The AI had led them to a massive room. It was quite clearly a military style shipside training room. The style was different than she had seen on her own people’s ships. The big difference was the extremely high ceilings, and the floating buildings scattered throughout the massive room. The room was easily more than a kilometer across, and in the center was what looked to be a small floating town. Beneath the floating town was an odd metal arch that seemed different from everything else in the room, and she found her eyes drawing to it. The presence of what looked like defensive positions facing it also seemed interesting to her.

“What is that arch in the middle of the room?” asked Kiru curious. She didn’t expect the AI to answer her, but hoped it would.

“That is a Stargate. All the advanced races have their methods for near instantaneous transit of people, and supplies from planet to ship. The Three Races of Sol use stargates, that allow a near instantaneous transmission of matter and energy between any two of them via a special type of hyperwarp conduit,” said Megumi.

“Wait are you suggesting that arch is like a teleporter? Those things you see in science fiction?” asked Kiru. Teleportation existed for her people, but it wasn’t practical. The largest item they ever managed to teleport had a mass of half a kilogram. As such teleporting people was still a thing of science fiction for her.

“Not quite, unlike teleporters which are instantaneous gates use a conduit to move matter. This process is slower, but allows you to move things greater distances and in larger quantities than a teleporter. Teleports can only move people between any two pads with a half million kilometers, gates on the other hand are only limited by power. Give them enough power and they can move things between galaxies. Anyway it is about time we get to training. You can find your training uniform in the lockers over there,” said Megumi. Which reminded Kiru that she had been naked the whole time. She had actually somehow forgotten, about her nudity, but she suspected the comfortable environment was to blame.

The biomech girls were already at the lockers, and she went looking for clothing herself. It didn’t take her long to find a locker with her name already on the plate, written in the same alien calligraphy that was on her hud. There was a small plate on the lower right hand corner of the door with an imprint of a hand. Taking the hint, she pressed her hand on the imprint and was rewarded with a small click. When she took her hand away the door opened to reveal the outfit stored within. It was a simple tube top, that designed to only cover her breasts, and half of them at that. For the bottom she had a short skirt, that was a little too short for her tastes. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for the fact that a pair of panties wasn’t provided. She found herself wishing for her shift again. It actually covered more than this outfit, but she slipped into it while muttering her complaints about it.

She was glad to see the locker door had a mirror which gave her a good view of herself. Looking in the mirror she was hard pressed to notice any difference between before and after the operation. Her figure was still small and lithe with just the right mix of fat and muscle. The tube top she was wearing made her modest breasts seem bigger from the way they were straining against it. Twirling in the mirror she was pleasantly surprised to find that the skirt stayed where it was. A little bit of experimental testing revealed that it moved in relation to her movements in such a way that she didn’t have to worry about flashing her pussy. Unless she let someone look under her skirt. The fabric somehow defying the laws of physics. Which made her feel better about it. As she closed the locker she noticed the others were also dressed an already lining up in front of Megumi’s holographic avatar.

She went over to join them, and hoped to ask what was up with the fabric, but she quickly found she didn’t have the opportunity. The moment they were all gathered up, Megumi spoke up. Before she knew it, she found herself running laps around the entire room. She was shocked when she told them to make a thousand laps around the room. Which is part of how she ended up being told to do six thousand. She had protested about the original, and in the fashion of militaries everywhere the number she was required to do raised with every sentence.

On the bright side all the running let her get a feel for how her body had changed physically. She was fast, extremely fast. She easily managed to zip around the massive room faster than most vehicles would have. Of course that was only after she managed to get the hang of running with her altered body. She lost count of the number of times, she had stumbled over her own feet or crashed into a wall. She was surprised to see that she wasn’t the only one having trouble at first. Many of the biomechs had issues at first as well. Even though she had expected them to be perfect given they were machines, but after she thought about it she realized that it made sense. They were practically newborns, and like any newborn they were learning. Just at a frightening pace. Something she found more scary was that she was learning at the same pace.

