chapter 1
- Nanaya, newly recruited to the Heimdall with the intention of joining the superhero genetic alteration program, is escorted to Krum's laboratories along with several other program candidates. She's elated to see she's not the smallest person in the group and subtly raises her head just a little. She feels strong and confident in her newly pressed uniform, enjoys the click of her military issued boots on the shiny metal floors.
- She catches her reflection in a window and her confidence wanes. She's a head shorter, and quite a bit scrawnier, than the candidates directly behind her. She looks like a kid playing dress-up. She jerks her gaze away before anyone can catch the slump in her shoulders and deliberately picks herself back up.
- The group is ushered past bright, windowed rooms of seasoned soldiers - some connected to monitors on their pulse points where their endurance is pushed to the limit, others with pads glued to foreheads to monitor brain activity as they attempt to use newly awakened telekinesis.
- Singlefile the recruits load into a small auditorium, with spaced seats circling a black screen. Nanaya takes a chair and tries not to look around nervously for other peoples' reactions.
- It's not long before the screen flickers to life, revealing a video of Dr. Krum herself. A trio of medical aids enter from opposite doors and begin their rounds around the room, drawing blood, checking pulses - while the video Krum begins;
- "Thank-you for your interest in the Heimdall's genetics program."
- Her spiel continues into a discussion of current and future projects, what changes one might expect during alteration.
- How Nanaya will become faster, stronger, more agile, more useful.
- Someone heroic, instead of a small, weak girl. She's hooked on the video and barely registers the medical aid reaching her.
- The video continues, and with it Nanaya's racing pulse stutters.
- Changes are permanent.
- Genetic alteration is not without consequences.
- Some projects fail.
- Nanaya imagines herself as a failed project. The prospect of not being good enough for the project floods her mind, but so does a kaleidoscope of grotesque side effects. She doesn't want to fail. She doesn't want to become worse than she is.
- "Woah, there's a spike," says a voice next to Nanaya's ear.
- She startles, having almost forgotten the medic.
- "Sorry," she replies.
- "Nah, it's okay. Just gotta take that blood pressure test again, no biggie." The aid genuinely seems unperturbed. "It's a big choice, right?"
- "Yes," says Nanaya. "How often do things go wrong?"
- "Not that often, but often enough."
- Nanaya goes silent, watching the screen while the aid continues their work.
- "What's your biggest worry?" the aid asks.
- Nanaya worries about uselessness. Worries that she'll never be good enough. Worries she's not cut out to be a soldier without these alterations.
- Perhaps the aid has some latent telepathy, perhaps they're just insightful. They say; "Y'know, if you're not ready to make the choice, there's nothing wrong with backing out until the next round."
- "I'm not really fit enough to be a soldier."
- The aid considers this a moment, and then; "What about the dragon programs? Krum and the General have been pushing a lot of cadets into getting bonds. You don't need to be built like a truck for that."
- Nanaya has seen dragons around the Heimdall, and back home flying overhead while their soldier bonds patrol the outskirts of the city. Handsome, powerful creatures that could break a person with their jaws or claws.
- "Not everybody is a suitable bond, and not everyone bonds at their first clutch, but it's worth considering," says the aid.
- "Do you have a bond?" Nanaya asks.
- The aid smiles. "Not yet."
- Nanaya thinks that might be a good idea. At least for now. She can still join the program, with or without a dragon at her side.
Chapter 2
