP and saw that she’d been out for nearly seven hours. It was no wonder the departure deadline was so close. Leigh lifted a hand to run over her hair, but came to a smooth, bald head. She jerked in surprise until she remembered and sighed, rubbing the unfamiliar surface. Idly, she wondered what she’d look like with white hair.

“Yep,” the tall technician said. “Don’t worry, we were able to arrange for your ship’s shuttle to come here last.”

Leigh nodded lamely, looking at the lab coats. She hadn’t bothered to check their names until then. The CHIP notified her that they were Marvin and Samyah Tiephs, brothers by the look of it. It explained a couple things about their interaction, or at least Leigh thought it did. She didn’t have a particularly good reference when it came to what she thought was ‘normal’ sibling relationships. Leigh smiled nonetheless.

“Thanks…”

“Now,” Marvin, the short one, said. “Can you stand up for me?”

Leigh nodded and sat up, almost hitting her head on her knees in the process. Surprised, she held her breath and tried to process the new speed at which her body reacted to her commands. She’d only meant to sit up and had instinctively raised her knees in order to get off the metal table afterward. Stunned, she took a few moments to look around and noticed a few other peculiar things. The table she was laying in had small dents in the area of her wrists and feet. Leigh’s eyes widened.

“Did I…?” she asked in part amazement and part horror.

“Oh, that,” Marvin said. “Don’t worry about it, it happens sometimes. The nanite reaction is different with everyone, but it’s always quite potent. Oh, another thing I advise is strength management in the next couple of days. Nanites don’t make you all-powerful by any means, but your body can be anywhere from three to eight times stronger than it was before the injection.”

Leigh’s eyes widened. She’d known about many of the advantages of the nanites, but somehow her research had never revealed this particular aspect of it. She nodded mutely, not knowing what else to say.

“Don’t worry about the table,” Samyah said, “it’ll be re-molecularized.”

Leigh nodded again before trying to get off the table once more. She took it a lot slower this time, managing her reactions and strength carefully. Only when she was standing securely on the ground did she heave a sigh of relief and transfer her attention to the brothers once more.

“Follow me,” Samyah said.

Leigh looked at Marvin, who nodded for her to proceed, so she took off after Samyah. He led her to the corner of the room to a dressing room. Seeing as she’d been naked in front of these people for more than a day, it seemed redundant, but she entered it anyway.

“Stand on the labeled footholds, stretch your arms out, close your mouth and eyes and hold still,” Samyah said.

“Okay…”

It was only when the assumed dressing room started filling with a dark blue liquid that she realized she’d been wrong about the label. The small chamber filled so quickly that it didn’t give her time to freak out and before she could even wonder how long she’d be expected to hold her breath, the chamber had already been drained, leaving a layer of the viscous liquid on her skin. Leigh felt a jet of cold, then hot and then once more cold air blowing through and in less than a second, the liquid had been transformed into some kind of suit. Leigh felt the nanites absorb the suit in front of her eyelids, nose and mouth. Breathing freely once more, she gave Samyah a look of annoyance.

“A little heads-up would have been nice,” she said.

“Oh,” he said noncommittally.

Leigh sighed.

“You can customize the suit now if you like,” Samyah said, directing her out of the dressing room.

“I can?” Leigh asked, but the CHIP was already showing her all the features the suit offered. She was already gaping in astonishment after reading the first few.

[IMPERMEABLE TO RADIATION]

[IMMUNE TO FOREIGN SUBSTANCES]

[COMPLETELY ABSORBABLE BY NANITES]

Needing to see it for herself, Leigh ordered the nanites to absorb her suit and, sure enough, she was naked again two seconds later, the only difference being that the silvery veins running all over her body had taken a darker, blue-tinged hue. Amazed, Leigh brought the suit back, but so it only covered her from neck down. The elastic, yet very breathable feel of it was the most comfortable thing she’d ever experienced. It made her feel freer, nimbler and more agile than she did even when naked. Next, she read through a couple of other features, until she came to the customization Samyah had mentioned. Although the entire population wore the same type of suit model, the customization options led to very few suits ever looking the same through the CHIP. By the time Samyah had guided her to the exit, she’d already changed her own to something closer to what she was used to.