While she had thought being told to make a thousand laps around the room was a cruel torture she quickly learned her altered body had no problem with that. Apparently in addition to being faster than any Neku had a right to be, she also had boosted stamina to match. Even so six thousand was still pushing her limits, and when she was done she slumped to the floor pretty much exhausted and trying to catch her breath. As she was catching her breath Megumi came over, and asked her a question

“Enjoy the run?” asked Megumi.

“Yeah, I did. This hud thing is interesting, too. How exactly is it being projected into my vision though?” answered Kiru. She had indeed enjoyed the run. Once she had gotten the hang of things the speed and feel of running like that was exhilarating.

“Figured you would enjoy it once you got started. I know I used to enjoy running when I still had a proper avatar, but it pales in comparison to flying with your own wings. Anyway to answer the question, the hud comes in part from the computational core implanted in your brain and the rest from the implants in your eyes,” said Megumi. Kiru didn’t know what to say as she now had dozens of new questions. As she thought about it she realized that she wasn’t surprised that she had a computer implanted in her brain. It helped explain why she was learning so fast, and so many other little things she had noticed. Now that the implants were mentioned she realized that her vision did seem different.

“What do you mean by proper avatar?” asked Kiru deciding to ask the question she was most comfortable with. Thinking about the machines in her body made her uncomfortable.

“I used to have a biomech avatar. Not the same class design as yours. Mine was designed to more closely emulate my creators,” said Megumi.

“How did you lose it?” asked Kiru curious.

“In battle. You may be impressed with your new abilities, but you are by no means invincible. Even an inferior opponent can cause you harm if you let your guard down,” said Megumi.

“Thanks for the advice, I will keep it in mind,” said Kiru. Before she could think further, Megumi told her, “Anyway in regards to your abilities, I will be teaching you how to use your combat systems. As a scout class your most valuable asset is your cloak. Just remember that the cloak takes a lot of energy and your power generation is limited, so you won't be able to use your mounted weaponry and the cloak at the same time. Also keep in mind that while cloaked you won’t be able to use your shields.”

“Wait, the way you phrased that makes it sound like I can fire a weapon while cloaked,” said Kiru.

“You can, but do keep in mind that there are plenty of ways to expose a cloaked assailant. Don’t rely on the cloak in a battle. It is a valuable asset, but your shields are just as valuable. Knowing when to use which can be important, but that must be learned. It can’t be just programed. It's why we are training,” said Megumi.

“So what exactly is next anyway?” asked Kiru.

“I’m going to pit you against type one training drones. They won’t seem that fast to you, and have limited shielding. They won’t be able to take more than one or two solid hits in a short period. Their armament is a single light stun beam. In other words, this should be easy for you,” said Megumi.

“So when are you starting this mock fight?” asked Kiru curious. She actually wanted to get a feel for these new combat devices embedded in her. Since she had them, she wanted to learn them. So in a way this was actually exciting for her.

“After I am sure you are familiar enough with your hud, and equipment,” said Megumi. She had already figured it out, and described the elements she had and what they told her.

“It looks like you have figured out the basics then. Your defensive armament is a dual modal plasma cannon. It has two modes and three settings. I have just unlocked the first setting for you. In that setting it fires a simple light pulse or beam depending on mode. This setting is used for mock battles only. The second setting is often called the stun setting. As you can guess in setting two your cannon will incapacitate the target. The final setting fires a full powered shot, that will be lethal to anything in the way,” said Megumi.

Kiru naturally focused on the weapon, and with a mere thought found she could activate it. Her forearm opened up as plates that looked and felt like normal flesh retracted and the cannon extended out. On her hud the cannon stated it was armed and on setting one. The stated mode was Phased Strike mode. Pointing it out, and willing a shot a beam lanced from the cannon and struck where she was pointing it at. It was a light blue highly visible ray that did nothing to the target.

