"Initiating inhibitors," said the Augmentor, his unaltered hand in an interface panel of his own. Div/A F03 felt her body go numb. Snuffed out were all the exciting sensations and even that small bit of arousal she had from seeing the command cocoon pleasuring the captain.
"Use the left arm," Div/A F03 mumbled.
"Understood," the Augmentor confirmed. "Initiating network connection. Sweet dreams."
* * * *
The Nor Republic was the dominant political entity in the "northeastern" parts of the galaxy, consisting of several hundred inhabited star systems and quite a lot of uninhabited ones. The Nor, slender humanoid creatures with a wide variety of natural hair and eye pigmentations, were a highly structured and technologically advanced civilization. Three millennia ago they had discovered space flight; thanks to contact with other spacefaring races like the Grey or the Gravos, their technology had evolved rapidly. Most Nor had latent psionic abilities, often manifesting as heightened empathy or baseline telepathy. There were many philosophical or militaristic organizations within the Republic dedicated to amplifying and expanding these powers, most notably the Mentalist Corps. Those deemed worthy to join often displayed powers of amazing strength and destructive potential, with Psychokinesis and Matter Alteration preferred disciplines among those with a warlike bend. Silician psychologists have found most Nor to be cool, calculating individuals when compared to other Precursor races with little patience for spirituality which put them at odds with their closest neighbors, the Zuthrian Dynasty.
Silicians were always welcome in the Nor Republic thanks to their inherent compatibility with computers and electronics. Many Silicians had found employment as scientists, technicians or IT specialists in the Republic so her appearance at the Norwan Naval Academy wouldn't raise any suspicion. It also meant that Div/A F03 would keep access to the network through relative proximity to others of her kind, a calming thought indeed.
Div/A F03 stopped consulting the archives and disconnected from the network. She had been moved to a recuperation cocoon, with soothing healing fluid caressing her skin. Her limbs and torso throbbed in numerous places where the insertion and cutting points for her augmentation process had been. She consulted her internal medical systems. According to her health monitor, she was at eighty-five percent operating capacity. One by one her newly added augments booted. Most of them she already knew about. Full-body recorders were popular for sharing research data and for entertainment purposes. More internal memory was always welcome as was the hidden weapon inside her left forearm. The Diplomat's Enhancement was unusual. Normally, Silicians dieted on highly concentrated energy bars, their weight and composition calculated such that little waste remained. But now she sported a second digestive system tuned to work with less optimized foods and an expulsion system for the wastes terminating between her thighs and the firm orbs of her posterior musculature. She gently reached below herself and brushed the anal sphincter with her fingertips. It was incredibly sensitive, sending arousal levels through her on par with what she could coax from her other opening. She caressed herself, softly gasping as waves of pleasure emanated from the sensitive region. She could get used to this.
Before she could explore herself in earnest though the Augmentor joined her, his mechanical arms whirring and clicking softly. Deeva withdrew her fingers and sat up.
"All systems green," he needlessly announced. "Your shuttle awaits. While you're in transit the remaining tissue damage will heal completely. How do you feel?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be." Sighing, she rose from the cocoon.
After rinsing the remnants of the healing fluid off her, she put on body plating for the first time. On board the mainframe ship nobody bothered with clothing unless to protect oneself from radiation, electrical currents or vacuum. The insides of the ship were comfortably temperated, contaminant-free and Silicians, though aware of the concept of modesty, could easily dial down their arousal level before it became a problem. The outside world was another matter entirely and prancing around naked on an alien world would cause undue levels of excitement in the natives and leave her open to contamination besides. So she clad herself into the skin-tight plastic sheaths, colored a subtle matte black with silver accents. They consisted of half-shells able to clip around her limbs and torso with flexible joints where it mattered. It was odd not to feel the gentle current of warm air flowing over her skin and the impact-resistant plastic made accessing her subcutaneous pouches much more difficult. A small price to pay for added protection.
Div/A F03 picked up a hardshell case with her few belongings. It contained mostly data chips on Nor technology, how their computers operated, documented weaknesses of their IT infrastructure. Subterfuge wasn't an inborn trait of the Silicians but it never hurt to be prepared. A plasma pistol, a few extra sets of body plating, some freshly synthesized pleasure probes and energy bars for the trip rounded out her kit. She left the cubicle and walked briskly towards the sleek, triangular wedge of her shuttle waiting in the hangar.
* * * *
It had been a slow day so far despite it being the last week before the new semester started. Most prospective applicants had handed in their paperwork well in advance and Denek had precious little to do behind his reception desk. A small holo display, discreetly tucked away behind a lush Starflower planter, showed the Hoverball semi-finals between the Zuthrian Dynasts and the Norwan Paladins, graceful bodies arcing through the air, the small ball trailing neon for the spectators' benefit as it was thrown at the goal triangles on their eighteen-feet stalks. The camera zoomed onto one of the Dynast players, a black-skinned female with a barely tamed mane of white. Borne on twin jets of repulsor energy, she reached up, her ample breasts nearly bursting from the flimsy golden tank top she wore. Deftly she intercepted a nigh-impossible to halt pass before using the missile to stun one of the Nor ground players with a deadly accurate throw to his head.
The door to the reception area opened. Denek straightened up and brushed a strand of his long, purple hair behind his ear, inadvertently touching the small data jack embedded next to it. The new arrival was a Silician and he had to remind himself to shut his mouth. She wore some kind of clothing, a sleek black number with silver accents, but she could have gone naked, so tightly fitted was her outfit. If it was an outfit at all and not some kind of grafted-on augmentation. Silicians were infamous for all the cybernetic stuff they could cram into themselves. Or onto themselves. Denek shivered as he remembered some of the juicy stories senior officers had boasted about when drunk.
She had small breasts and a nice set of curvy hips, gently swaying with each graceful step which brought her closer and closer to the reception desk. The sunlight filtering through the glass roof overhead played over the blue skin of her bald head. In one hand she had a compact hardshell briefcase. Denek cleared his throat.
"Welcome to the Nor Naval Academy. How may I serve you?"
The new arrival placed her briefcase on the reception desk and fixed him with a long, curious gaze. Her eyes were a bright blue, like LED-backlit orbs. He shifted under her stare as she seemed to scan him head to toe, from the strands of his purple hair down to the -- thankfully hidden by the desk -- bulge in his uniform.
"My name is Div/A F03. I want to enroll in the academy, preferably as a cadet on one of the training ships. My specialties are science and IT, obviously," she added with a playful smile.
"Div-slash-A F-oh-three?" Denek felt stupid as he struggled with her designation.
"The first part designates me as a member of Division A, the scientists. The latter is my generation indicator. I am the 3843rd model of the Type-B female science officer currently in existence. Nice to meet you. For expedience's sake, call me Deeva."
"Well, Deeva then. The last scheduled entrance exam was three days ago and you can't enroll without passing it," Denek said. "You'd have to wait six cycles for the next one in the winter semester."
"Waiting that long is unacceptable. Can I speak with one of your superiors please?"