The dark blue color had been replaced completely by a midnight black. Many people liked to add virtual frills here and there to spruce the suit up, but Leigh preferred its simple lines. Instead, she tended to customize a single part of the suit. For the past couple of months, she’d been customizing her left arm, but today she decided to customize her right leg. The black soon became a white, mimicking a boot that came up to her upper thigh. She attached two large buttons to the side, closing the virtual flap she added down the side. Enjoying the simple look the boot offered, Leigh chose to stop the customization there and instead change her usual style. She added two one-inch wide bands two inches apart on her forearm and called her creation done. Quite pleased with the simple aesthetic it provided, she turned her attention back to Samyah, who was offering absolutely no opinion on her outfit choice. It didn’t surprise her in the least.

“Follow this hallway to the waiting room, it will be the eighth door on the right,” Samyah said as he motioned to her bag on a counter, opened a door and sent her the route map he’d just explained.

Having nothing else to say, Leigh picked up her bag, nodded her thanks and left. Any questions she might have would be answerable by her CHIP, so there was no reason to take any more time out of his day. Walking down the hall, Leigh felt a wave of drowsiness wash over her. It made her think of the warnings Marvin had issued, but she chose not to make a big deal out of it just yet. Her CHIP showed her stats to be within the expected range for the first day post-nanite injection; she would start worrying when it didn’t anymore. Rubbing a hand over the still-unfamiliar baldness of her head, Leigh continued to make her way down the hall, reaching the waiting room at the same time as another boy her age. They exchanged courteous CHIP pings and she followed him inside, unprepared for what lay before her. Dozens upon dozens of people in her Year were milling about in various groups in a large hangar that opened out over the city on one side. A few transport units had pulled up and were being efficiently filled with sixteen year olds to be carted off wherever their training would be taking place.

Leigh’s CHIP alerted her that her shuttle would be arriving in sixteen minutes, but most of her attention was directed at the people around her. The moment she stepped through the door, half of the heads turned her way, expressions unfriendly. She could have discounted it for the strangeness of her hairless appearance or the perhaps the fact that she was unique in the crowd as a First Academy Select, but her CHIP alerted her to the presence of two more First Academy Selects waiting for their own shuttles. One of them was off to the right, practically engulfed by a crowd, the other was in the corner in the left. Leigh noticed that the one on the left was receiving similar treatment. At first, she thought she might have imagined the animosity directed towards her, but the fact that someone else was receiving the same treatment made it clear that she wasn’t imagining it at all. Curious about what was going on, Leigh approached the one on the left to see if she had some answers. People stepped aside as if she was contagious when she walked by. There was something really strange going on and Leigh’s confusion had skyrocketed by the time she reached the girl.

“Ah,” the girl said when Leigh walked up to her, “You’re 996.”

“…Yeah,” Leigh said, unused to being called by her Rank.

“I’m 999.”

“…Ok,” Leigh said, unsure of how to respond.

The girl who Leigh’s CHIP identified as Ashley Suez, smiled in amusement, but Leigh didn’t smile back. She was too busy staring at the girl’s white eyes. Did she look that strange too? Her parents had always had virtual configurations modifying their eyes, they said it tended to distract people. Leigh had never understood the necessity until now, it really did make First Academy Selects stand out, but maybe that was the point.

“Haven’t been spending a lot of time on social recently have you?” the girl asked, breaking into her musings.

“What do you mean?” Leigh asked, automatically opening up social at the mention thereof.

The girl who Leigh’s CHIP idendified as Ashley Suez, smiled in amusement.

“We are pariahs,”

“Pariahs?” Leigh asked, confused as she browsed the forums.

“Yeah,” the girl, whose name was Ashley, said. “We’re fakes and cheats. The UEF should never have replaced the ones killed in the H-DNA attack… Or at least, that’s what is being said.” The girl shrugged.

Leigh scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, “But why are we fakes, it’s not our fault…” Leigh said. It was the first time she’d spoken the words out loud, but she’d said it many times to herself. She hoped that if she said it enough times it would finally feel real.

“Yeah, no shit it’s not our fault,” Ashley said. “But they,” she added, nodding to the people still glaring at them, “don’t think that. Then again, they’re just jealous they still didn’t make it to First, so don’t worry.”

Leigh remained stoic, unsure how she felt about the girl’s take on the attack, but her smile was contagious and Leigh found herself smiling right along side her. In a way, Ashley reminded her of Vinnya, always able to turn the situation around to something positive when she felt like it. Leigh sighed, wishing her friend was with her in a moment like this.

“So, what ship you on?” Ashley asked.

“Er…. Seven,” Leigh answered, parroting off the information her CHIP supplied.

