Nigkala Tales Pt. 24: Mars needs Women

Nigkala Tales Pt. 24: Mars needs Women

It says so on the label

Thanks to my editor kenjisato. Also, to LanguageTool. Combined, they put me right. Any problems left all belong to me.

Don't forget to rate the story, and comment on it.

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Red Horizons finally passed all the hardware checks for their Mars flight. Now would begin the construction of the stations, ships, and the selection of the people they would send. Having been involved with some of their engineering, I kept a weather eye on them, as I had good memories with them. They were about three months from staffing the new mega-station, when I received a call.

"Hello, Becky Sue here."

"Hello there. I am Brian Stevens, from Red Horizons HR. I understand you have worked on some of our space equipment. We would like to hire you to help train the orbital crew, and perhaps more. Would you be interested?"

"Yes. What all would be encompassed?"

"You would teach Zero-G movement, remote limb control, and Zero-G calisthenics. Initially, you would teach at our headquarters, and later, in orbit."

I thought about it, and I had just finished another movie as a fight trainer, so I had a lot of free time. "Sounds fun. I'm in. Can you send the contract over? I'll have my lawyer look it over and negotiate the details."

"I'll have our lawyers do that."

"I'll be seeing you." We ended the call, and I spoke with Filipe about it.

"Well, sounds like you will be spending some time in orbit."

"They didn't promise it."

"That won't stop you. So, what do you plan to wear?"

"The usual. I'll wear clothes that let them see my naughty bits, occasionally. They might even let me use the nanotech outfit also."

"You had fun with that tech."

"Yeah, I did." I smiled at the memories. "I wonder, can it sub for a spacesuit?"

"That could be dangerous, especially if it fails."

"Yeah, but it might do for emergencies. I'll suggest it to them."

My lawyers got me a nice deal. I got room and board, and afterwards, I got to keep my nanotech outfit and a charger. A few weeks later, I drove to their headquarters in Chicago. I met Brian in the lobby.

"Welcome back, Becky Sue. If you could step into security, they can get you some updated badges." We spent a few minutes there, and then headed to the training facility in my car. I hung the car's badge on the mirror. It was a fair distance into the campus, and Brian said that was to discourage interruptions.

"All the trainees live here, as part of their training. It is kind of like dorms, in that everyone has a room with their bed and stuff, and four rooms share a set of common rooms, consisting of a full bath, kitchen, and living room. We gave you two dorms, and knocked out a door between them. One of them is for living space and one is an office. The other two are a project office and supplies. You are also at the end of the hall, so you can have quiet if you need it." We went there, and he showed me my space, and I noticed they even had a custom long bed. My office had a filing cabinet with four empty drawers, a desk and nice chair, and two visitor chairs.

He took a key and chain off the desk. "This is a key to the suite. It also opens the doors to your room and office. The people running the project office also have keys to the suite, but it opens the project office and storage doors, and not your rooms. Someone will be here during office hours, and a little more before and after, but otherwise, you have the suite to yourself. They will handle most of your needs. Now, follow me, and I'll give you the nickel tour."

He led me around, showing the cafeteria, the gym, the library, the lab, and the social rooms. The latter had some video games, a pool table, and several tables for playing games. A few people were about. Against one wall, was a selection of board and card games. Another corner was set up as a small bar with no seating, but I saw beer, soda, coffee, and some other things I couldn't identify from the door.

He walked me back to my car. "You can put your stuff in your room. Introduce yourself, and make yourself at home. We are expecting a few more arrivals tomorrow, but the day after, we will begin things. Oh, and on your bed, you will find a small guide. While it is not rules, per se, we would like everyone to try to keep them. As the trainer, and not the trainee, they apply even less to you, but there is something to be said of setting the example. The guide also has the schedule currently planned. If you need to change it, no problem, all the room computers have access to the master schedule." With that, he said goodbye, and got into a car nearby.

I spent the next ten minutes unloading my car and setting up my dorm. It would have been longer, but three guys really wanted to talk to me, so I enlisted their help. One girl was also with them, and she helped to hold doors open and telling me all about the guys. The guys talked a bit, but couldn't keep up with her.