“I see you are a natural at this and figured out how to shoot already. Try changing the mode. Phased Strike is better for long range shooting, and the beam can penetrate tough armor more easily. The other mode is called the Hellfire mode. In that mode the cannon will rapidfire deadly energy pulses. Allowing it to tear through energy shields very quickly, and very dangerous in close quarters. Do keep in mind that Hellfire mode is less accurate at range and dissipates more quickly, making it a poor choice for long range targets,” said Megumi. Kiru listened carefully as she knew this was valuable information. She also complied with the instructions and found switching modes was simple and easy. All she had to do was will it to happen. Firing it she saw Megumi was right about it being less accurate. The bolts actually had a bit of spread to it, the bolts being highly sensitive to her slightest movements. The dissipation was also obvious and in fact it seemed to have more of an effect. As the drift was not that bad, and easily compensated for.

“Looks like you are getting the feel for it. I’m going to start the mock battle, good luck,” said Megumi. She barely had time to acknowledge what she said, before a series of small spheres erupted into the room. They were about half the size of her head each, and it had a raised band around the center of the sphere where the top and bottom halves met. A small circular disk was attached to the band, and rotated around it at will. At the top and bottom of each sphere was a glowing band of blue light. The spheres also zipped around at a fair but trackable clip as they floated around the room. She also noticed that Megumi had other avatars speaking with the other girls, which vanished shortly after the spheres entered the room. Looking where the avatar speaking to her had been she found nothing.

Then one of the spheres shot her. A short, violet beam hit her centermass. On her hud the bar representing her shield drained slightly. Her previous military training kicked in at that point, she aimed at the attacker and fired. A few dozen blue pulses slammed into the sphere, and the glowing bands turned red. A target destroyed flashed on her hud, and the sphere dropped into a port that appeared on the floor. Three more zipped towards, and fired at her. Their stun beam had superb accuracy each blast slamming into her shield.

She returned fire herself, and dived behind an obstacle that looked like it would make decent cover. Her burst of fire missed the attackers entirely. The bolts flying past the drone she had targeted and slamming into a floating obstacle. Violet beams arced over her head, and then she popped for a few quick shots at the drones. She managed to hit one before being hit herself. Those beams were actually draining her shield at a fair rate. It was now about a fifth depleted. She dived behind her cover for a moment, and waited before popping again. This time she managed to get both drones without being hit.

Only to be struck from behind by drones suddenly deploying from behind her. She engaged them with fire, and repositioned to avoid further hits. She found herself learning quickly. On their own these drones weren’t a threat, but in numbers they could easily defeat her defenses and bring her down. She realized it would be best not to let them group up on her. She was also glad to see her shield was regenerating. Finding another obstacle to use, she took cover and used to it bring down the drones that had ambushed her from behind.

She found herself with a brief respite, and took a look around to see how the other girls were doing. None of them were down, but she couldn’t really tell if they were doing better or worse. She didn’t have long to try and figure it out before she was attacked by another drone group.

She wasn’t sure how long the combat training lasted, but she managed to get through it without her shield going down. Of course the AI had said it was supposed to be easy, and during the whole thing she never really felt like she could lose. As long as kept too many from getting close to her she was fine.

“Looks like you did well for today. Tomorrow is going to cover information gathering, and infiltration techniques,” said Megumi.

“Does that mean I will get to use that personal cloaking device?” asked Kiru. The idea of trying it out was kind of exciting.

“Not on the schedule. It is a useful tool, but you need to learn all the tools in your arsenal. When I am done you will be an expert at acting, and will know how to use your body to extract information,” said Megumi.

“Wait you don’t mean sex do you?” asked Kiru with worry.

“Of course I do, and don’t worry. I installed a birth control implant. You won’t be able to get pregnant if you don’t want to be. I also augmented your immune system so you won’t have to worry about disease either,” said Megumi. Kiru found herself think that those things were nice, but they didn’t actually solve her problem with this.

“That isn’t the problem!” exclaimed Kiru. Megumi gave her a gentle smile, and said, “I know. Your first time is something special, and I’ll make sure it will be for you.”

Kiru went red. She almost argued the point further, but a nagging part of her told her that doing so was pointless. Instead she asked a question, “I don’t have a choice do I?”

“No,” was the simple one word reply she got. She didn’t doubt it was true, but that didn’t stop her from trying to think up ways to convince the AI otherwise. Before she even realized it, and while she was deep in thought she was escorted back to her cell by a biomech. When she looked up to give her argument to Megumi, she found herself alone in her cell.