“Aww, shucks. I’m four, guess I won’t have a comrade ‘fake’ on board after all…”

“Well, you could have—”

“Oh come on, what are the chances two of the ‘cursed seven’ land on the same ship? I bet they’ll separate us on principle. The fact that we’ve even met by coincidence is kind of unbelievable, but I guess not all Centers process First Academy Selects…”

Leigh nodded, not sure of how to respond. She’d always been social to the exact extent required for her rank, it had never been her forte and the girl was a regular chatterbox. Leigh had never been so forthcoming with someone she’d just met, but then again, she’d always had to be careful. As the daughter to two quasi-celebrities and the sister to another, it wasn’t rare for people to approach her for the sake of her connection to them.

“Oh!” Ashley said, “Looks like my ride is here, gotta go!”

Leigh didn’t even have the time to process the girl’s words before she was already gone, speeding toward the shuttle that had just arrived. After Ashley’s shuttle departed, Leigh stood in awkward silence among the glares and whispers, perusing social until her own shuttle arrived. She was surprised to see the other First Academy Select also head toward the shuttle. At the thought, her CHIP told her he was also going to be on her ship.

Leigh opened her mouth to extend a greeting but the boy cut her off with a curt, “You’re one of them, huh?”

She blinked, surprised at the obviously hostile tone, only to be even more shocked as he shoved his way past her to get in the shuttle before her.

“Well, hello to you too…” Leigh muttered under her breath as she followed him in, wondering what kind of reception she would be getting from everyone on her ship, the people her future would depend on.

Before she could take a seat and think about it too much, an official UEF message arrived in her inbox. She opened it immediately.

[CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE PRELIMINARY INSPECTION!]

Leigh wondered why they bothered to congratulate them on something that no one had failed in centuries.

[YOU ARE NOW ON YOUR WAY TO YOUR DESIGNATED SHIP, WHERE YOU WILL STAY FOR THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR FIRST SEMESTER. THE LENGTH OF THIS SEMESTER WILL BE DETERMINED BY THE LENGTH OF THE JOURNEY TO YOUR DESTINATION PLANET. AS YOU ALL KNOW, THERE ARE TEN SHIPS SENT OUT EACH YEAR. SOME OF LAST YEARS’ SHIPS HAVE STILL NOT REACHED THEIR DESTINATION, AS THE FIRST SEMESTER JOURNEY CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM TEN TO EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF TRAVEL.]

Leigh’s brother had been one of the unlucky ones to go to Ehien, the furthest of the destination planets at eighteen months of travel. Leigh hoped she didn’t get sent there as well, not because she didn’t want to have such a long journey, but because she didn’t want to be subjected to more comparison to him than she already was.

[EACH SHIP WILL BE SPLIT INTO TEN TENTS BY THE END OF THE YEAR. YOU WILL BE GOING THROUGH A SELECTION PROCESS FOR YOUR BEST LEADERS WHICH WILL THEN DETERMINE THE COMPOSITION OF EACH TENT. YOUR MISSION DURING THE FIRST SEMESTER WILL BE TO PREPARE AS WELL AS YOU CAN FOR THE SECOND SEMESTER, DURING WHICH YOU WILL SPEND 365 STANDARD DAYS SURVIVING ON THE PLANET DESIGNATED TO YOUR SHIP.]

[BEFORE ARRIVING AT THE DESIGNATED PLANET, YOUR TENT WILL HAVE TO COMPETE FOR ONE OF THE EIGHT SPOTS AVAILABLE. THE TWO TENTS THAT ARE NOT SELECTED WILL BE SPENDING THEIR SECOND SEMESTER ABOARD THE SHIP AS IT RETURNS TO EARTH. LEADERS ARE NEEDED BOTH ON THE FRONT AND BEHIND THE SCENES TO GUARANTEE THE CONTINUED ORGANIZATION AND GROWTH OF THE UEF.]

Leigh swallowed, hoping the animosity she’d felt in the waiting deck wasn’t going to follow her on board the ship. If she was hated by their Tent it could be fatal to their teamwork, and she’d have a hard time guaranteeing her presence on-planet for the second semester. Leigh knew that the idea behind the vote was to enforce the importance of leadership and trust within the Tent. In order to be selected by your teammates, most of whom also wanted to be selected for the second semester on the destination planet, then you had to be able to convince them not only that you had the skills necessary for survival in a savage and foreign environment, but that they would also be able to tolerate your close presence for an entire year.

Leigh sighed. If her starting point was animosity from all sides, then she might want the furthest destination, after all. Either way, as the 996th Rank, she had a lot to prove.