One of the guys asked, "So, Becky Sue, how did you score this suite? You look a little... um, old, to be a trainee."

"Well, Nate, I'm not a trainee, but will be working with you here, and this is one of the perks. More will be revealed later, but for now, just know that they called me." I grinned, and chuckled at their reactions.

The girl asked, "Why?"

"Well, Tanya, I've worked with them before, so I'm a known quantity. I'm much easier to justify to the bean counters. I suspect you all might wind up considering me as an older sister, a den mother, a wise elder, or The Man, depending."

"Depending on what?"

"You'll see. Surely, you all will have fun speculating about me. Don't worry, it won't bother me no matter how outrageous an idea you come up with. Now, with all my stuff here, how about we head out, and you introduce me to the others?"

Nate said, "Sure." I spent the rest of the day chatting with the others, getting to know them, without giving too much information about myself. There were seventeen trainees here so far. As I was supposed to instruct them soon, I declined their offers of sex, but welcomed conversation, and company at meals. Overnight, I familiarized myself with the curriculum. The next day, I met the rest of the trainees when Brian brought them over in three batches. He gave them the same nickel tour. We had a class of twenty-four trainees. After dinner, I reminded everyone we started in the gym at nine.

I arrived at the gym at eight, and began my own workout, but I only did enough to see the range of motion on the machines. I was wearing very short shorts, a tight t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I also had a whistle and a stopwatch, marking my authority, and a fancy watch I could use to take notes. The first person showed up at a quarter to, and I suggested they limber up with some stretches.

On the hour, I looked over the crowd, and noted who was late. I wrote their names on a board by the door. Then I addressed the class. "Trainees, I am Doctor Becky Sue Tate. I have worked for Red Horizons before as a trainer. I have also spent time in orbit, and have worked on both the nanotech clothing and the remote control limbs. This makes me well qualified to teach you. You will note we have two people who are late. They have earned an hour of supervised gym time with me after dinner. Yes, it may be a bit much, but you need to learn to be on time, as others are counting on you. This punishment for tardiness applies to all classes I teach, so don't be late. A little early is fine, as long as you are not leaving someone else in the lurch.

"I usually go by Becky Sue, but I don't mind if you call me coach, sensei, teacher, or doctor. If it is done with respect, you can even call me 'bitch'." That got some chuckles. "Okay, we'll start out with some stretches, and then we'll do a few laps, so I can see your general fitness. Please follow my lead." I then began with some stretches. When it looked like everyone was ready, I told everyone to follow me, and I began running some laps. After two laps, I turned around and ran backwards, so I could watch the crowd behind me. I called out to the laggards to run faster.

After eight laps, which was about a mile, I said, "Okay, when you finish this lap, walk a final lap to cool down." When they gathered with me after, I continued, "Pair up. I want you to spread out on the exercise machines, one on and one spotting. If your partner cannot spot you, then don't use that machine. If they can spot at lower weights, then do only what they can spot. Pair up with someone else if you want to do more. The goal is not pure strength, but a well-toned body, that serves you well. I will go around and check in on each of you."

I then told them to go to the machines, and I wandered around, helping out and explaining things as I watched them work. At eleven, I blew my whistle and said, "Gym time is over in thirty, when you are ready, head for the lockers. I'll see you in the cafeteria."

In my reading the other night, I learned the locker room was co-ed, to get everyone used to being without much privacy on the trip. At eleven thirty, I headed there, and proceeded to take a leisurely shower. I decided to see if I could project Inanna's power in such a way that they would have sex with each other, but remain out of it myself. I began with a low level push, for some sexual overtures. I got a fair amount of attention for my extra breasts, and was the center of a small group of people who asked about them. Even as I talked about them, I washed them, with lots of soap, and most of the group had trouble keeping their eyes on my face. The guys got erections. When one apologized, I just told him none was needed, as it meant they appreciated my body. I then struck a pose, and sent a brief intense pulse of the field I was pushing. Two other guys in the group instantly reacted with erections of their own. By the time I left the shower, three couples were touching intimately, but not actually having sex. I would try again tomorrow.

After lunch, we went to the lab. There were a number of stations there with remote control arms. I sat at one in the center, and said, "Gather round. Let me show you how to work the arms." I inserted the paired combs to my scalp, and continued, "These combs pick up your brainwaves. You will need to train them and your brain, to use them. Let me show you how they work. Nancy, do something with your arms and hands, and everyone, watch the arms inside the unit." I pointed to the arms, without the remote arms doing anything. The day before I had checked out the units, so when Nancy started moving her arms, I caused them to move just like her arms without moving my own arms.

"As you can see, I am already trained in their use. You can also see they are duplicating her movements. Each of you will learn how to do this, as the mission requires their use for a number of things. There are experiments to be performed in places a suit would not work, as well as repairs. This lets you do stuff that needs hands, where your own hands cannot easily go." I took the combs out, and stood. "Now, I need eight volunteers to go first." I waited for eight to sit at the consoles. "Log in, so it knows who you are."

"Here's how you place the combs." I then instructed them, and helped them place them correctly. "There is some play in where they can be placed, but you want to be as consistent as possible, as it is learning from you." I then pointed out the 'learning' button. "Press this button to begin learning. You will see a motion to perform on the display. Do that with your real arms and hands. When it tells you to stop, stop. It will then ask you to visualize the remote arms doing the same thing. Proceed to do that until it says stop. It will go through a number of gross movements first, before going onto more intricate motions. It is building a library of your brain waves to learn how you think, so that later you can more easily control them."

After the ones sitting began their training, I said to the others, "This will take a while, so the rest of you come over here." I led them to another area of the lab. "This area is designed to familiarize yourself with the equipment on your mission. Read about it on the terminal, and then practice controlling it via the terminal. These also need for you to log in. If you have any questions, call out, as I will be over at the remote-arm training area. When they finish, half of you take their places, and the other half help them get started here. Any questions?" There were none, so I went back to the first area.

I looked over the shoulders of the trainees, and also opened my mind to read what they were doing, and subtly guided each into achieving their initial goals. Usually, I did this by making suggestions, but sometimes also pushing their minds a little in the right direction. I kept the latter subtle enough, so they didn't notice my 'help'. When these stations dinged, I told them to log out, stretch, and then relieve someone over in the other part of the room and send them here. Five minutes later, the next batch was starting their first session.

When the third ding occurred, the last group had finished their first session. "Okay, folks, that's all the formal training for the day. Log out, and shut down the systems. Now it is time for dinner, and after that, I'll see the laggards in the gym for their bonus round." I smiled at that, making them get mildly concerned, just what those two were in for. I just saw to it that they exercised an extra hour. Each would spot the other for some sets, before switching places and doing more sets. They finished off with another mile run.

The next two days were repeats, except - no one was late. I was able to spend more time focusing on individuals, helping them get better at using the remote arms, and ensuring they do a good variety of exercises that are designed to keep them generally fit and strong. The action in showers did increase. The third day, one couple had sex in front of everyone, and it broke the ice, so to speak. From that point on, sex happened in the showers. Once, five couples were going at it at once. I started focusing the power on pairs, trying to make them get together, and thus get everyone comfortable with everyone else.

The fourth day, I introduced them to the nanotech clothing. "This clothing can be programmed to simulate pretty much any clothing you want. Let me show you a few outfits." I then proceeded to go through a few standard outfits. "As you can see, the technology is endlessly variable. The main constraints are providing power for transformations, and the training of the unit to your voice. The reason you don't hear me invoking these changes is because I make use of the mental interface. This is the same one you are learning for the remote arms. Having already been trained, I can switch fairly easy, and do some other custom things."

One of the trainees asked, "What kind of custom things?"

"Well, there's this..." I caused the existing top to suddenly have a white name tag with my name on it in black. I then added a large image of an eagle on the back while they weren't looking. "And, for the more daring among out, there's this..." I turned around.

"Woah!"

"It looks like a photograph."

"Did it just move?"

"Oh my god! It did."

"Yes, having had plenty of experience, I have pushed the technology. I am the best at this because of the time I have invested in it. Most will use pre-programmed outfits. You scan in an image of some outfit you want to wear, and the system will combine it with your measurements, and when you select the outfit, it will transform into it. You will find more information on it in your reading materials, as it is considered part of your equipment for the trip. It is a lot cheaper to send up one nanotech outfit with hundreds of outfits programmed than it is to send up enough clothing to last the trip. I don't know what Red Horizons will eventually select, but I suspect you will have at least one real outfit. In the meantime, you will need to compile a set of pictures of clothing you would like to wear."

That afternoon, the discussion of the remote arms considered just how good they could be. I told them some models are actually used as prosthetics, and that the control system makes them almost indistinguishable from the real thing. But the class strongly doubted it, saying that as good as the system was, there was no way they could be mistaken for real arms. So late that night, I teleported home and got my own prop arms for Obsidian.

The next day, I left lunch early, and in my room I put on the extra arms. I then created some new patterns for the nanotech. When I met the class in the lab, my own arms were clasped behind my back, and the lab coat I appeared to be wearing gave no hint of them; instead, its sleeves went around my extra arms. I had a clipboard and pen as props on a table. When the class came in, I called them to order.

"Folks, last night we discussed the capabilities of these remote arms. You generally felt that they could never truly replace natural arms. Tell me, can such arms do this?" I walked over and picked up my props. Pointing to one trainee, I said, "Give me a sentence." And waited.

When one was given, I wrote it down and showed another, asking, "Is this what she said?"

"Yes."

"Your turn. Give me a sentence." I repeated this three more times.

"As you can see, I wrote your statements on the paper here. Let me see a show of hands: who thinks this is beyond the capability of prosthetics?" Nearly every hand went up.

"Sam, you don't agree. Why?"

"I don't know, ma'am. I'm got a strange vibe watching you write that stuff, but can't pin it down further."

"You noticed something different about me. Anyone else? Go ahead, and take another look." I continued holding the pen and clipboard out in plain sight. I even made a note that Sam got a vibe from me.

Terry piped up, "Your lab coat seems to be off."

"Good. What name is on it?"

"Becky Sue."

"You answered without looking. Try again."

"... Oh! It says Obsidian. Why?"

"What is the logo?"

"... It's not Red Horizons."

"Anyone?"

Several looked before someone said, "I know! It's the Mortal Kombat logo."

Looking directly at the trainee who recognized it, I said, "And together, this means?"

"... Why didn't we see it before? You're the actress Helen Asher. You play Obsidian in the Mortal Kombat movies."

"Keep going. Why is this relevant?"

"Well, she has four breasts, just like you, but she also has four arms. Wait. Your arms. That's what's odd. They are too low."

"Good. Let me show you." I then gave the command to retract the lab coat's sleeves, revealing the way the extra arms were attached. I then moved my real arms into view. "You can see the arms holding the clipboard and pen are my 'extra' arms. You saw them write, and didn't notice they were prosthetics. While I have had a lot of time invested in these, you can get this level of control if you work at it. For those not currently on the arms, you can check out my spares. Just don't interfere with my assistance of those on the machines."

When the lab time was over, I switched to one of Obsidian's outfits. I ate dinner four handed, to the amusement of the others, and I encouraged the others to discuss what they saw me do with my extra arms. The next day, I didn't wear the arms, but did discuss the true limitations I had learned, and how I compensated. I also told them that thousands of veterans can now do what they could not do because of these arms and the control systems I developed jointly with Red Horizons. In the free time, much was said about my movie work.

I spoke to Brian Stevens, and suggested we screen two of my movies to show just what the nanotech and the prosthetics can do. He gave the okay, but it had to occur in a free time, not during class time. I gave the word we would have a pair of movie nights to highlight what these systems can be pushed to do. We all gathered in the largest social room to watch the movies. I made sure there was plenty of popcorn. I did warn them that the movies were sexually explicit, but that the use of the tech had no post-processing. It all happened in-camera. The only post-processing was in making my fake arms seamlessly attach to my body. All their movement, grasping, and fighting was real.